My Brief SSRI Experience

[member 2106]

This will be a bit scattered. Hopefully it'll be helpful to anyone who is considering an SSRI.

I was prescribed 20mg Citalopram for severe anxiety with panic attacks. You can read about that in a recent thread of mine. I've resisted antidepressants all my life (I'm 28) but my anxiety was becoming so disabling that I had try to something new. Nevertheless, it was with great reluctance that I started taking the SSRI, and after exactly one month on Citalopram, I am now weaning off. I never intended to stay on it for long.

I'm in a much better place now than I was a month ago, and that's partly why I'm discontinuing the drug - I'm confident I can progress without it. I'm very sceptical about how much of a role the drug actually played in my improvement.

Okay, the bad and the not so bad:

Headaches, really bad ones behind the eyes. I'm pretty sure this was caused by the drug, because I very rarely suffer migraines.

A total intolerance to alcohol. Really, really bad hangovers after as little as one beer.

Sexual dysfunction. I have low libido at the best of times, with occasional spikes, but my sexual interest has been non-existent the last month. There was slight erectile dysfunction too. Now that I'm weaning off I'm getting morning wood and libido is returning a little. The weirdest thing was the delayed orgasm, which was kind of fun.

On day 3 or 4 my mood absolutely plummeted. It was horrible, but only lasted the evening. Otherwise mood was fairly stable. Occasional bursts of euphoria which I was distrustful of.

Did absolutely nothing for my social anxiety, but that's not why I took it.

No nausea at all. Thank goodness.

I think that's it.

It's very difficult to know to what extent my lessened anxiety can be attributed to the Citalopram, because the effect was not sledgehammer-like in the way the Benzodiazepines are. I think there was a big placebo effect going on, but I would probably have to give it some credit because, for one reason or another, I'm less anxious now. The most disconcerting thing for me was how I didn't feel in control of my moods, or to have ownership of them. If I felt upbeat, I thought: "That's just the drug." I want to know that if I feel good, I've earned it, and it's not because a drug is making me feel that way.

So, all in all it wasn't a terrible experience. And I'm much better now. It possibly played a very small role in reducing anxiety for me, but this may be partly placebo, because I really wanted it to work and genuinely believed it would. I'm very happy to be coming off them, and hope never to have to use them again. Diazepam is a much more effective drug for anxiety, in my case, because there's no question that it does the job. The good thing about that is I can only take it on an as-needed basis, which is currently very rare.

Any questions or observations?

 

[DaveFoster]

I can empathize with the distrust of the euphoria; I experienced the same thing with mirtazapine. It's uncomfortable stimulation that feels unnatural.

 

[member 2106]

I can empathize with the distrust of the euphoria; I experienced the same thing with mirtazapine. It's uncomfortable stimulation that feels unnatural.

Definitely. There were times I just knew it was the medication, and that was not a nice thing at all. There were other times where it was less apparent, but the possibility that it was happening solely because I was taking a drug was actually very disturbing.

 

[HDD]

This may not be the cause, but the headaches, intolerance of alcohol, and low mood all could be the result of low blood sugar. Taking medications or supplements can often lower blood sugar. I have recently been rereading a book by Broda Barnes called "Hope for Hypoglycemia, It's Not Your Mind, it's Your Liver". He writes that many who have hypoglycemia are diagnosed with "anxiety" . He also writes that there are about 50 symptoms for it and it is one of the 100 symptoms of Hypothyroidism. This has been a huge eye opener in my family. We are realizing many symptoms, including anxiety, are often from low blood sugar.

 

[charlie]

This may not be the cause, but the headaches, intolerance of alcohol, and low mood all could be the result of low blood sugar. Taking medications or supplements can often lower blood sugar. I have recently been rereading a book by Broda Barnes called "Hope for Hypoglycemia, It's Not Your Mind, it's Your Liver". He writes that many who have hypoglycemia are diagnosed with "anxiety" . He also writes that there are about 50 symptoms for it and it is one of the 100 symptoms of Hypothyroidism. This has been a huge eye opener in my family. We are realizing many symptoms, including anxiety, are often from low blood sugar.

Great post @HDD.