Celexa (Citalopram) Review

Overall 4.12 of 5 view all 16 reviews

pitcherday
Des Moines, IA

Can have bad sexual side effects...

Pros

Cheap

Cons

Causes sexual dysfunction, Causes lethargy

AUG

2009

Celexa (Citalopram) —

My husband was prescribed Celexa for his war-related PTSD issues. It worked all right for his depression and anger. The problem is that it caused lethargy and sexual dysfunction. Trading depression for sexual frustration is a wash. No one at the Army would listen to him and prescribed Levitra instead for sexual issues. That did not work, because it was not the problem. He was on the Celexa for 18 months until he was retired.

When he explained his sexual dysfunction to his new doctor at the VA, he said he should go on a new anti-depressant. After carefully listening to his problems, he suggested Wellbutrin. It turns out that Wellbutrin is a non-formulary drug for our health insurance and the Army had him on Celexa because of the cheapness.

We pay about five times more for the Wellbutrin than we were for the Celexa, but I don't want to put a dollar amount on quality-of-life and happiness. Celexa may be OK for some, but not for my husband. He is tons happier on Wellbutrin.

Last edited on Sep 18, 2009

Celexa (Citalopram) is not recommended by pitcherday

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Comments about pitcherday’s Review

Glad your husband found a good solution. I had some very interesting sexual effects trying to go off of Celexa. Maybe someday I'll have the nerve to write about them! I've stayed with a reduced dose -- still Celexa -- and am doing well.

In response to pitcherday's comment from Aug 27, 2009 at 2:48PM:

Oh you have that right! My sister was supposed to go on Lexapro but her insurance wouldn't cover it so they gave her Celexa which is an older somewhat similar form of Lexapro. She had all kinds of side effects from weight gain to sexual issues to mood swings. FINALLY the doctor gave her samples of Lexapro and she is doing GREAT. Insurance still won't pay but the doctor will continue to give her samples until there is a generic Lexapro.

Ridiculous how insurance companies are.

In response to PattyTherre's comment from Aug 27, 2009 at 12:45PM:

Thanks. Like I said to Fardreamer, people always want the cheapest drug. They all work in different ways, with some people suffering more side effects than others, but I think if you take a drug out of the running because of the expense, you might end up still suffering - just in a different way.

In response to Fardreamer's comment from Aug 27, 2009 at 2:10PM:

People tend to gravitate toward the cheapest drug. Maybe the other ones are more expensive for a reason!

Yeah. I saw the list of negative side effects on an AD drug they have my mom on now and, even though I'm not dating anyone (making the point moot for me), I sure would think twice or thrice before taking Celexa or any AD drug.

Many AD's cause this dysfunction in men and women. They also cause weight gain. I don't know how anyone could be happy with those two issues out of their control when on medication. Good review!