# Celexa Side Effects
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [August 18, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171 "2011-08-18T14:49:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Storm\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Storm_Girl)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/1 "2011-08-18T14:49:42Z")
So, yesterday I finally went to see the doctor for my mild/moderate depression and was prescribed Celexa. Took my first dose yesterday, and my second one today, and I feel…strange. Kind of keyed up and tired all at the same time, and just a little bit dopey. Also, I had a hard time sleeping last night.
I was wondering, fellow dopers if any of you have taken Celexa, and if so, how long it took for your body to adjust to it.
---
### Author:  [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/2 "2011-08-18T15:33:03Z")
I’m currently taking Celexa. It’s one of the few anti-depressants I can take without major side effects. The biggest thing I notice is a stimulant effect, I get sort of keyed up and antsy and start wandering around the house kicking my feet up in the air and dancing and fidgeting like crazy. Personally I prefer that to being unable to move from the couch. I strongly suggest taking it in the morning if you’re having trouble sleeping.
Usually the first few days are the worst for side-effects and then it gets better.
---
### Author:  [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/3 "2011-08-18T15:44:23Z")
I took Celexa for a year or so. The biggest problem I had was some kind of restless leg syndrome at night (I don’t remember the technical name). I kicked a lot in my sleep and it was waking me up so I was tired during the day. I also didn’t get excited about things; I guess it really mellowed me out. I was taking it in the morning, something like 10mg.
My life has calmed down so I don’t take it anymore. My wife says I’m more fun to be around now; but that’s probably a combination of being off the drug and not having such a crazy life.
---
### Author:  [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/4 "2011-08-18T15:45:05Z")
It really doesn’t matter what other people’s side effects were. It’s different for everyone.
---
### Author:  [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/5 "2011-08-18T16:22:39Z")
My doctor suggested taking it at night before bed. It worked well for me. So you might want to try switching the schedule around.
---
### Author:  [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/6 "2011-08-18T18:27:02Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#):
>
> My doctor suggested taking it at night before bed. It worked well for me. So you might want to try switching the schedule around.
Except for some people, it will make them feel a little jumpy and is best taken in the morning. There are no right answers to this question.
---
### Author:  [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/7 "2011-08-18T18:37:13Z")
Celexa is what caused me to gain like 15 pounds on my usually 101-105 pound frame and knocked me out after work every day. Literally, I would come home, sit down on the couch and wake up 3 hours later. Awake long enough to have dinner, walk my dog, have a shower and go to bed. After I weaned myself off it the weight came off, my cheekbones came back and I’m nice and awake in the evenings again.
\*\*Every person is different \*\*but that was my experience.
---
### Author:  [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/8 "2011-08-18T19:01:22Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#):
>
> Except for some people, it will make them feel a little jumpy and is best taken in the morning. There are no right answers to this question.
Yes, that is why I said “try.”
---
### Author:  [@Storm\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Storm_Girl)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/9 "2011-08-18T20:03:31Z")
Thanks for all the input, guys. So far, no restless leg syndrome type effects, knock on wood. Think I’ll start taking it first thing in the morning and see if that helps me sleep better.
---
### Author:  [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/10 "2011-08-18T20:13:39Z")
Celexa was the last of a series of antidepressants I took over about a 10-year period. I took it for about three years, and found the side effects to be mild compared to similar drugs like Paxil and Zoloft. Because I was already a “veteran” when I started it, I can’t really say how long the initial effects last, but I agree with **olivesmarch4th** that most of the initial weirdness and “off” feeling of a new antidepressant typically subsides after the first few days, in my experience.
---
### Author:  [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/11 "2011-08-18T21:23:15Z")
I was thinking about starting a very similar thread, **Storm Girl**! Tomorrow is the first-week mark for me on Citalopram: my very first time taking any long-term prescription other than birth control. I finally acknowleged that my anxiety sometimes gets completely out of my control.
The first day sucked. I was nauseous as all hell, and _twitchy_. My God, I couldn’t stop twitching spasmodically. So, yeah, I understand what you mean when you say “keyed up and tired.” I thought, “how could something that makes me feel so crappy possible be good for me?!?” That’s tapered off, thankfully, and I started taking it right before going to bed so I could sleep through any residual oogie feelings.
Give yourself a week to let it build up in your body, and to let your body adjust. PM me if you wanna chat, one citalopram newbie to another. 🙂 I’m only a few days ahead of you!
Personal fear: sexual side effects. I don’t wanna not be interested in sex anymore. ☹
---
### Author:  [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/12 "2011-08-18T23:12:25Z")
Popping back in because I forgot one more weird side effect: This stuff gives me extended bouts of uncontrollable yawning. I don’t even feel all that sleepy, but I have this … hollow feeling (sorry, no other way to put it into words) that makes me yawn like crazy. Sometimes two or three times in a minute, for a period of 15 minutes or longer.
Prob_yawn_ably annoys the hell _yawn_ out of my _yawn_ suitemates here at _yawn_ work.
It’s worth noting that this stuff also has a slight antihistamine effect, and a little while after I take it I get cottonmouth like nobody’s business. Sip cold water repeatedly; stay away from booze.
---
### Author:  [@Soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/13 "2011-08-18T23:16:08Z")
I was on it for a while. The only thing it did to me was to give me extremely vivid dreams, to the point that I’d wake up in the morning and have to think about whether they were real or not. I had no other effects, side or otherwise.
Of course, as has been said multiple times, everyone’s different.
---
### Author:  [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/14 "2011-08-19T13:27:01Z")
…I forgot to add that it also gave me night sweats. I never sweated in my sleep before, and while on Citalopram I would wake up in the night actually drenched in sweat. My hair was wet, I could feel sweat dripping off me, and the sheets were soaked. Since I stopped taking it 3 years ago the night sweats aren’t nearly as bad but I still sometimes get them.
---
### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/15 "2011-08-19T13:33:10Z")
When I was locked up in the cuckoo’s nest, it took them two hours to give me Celuxa, as oosed to 14 hours to get something edible (the crappiest shit I’ve ever had in my life) and 38 hours for basic toiletiest (being drugged is more important than being fed and clean, I guess).
One hour after I took it, they were offering me a sedative. And thus the drug companies make more money.
Question: How does a drug that gives you an incredibly dry mouth keep you from commiting suicide?
---
### Author:  [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/16 "2011-08-19T13:58:14Z")
Well… your chances of choking to death on your own saliva are close to nil.
---
### Author:  [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/17 "2011-08-19T17:22:44Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#):
>
> …I forgot to add that it also gave me night sweats. I never sweated in my sleep before, and while on Citalopram I would wake up in the night actually drenched in sweat. My hair was wet, I could feel sweat dripping off me, and the sheets were soaked. Since I stopped taking it 3 years ago the night sweats aren’t nearly as bad but I still sometimes get them.
Username/post combo!
> [@Annie-Xmas](#):
>
> When I was locked up in the cuckoo’s nest, it took them two hours to give me Celuxa, as oosed to 14 hours to get something edible (the crappiest shit I’ve ever had in my life) and 38 hours for basic toiletiest (being drugged is more important than being fed and clean, I guess).
>
> One hour after I took it, they were offering me a sedative. And thus the drug companies make more money.
>
> Question: How does a drug that gives you an incredibly dry mouth keep you from commiting suicide?
I’m sorry it took so long to get you fed and cleaned up (I’d need a sedative too if I was hungry that long!) but was that a serious question? Cuz it came across to me a little like “How does a drug that makes your hair fall out keep you from dying of cancer?”
---
### Author:  [@Elysium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysium)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/18 "2011-08-19T18:06:48Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#):
>
> …I forgot to add that it also gave me night sweats. I never sweated in my sleep before, and while on Citalopram I would wake up in the night actually drenched in sweat. My hair was wet, I could feel sweat dripping off me, and the sheets were soaked. Since I stopped taking it 3 years ago the night sweats aren’t nearly as bad but I still sometimes get them.
I do too! I never connected it to the meds before, but that might be the culprit. I find Celexa and it’s sister drug Lexapro make me a bit tired after taking them, and I definitely had some nausea the first few days but that went away pretty quickly. Overall the side effects of them were better than with some other SSRIs I’ve tried. I do get the brain zaps if I forget a dose for a few days.
---
### Author:  [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/19 "2011-08-19T18:46:07Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#):
>
> … It’s worth noting that this stuff also has a slight antihistamine effect, and a little while after I take it I get cottonmouth like nobody’s business. Sip cold water repeatedly; stay away from booze.
_Some_body needs to take her own damn advice. :rolleyes: I let myself have a few with some friends last night, and it’s now 2 p.m., I’ve been drinking water/tea/Gatorade/etc. all damn day and I STILL have the worst drymouth _evah_.
:smack:
So, OP: don’t make that mistake.
---
### Author:  [@Storm\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Storm_Girl)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171/20 "2011-08-19T20:12:40Z")
purplehorseshoe-Yay, we can be drug buddies! Wait…that didn’t sound right…anyway, you know what I mean. 🙂
So I feel a bit less weird today. I definitely know what you mean about the dry mouth, though-I’ve been sipping water/chewing gum all day long. No twitches or night sweats yet, although I did have some strange dreams last night. I do actually feel a bit better/more positive so that’s a good thing.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celexa-side-effects/593171.md?page=2)