I'm so glad to be reading this discussion, because I've had the exact same experiences with Citalopram. I'd been on Celexa over 3 years with good results, when Prescription Solutions (a large mail order service) suddenly switches to Citalopram. With three or four days of taking it, I started feeling more anxious and depressed, started having sleep problems (something I've had on a lot of SRIs other than Celexa) and have gotten a slight muscular twitch on my lower left eyelid, something I've had with other medications. What I'm wondering is, will any "discount" supplier be willing to still offer Celexa if they can get Citalopram wholesale for less? Any experiences with this so far? I definitely feel Citalopram is an inferior medication to Celexa, and it's frustrating to hear people claim it's the same thing. For me, it isn't... period.

leegold, You have come to the right place! Please feel free to roam the site at your own pace. If you look to the left of the screen under "TOOLS" you will find our Depression Test. This test is not a diagnostic tool and is not a replacement or substitute for a physician's advice. The purpose of these tests is to prepare you with information that you can present to your physician. When you're finished the test, you can either print your Final Report or email it directly to your doctor. If you have any question or concerns with our site or please contact Support Department at support@depressioncenter.net. We are open to any questions or concerns you may have. Looking forward to hearing from you soon! Melanie __________________________________ The Depression Center Support Team Edited on 2/27/2005 @ 4:28:42 PM by The Support Team

wow- i just found this site looking for any issues with celexa vs citalopram, as ive been very agitated for the last week or so- the very reason i was on celexa in the first place. i sgned up to respond. ive been on the generic for a couple months now and thought nothing of it until now. it seems that there is a significant issue for quite a few people- im glad i saw this!! thanks to you all- i'll be calling my doctor tomorrow- and if i have to, i'll pay for it, cause i cant stay this agitataed...

I am so glad I found this website. Two months ago I went to fill my RX for Celexa. The pharmacist mentioned that they now had a generic form for Celexa. I told him that maybe somewhere down the line I might try it, and left it at that. When I got home and opened the bottle, I thought the pharmacist had made a mistake. He had given me citalopram anyway. I was upset, but decided to try it. I am now into my second month of taking the citalopram. I told my husband that I was concerned, because I do not feel good about the citalopram. I am a very active person on a day to day basis. However, in the past couple of months, I feel like all I want to do is sleep. I am really tired at nights, after a long day at work, but I just lay for about 1-2 hours before I fall to sleep. Every night around 3 a.m., I have been waking up from horrifying nightmares. They are so bad that I am afraid to fall back to sleep. I have also noticed that I have been much more easily agitated during a normal day. I also have felt that cloud of doom, and it really is frightening. I don't seem to have any drive to do anything. I never had any of these feelings with Celexa. I had been on Celexa for about 3 years and have never had a bad experience. I agree with the fellow who is advising people not to take the citalopram. THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH CITALOPRAM!!!

tapdancer, Regarding your concern about Celexa, please keep in mind that everyone is an individual and will feel normal at different stages. From your posting it sounds like you are questioning your doctor - if you are unsure of the side effects for switching back to the brand name from the generic, your pharmacist can be a really great resource to find the information you are looking for. Then you could go back to your doctor with the pharmacists' findings if you still had any concerns. Please keep us posted. Melanie __________________________________ The Depression Center Support Team

I had been taking Celexa for over a year, and had not been having any problems, but they automatically just switched me to the generic, which has been awful! I have been on the generic for a month now, but I am currently switching back to Celexa. This is my second day back on Celexa. I wanted to hear some responses on how you switched back to Celexa? How long did it take before you felt back to normal? Did you experience any side effects when switching back to Celexa from the generic? I've been having a really rough time with it. I am looking forward to hearing your responses.

I've only been taking Celexa for about 2 years, but like the rest of us i was switched to the generic in December and had the same results. I actually went a little darker than my darkest days. I told my therapist about it and she informed me that about ten percent of her patients were reporting similar effects. She attributed it the process for making the meds. She said that possibly it is less 'refined' than celexa and therefore more difficult to process or the speed of absorption was decreased and so your body was flushing more of it than was getting into your system. At any rate, i refused to take it and it took til this month to get celexa back. So, I've been unmedicated for three months! (Look out world!) Fortunately, I have had only one anxiety attack as of yet. And the S.O. has been doing everything to keep me stress free...poor baby. My psych is going to let me stay off the meds for one more month and see where we are at the end of the month. More than likely I'll be back on the celexa though. It has kinda come to be my security blanket in an insecure world. :eg:

I was on Celexa for over 4 years and forgot what my life was like before---the change in me since I was taking it was so positive. Almost 2 months ago my insurance company switched me to the generic. Being a busy mom (with a son who inherited my mental illness) I didn't think much about the switch. I had noticed that I was becoming more and more agitated. I started once again not being able to control my impulses (i.e. kicking doors, breaking glasses and cussing that could make the devil blush). My husband also noticed the depression was back. He also remembered the change in my prescription. I tried to get switched back at the pharmacy. The insurance company won't pay for anything but generic. Even when my doctor advised it. That means if I want Celexa instead of Citalopram (generic), I have to pay 95.00 out of pocket for it. I can't afford it! I don't know what to do at this point. I have an appeal in with the insurance company but doubt that I will win. I'm scared. Not only that my quality of life has changed but for my children---their safety and future. I won't put my family through the hell I did before Celexa. I'd rather be gone. I tried about 10 different anti-depressents before that one worked for me. It was my miracle pill. In my case---in spite of what the FDA says---Generic does not work!

I've been taking name brand Celexa for a few years and it has been a very positive experience. When I ordered my refill in late November-early December 2004, the pharmacist mentioned that there was now a generic available. My co-pay with Celexa is $25 and the generic was only $10. So, naturally, I jumped at saving $15 per month. When I refilled a few days ago (January 4, 2005) I asked to go back to name brand Celexa. Here is what happened: Within a few days of taking the generic I noticed my mood becoming somewhat darker; a feeling I hadn't experienced in a long time. I thought I was just creating this in my head because I knew I was taking a generic. Then my sleep began to change. I would get to sleep fairly normally, but I began to wake up several hours into my sleep period and had a very hard time getting back to sleep. There had been no change in my usual routine or diet that would account for this, and no events in my life that were out of the ordinary. It was a throughback to those nights before I started taking Celexa when I would wake up, begin to think about work, relationships or whatever, and lay there tossing and turning, wide awake, unable to turn off the raging torrent of negative thoughts. Next, I had a period of a few nights with quite vivid nightmares. One night inparticular I woke up from a nightmare and sat up in bed for a while thinking, "what the hell is going on here -- that was totally f----- up!?!" I sat there until my heart rate slowed and slowly drifted back to sleep, only to return to a slightly different version of the same nightmare! My mood continued to deteriorate and I fell back into a more reclusive state, which was a hallmark of the pre-Celexa days. Sleep was irregular, I had little motivation to do much of anything, my thoughts had become much like they were in the pre-Celexa days -- dark and negative, -- and I was irritable and easily angered. Two days ago I began taking name brand Celexa again and the difference is profound. I'm nearly back to what I consider to be my 'normal' self -- my Celexa-assisted self. I truly believe there is something wrong with the generic Celexa and I would not reccommend it to anyone. In fact, I'm sending a version of this posting to my physician and my psycologist, because

I must say that after 1 week, I am feeling much better. I guess it was all in my head. I am so glad that there has finally been a generic released; as it is so much cheaper. Thanks everyone for your input! Try to keep smilin'!