Posted by MichaelK785 on October 26, 2003, at 19:57:40
In reply to Re: New to Celexa - side effects, posted by Bill L on October 31, 2000, at 8:08:02
I am writing to post my about my own experience with Celexa...I was on it for well over a year and most of this time I was taking 40 mg daily. The drug was helpful with depression for a time but I eventually had to discontinue use due to the severity of side effects.
Overall, the experience of being on the drug was a scary one. I had a number of side effects such as drowsiness, tired all the time no matter how much I slept, itchy skin and a feeling of restlessness. I functioned better overall on a day-to-day basis although I would not say that I felt normal by any means. I was able to function and get through the day where I could not before so I considered this to be an improvement. I do feel that it definitely altered my personality as well. I became much more outgoing and sociable than I would normally be. Sex was fine as far as functioning goes but I did experience a diminished intensity of orgasm.
After about 18 months or so on the drug, out of the blue I began to develop severe diarrhea and overall weakness which lasted for weeks and at first I had attributed this to a stomach virus. There were no other symptoms such as fever or anything else. The problem continued to get worse and I became completely incapacitated, unable to leave the house. I was very scared and weak and pale and I looked like death warmed over. My doctor claimed that this could not possibly be attributed to the drug. He wanted to refer me to a gastroenterologist for an endoscopy for some 1,500 dollars and I did not have medical coverage at the time. In the end my psychiatrist was wrong. He simply had not heard of this kind of reaction before. After having experienced severe gastric upset for nearly a month, rather than go for the endoscopy I sought a second opinion and was instructed to begin tapering off the drug as an experiment to see if symptoms improved. I gradually began to get better. It took a few more weeks for my intestinal tract to return to normal and by the end of the excruciating experience I had been sick for about six weeks and lost 25 pounds. I had a slim build to begin with so this was really not a good thing for my body.
Antidepressants are very powerful medications. They all have side effects and some can be quite severe. I caution you to be careful when you take them and pay attention to how you feel.
poster:MichaelK785
thread:2790
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031025/msgs/273742.html