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Health Sections: Medication - Depression - Citalopram

Depression
Causes and  Medication  (See Dpression Page )

Citalopram is widely used by many GPs for treating the more short term severe depression. Citalopram is still one of the most widely prescribed antidepressants for anxiety and panic disorder, despite its makers, Lundbeck, producing an updated version called Escitalopram.   Also known as:-

• Celexa
• Cipramil
• Emocal
• Sepram
• Seropram

Standard dose 20mg which can be raised if necessary up to 60mg (which is unusual). Also available in a 10mg dose which is not generally thought to be a therapeutic dose for normal adults.

The half life is about 35 hours (which is good as it means one tends not to get so much of a yo-yo effect if a dose is missed or taken late).

How does it work?
Cipramil tablets and drops contain the active ingredient citalopram hydrochloride, which is a type of antidepressant known as a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI).

Antidepressant medicines act on nerve cells in the brain. In the brain there are numerous different chemical compounds called neurotransmitters. These act as chemical messengers between the nerve cells. Serotonin is one such neurotransmitter and has various functions that we know of.

When serotonin is released from nerve cells in the brain it acts to lighten mood. When it is reabsorbed into the nerve cells, it no longer has an effect on mood. It is thought that when depression occurs, there may be a decreased amount of serotonin released from nerve cells in the brain.

SSRIs work by preventing serotonin from being reabsorbed back into the nerve cells in the brain. This helps prolong the mood lightening effect of any released serotonin. In this way, citalopram helps relieve depression, panic and fear.

It may take between two to four weeks for the benefits of this medicine to appear, so it is very important that you keep taking it, even if it doesn't seem to make much difference at first.

What others have said about Citalopram

I take Citalopram. Only started a month ago and it seems to be working okay, it has settled my moods a great deal, which is what I think I needed the most.

I take Citalopram (20mg) once every day and have been on them for about four months now. In the past, my body hasn't seemed to like anti-anxiety meds and I've usually been sick as a dog from them. But with Citalopram I don't really have any side effects at all!

It did work for me! My anxiety got a lot better, i slept through the night and rarely felt any anxiety symptoms when I was out and about. I should also say though that I felt a bit sleepy in the day, didn't like getting out of bed, and couldn't stop yawning! A small price to pay!

At first I felt awful. I felt the weirdest out of body experience you can imagine. A very haunting emptiness that will stay with me for a long time. I wanted to ditch the Citalopram on day one, but for some reason I didn't and on day two I felt much better. From then on it was all good news. But the very first day was hell!