Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
They help |
| Disadvantages: |
Make you feel a bit sick at first . |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
no |
Why I needed them.
About eight weeks ago I decided it was time to go to the doctor. I had been suffering from chest pains, palpitations and breathlessness for several months now and I was getting really worried about them, as I was sure that I had something-horrible wrong with me. So in I went to the doctors, so I told her my symptoms and she said that I probably had depression and was having anxiety attacks. I was shocked by what she had said I was not depressed I would know if I was depressed after all I had been there before I knew what to expect. I told her that I wasn’t depressed and that I had suffered from it before but she wasn’t convinced she wanted to put me on to anti depressants but I refused. So after a long chat with her she allowed me to leave the surgery without anti depressant as long as I descussed it with my husband and had a think about it. I agreed to do this but then again I would have said anything to get out of the surgery. When I was walking home I was rather angry with the doctor how dare she say I was depressed the cheek of the woman.
When my husband came home from work I told him what she had said, and I ask him if he thought that I was depressed. He told me he didn’t think I was depressed because the last time there was no living with me and I was in no way like that now. But I knew he wasn’t telling me everything so I asked him to be honest with me and told him that it wouldn’t upset me if he told the truth. So he said that I had been loosing my temper easier that I usually did and that I did get upset very easily but he did reassure me that I was nothing like I was a few years ago. So after listening to what he had to say I gave the situation a lot of thought and eventually I came to the conclusion that the doctor could be right. It took me another 4 weeks to pluck up the courage to go to the doctors but in the end I did go and this time I seen a different doctor who was a bit more gentler on me. He decided that I should go on these tablets, as they were extremely good at dealing with depression and controlling the anxiety attacks. He gave me the prescription and told me to come back in two weeks for a check up.
What is depression?
Some people think that when you are depressed that maybe your just feeling a bit low or that you got out of bed the wrong side. Some people even think that there is no such thing as depression and that you should pull yourself together (I know that not everyone thinks this way and that there are a lot of understanding people out there). There is such a thing as depression it is a real and dangerous Illness.
Brain scans of people with depression show that parts of the brain are not working normally. People with depression have a higher leave of stress hormones, they also have low levels of a chemical found in the brain called Serotonin this is believed to be the main cause of depression.
Symptoms
Feeling tired all the time and not wanting to get out of bed.
Having no interest in anything.
Being paranoid.
Having a poor appetite or over eating.
Finding it difficult to sleep.
Loosing interest in sex.
Loosing your temper easily.
Avoiding people.
Having low self-esteem.
Worrying about every thing.
Thinking about killing yourself.
Depression is a very common illness, which affects between 5 and 10 per cent of the population. In your lifetime you have a 20% chance of developing some sort of depression. Women are more likely to get it than men are.
Citaloram tablets
Citalopram tablets come in a blister pack of 28 and there is two strips in each box with 14 tablets in each strip there is a days of the weeks written on the strips above each tablet. They come in three different strengths 10mg 20mg(which is what I’m on) and 40mg. Citalopram anti depressant help by returning the levels of Serotonin back to normal this is usually take some time and people will usually be prescribed these tablets for at least six months. The doesage that I take is one tablet a day. The tablet usually take about two weeks to enter your system properly once this happens you should start to feel better, but this doesn’t mean that you should stop taking the tablet. You should only stop taking them when your doctor thinks you are ready to come off them.
You should not take Citalopram tablets if you are taking any of the following:
A medicine called tryptophan.
If you are taking medicines for migraines with contain sumatriptan.
A painkiller called tramadol.
If you are taken St johns wart. It may cause unwanted side affects. (Is there such a thing as a wanted side effect)
You must tell the doctor if the following apples to you:
If you have ever thought of suicide.
If you have any heart problems.
If you are a diabetic.
If you have kidney disease.
If you have epilepsy.
If you have ever had a bleeding disorder.
Citalopram could make the above worse and needs close monitoring from your doctor.
Side Effects
I have never seen such a long list of side effects in my life. When I first read them it put me off the medication I thought the cure sounds worse than the illness but my doctor assures me that they are all very rare. They are:
The very common ones
Drowsiness, changes in sleep pattern, sleeplessness, agitation, nervousness, headaches, tremors, dizziness, palpitations, nausea, dry mouth, constipation, diarrhoea, abnormal sweating, change in eye sight including the ability to focus.
The common ones
Loss in concentration, vivid dreams, loss of memory, anxiety, change in sex drive, increase or loss of appetite, a feeling of indifference, feeling like you want to hurt yourself, confusion, migraines, pins and needles, increased heart rate, feeling faint, indigestion, being sick, stomach ache, wind, problems passing water, gaining weight or loosing weight, runny nose, painful periods, itchy skin.
The uncommon ones
Feeling optimistic and cheerful, fits, mild liver disorders, coughing, sensitivity to light, ringing in the ears, muscle pain, fainting and a general feeling of being unwell.
Rare ones
Haemorrhaging (bruises, bleeding that won’t stop) there is also a small chance that the bodies balance of salts can be altered.
My doctor has told me that in most people the only side effects are feeling a bit sick and the feeling of being drunk.
WARRING
Do not drink alcohol while taking these tablets. May make you feel sleepy and if it does don’t drive or operate machinery. If you take more that you should you should seek medical advice straight away.
My experience with these tablets.
When I got back from the doctors I read the leaflet that was in the box and then spent about an hour trying to talk myself into taking them as after reading the leaflet I was a bit put off. But I did take them. I took the tablet about 1 in the afternoon which I discovered about a hour later that it was a mistake and that I should of taken them at bed time. Why? Because the made me feel drunk, not the drunk way you would feel if you had been out drinking all night it was more like feeling woozy and uncomfortable like you weren’t quit with it. After that I took then before I went to bed and by the time I woke up the felling had worn off, I also felt a little sick after a few days but it didn’t interfere with my normal eating routine too much. I went back to the doctors two weeks later for a check up and he was pleased with my progress. I have now been on then for about a month and the side effects that I had don’t seem to effect me anymore. I have to say that I feel not too bad I’m still getting the odd anxiety attack and my mood hasn’t completely got back to normal but I’m well on they way to recovery.
Even though I have found these tablets very helpful I have put down that I wouldn’t recommend then to a buyer. That’s not because they are rubbish tablets it’s because they are prescribed medicine and should only be give by a doctor. It’s important not to take these tablets or any other prescription medicine unless the doctor has given them to you. Never take anyone else medication.
