Citalopram symptoms and conditions

My wife (66) was using salbutamol inhaler for the last 10 years being a bronchial asthmatic. Even prior to that, she was being treated with a combination of theophylline, cortisones . In 2001 she was diagnosed to be suffering from OCD and citalopram 20 mg was prescribed. With significant improvement, the dosage was reduced to citalopram 10 mg, though we lowered the dosage only in December 2007. However, during the last month, when she had to be admitted in the hospital for a stomach virus the doctors prescribed MONTELUKAST SODIUM 10 MG combined with lEVOCETIRIZINE 5 MG. .
Dramatically,montelukast had a dramatic effect in that my wife never used the salbutalmol inhaler for well over 2 months, about which we were very happy.
But the worst was yet to come.
During the last few days, she again showed symptoms of the dreaded OCD once again, and she suffered like anything. On contacting a well known doctor, we were advised to stop MONTELUKAST and asked to continue citalopram (though escitalopram instead of citalopram ) along with clonozepam 5 mg to be tapered down every week for about a month.
I would like to be advised from a doctor whether (a) discontinuance of Montelukast will be able to bring back normalcy from OCD of course with citalopram or escitalopram. and (b) whether montelukast can be abruptly stopped. For the time being, we have reduced the dosage of montelukast from 10 mg to 5 mg.
PLEASE ADVISE US.

I've been trying to cut down on my celexa ( although i take the generic citalopram 40 mg) I found that if i came off it too quickly without decreasing the dose in stages (i had tried cutting down to 20mg) my head would become extremely fuzzy, whenever i turned my head or moved it it would feel all tingly and disoriented. I also found it was very hard to concentrate. now that I'm gradually getting off of it i notice that my dreams are very real and vivid and i can no longer tell my dreams from reality. I wake up confused not knowing where or who i am until reality sets in. I was hoping to get off citalopram completely due to the fact that it is not recommended to use when you are considering becoming pregnant due to the impact on the fetus. however, i found that without it i'm very spacey and find it hard to concentrate. I don't know if thats another side effector if thats my anxiety coming back from not taking it...

Has anyone gotten pregnant while taking Celexa? Will it affect the baby and will I have to stop using Celexa?

I have been on celexa for 4 days I know its not a long enough time for the meds to "kick In" but i am terrified and waiting for something bad to happen. I have struggled with terrible panic attacks since my pregnancy in o6-07 and they have lingered on and gotten worse. I was ok and happy to finally take the initiative to get better, I don't like even taking Tylenol so tis is a big deal for me. I was prescribed 10mg and have been only taking 5 of the 10 to wean myself into this drug.. I wish i could know what to expect and all i feel is nauseous, weird and shaky and last night i couldn't fall back to sleep i felt a lil dizzy is this normal?? I hope i don't have any vision loss also!

I have been on Celexa (citalopram) for about 13 months. I took it at night, starting with 10mg and over time worked up to 60mg which is the max. dose. My doctor switched me to Lexapro and then Cymbalta to see if they worked better, but eventually I ended up back on Celexa, that seemed to be best. I did gain about 35 pounds on it, though and was still going, along with absolutely NO sex drive whatsoever. When my husband could finally coax me into it, I couldn't orgasm at all. I finally begged him to even stop trying, the attempts seemed to annoy me. This wasn't me, so I slowly tried weaning off of it. First down to 40, then 20, then 10.

so here's my question: I've been completely off of it for 3 days now and I'm still feeling dizzy, lightheaded, have indigestion, headaches, etc. The other times I was off of it, I went right on another med, so I didn't seem to notice the side effects. Anyone who has been taken off of Celexa, PLEASE respond and let me know how long these awful effects last? I have a 2 year old I have to care for and she doesn't understand why mommy feels "woozy" all the time.

I was on Citalopram for 8 months and I gained 55 pounds. It seemed to help some with depression, but I felt sluggish all the time.

I have been on Lexapro for 8 days now (10mg), will be increasing to 20mg at day 14. I was previously on citalopram and then Cymbalta. I am having a hard time adjusting to the lexapro, I get frequent "head rushes" and feel dizzy and/or nausea for a good part of the day. This makes me not want to do much physical activity (like the workouts I so badly need).

I know this is a common side effect, but has anyone who experienced it in the beginning, noted that it went away after a period of time?

so I had been taking Citalopram (Celexa) for about 4 and half weeks before my anxiety completely subsided; it obviously worked! hooray right? no. like clockwork, after the drug had made itself obvious in my bloodstream, I began getting migraines with aura. I've gotten these migraines since I was about 14, but they have slowly gotten less intense and now I barely get 2 a year. which
I can more than live with. once I got THREE migraines in a week and a half (within my 5-6th week of Celexa,) I started tapering off. I went from 20mg to 10mg. then after a week of 10mg, I cut it to 5mg. about 3 days into my 5mg intake, I got another migraine. that was FOUR. four in like 4 weeks. that never happened even at my worst point in adolescence. I stopped cold turkey from Celexa at that point. I considered it safe because I had only taken the damned drug for 6 weeks and still tapered off for a week and a half. anyway, the very next day I got my FIFTH aura migraine. either that or the fourth one never quite went away. anyway, the point is, I can think of nothing else in my life that had changed drastically to bring my migraines back but going on Celexa. has anyone else had this problem? I'm totally at a loss. I have found one article about migraines being triggered by Citalopram, but it's part of a journal of neurology and I'd have to pay 35 bucks to read it... I just need some reassurance. this is definitely the worst month of my entire life. I'd avoid saris. try natural/alternative solutions to anxiety/depression. that's what I'm tackling now.

I have been taking Lisinopril (5mg) daily along with atenolol (25mg) daily more than three years ago. I had a host of sysmptoms such as extreme fatigue, itching, shortness of breath, dizziness, numb fingers, etc. My doctor put me on this regiment after i had to stents put in my heart. I didn't have a bp problem. I had a coleterol problem, but she said i would need to be on these meds fo the rest of my life. I was ruched to hospital when i couldn't get my breath. I was told i was suffering from depression and anxiety and put on Clonazepam and Citalopram. This only added to my fatigue and i have had sexual side affects to boot now. Before i took Lisinopril i was playing softball and spending time with my children. Now all i want to do is sleep and no matter how much sleep i get it is not enough. I want my life back!!! After reading your posts i have decided to stop taking all the meds and hopefully find the person i once was. Thank you all for opening my eyes. I am not crazy after all.

I'm so glad I googled side effects of Yasmin and found this site. All of the sudden my mood swings for the past almost YEAR make sense. I started out fine. The pill was great, and I haven't had to worry about acne at all. Of course I gained a few pounds, but not too much. However, I'm a pre medical student trying to study for the MCAT this summer. I've been SO tired and drained and majorly depressed that I just can't seem to concentrate. I feel like I'm always crying over the stupidest stuff (AKA: no reason at ALL), and my grades are starting to suffer. Hopefully now that I've read this, I can stop taking this pill and see an improvement. It's just not worth the depression. I'm 22 right now, and until recently had never had a suicidal thought. I was starting to panic, because I couldn't identify the cause of my depression. I'm a good student, have lots of friends, and have the most amazing boyfriend and family. Life is good, I shouldn't feel this bad. Now that I have a clue as to what this may be, I can fix it.

Taking Topamax for 2 years started out at 25 mgs 3 times a day for a mood stabalizer (bi-polar). Had tingling in hands and feet sometimes in face. Lost waight, pop tasts nasty, sleepy, short term memory loss, slurred speach. Now I take 100mg at bed time have no symptoms except I still am able to controll my eating (had a problem with over eating) no more road rage but I still felf a little depressed and did cry so I was not to stable until Citalopram 10mg at bedtime and Adderall XL 10mg in the morning was added. Now I finally feel like a totaly normal person. No more anxiety, mood swings, crying, paranoia,or any other weird stuff. I feel pretty good. Rarely I get pins and needles in my hands or feet or I forget where I put something.

I am a 34 year old and have been taking Yaz for almost a year.

I had some minor side effects until this past month when everything came apart at the seams. I do not know if yaz is the culprit - but the number of women with the EXACT SAME SYMPTOMS as me listed here SCARES THE HELL OUT OF ME.

My "minor" sude effects were the following:

* No period for 5 months
* No sex drive (was not the case before taking Yaz)
* Panic attacks / anxiety (no history fo this. My doc has now put me on Zoloft.)
* Bloating / weight gain
* Brown blotches (like age spots) on one side of my face

This is NOTHING compared to the last month of my life. Basically my life has sucked for the last month. Roughly a month ago my symptoms started with a red rash on the left side of my face and pain in my left ear that led to a migraine that has not gone away at all. (The pain level goes between a 5 and 10, but never lower than a 5.) The rash went away in 2 days, but my ear still hurts today (a month later).

My vertigo began roughly 5 days after the onset of my rash and ear pain and has been non-stop since. I've taken phenergan, valium, etc. - but they are not working. I get spinning/dizzy every time my head moves (up, down, left, right) and with up and down eye movement. It seems like my migraine pain intensifies when my vertigo hits me. If I lie completely still - I have no vertigo - but my migraine is still there. To make matters worse, I have become very disoriented, like I am in a fog all of the time. I am only 34 years old and feel like I am losing my mind. I cannot remember simple words at times and have a tough time completing sentences.

All of these symptoms coincide exactly to the day I began a new packet of the birth control pill called YAZ (Yasmin). I had taken this brand of pill for a year, and though it has worked (not pregnant) I have had some minor side effects up until the last month. The biggest side effect is that I have not had any period at all for the last 5 months. I have also had anxiety (no past history) and have no sex drive (not my normal self.) I stopped taking the pill about a week ago - after reading literally thousands of people with the same side effects I am experiencing on a website called medications.com (My neurologist also told me to stop taking it.)

I am NOT having ringing in my ears or loss of hearing. I mention this because I know other ailments have these as symptoms.

I have already been seen by my dentist, physical therapist, ENT, 2 neurologists and a gyn. So far - they are not helping. I have even been hospitalized for 5 days and all they really did was try and dope me up to sleep and had me take a very potent anti-migraine drug called DHE that must be administered over a 36 hour period via IV. Guess what? It did not work.

The most scary thing is that even though I get severe vertigo any time I move my head (even to the point of waking me up while I sleep) - NOT A SINGLE DOCTOR EVEN MENTIONED I MIGHT HAVE BPPV ( BENIGN PAROXYSMAL POSITIONAL VERTIGO) and they did not test for it at all. They were all interested in treating my month-long migraine with anti-migraine drugs. They all swore up and down that my vertigo was related to my migraine. They also said my fogginess was because I was "tired and sick" and many migraine sufferers are that way.

After my husband and I searched the internet and found dozens of websites, we are pretty much convinced that I have BPPV. We are going to get in front of a vestibular specialist ASAP.

So you know, I have been through a CT scan, two different MRIs, basic blood work on my white cell counts, thyroid levels, potassium, etc.

They have ruled out a sinus infection, brain tumor, pituitary tumor, stroke, blood clots, etc. They have simply treated me with anti-migraine medication - and it has been worthless. I have taken Topomax, Frova and DHE (the drug mentioned above) and my migraine is still there. These drugs have not helped one bit. My neurologist swore that the DHE would do the trick. Guess what? He was wrong.

I discharged myself from the hospital yesterday and am now at home.

I just want my normal life back. I cannot drive, work, take care of my family, etc.

My two biggest questions are:

DOES ANYONE KNOW IF BPPV CAN CAUSE MY MIGRAINE? The reason I ask is that the doctors all think that the migraine is causing my vertigo. All along they have been treating my migraine (with zero success) and have been giving me valium and antivert to simply mask my vertigo (no success there either.) No one has tried to really diagnose and treat my vertigo. Is it possible if I get my vertigo fixed my migraines will disappear?

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT BIRTH CONTROL PILLLS CAUSING BPPV? I saw woman after woman on medications.com have the same symptoms of vertigo, migraines and brain fog while taking the birth control pill Yasmin. I also know that my avalanche of symptoms eerily coincided with my first pill from a new pack. If they are related, I am most interested in what to do to get my hormones back on track in an effort to stop my vertigo.

This is all driving me crazy. A month ago I was absolutely normal. Now I am 100% disabled. I just want my life back.

Please help!

Was put on citalopram for depression as have liver problem. My face started to bloat

Ive been given citalopram for depression and Bulimia.
The side effects I experienced were:
Nausea
Thoughts of suicide
Tiredness
Loss of concentration
blurred vision
diarrhoea

although most of these symptoms stopped after taking the citalopram for 2-3 weeks.

I generally feel less depressed than i used to be, although my eating problems are still here

I`ve been on Citalopram for almost 1 year. In the early stages of taking this medication, I felt great. I was taking 20mg. After about 3 months I increased my dose to 40mg, as I felt anxious and didn`t feel that I could cope with day to day moments. I stayed on 40mg for approx 3 months, and increased my dose to 60mg. Since then I have found that I feel invincible to do what I want. The feeling I never had before. I found that I craved for Alcohol so much, that I drink till there is no more left to drink, as I don`t feel the effects of Alcohol.Is this normal to feel this way? Does anybody feel that they have this problem too. HELP!!

I have been taking citalopram now for over a year. Started out with 20mg but now down to 10mg. Started taking for anxiety and it helped considerably. I do have some side effects, but nothing I cant live with. I sleep well, although only for a good 5-6 hours, but I do feel rested and never tired throughout the day. I have lost weight, too much in fact. I am down under 100 lbs, when I started I was about at 116. I do have a slight nauseous feelings in the mornings, but food always makes that go away. The worst is that i too have no sex drive. Having a two year old doesn't help things, but there is no desire for sex. I am doing much better now and am planning on getting off of it as soon as my script' runs out. Good luck to you all!

i started on citilopram 4 weeks ago, and mentally im a changed man, i had depression and panic attacks and now i couldnt be depressed if i tried to which sounds great but its a liitle strange as i sometimes feel i am missing part of my emotional spectrum, like normal people feel down sometimes and i should still be allowed to feel down every now and then but these tablets wont let you.! physicclay tho i have had a few strange side efects, in the first week i felt shaky and detached and had blurred vision and actually felt a little high (which was nice) but by week 2 i fellt fairly normal and now only get the side effects when i forget to take a tablet otherwise i remain on a plateau. I also smoke pot and often became paraniod after smoking, the best thing is now i can smoke pot to my hearts content and get the high but none of the paranoia and that is fantastic. if your a pot smoking paranoid ~I highly recomend taking 20mg citalopram has anyone else ever experienced this???

I started taking citalopram a week ago. I had taken Lexapro for 3 months prior to that, but my insurance company was switched and they wouldn't cover Lexapro until I tried something else first. I didn't really notice any side effects that were different from Lexapro. When I first started taking Lexapro I was really really tired and had a headache and little appetite. However this weekend I got really sick and was vomiting and still feel naseaus the past two days. It had been several days since I started taking it so I don't know if it was from that or something else. I have also had problems falling asleep at night so I have switched to taking it in the morning.

I also am worried about weight gain since I think I need to lose weight. While on lexapro I did not gain any weight and my sex drive actually increased, but since I had none before that wasn't much. I hope with citalopram I don't have any more side effects.

Hi, I'm 23. I have been on Citalopram for 6 days now. I am also taking beta blockers to slow my heart rate due to having panic attacks. I've found that my mood had improved up until yesterday evening, and I've been feeling much calmer and sleeping ok. This may be due to the beta blockers though. The side effects that I have experienced haven't been as bad as they sound. Felt really spaced out for 3 days and my vision was slightly blurry but is improving considerably now. I have been craving sweet things- but that's probably due to my menstrual cycle! Wake up feeling a bit shakey in the morning but after some food I feel fine. I'm really positive about this medication and I think if you keep a positive attitude and don't worry about the side effects, you will be a happy soon enough.

I have been thaking 20mg of Citalopram for about 5 months. Initally i felt sick and very tired and in the first few days got a migrane that I couldn't shift. After the side effects wore off I did feel great. I get the craving sweet stuff thing but I have found that a chocolate shake or fruit usually works. I do have really bad dreams most nights though and I am pretty sure this is because of the drug. I wasn't aware that so many others had this side-effect too so I will talk it through with my G.P. Also lets not forget anti-depressants are meant to be a long term solution. They are meant to get you to the stage where you are able to change your life. I personally have started therapy and also found the book Mind over matter to be very good in becoming in control of my moods again.

i have been taking citalopram for 18 months now, it has been great for my mental health condition and mentally i feel great. however i have an increased craving for chocolate which is not good as i am type 1 diabetic. my weight has increased by 2 stone and i suffer terrible sweating even when every one else is freezing!

i have been on celexa or citalopram for 4 months god it seems longer then that lol. i havent gained but have lost weight im holding at 210lbs i take 20mg a day i have taken 40 mgs but it caused mood swings so i went back to 20 mgs and all is good im 42. as far as sex i have found i hold an erection for about an hour befor i can orgasam i have found that at 40mgs my erection will start to fall but come back.
this is weard because most males state theye cant hold one.
my mind set is a feeling of nothing matters im a happy person yet nothing bothers me. i tried to go off the med but after 3 days without it i was a very angry person i tapered off just like i started up so it wasent due to a sudden withdrawl. i just wasent ready i guess. and for those people who are giving this drug to childeren i advise you dont. there are just to many issues with this drug that havent been worked out and i really belive most doctors dont even read these posts from users. and therefor theye have no idea of the things we go through. theye have the mind set of if its not posted in the jeronal of med it dont count for crap. as far as no sleep for a long time ya it happens i dident sleep for 3 days when i first started on this drug i had a craving for sweets and im not really a big fan of sweets and is most likely why i am holding at the same weight because i dont give in i eat once a day and i eat fish and veggies or beef and veggies and alot of garlic i dont eat pork i love pork but its got to much fat for me
i cook most of my food in olive oil and no eggs and 1%milk if i use milk im not a milk drinker i just dont care for it. i havent been sick in over 10 years and cant remember my last cold i dont take flu shots. and i wont use penacillin. i hope iv helped someone i know iv added alot more info but it seems alot of people are gaining weight that puts them back into a state of depression so maybe by using my diet theye might be able to hold at a desired weight. ps when i say i eat lots of garlic im saying 4 cloves a day added to my cooking food olive oil i only use extra virgin i dont use margarin or lard or shortning
i remove all fat from meat and skin from chicken all veggies are fresh fish is salmon, mackarial,tuna,sardines i also drink 1 glass of red wine a day should be 8oz but its more like 16 lol
good luck everybody