Aspergers and SSRIs?

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Hi everyone,

my doctor wants to prescribe me Citalopram for depression, but an Aspie friend of mine has given me a strong caveat about Aspies finding SSRI's cause us to space out a lot more. I really don't need more spacing out time than I've already got. Can anyone confirm/provide feedback on this?

I've been on Citalopram for about a month and a half, but I don't feel a thing. No side effects either, which is a good thing.

I found that SSRIs had an enormously positive effect on me. I noticed a drastic reduction in anxiety quite soon after starting using SSRIs (back in 2008 and been on them since). Be warned though, long-term use appears to cause weight gain, excessive sleepiness and a big reduction in libido.

You need to switch to another SSRI.

I was prescribed citlopram over a week ago and I am already feeling a difference, I was having serious bout of depression above the norm. Now everything is just somehow a little easier to deal with not so life or death.

I'm taking Prozac for depression and noticed that for the first two weeks of taking it I was spaced out. It was like living in a dream. However I was told it's a common side effect and that it should go away, and it did. Don't resist treatment because of the possible side effects, everything in life has them.

It's good to know you feel things are easier. People who don't have major depression don't realize how difficult it is to get up and do something.

People do not always have the same drug reactions.

I've never taken citalopram myself but I have been offered it. I know four people who've taken it and all of them had adverse effects ranging from nausea to auditory hallucinations. They all found it a hard drug to get off as the discontinuation syndrome was severe, even when they tapered the dose. When I researched it further I found that this is very common with citalopram. This is not to say it's not a useful drug for some people, but I'd look at other options first if I were you. In my case I tried St Johns Wort, Ginkgo, ginseng, rholodia rosea 5HTP and the amino acid tyrosine (not all at the same time!), and learned a good bit about my brain chemistry in the process.

5-HTP is the direct precursor of serotonin, so taking it increases the amount of serotonin present in the brain. Tyrosine is the precursor of dopamine, adrenaline and noradrenaline. St Johns work acts like an SSRI, increasing serotonin levels. Rhodiola increases dopamine, adrenaline and noradrenaline and may also raise endorphin levels. Gingko and ginseng are used in eastern medicine to enhance concentration and stamina (among other things). I didn't find that gingko and ginseng did anything for me. Neither did St Johns Wort. Taking 5-HTP daily had a positive effect for a day or two, tyrosine had a more pronounced positive effect that lasted much longer, so I was able to deduce that raising my serotonin levels was unlikely to do anything for my depression, but raising dopamine, adrenaline and noradrenaline levels would. I have found rhodiola rosea exceptionally helpful, and if I need a prescription antidepressant in the future I'll go for one that acts on dopamine and the other catecholamines, such as zoloft or wellbutrin, rather than a straight SSRI.

(TL:DR Figuring out roughly what's going on in your brain chemically before you go for prescription antidepressants could save you a lot of time and side effects)

I was on Citalopram for a while, and it kinda deadened the world for me for a few weeks, and then made me crazy like I had ants eating my soul and I wanted to kill myself. So I stopped taking them.

I was on Celexa (name brand of Citalopram here in the States) about eight years ago. I didn't really notice much difference in me.

Of course, it seems like I've been on half of the major anti-depressants since I was seventeen. I felt like only a few of them worked, and only for a short time. I'm on Zoloft now (Sertraline), supposed to be on 100mg, but I'm asking to cut back to 50mg at my next appointment, because I feel less irritable at that dose.

SSRI's never did me anything but harm... but that is how I am with most medications. Being spaced out was the least of my concerns with those things... meds put me in the er sometimes... Taupey is right though, people do not always have the same reactions... I would not be too concerned about it unless you have issues with other SSRI's in the past... Besides, if I am not mistaken Celexa is an easy one to get off of (in case you do have side effects)... not like Effexor. SSNRI's... those things will getcha...

I've been on citalopram for over a year.
I started at 20 mg and am now at 50 mg/day.
It has a lot of positive effect on me--mostly I just have more energy and motivation to do things. This has been a huge problem in the past; I was so depressed I could never get things done, then things would pile up and I'd feel worse. I'd feel physically tired too, but now that's WAY better.

I haven't noticed a lot of downside. The only thing I've heard is that it may increase obsessive thoughts in lower doses (I've had HUGE problems with obsessive thoughts most of my life, they cause a great deal of anxiety), but I haven't noticed an increase. Maybe it's helped with that a little. The other thing is you get tired if you drink too much alcohol; I remember passing out on the couch after too many, but light drinking is fine.

One thing that might happen--your sleep pattern may be a bit messed up for the first week, but it will get back to normal.

(I should point out a couple of things about myself: I'm not officially diagnosed with AS, and I also smoke marijuana quite regularly, which has no effect on the medication, but probably helps my mind 'relax' more).

Good luck, feel free to PM me if you have more questions.

SSRI's almost killed me.

SSRI's got rid of my anxiety and PMDD. Hardly any side effects, besides a bit of shaking if I didn't take them at the same time everyday.

SSRI's for me were the worst thing id ever gone through. This was when they thought i had depression and social anxiety, before i was diagnosed with AS the day before my 38th birthday...nice birthday present hey .

I was put on several different ones and i had no positive effects whatever, i mainly felt completely disconnected and would sometimes burst into tears for no reason. The last one made my world turn 180 degrees and made me suicidal, something i had never even been close to thinking about. My home, which was my sanctuary, became unbearable to be in and i had to flee to stay with family.

It took me 6 months to get over the side effects, and now im just dealing with basically reliving my entire previous 30+ years now knowing that imy experience of everything i had been through was different to everyone elses, which has been hard to deal with as i think you might appreciate. Its almost like having lived a lie for 38 years.

Anyways, to anyone who is prescribed SSRI's PLEASE make sure you have a good doctor, who isnt a pill and bill 5 minute visit merchant, who will listen to you. Dont feel embarrassed to let them know if there are ANY side effects, no matter how small you think they are, keep a diary while you are on them. Make sure you have a friend or family member who can offer support and monitor you (its something i didnt have until it was almost too late, as my family and i dont get on some of the time).
And dont be afraid to prefer to not be medicated.

Sometimes it might take trying several and different dosages before you get the right one, and these drugs need more than a week to build up to a usable level in your system, so it can mean a long period of experimenting. Especially if you have to switch, you had to go off the current one slowly, then be clear of it, before you can slowly build up the next one.

They didnt work for me, and almost cost me my life, but you may have better results as everyone is different.

Just dont be silent if they are knocking you about in any way, i waited almost too long before i acted.

Amen to that. I've been through this garbage 6 times over the last 20-odd years. I was put on Prozac back in the late 1990's while still working at the Pentagon, by my primary care doctor I had back then, who thought he was God's gift to mankind, just because he went to Temple University's medical school. It took all I could to keep from biting off a 3-star general's head. This same doctor cold-turkeyed me off Prozac and put me on Effexor. It gave me tinnitus, as well as wrecked my voice. I was cold turkeyed off that and put on Elavil (amitryphyline). I was waking up hung over most days. By the time I was put on this junk, I was gone from the Pentagon, and had to switch doctors. I had gone from an MD to a DO, who, at the time, generally did not prescribe antipsychotics. I was fine for a few years, even though the only job I could find was delivering pizza.

Fast forward a few years to 2005. I had to switch doctors again, after losing my job at Apple Computer. I was living at home with my mom, since her health was going downhill. I was having financial, emotional, personal, and physical problems, in addition to having to take care of her. I went in to the clinc at the local hospital, and had an emotional breakdown. Next thing you know, I was headed to the Psychiatric ER. I was assigned a psychiatrist, as well as a psychologist. The first thing the psychiatrist does was put me on citalopram. It did nothing for me but to make me feel lifeless, screw up my blood sugars, and made me gain weight. I then was put on Buspar, which did nothing but make my anxiety worse. 2 years ago, I was put on Viibryd. I had almost every side effect imaginable on this stuff. I had violent dreams, crying brain fog, de-realization, anhedonia, etc. I was also having proms with my cholesterol, and was being prescribed statins, which gave me diarhhea. The doctor took me off that and put me on niacin, which does a better job of controlling my cholesterol. I have also been trying to wean off Viibryd, and have been taking fish oil capsules instead. The seem to make my mood better than using Viibryd and any other psychotropic drug. This is what I get for being a guinea pig for BIG PHArMA.

It was about this time that my youngest brother and his wife suspected I had Aspergers, as they have a son and a daughter on the spectrum. Frankly, they have the same distaste for psychiatrists that I do, as not long after their son was diagnosed, he was sent to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Children Psychiatric Ward. The doctors there pumped him so full of chemicals that this boy will never be NT, according to them.