# Citalopram and it's effectiveness on SA?



## casual20 (Aug 29, 2008)

I'm currently taking 20mg of Citalopram and have been for the past month or so. Has anyone else been prescribed it for S.A? I have to say i've been pretty disappointed with the results so far, maybe the dose is too small?

Any Citalopram success stories? Im becoming increasingly cynical about it's effectiveness... :stu 

cheers.


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## copper (Nov 10, 2003)

casual20 said:


> I'm currently taking 20mg of Citalopram and have been for the past month or so. Has anyone else been prescribed it for S.A? I have to say i've been pretty disappointed with the results so far, maybe the dose is too small?
> 
> Any Citalopram success stories? Im becoming increasingly cynical about it's effectiveness... :stu
> 
> cheers.


According to my drug book the max dose is 40 mg per day. Maybe it needs to be raised to this and see what happens. If 40 mg doesn't work either then it probably doesn't work for you. You may have to try different drugs before you find one that works. I have worked in the mental health field for many years so I have seen this many times. Sometimes it takes a couple of years to find the right medication, but hopefully it won't take that long for you. We all have different metabolisms so one drug might work on one person and the same drug on a different person won't work. When doctors prescribed these meds it is pretty much a roll of the dice if they work or not.


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## katelyn (Jul 11, 2006)

Citalopram has helped me so much. I have 20mg per day for depression and general anxiety. I don't know if it's helped my SA directly, but indirectly it has improved my mood so much that I have the willpower to try to overcome my SA and work on my problems.

I'm small so 20mg is a large enough dose for me. Maybe you do need more. I was on 10mg at first and 20mg improved things a lot. My doctor did say it can take up to 8 weeks to see the full effects though.

Anyway as copper said these things work differently for different people. So it may not work for you just because it works for others.


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## casual20 (Aug 29, 2008)

Appreciate the replies!

I'm going to make an appointment with the doctor tomorrow and suggest increasing the dose to 40mg. I've reluctantly started college this week so I'm having a particularly difficult time with my S.A at the moment, as you can imagine.. Suppose I'm just looking for a rapid cure.

Anyone else currently on citalopram or used it in the past?


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## casual20 (Aug 29, 2008)

Faithless said:


> Yes. Was. Bad.


How?


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## casual20 (Aug 29, 2008)

Faithless said:


> The absence of improvement, as in "not at all." Fatigue, anxiety, irregular sleep, drowsiness, and libido so bad you may as well chop off your *dank* and donate it to medical science. Feel much better now that I'm off it (quite frankly).


 :lol 
not a fan then?

Have to say I've had no side effects either, suppose that's a bonus.

Are you trying any alternative medication?


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## casual20 (Aug 29, 2008)

:lol 

Sounds like a plan to me..


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## shy_chick (Sep 27, 2006)

I'm glad it's worked for at least one person as I've just started taking it and really hoping to improve my mood. Will report in a few weeks back if I remember.
Sorry about your er... ops :lol


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## KurtG85 (Sep 19, 2008)

Yes, been on it for about 5 years and at times took up to 80 mg a day although not a ton of times because your not supposed to take that much (40 in am 40 in pm on those occasions; never have had an incidence of serotonin syndrome). I worked as a server. Working the second most stressful job profession (and probably number one in terms of social stress) and having severe social anxiety and depression I occasionally needed this much to stay moderately sane. 

It helps very much with anxiety and depression for me. It also has a tendency for slight numbing of my emotions which can actually come across as me looking MORE depressed to others occasionally but usually this isn't the case. This situation in itself leads to an increase in my social anxiety to an extent. The med however primarily helps in that it significantly defuses the panic/freak-out response which always would follow such a perceived social awkwardness/fault. This is the primary way in which it helps me. It has less of the general numbing of emotions effect than most other ssri's I have tried (all of them). It helps clear my mind (primarily of constant, overpowering and intense negative emotions, not just of panic) and hence I find it allows me to convey my thoughts more clearly to others and myself. Currently, to help manage my symptoms but avoid severity of these few negative side effects I find 30 mg a day about right with occasionally another 10 in the late afternoon. 

It has had very little effect on my sex drive/ability and actually might improve it a bit. 

I also take 5mg of adderall every 4-5 hours. 

I have much better sleep on it and strangely almost always have very positive encouraging dreams while on it. Off of lexapro/celexa I have the most f'ed up, frightening and sad dreams imaginable.


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## mcnabj (May 21, 2005)

ssri's tend to help at first. Celexa did relieve some of my anxiety but I wanted to sleep 10 hours a day. YOur body will adjust to Ssri's and they will stop working. Then your ****ed. You be in a nasty cycle of upping the meds in hopes of getting the initial effects. Have fun with the withdrawls when you want to get off. Im sorry "discontinuation syndrome" and big pharmacy calls them.Your body will down regulate its serotonin receptors b/c of the meds. Then when you get off the meds you will truly be in hell until you body recovers. This takes some time. Please do your homework about Ssri's.


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## casual20 (Aug 29, 2008)

mcnabj said:


> ssri's tend to help at first. Celexa did relieve some of my anxiety but I wanted to sleep 10 hours a day. YOur body will adjust to Ssri's and they will stop working. Then your @#%$. You be in a nasty cycle of upping the meds in hopes of getting the initial effects. Have fun with the withdrawls when you want to get off. Im sorry "discontinuation syndrome" and big pharmacy calls them.Your body will down regulate its serotonin receptors b/c of the meds. Then when you get off the meds you will truly be in hell until you body recovers. This takes some time. Please do your homework about Ssri's.


Put me off completely.. :sigh

I'm up to 40mg a day now, the doctor said it can take up to 8 weeks before you start to notice the effects.


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## shy_chick (Sep 27, 2006)

I wouldn't worry. These type of drugs vary a lot between people and some people have a bad time whereas some people have a much easier time.The only side effects I have ever had with antidepressants are nausea and headache when starting or stopping. They can start to help within 3-4 weeks.
I can't really comment on becoming used to doses.


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## Foh_Teej (May 5, 2004)

casual20 said:


> I'm currently taking 20mg of Citalopram and have been for the past month or so. Has anyone else been prescribed it for S.A? I have to say i've been pretty disappointed with the results so far, maybe the dose is too small?
> 
> Any Citalopram success stories? Im becoming increasingly cynical about it's effectiveness... :stu
> 
> cheers.


SSRIs generally fail when it comes to SA. They may infact help to some degree but usually this is a secondary effect. SSRIs can help with racing thoughts and depression which indirectly translates to an apparent improvement in anxiety.


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## Wellington (Dec 29, 2007)

Didn't do **** for my SA.


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## CopadoMexicano (Aug 21, 2004)

ok, I was told by a local pharmacist that lexapro is generally the most commonly prescribed medication for anxiety and depression in the U.S. what gives./?


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## colonelpoop (Jun 18, 2008)

lexapro was the worst SSRI I have ever taken.

Zoloft so far has been the best SSRI I have taken, that's not saying much though as it still sucked tremendously.


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## WineKitty (Nov 26, 2004)

The sexual side effects of this drug were enough for me to stop taking it. I never felt the "good effects" of it at all, just the nasty side effects. 

I am trying WellButrin but have sleep issues, although to be fair I havent taken it that long and have been on painkillers for dental work. So far, NO sexual side effects with WB.


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## marieannsa (Sep 22, 2008)

I'm taking Zoloft. Just started a week ago. I see a small change in my depression, I'm hoping to see better results in the next couple of weeks. I'm doing 20mg/day. Anyone else takin Zoloft?


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## Edwin (Jun 19, 2008)

I have the same experience on Celexa as KurtG85. Although it does effect my ability to reach orgasm. I was on 60 mg / day before it stopped the panic/freak-outs I would often experience. In my opinion, that is about all that SSRI's do, reduce stress and panic, and numb emotional responses (not to an extend where you're not able to have emotions though, at least not with me).

After adding the partial serotonergic agonist (5HT-1a receptor) Buspirone, I was able to drop down to 40 mg / day of Celexa. I'm now starting to feel something that Celexa didn't do for me; I feel closer to people and I seem to 'trust' them more. Might have something to do with oxytocin, you can read more about that in the topic "Complete cures for SA [Drugs of the future]". Buspirone unfortunately is not something that seems to work for everyone. (Ignore people who say it is a sugar pill, the dopamine agonistic properties will give anyone at least some effect, unless perhaps you're already a chain-smoker or on Adderall)


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## KurtG85 (Sep 19, 2008)

Hey Edwin. Yah, feelings of trust and closeness to people is essentially the definition and entire function of oxycotin as you probably know. That doesn't mean buspar couldn't be having the same synergistic effect of course. I always like to try each new med individually before I start combining. 

What I really wanted to ask you is how in the hell do you get prescribed oxytocin and in what form does it come?


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

KurtG85 said:


> What I really wanted to ask you is how in the hell do you get prescribed oxytocin and in what form does it come?


Its naturally produced by your body. It cant be prescribed as far as i know.


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## Edwin (Jun 19, 2008)

Well there are some people on this board suggesting that increased 5HT-1a activity might result in a stronger oxytocin release. This would explain why we are experiencing increased closeness to people using such a partial agonist. 

As Noca mentioned, there are currently no external sources of oxytocin available.


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## KurtG85 (Sep 19, 2008)

Ah, ok. I thought you were implying that you were on a script of it.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

MavenMI6Agent009 said:


> ok, I was told by a local pharmacist that lexapro is generally the most commonly prescribed medication for anxiety and depression in the U.S. what gives./?


Citalopram is the generic name for Celexa. Lexapro is simply the active isomer of Celexa. Allegedly, Lexapro has less side effects -- I've seen nothing to document that claim. All I can say for sure is that brand name Lexapro protected by a patent makes a lot more money for the drug industry than does generic Celexa.


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## crossfadex (May 17, 2008)

it was crap.

weren't too many side effects for me tho. no sexual or anything, but it gave me some trouble sleeping and gave me nausea.


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## shy_chick (Sep 27, 2006)

I've just started on Citalopram and not had any side effects yet after 9 days. Been drowsey and some indigestion but there are other explanations like eating too much and insomnia! Have to see if it has any effect after 3-4 weeks. Better than the weeks of awful nausea after effexor!


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

> Its naturally produced by your body. It cant be prescribed as far as i know.


Oxytocin is available as a nasal spray for lactating women. I bought it once online and tested 20 IU and I can say it really helps with Social Anxiety, but just for a short time. Longer acting Oxytocin-agonists like Carbetocin should work better, but are not available yet for intranasal use.


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

shy_chick said:


> I've just started on Citalopram and not had any side effects yet after 9 days. Been drowsey and some indigestion but there are other explanations like eating too much and insomnia! Have to see if it has any effect after 3-4 weeks. Better than the weeks of awful nausea after effexor!


Yet another Effexor horror story!  :yes


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## shy_chick (Sep 27, 2006)

Noca said:


> shy_chick said:
> 
> 
> > I've just started on Citalopram and not had any side effects yet after 9 days. Been drowsey and some indigestion but there are other explanations like eating too much and insomnia! Have to see if it has any effect after 3-4 weeks. Better than the weeks of awful nausea after effexor!
> ...


It was on holiday too *goes for sympathy vote*


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## rtbrjason (Oct 5, 2008)

I've been on citalopram for about 5 weeks now. I'm taking a once daily dose of 20mg.

I'm also on propranolol as needed for situational anxiety.

I've maybe had a bit of luck with the propranolol, but the citalopram doesn't seem to be doing anything for me. As far as side effects, I'm pretty sure that it is giving me a strange headache, and definitely decrease in sexual desire. I'm suppose to see my dr in a few days and I plan to get off this citalopram.


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## djcat71 (Sep 27, 2008)

Hi I've just started 5 mgs of celexa/citalopram for my anxiety (20 mg tab quartered because my doctor knows that when I hear of medicine that has huge crazy side effects I just won't take it). Feeling a lil heavyheaded, dizzy and nauseaous which I'm not really liking - anyone have any encouraging words? Also, has anyone taken gravol to help wiht the nausea/dizziness?


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