celexa
Re: celexa
Hi,
I was on Celexa for 7 years, went off about 4 years ago. I was on 20 mg for about 4 years and then went up to 40 mg for another 3 years. I had a really positive experience. It definitely worked really well. I didn't have any significant panic or anxiety episodes for the entire 7 years, and when I did have anxiety it wasn't as intense and would pass much more quickly. I did experience side effects, which are pretty common to all of the SSRIs. For me, I experienced some weight gain (5-7 pounds), hypersomnolence (sleepiness, and sleeping a lot), and sexual side effects (decreased drive, etc.). These were much more pronounced when I went up to 40 mg. For a long time, these side effects were not significant and the benefits of the medication far outweighed the drawbacks. But, after feeling better for so long, I weaned myself off. I did it slowly over 2-3 months and had absolutely NO withdrawal problems or rebound anxiety. I was doing really, really well for about a year and a half, but then my anxiety came back and I've had a couple of pretty significant episodes so I recently went back on a very mow dose of Lexapro (5 mg). I tried Lexapro this time only to see if I could avoid some of the side effects by taking a different med at a lower dose. But, in sum, overall my experience with Celexa was really good. It really helped me! Good luck!
Amy
I was on Celexa for 7 years, went off about 4 years ago. I was on 20 mg for about 4 years and then went up to 40 mg for another 3 years. I had a really positive experience. It definitely worked really well. I didn't have any significant panic or anxiety episodes for the entire 7 years, and when I did have anxiety it wasn't as intense and would pass much more quickly. I did experience side effects, which are pretty common to all of the SSRIs. For me, I experienced some weight gain (5-7 pounds), hypersomnolence (sleepiness, and sleeping a lot), and sexual side effects (decreased drive, etc.). These were much more pronounced when I went up to 40 mg. For a long time, these side effects were not significant and the benefits of the medication far outweighed the drawbacks. But, after feeling better for so long, I weaned myself off. I did it slowly over 2-3 months and had absolutely NO withdrawal problems or rebound anxiety. I was doing really, really well for about a year and a half, but then my anxiety came back and I've had a couple of pretty significant episodes so I recently went back on a very mow dose of Lexapro (5 mg). I tried Lexapro this time only to see if I could avoid some of the side effects by taking a different med at a lower dose. But, in sum, overall my experience with Celexa was really good. It really helped me! Good luck!
Amy
Re: celexa
Thank you Amy for your response. I was on 40 mg. of Celexa last year due to my mother 's stage 7 Alzhiemers and I have low grade depression. It was so stressful . My aunt was also dying and when she did I felt almost numb like I could not feel. So I tapered off because I did not want to feel so zombie like when my mom passed which was 2 mo. later.
The past year my mind was a 3 ring circus and my sleeping was like 3-4 hrs a night. so I started on 20 mg. now I sleep wonderfully and am now just having a one ring circus in my head. I gained 10 pounds when I took celexa before and am really scared of doing that again. I have been on and off meds for 10 years. The program has helped me with tools to not get really whacked out but I just was really going down especially due to no sleep.
I have tried lex also some years back but was so expensive. Thank you again for your response.
The past year my mind was a 3 ring circus and my sleeping was like 3-4 hrs a night. so I started on 20 mg. now I sleep wonderfully and am now just having a one ring circus in my head. I gained 10 pounds when I took celexa before and am really scared of doing that again. I have been on and off meds for 10 years. The program has helped me with tools to not get really whacked out but I just was really going down especially due to no sleep.
I have tried lex also some years back but was so expensive. Thank you again for your response.