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Hi Everyone, Yep, I did it. I am indeed an idiot. I forgot I took my 11am 40mg Celexa yesterday morning and took another 40mg at 2pm. Then I forgot I did THAT and took my regular 11am dose this morning, so I'm hurting. Weird nausea thing happening in my head right now, but I don't think it's bad enough to go to the hospital. Anything I can do other than wait it out? I've got so much work to do. I deeply appreciate any help. LMN

I know that a lot of bipolar folks take an SSRI as part of their daily regimen of meds and apparently it seems to help. But there's some growing concern in the pdoc world now that SSRI's may be causing manic symptoms and even directly causing manic episodes. I was on SSRI's for 10 years before quitting last October. In chronological order: Celexa, Zoloft, Celexa again, Lexapro, Zoloft again, Prozac, Zoloft again briefly, back to Prozac to close it out. For me, personally, after stopping them altogether, I was able to see what they were doing to my system. I truly believe they made me much more unstable and greatly increased compulsiveness and just made a bad situation worse. Switching from Lexapro to Zoloft sent me immediately full-on hypomanic for over a month in early 2015. I was high as a kite and on top of the fucking world. It was unreal and so obvious at the time. From the beginning of it, I was certain something unusual was going on. Now I wasn't diagnosed bipolar yet, just depressed, so I didn't even know what hypomania was then. It fizzled out eventually (sigh) but I had at least two more, shorter, and less intense episodes late spring 2015. I've not had anything quite as euphoric as those since. My last pdoc expressed some concern about the prozac but wasn't very insistent on me stopping it, just that I would want to eventually. I've since read that there is increasing concern in the pdoc community. Yet a lot of bipolar people still take SSRI's and don't seem to have problems. Do SSRI's seem to help your causes? Do you notice any unusual side effects? Have any of you stopped taking SSRI's and noticed a change? Other comments? This could be interesting.

Has anyone had any experience with Celexa, Wellbutrin and Lamictal combo? I was on 300 mg of Lamictal up until a month ago when my pdoc added 20 mg of Celexa to help my depression. Yesterday (a month later) he added 150mg of Wellbutrin XL to help counteract the sexual side effects of the Celexa. Has this combo worked for anyone?

I just started Celexa 4 days ago and last night was my first time taking the full dose (From 10mg to 20mg). I take it at night and wake up exhausted. Like I'm falling asleep every time I sit down and this morning I woke up with the super shakes. I'm also clenching my jaw big time and I don't grind my teeth ever. Celexa was the first anti depression med that I ever tried and I came off of it because of the sexual side effects (maybe tmi? oh well). My Dr wanted to see how it worked again since I didn't have a terrible reaction with it the first round. I would definitely remember if shaking or jaw clenching was a thing. What is going on here?? Side note I am also on 300 mg of Lamictal and Xanax as needed.

I just started up on Celexa again for the 2nd time (was off all meds for a year). It's only been 3 days and I feel overwhelmingly lethargic & apathetic all of the sudden. Up until now, my energy has been normal/decent and the last 2 days, all I can do at around 1pm-2pm is go back to bed and lay there for 2-3 hours. I am not sedated and i do not sleep - it's like my body is a bowling ball and I get caught into an incredible vortex of inertia and i cannot get up!! I'm a total sloth. I am only on 20mg (but now I'm on Lamictal also). Previously, I had gone up to 40mg on Celexa then 60mg and felt this way, but I don't recall feeling this way at only 20mg. Will this go away? I know it's due to the med, because I'm also getting the yawning & dry mouth/throat side effect that is typical with SSRI's. How long should I give it, before I scratch this medication? The apathy is a main feature of depression that I am trying to overcome.

Hello, I have been having issues for the last 15 years or so, and I am 29 now. I started with a Dx of MD and I was loaded with a deep depression, rage, and anger. Self-loathing, despair yada yada. Anyways, after a while it progresses due to life. November last year I speak with my pcp and break down in tears because I can no longer handle my life. I was not suicidal, yet, but more than overwhelmed to the point I was beginning to worry I might hurt one of my children without realizing it. Action before thought... he put me on risperdal. It worked like a dream after I adjusted. Not fully but I was much better. I began going to therapy, and seeing a pdoc? And had a psych eval done and was Dx as being bipolar 1, general anxiety,, and ptsd. The risperdal, while it helped, I felt it still needed tweaking of some sort or something added to it. I also gained 50 lbs with it. I was already on zoloft btw) I was still randomly raging and crying. Temper exploding. The first pdoc put me on celexa with the risperdal and zoloft to try. It made me beyond super happy. I was so happy it felt like I could fly. It was a terrible wonderful feeling. It was terrible because if the tiniest thing did not go my way then I would just blow up at the drop of a hat. I already had an appointment with a different pdoc that my pcp made that I had planned to keep so I went in. The first one scared me anyways. She was..overwhelming. this one had a ponytail. He said celexa made me manic and took me off of it. And just increased my zoloft to 100mg. I didn't feel any different. I tried making an appointment with him after I received my dx about changing my meds somehow because I was gaining so much and that was depressing me too. Next available appointment was 5 months away and before I couldn't get through when I had trouble with wellbutrin side effects (forgot about that one) so I changed pdoc again this time to the place I go to therapy at. I so far like this doc. She seems human enough. Smiled. Laughed. I think I even stopped shaking. I told her my issue with weight gain and meds not working fully. She switched me from risperdal (cold turkey) to abilify 5mg and topamax 50mg twice a day. I had massive withdrawals and mixed episodes for over a week. Fought and argued with my husband, made him feel like shit. It was like my mouth was out of control. My mind was racing o fast I could think. I screamed and yelled. I threw things. I hated. I isolated myself. I shook worse than usual. I cried for no reason. I cried about everything. I considered and daydreamed about suicide. I even shoved my dad and I have NEVER raised a hand against my parents. Now my therapist is considering asking my pdoc about how I might do with lithium. I'm beginning to be leery of med changes, but I'm still not sure how abilify and topamax will work for me as they are still working into my system. I tried going inpatient. Didn't meet criteria. Sorry this was so long winded, I'm still mixed/manic...

Already have been reducing ability from 20 mg down to 5mg, and Celexa from 40 mg to 10mg. Just started Wellbutrin a couple of days ago. If I am taking Wellbutrin is it okay to go ahead and just stop the other two? Stopping the Ability and Celexa cause of weight gain and can't lose on it. Didn't realize it can cause obesity and make it hard to lose. Does anyone know about that? Does it mess up your thyroid or metabolism? Does it take a few weeks to normalize after you stop?

Newbie here... Here's my history... Had a head injury as a child, had to relearn everything. For the next 6 years or so had majoy personality changes, from crying hysterical or laughing uncontrollably... My pdoc said something about ppl who have head injurys are 75% more likely to have depression and personality disorders all their life. Anyway... Ive been on anti depression meds since I was prob in high school. Tried everything at one point or another. Had a complete hysterectomy in Feb and since then my brain has turned to mush. Been having behavioral, issues with my son too. Could just be puberty, not sure. Trying to get him in now to get tested for ADHD, but have to have referral, etc, taking forever. I won't go off on his issues right now. Dr tried me on Adderall. I told her I really don't think I have ADHD, but she showed me a chart with the inattentive kind, sounds just like me. She also said it is used for drug resistant depression. I've been on it 5 months now and I love it. I can concentrate, focus, and get stuff done I never could before. I am also on Celexa 40 mg, I was on it before even starting the Adderall, but I think it has stopped working. Lately I have been really depressed. Not sure if I'm just unhappy in my marriage or the Celexa has stopped. I have a great marriage, everything is wonderful there, so I don't know why I feel this way. I get irritated a lot. By the time hubby comes home from work, I am in a crappy mood from the kids aggravating me. My pdoc was gonna try me on Fetzima, but at the time the Celexa was working and I didn't wanna try anything new. Now I am ready to, but my insurance doesn't cover it, which I will be losing that insurance at the end of this year anyway, and not sure if we will be able to get any, so I couldn't afford it anyway. Effexor XR was another one I was going to try once, but didn't wanna try anything new. Also read about it and was scared to try it after reading about withdrawal symptoms and possibility of seizures. I haven't had any seizures since I was a child, from the head injury. Then at 19 I had one from Wellbutrin. Trying to get in to see pdoc soon, but in the meantime wantewd to see it anyone had any advice. I really don't wanna feel this way and risk saying or doing something to wreck my marriage. We have a great life, and I don't know why I'm so unhappy with it. A majority of my depressin comes from being a stay at home mom, having no friends, or no one to talk to other than kids. Sometimes i feel like I really need a break, just to start driving and stay gone a day or 2. I won't, bc too many ppl need me for too much, it just gets very overwhelming at times. Anyway...advice? words of whisdom? or just a big STFU and get over it? lol

Hey everybody, I'm a 22 year old dude, pretty high functioning and high achieving. I've just graduated college, have been working as a cancer researcher, and have never destroyed any important relationships or had any serious run-ins with the law. BUT (there's always a but) I have been convinced for about 2 years now that I was going crazy, that I was experiencing a schizophrenic break, that the world wasn't real, and that I had a million different deadly diseases. I've also been suffering from all sorts of physical ailments, which I now know are just somatic symptoms of depression. I tried to hide all of this from everybody and put on a brave face, but as I got to the brink of suicide I was finally forced to ask for help. Initially I was diagnosed with MDD, but I had a sneaking suspicion that the diagnosis didn't quite fit. What I didn't tell my doc was that concurrent with my depression were insane bursts of creativity, irritability, hypersexuality, restlessness, and pseudo-delusional beliefs that I was going to win the Nobel prize in medicine and become a famous politician someday. So my doc gave me 20 mg of Celexa and referred me to a CBT therapist. The Celexa made things a lot worse by triggering what I can only think of as a mixed episode, and that's when I saw a different psychiatrist who diagnosed me with bipolar type II and prescribed me Abilify. So right now I've been on the Abilify for about 2 weeks, and it seems to be reducing some of the irritability and hypomanic swings, but doesn't seem to be helping the depression. Plus it makes me super sleepy during the day. Hopefully I can get off this Celexa soon because it's been causing weight gain and insomnia. So that's me: crazy smart but just plain crazy as well! Glad I found this place, nobody I know seems to know anything about bipolar. I've learned a ton in the past few weeks.

Hello everyone, First time poster, growing increasingly desperate for insight. I was put on 20mg Celexa for anxiety/depression in the fall of 2012. I was newly 21 and I've had general anxiety and depression since I hit puberty. On the citalopram, I had side effects that were relatively bothersome but for only relatively a short period. I had been given new life and felt better than I had in a long, long time. However, by fall of 2013, I wasn't doing well. It felt like I wasn't taking medicine at all, as I was as anxious and depressed as ever, and went to see my doctor. She suggested we up the dose or try Lexapro. I'm not sure why now, but I chose the Lexapro, and my doctor would also give me a prescription of citalopram to help taper off. We also decided to try Trazodone 50mg for sleep issues at this time. When I got to the pharmacy, I was pretty anxious and not thinking clearly. I was handed my new Lexapro 15mg prescription, no aforementioned citalopram in bag, and the journey began. I had plenty of citalopram/celexa leftover, so I didn't worry too much about not receiving the other third of my prescription, though I did find it odd. Immediately after my first Lexapro pill I was lobbed into side-effect hell. This built up for weeks and included: decreased night vision, foggy head, crawling skin, night sweats, nightmares, nausea, insomnia, and the terrible akathisia. After six weeks I believe I could not take it anymore. I was still taking a 10mg citalopram, as I was scared to leave it completely, with the escitalopram yet I was anxious and depressed as ever, along with being in such agony from the relentless side effects. I had a friend make the call (I'm quite afraid of phones) and it turned out, the doctor's office had no record of a Lexapro prescription being written (assuring!), but did have a 30mg Celexa prescription logged. They sent that to the pharmacy and I never took Lexapro again. I'm doing okay on the 30mg Celexa. Now, however, I find myself still battling with some side-effects months later. Specifically, I still have akathisia (and boy, nothing else has brought me to tears so often), blurry night vision, foggy head, night sweats, and nightmares. As it's recently gotten warmer, the sheet-ruining night sweats have become unbearable, and cause me to wake up too early or too late with a foggy head so bad I don't feel like I exist. And when I try to sleep, the akathisia keeps me up. Trazodone makes everything a little worse, so I've been avoiding it. I have to wonder if citalopram and escitalopram are similar enough that when escitalopram moved in, it left some of its reaction baggage behind on its way out. I am genuinely worried that I am going to be stuck like this unless I get rid of celexa (which has been so good to me). I dread the thought of trying to go on a different medication for fear it ends up like my Lexapro experience. Does anyone have any insight they can offer? Thank you so much for your time. TL;DR I was on citalopram/Celexa for a year, was put on escitalopram/Lexapro for ~6 weeks with horrible results and nasty side-effects, I was returned to citalopram but months later still have debilitating Lexapro side effects. Help, please?

I am currently on 30 mg of Celexa for my depression & anxiety which seems to be an effective dose for me. My doctor added Wellbutrin XL 300 mg to help counteract the sexual side effects I was complaining of. The wellbutrin doesn't help!! I've noticed an increase in my energy and overall I'm feeling pretty good, but I have absolutely no sexual desire anymore and less physical sensations and reactions from sex when I do have it. HELP ME - I'm frustrated and my husband is frustrated. We had a great sex life pre-meds and I don't want to go off medication because I do need it, but I want to be able to have sex with my husband again. What have you done to deal with the effects? Any suggestions?

I'm finally tapering my dose of Citalopram (Celexa) to switch to Sertraline (Zoloft). I was on 40mg, now cut to 20mg for a week, having 2 'wash out' days of no meds providing im not screwed up & then starting Sertraline at 50mg. Since it's my first time changing medication, what sort of things should I expect from a) coming off Citalopram & b) Zoloft? Any tidbits of knowledge will be useful or any coping strategies for if/when things go south x

So I have a long history of depression (since I can remember) and about I year after my first attempted suicide (when I turned 18) they threw me on Paxil. I went NUTTERS. Not good, and I thought I had been emotionally crazy before (lots of freaking out and crying and obsessive phone calling...) Then I was switched onto Celexa which I kept on until earlier this year after my third suicide attempt. I asked my doctor for a medication that was more for anxiety than depression so she threw Cipralex at me because she had free samples. So far, the only differences between the three (besides no more freak outs) is the dosage. I am beginning to wonder... Am I taking the right medications? I have so many other things... not quite right about me. MAJOR touch sensitivity, obsessive counting and even numbers, HORRIBLE social anxiety, and I have two other people in my head... Thoughts anyone? I just... Ack, I don't even know...

I started on 20mg of citalopram about 4 days ago, it's my first antidepressant. So far I've had no noticeable side-effects, possibly feel more thirsty, tired and yawning more. I was afraid of the sexual side-effects, but surprisingly my desire for sex is unaffected and my erections have actually become much stronger and I can maintain them at 'full throttle' for the entire time. Problem is I can't even get close to finishing, I always had a hard time finishing and could easily have sex for 30-40 minutes, but now I can get to the one hour mark and not finish, even if I'm doing it alone it's near impossible. My girl is enjoying the extra effort but I can only make up so many excuses to stop sex, just today 4 times I had to say 'I'm tired' and managed to finish my self off once. I really don't want her to view me as sexually dysfunctional. Is there anything I can do or any supplement I can take? I take the pill in the morning and my issues persist at nighttime. I'm not ruling out that it's all in my head...