Posted by H123 on February 17, 2004, at 19:27:57
In reply to Re: Switching from Zoloft to Celexa » mhv17, posted by Ritch on January 11, 2003, at 9:00:49
Hi
I'm new to this page and so glad to find online conversation about Celexa. I've been taking Celexa for 3+ years now and am enjoying much better mood, although the only complaint is sometime tiredness and feeling of lethargy. It's hard to get motivated to exercise, something that I've always enjoyed! Sexual drive has not diminished, thank goodness.
I would recommend Celexa to anyone who is qualified and thinking about taking an SSRI. I had taken Zoloft and Paxil for about 2 years each, and experienced diminished depression with both of these. However, the Zoloft diminished my sexual drive and the Paxil never really calmed me down enough.
So far, Celexa has been the most helpful.
Hope this helps, and here's to good health!
H123> > Hi everyone!
> >
> > My situation is sort of complicated, so I hope this is understandable. I recently went to a psychiatrist for the first time after dealing with emotional mood swings and intense irritability for about a year. He suggested I try Zoloft, starting with a 12.5 mg dose, and gradually working up to 50 mg over a period of a couple of weeks. I felt fine on the 12.5, but really awful on the 25, so I went back to the 12.5 where I've been for the past month. I've seen some of my emotional problems even out, but the majority of the irritability is still there. When I saw my doctor again, he said that the 12.5 mg was probably not a high enough dosage to really get rid of all my symptoms, and he suggested trying to work up to the 50 mg again. He did say that if I experienced the same side effects I had the first time, that I could try a new drug, Celexa. So here's my question: for people who have been on Zoloft and Celexa, which one did you like better? I really do not want to be on these drugs forever, and I'd like to try and get the best possible results as quickly as I can without going back and forth between meds. From what I've read so far on the Celexa, it sounds like a pretty good drug and could be worth a shot, but on the flipside, I've already got a month's worth of Zoloft in my system, and I don't want to have to start over at square one if the Celexa does not work. Any help I could get would be greatly appreciated, as I'm really torn with what to do. Thanks, MHV17
>
> Hi, I would suggest the flip to Celexa. Going back with Zoloft and increasing it again is likely to make you feel the same way and you might just be wasting your time, IMO. You said you had been on it a month. OTOH, most SSRI side effects tend to fade after a few weeks (if they are going to that is). It is possible that you didn't give the 25mg enough time (say 2-3 weeks) for you to get accustomed to it. If you make the flip to Celexa and it doesn't work either (or you find it intolerable as well) you are not any worse off because you now have the knowledge that those two meds aren't for you, and perhaps your pdoc can try a drug from a different class entirely. Hope this helps.
poster:H123
thread:3323
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040215/msgs/314881.html