M
member 2106
Guest
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?
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?
Last edited by a moderator: