Celexa stuper - any alternatives worth trying?

[concernedinKC]

well hubby is in week 9 of treatment - hasnt made him too terribly ill, but he has had severe depression, irritability, and just feeling mad - rage even.  Doc put him on Celexa two weeks ago, and I guess you could say it has worked since you cant get mad WHILE YOUR SLEEPING!  This med has him falling asleep in social settings, he sleeps most of the time and when he is awake he is in a stuper...  Just wondering if anyone has any experience with alternative med which works without making you feel completley drugged.  Have follow up with doc tomorrow to disucss, but wanted to run it by the forum for ideas..  Thanks

[bandman54]

I am on Celexa.  I currently take 20mg per day, but I was on 40mg per day when I treated.

When I first started Celexa it did make me very sleepy.  I started taking it after work with dinner and that helped a lot.

It also gets better... the sleepiness gradually goes away, at least it did with me.

You might try reducing the dose and taking it later in the day.  Check with doc first.
I really like celexa and never feel drugged any more... just cheerful.

bandman

[Bill1954]

Hypersomnia might be preferable to the alternative; how does your hubby feel about it? Many of us would prefer sleep, and consider ourselves lucky to be able to snooze off. At week 9, it’s also going to be hard to determine if his drowsiness is attributable to the antidepressant or the HCV treatment drugs.

Bill

[concernedinKC]

thanks for your comments...  Bill - good point - thought the symptoms of the treatment had already peaked, but I guess it is possible.  he didnt start to sleep all day until taking this med. and he is only on 20mg tabs which i believe is the lowest doseage.  he doesnt feel he wants to be without a depression med, but he doesnt like how this one makes him feel... Another issue with this med is that it also causes dryness in his mouth (which was already an issue) and now he has developed a "thrush" like fungi on his tongue...   One good thing that came out of this celexa is his heart-pounding and very fast heart rate have dimenished...

Would like to know if anyone has tried alternative to celexa - successfully

[Bill1954]

I’ve used a number of antidepressants over the years; but never Celexa. The AD that really seamed to work for me was Lexapro; the others, while they didn’t necessarily cause side effects, didn’t seem to deliver benefits. Lexapro was the one; it clearly made my world much easier to navigate.

Have hubby ask his doctor for nystatin oral swish ‘n swallow for the thrush; or Magic Mouthwash with nystatin if it hurts; it can be formulated at the local drugstore.

Good luck to you both—

Bill

[Kathy73]

I started out on the generic for Celexa at 10 mg per day and didn't have any sleepy issues with it at all, so there is a smaller dosage than 20. My doctor upped my dosage to 20, not because I was feeling depressed but to try to find some relief for headaches.

[Rain6866]

Hi,
Sorry you hubby is sleeping so much. i am on celexa as well and my first 4 weeks were like that. If you read the insert it will tell you an AD can take up to 4 weeks to actually start correctly working. It felt good I needed the sleep. Dont throw it away so quickly. Give it time to kick in and actually start working. I know what works for one person dont always work for everyone but this medicine has made a huge difference to me. I was on zoloft for two years before. Now talk about something that made me sleep day and night... It also made me feel really funny too. So try not to kick it to the curb to quickly. If you hang in there and it does for him the same as it has for me you wont be disappointed!

Good Luck

[CMcH]

I think a lot of us would like to sleep it of, Go hybernate under conscious sedation until it's over. Because we don't like the way we feel, the irritation, low threshold to stimulus. I do have to  fight that and get up to do something. I am usually glad during and after outing just getting the initiation to get up and go when its so comfy in bed. If I stay to long in bed I actually get worse from the stiffness.
Keep you doctor updated.

[Rockedbyrequiem]

Honestly, I love reccomending Wellbutrin to people with depression problems that arent doing well on SSRIs. Pretty much every bad side-effect you may get from SSRIs will either be MUCH less frequent with Wellbutrin, or totally non-existent. Especially the tiredness. Wellbutrin is unique in the sense that it is a stimulating anti-depressant, so there is really no risk of tiredness or fatigue. Ive tried Zoloft, Paxil, Lexapro, and Effexor, and none of them worked out for me. Wellbutrin has been my savior, seriously. And apparently, it's doing the job while Im on the treatment as well, as I have had no depression whatsoever. Something to consider :)

[Rockedbyrequiem]

Oh and....Another great thing about it is it starts working almost immediately, whereas other anti-depressants usually take weeks or even months to be effective.