Posted by pzyok on July 14, 2001, at 0:27:46
In reply to Re: fatigue, posted by MB on July 3, 2001, at 16:42:25
> > hey,
> >
> > I've been on celexa for almost two weeks now, and I am *exhausted*--I can't get enough sleep. I sleep about 11-12 hours a night, and then have to take 2 or 3 hour long naps during the day. The quality of my sleep is poor; i frequently wake and my muscles feel very restless, as if i need to stretch. I've heard a lot of people complain about the fatigue, but not too many people say anything about it subsiding. I am on 30 milligrams and have little change in my mood...increased irritability at times, but less depression, but not so much of a decrease in depression that i feel i can lower my dosage (at this point anyway...it has only been two weeks).
> >
> > is there anything i can do about the amount of sleep i need? will it go away eventually?
> > i'm afraid of weight gain and had been going to a gym, but now i have no energy to go. but from what i hear, exercise doesn't help gain on this drug....
> >
> > thanks!
>
>
> Hey, I'm glad someone has mentioned the restless muscles with the "need to stretch." I had this *really* bad as a kid, and it went away in my teens. It was mostly in my legs. I was an incessant foot-wiggler. *All* the SSRIs have made this condition come back to haunt me. I feel like I have to tense up my thigh muscles as tight as I can (as if it will make the horrible sensation go away). This always gives me tachycardia. I know it's strange, but the sensation is as if toxins are storing up in my leg muscles (making them restless), and when I squeeze them, the toxins are released into my blood, giving me tachycardia. I know it seems ridiculous, but that's what it feels like.
>
> But to answer your question (sorry about the long ramble about legs), SSRIs give me really bad fatigue I *think.* I've been off of SSRIs for 8 months now. At first the fatigue went away, it was great. Now it's back. I FORCE myself to excercise so I don't crash and/or get fat, but the fatigue is unbearable. I think it's just a somatic symptom of depresion...(somatic? did I use that word correctly?)Fatigue is a sysmptom of depression, but a lot of the anti-depressants have fatigue as a side effect. I have just started Celexa today and I am tapering off of Effexor (which did not cause the fatigue, but the other side effects were insane). I have been on about 5 or 6 anti depressants and all of them except the Effexor made me feel fatigued most of the time. The best thing I found was to eat correctly and exercise regularly, it will help. If you are having the irritability, you need to talk to your doctor, Celexa may not be the medicine you need.
Good Luck and hang in there, you will find the right medicine, just don't give up, it all gets better -- I promise :)
Sarah
poster:pzyok
thread:3323
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010708/msgs/70080.html