Trouble sleeping on citalopram

Treatment and medication
1

I've been on 40mg citalopram for 3 months now but still struggling to sleep. My GP warned me that many over the counter sleeping tablets can affect the heart rhythm when on this higher dose of cit. Can anyone recommend anything??

2

Hi Katie,

What time of the day do you take Cita?

Regards,

David

3

I found changing from taking cit at night to in the morning my sleep was better. Worth trying. Good luck

4

I had problems sleeping all the time I was taking citalopram.

I have had zopiclone sleeping tablets from the doctor before, which were effective but had a hangover effect into the next morning, many doctors are reluctant to prescribe them now as they can be addictive.

The sleep problem was one of the reasons I stopped taking them, lack of sleep can make depression worse, and out of desperation I started drinking to get to sleep (really not a good idea).

Some people say doing exercise helps with sleep. I rarely had the energy or motivation, sometimes it helped other times made me feel more hyper.

If the lack of sleep is a big problem then it is worth discussing with GP about either lowering dose, short term sleeping tablets or changing to different antidepressant. Most SSRIs (citalopram, prozac,sertraline etc) can cause sleep problems. Mirtazepine or Clomipramine, Amitriptyline etc. can help with getting to sleep, but can also be too sedating for some people and cause weight gain.

5

Hi Katie,

How is it going?

David.

6

Sorry David, I've only just seen your replies. I take cit in the morning. Last night was a bad night. I got 4 hours sleep.

Katie

7

Hi, I do regular exercise as I walk my dog daily and run 3 times per week. I think it may be the city I need to change 😑

Thanks for your advice.

Katie

8

Thank you but I already take it in the morning.

Katie.

9

Hi,

That's okay, there is a problem it seems sometimes with not getting a notification that someone has replied to posts.  The only way is to trawl through them all which can be a bit of a chore when you aren't involved in certain ones.  Not to worry.

Anyway, I used to take mine in the morning when on 20mg however, due to vivid multiple dreams, restless sleep patterns and dark thoughts I posted a help here.  I was advised to give it a try and move it up to bedtime which I did over a few days.  I have not looked back and as I believe it got to work on my repairs while I slept it helped me when I increased to 30 and then 40mg.  May be worth giving it a try.

I was also advised to take vitimin B6 and D3 to help the serotonin levels which help.

I would give the change a go and see how things go before thinking of swapping meds.  

Good Luck!

Regards,

David

10

That sounds good! I'll try that. Thank you.

Katie