# Celexa and nausea



## AnneMarie

Well, after the first few days on this stuff, I thought it was going pretty well, but as each day goes by, I notice I'm nauseated - a lot. I understand this is a common side effect with Celexa. Has anyone had experience with this med and can you tell me how long the nausea lasts? Other than the icky stomach, I don't really have any other side effects from it, so I'd like to stick with it. Any input would be appreciated.Thanks!AnneMarie


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## kinetic

hmmm... well... I took it for a couple months last fall with no adverse effects (unless i missed a dose... but that's another story)... though I stopped taking it last october, but I just called my dr. today and asked to be put back on it... so we'll see how it goes this time around.


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## AnneMarie

Kinetic - thanks for the response. The only thing I'm really noticing is the nausea, but to be honest, I was having some problems with that before I started the Celexa, so who knows. I should put out a post to gasgirl. I think she has been taking it for some time with pretty good success.Good luck with it this time around.


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## kinetic

thanks =) it did help me last time... just don't like what happens when I miss a dose... that's what concerns me... I get VERY irritable, bad mood swings, etc... but when I do take it... it works







...just don't annoy me on a day I forgot to take it


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## carolauren

AnneMarie,The nausea, which for me was very minor, went away in a couple weeks. What dose are you starting with?


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## AnneMarie

Gasgirl - starting out at 10mg for the first week to ten days and then bumping up to twenty. It's not unbearable and sometimes it's more like sour stomach than nausea. Whatever it is, it keeps me from eating and that's a good thing! I'm supposed to increase to 20 mg. this weekend. I'm hoping I don't see a big jump in the stomach ickies. Any thoughts? By they way, like you, I don't really notice it making much difference in the IBS-D. At first I thought it was slowing me down, but that was just some flukey thing.


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## kinetic

hmm... ok I started it last night (20mg dose) and when I woke up this morning I REALLY felt like ####.... very very tired... could hardly get up, then sweating a little and somewhat dizzy... I have been having problems lately with being overly tired, but it's usually just that... being tired... today I just felt like I wanted to crawl back into bed for the next week.... ugh... fortunately it's the weekend, and I don't work again tomorrow, so I can see how I feel on saturday after sleeping in... might havta go home early if I don't feel better though


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## AnneMarie

Kinetic - maybe you should try starting out at the 10mg dose and work your way up to 20mg. That seems to be what a lot of people do until their bodies adjust. The pills are scored and break eally easily so you might want to give it a try.Good luck!By the way, I do have one other side effect, I do have difficultly getting up in the morning, so it does tend to make me a little more sluggish also.But I'm going to stick with it.


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## kinetic

actually I have 40mg pills that I break in half (insurance wouldn't cover 30 of the 20mg ones, but would cover 15 40mg pills...







)I'm hoping it's better when I'm able to sleep in... I definitely don't need to be more tired... I already have problems staying awake driving on my way home from work... 5pm and I'm struggling to stay awake sometimes... not fun...


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## carolauren

kinetic,You can get a pill cutter and further cut the pills to 10mg. I'm taking 30mg now so I cut up the 40mg ones into fourths.


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## kinetic

interesting thought... though I was on celexa last fall and had the same dosage then... so I'm wondering if it's either something else completely causing it, or if i'm reacting differently this time because of some change in my body's chemistry or something like that... I have been tired for the last several weeks... so I'm more inclined to think it's not related, and just coincidence that it was worse today... (I hope that's the case anyway...)


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## spider

My main symptom is Nausea, with or without Celexa, but when I went on 10mg celexa the nausea got really bad, as did my decreased appetite. I would suggest starting at a lower dose, even lower than 10. My doc has me now on Liquid Prozac, 2.5mg for 10 days, 5mg for 10days, 7.5 for 10 days, and eventually up to 10mg...so i am not affected too badly by the side effects.celexa isn't available in liquid, but you could do something similar. I read in a book called "FEELING GOOD" by DR. David Burns that sometimes he would have his patients grind up a 20mg pill into powder and add it to a glass of iced tea or lemonade. each day you shake up the glass and drink your dose (ie" 1/4 glass= 5mg, 1/8= 2.5mg, etc)Of course you should talk to your doctor about this, but don't be afraid to stay at a low dose until your body is ready to step it up, don't push yourself too hard with these meds, just take it day, you'll get there!!!!


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## Mikala1

I just started Celexa today which is why I'm here. Yikes! I just took a fourth of one of the 20 mg pills and I was nauseated beyond belief. I went to the gym as usual and had to leave and sleep it off for two hours. Hope it goes away!


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## Dolphinlady

Hi ....When I started taking it I had a lot of nausea and "D." It took about three weeks for it to go away. I think my body was just adjusting to it, but now it's pretty much fine.


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## AnneMarie

I've been on the Celexa for two weeks now and I've noticed a change in my bowel patterns. I don't go more frequently, but when I do go it's always loose and very crampy. I figure my body needs a few more weeks to adjust to the med. For me, the nausea disappeared after about a week or so. It has decreased my appetite, which I love, but I've noticed a slight increase in my anxiety level. But of course I know that is normal when you sometimes start an SSRI type drug. I know it will go away. Besides, my life is so goofy right now, it's probably everything else making me antsy. Anyway, today was the first day I noticed a sexual side effect from the drug. No trouble with arousal, but couldn't get to the big "O". I hope that goes away soon, because that's an effect I usually don't tolerate well at all!


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## carolauren

AnneMarie,The sexual side effect may or may not go away. For me it did get alot better after a couple months, although it still takes me longer (just what we ladies need, right?) I find it an acceptable trade-off at this point, as the Celexa keeps me much more even emotionally. If you've only been taking it for two weeks your body is still adjusting.


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## kinetic

AnneMarie- I've been on it about the same amount of time too, and I noticed the same sexual side effect... either takes a long time or don't even get there... very frustrating.... I'm hoping it does go away soon!


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## lilymaid

Oh my God now I'm totally freaking. I went the the psychiatrist for the first time today and he put me on Celexa, 10 mg/day. And one of my total phobias is throwing up and feeling nauseated! Oh my God! Should I take it? I mean, he knows about my fears of that. And I have to work tomorrow. I'm totally worried. What should I do????Regards, Lilymaid (nearly starting to cry)


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## kinetic

lilymaid, for me the nausea only lasted for a little bit the first day, and it was a VERY mild feeling too... and I think most of my other symptoms were cause I was getting over a cold and the flu at that time too... I do think it helps, and would be good if you can try to take it... and 10mg is half the dose i'm on... if your doctor knows about your phobia and still prescribed it for you, I'd guess s/he's pretty sure it shouldn't be a problem for you.







welcome to the "happy pill" world


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## AnneMarie

Lilymaid - as you can see from my previous posts, the nausea only lasted about a week for me. Now it is completely gone. And truthfully, it was more like sour stomach. I never actually puked or even came close to it. You are doing the right thing by starting out at 10mg. and it might help if you take it at bedtime. I think that made a difference for me. Hang in there! None of the effects have been unbearable and I think in the long term, the benefits will far outweigh all of the initial icky stuff!


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## JDA

Hey all...I started taking 10mgs of Celexa about 4 days ago. It makes me tired, but so did the paxil. Like AnneMarie, I take mine at night just incase...that's what I did on the paxil. I didn't really get nauseated(just a trace feeling)but have a slight headache at times. I'm hoping this will work for me. My problem is D with incomplete evacuation. So far the pain/bloating in my lower ab is subsiding, but I really want more formed stools and complete evacuation...I still hate talking about this but if any of you have relief of what I'm describing I'd be interested to hear. I'll keep checking here. Thanks.


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## AnneMarie

Searching - I'm still taking the Celexa. I don't notice a whole lot of change in my IBS symptoms with it. It's not really better, but it certainly isn't worse, and that's a good thing. For me, half the battle is anxiety. When I'm keyed up, my guts really get in a twist, so I think that the Celexa might eventually help with that. I'm hoping to increase my dose to 20mg. soon. We'll see how that goes.Good luck.


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## JDA

Thanks AnneMarie, not getting worse is okay too...I wish you well on your increased dose. I had a bad night last night so I imagine this is like all the rest of the stuff I tried...doesn't make much difference. But I'll stick it out a couple more weeks. Take care.


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## JDA

Well I've actually been pretty good since my last post...my BM's are more formed and less pain in my lower abs. I'm still on 10mgs before bed...I hope this lasts...but I've been here before, so I don't get convinced this easy...ups and downs are common. No major nausea, headaches, but a little tired. I'm eating everything too...onion rings, milk, fries, chips, fruit, bread and more. I figure I might as well test the waters and they are pretty calm so far. I'll keep posting.


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## JDA

Well, just like I suspected...it didn't last. Guess this Celexa isn't the one for me. It went bad...good...bad. Time to try something else.


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## Spider1

Hey Searching,Just wondering what went wrong with the Celexa? You seemed to be doing well with it! Was it the side effects? I have been working my way up on Prozac, and I seem do be doing okay.


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## slacker

Some psychiatrists prescribe Remeron concurrently with SSRI's, which is especially useful when the patient doesn't tolerate SSRI's. Remeron by itself is a pretty weak anti-depressant (but very good for anxiety). The SSRI's are a lot stronger but people often can't tolerate some of the side effects. Remeron will block the nausea and anxiety, among other things, from the very First dose, on. So, you get a potent anti-depressant"cocktail" without the nasty Side effects. Maybe some of you could try that. Good luck.slacker


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## JDA

Spider1, I'm still on the Celexa...up to 20 mgs as doctor suggested. The thing that went wrong is that I don't think it is working. I did have some good days...but I had a bunch of bad ones too. This last week I might as well not be on anything. BM's are lose and my incomplete evacuation problem is a nightmare. The only really big side effect is being tired, but I'd take that if it worked. I will probably get better days, but I think it has nothing to do with the celexa...just how my stomach works. That being the case, I'm gonna ask the doc for a new pill. If and when I find one...I'll stick with it.I won't keep taking something if it doesn't work consistently. Glad the prozac is working for you...I wish you well.


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## Guest

Celexa users, keep your eye on Lexapro, I am... http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/De...ory_lexapro.htm


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## Goldielocks5

I took my first 20mg dose last night and had a lot of nausea and stomach cramping - and then some D (not bad, but kept me up from midnight to 3am). this morning I'm feeling OK.... I think tonight I will cut the pill in 1/2 and take only 10mg and see how it goes.Those who had nausea/D from Celexa- did it go away after a while? I don't want to waste too much time taking it if it's not going to go away... but do want to give it a try.I have mild anxiety and decided it was time to try something for it - and hopefully it will help my IBS-D issues that started the past 6mo getting bad.thanks everyone!


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## Moogle31

I was on it for three weeks and didn't feel so bad from nausea but I was very tired like others mentioned. I started out on 10 mg a day, so that helped. I'm going to give in another try for at least two months so see if the drowsiness goes away. It didn't help my gas problems in three weeks, so hopefully I'll see results in a few months.


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