Citalopram

amicrazytoo

My DH's doctor is subscribing Citalopram to lessen his moodiness and agitation. Do any of you have experience with this drug? I want to hear the good, the bad and the ugly of this drug.

Thanks!

John_inFlorida

My DW has had depression for many years and is taking Citalopram, 20mg. this started years before the VD. A couple of years ago, she was getting more depressed than usual and the doctor doubled it to 40mg. As far as I can tell, we have never had any issues with his drug. Hope it works for your husband

M1

citalopram (Celexa) has been around a long time, it and sertraline (in the same class) have pretty good track records for agitation and moodiness in PWD.  Generally pretty well tolerated.  Can sometimes cause increased appetite, excess sweating, but not major.  Not a lot of GI side effects or drowsiness/agitation typically.  Worth a try for sure, it takes a week or two to see full effects of any dose (generally 20-40 mg/day, sometimes 10 in a small person),  Good luck--

LadyTexan

Yes - DH has been on Citalopram for at least 18 months. It was prescribed by the geri-psychiatrist. It works well for his anxiety or depression, I don't recall which. It was a very welcome addition to DH's meds because there was a noticeable difference in his mood.

KatieKat1

Yes...DH has been on it for a few months and has helped so much with his agitation.  Wish we had started DH on it sooner because he was always agitated and could be combative if he was agitated enough. At least he now laughs...although we are not sure what he laughs at but much better than being moody.

Of course this medication as with any med works for some folks and not others.  DH had been on two other similar meds and they did nothing for him.  It all comes down to a person's body chemistry.

Ed1937

Here is a lot of information on it. https://www.drugs.com/search.php?searchterm=Citalopram  

amicrazytoo

Thanks for the replies! I am now looking forward to him taking this. Weight gain would be a definite plus for him, 5'11" and 118 lbs. So if it can help with his agitation and moodiness, it sounds like just the perfect wonder drug for him.

shardy

Jim started citalopram for anger and paranoia. We started low and it did make a difference for roughly 6 months at which time it was increased and again 6 months later the anger and paranoia returned. Again it was increased. We did this I think 6 times over 3-4 years until he was on the maximum dose then a low dose of seroquel was added. Every 6-10 months the seroquel needs to be increased.

He showed no side effects and actually dropped 20-25 pounds but I think that was because he was calm enough he could again start going to the gym.

I was very nervous starting him on this medication but can now say it was one of the best things we have done. No more screaming and rages and threatening the neighbors and no more thinking everyone is plotting to get him.

Good luck.

jmlarue

Thank you, Shandy, for your reply. I am not the OP, but I am facing a similar problem with my DH. Cognitive function has rapidly declined in the past 60 days. Anger to the point of raging is almost a constant now. Paranoia is now evident, too. He's taken Citalopram low dose (10mg) for several years prior to his vascular dementia diagnosis. The dosage has not been increased, so I have a call in for his primary care doctor to discuss increasing it. I surely hope it will help. I'm on the edge of breakdown from being verbally savaged all day/every day and restrained by best medical advice that one should not try to reason, argue, or defend one's self from non-stop verbal assaults. Quite literally biting my tongue until it bleeds and a bit worried that I'm fast-approaching a tipping point on containing my own anger. I've reached out to Caregiver Support through the VA, but not finding any help in the tepid advice that I'm handling things well and to keep doing what I'm doing. I may be handling it well for my DH, but I'm becoming sick with despair in the bargain.

M1

Hi jmiarue, I'm sorry for what you're going through--you sbouldn't be expected to put up with abuse.  Talk to the doc about other options.  It may be time for an atypical antipsychotic like Seroquel or Risperdal.  If his primary care isn't comfortable, ask for a geriatric psych referral.  Really.  Glad you said something.

shardy

I'm so sorry jmlarue for what you're going through. I could have written your post a few years ago. The meds have been a lifesaver. I wouldn't be able to keep Jim here without them.

The VA here was similar in that it had an attitude of , " good job" and not anything more.  when my daughter went with to one of his appointments and pointed out I needed help and I shouldn't have to deal with this every day we discovered they offer respite care for all vets here along with a support group.

We have an appointment on the 25th to discuss placement and having his dr sign that he is no longer competent.  I both dread it and am looking forward to it.

Good luck and let us know how The Dr turns out

Shardy

Amicrazytoo don't mean to hijack your thread, just wanted to respond to jmlarue.

jmlarue

Thanks for the kind words and advice, especially on the VA situation. The big government moves like a crippled elephant - made worse by a nonsensical response to Covid-19. I spent close to 6 hours yesterday fighting my way through phone trees, long holds ("You are caller #56), return phone calls from appt. schedulers and assistants to assistants to get a video call with a psych doctor scheduled for next week...sigh. I intend to call our civilian Primary doc today about an immediate Rx dosage increase or change. If that doesn't work, I'll be visiting the local Weed store and bake some special brownies for both of us - peace out, man!

Gotta laugh at the utter insanity of it all or else I'll cry.

amicrazytoo

My thread has not been hijacked, it's been added to, which we all need. I appreciate that we are all struggling and the more information shared the better!  Thank you all!

jmlarue

Thought you might benefit from learning what our civilian Primary doc prescribed for my DH's anger and aggression. He rejected the idea of increasing the Citalopram dose in favor of adding Prazosin. I've done some initial research on this drug that says is being used effectively to treat anxiety, anger, and aggression in patients with dementia and PTSD. First dose is this evening before bed. The drug is titrated every few days to a twice daily dose at gradually increasing strengths over the course of a couple of weeks. It has a reputation for being well tolerated even for patients with comorbidities like heart failure. I'm hopeful that it will help and will try to update this thread in a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed. The anger, aggression, and profanity-laced arguments that worsen from afternoon through evening is stressing me out and wearing me down.