Topic: Freaking Out: Just Learned Celexa and other SSRIs might cause mito/muscle issues
Bugg
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8095
posted
Hi All-
Like so many of you over the years, I have been to so many doctors trying to get well. While I have definitely improved with lyme treatment, I found, over time, I did not feel any better (but worse) on the abx combos. Anyway, at one point in my journey, I saw a physician and the only med I was on was Celexa (aka citalopram) 10mg a day. I had taken this for years for low level depression. Anyway, he said he wondered if that wasn't harming my body in some way...
I recently was researching dosages of antioxidants/COQ10 that patients with mitochondrial myopathies take to help them. While I was researching this, I stumbled across on the MITO Disorders National Website that citalopram/Celexa can cause damage to mitochondria. I couldn't believe it when I read it. So, I started doing further research and as the abstracts below will show you it seems to impair certain complexes in the oxidative phos process...
Also, I almost went into cardiac arrest when I was taking celexa along with fluconazole (there's a study below that warns of this life-threateing interaction)...
Now, I'm wondering if that doc was onto something....Does anyone here have any knowledge of this or other SSRIs causing harm????
joalo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 12752
posted
Up.
-------------------- Sick since January 1985. Misdiagnosed for 20 years. Tested CDC positive October 2005. Treating since April 2006. Posts: 3228 | From Somewhere west of the Mississippi | Registered: Aug 2007
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Haley
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 22008
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Bugg - check out my post on Rhodiola that I just posted. This may be an alternative to Celexa. You can get a bit more information if you read some excerpts from the book. I posted the link.
Posts: 2232 | From USA | Registered: Aug 2009
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chiquita incognita
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This is exactly why I don' t trust most of these mainstream drugs. They do have harsh side effects at least potentially, and the rates of occurrence are often understated in so-called "Studies" that are often tweaked to benefit the profiteer. I have attended physician's lectures in which this fact was abundantly clear.
So in other words, docs and pharmacists may not know the truth about how often this happens, because they are not getting the whole story. THough they can also testify based on their own patient observation, of course.
Herbs can have side effects, at times, but their profile is much less frequent and also the effects are (usually, with only a few exceptions) much less severe if they do happen. Lymies have to be cautious though because we tend to hyper-respond to many things, so we need to go slowly and gradually on dosages to test for tolerance. There is no harm in stopping a herb, where meds require professional supervision to stop them.
Of course you have to know what you are doing when blending herbs and they have to be high quality (right growing and processing conditions, etc).
I don't think we are all the same and some people may need the abx or mainstream antidepressants to respond. Others like me require the herbs because for me myself, I am way too sensitive to these medications to take them. And the herbs have worked incredibly well for me.
Haley, Rhodiola supports the adrenal glands so there is some truth to it that it can help as anti-depressant. I wouldn't say that it works standing on its own. Studies have shown that herbs work best in synergistic formulas, not solo.
Here is a psychiatrist's website about naturopathics that can be integrated with mainstream meds for depression or anxiety support:
See The MOod Cure by Julia Ross, therapist and clinical nutritionist. This book discusses amino acids and dosages for mood issues. They work by raising neurotransmitters in the brain.
My acupuncturist said that her claims are over-blown and things don't go quite as dramatically as she claims, but still nutritionists who have trained with her also find that the formulas really do work. Just not as overnight as she claims, that's all. I also have talked with two alchoholics who reformed and lost their craves based on her programs, not that you or anyone else here is writing about alchohol craves but hte point is, it really does work, just give it a bit more time than she says. Individual response rates may vary but that is true of anything else too.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes, CI
The above information has not been evaluated by the FDA and does not diagnose, cure or prevent any disease. Drugs and herbs may interact, talk with your doctor.
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chiquita incognita
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posted
PS Bugg and others here, If there is muscle wasting, there are supplements and other ways to build them back up.
You should talk to your doctor, and this is only for adjunct support:
Coenzyme Q10 Metagenics makes a rice protein powder "medical food" that is designed for fat burning without muscle tissue loss. This could be supportive. You could find it at www.iherb.com or www.vitacost.com
Proteins, amino acids will be key Spirulina alongside, not instead of the above, was used for people in starvation conditions who couldn't tolerate any foods other than single-celled organisms, to rebuild muscle and organ tissue and offer nutrient support (see Paul Pitchord, Healing with Whole Foods, book).
Talk to your doctor, be sure this is all approved before you start to rule out drug-herb-nutrient interactions (unlikely, but still check) and also to make sure your doctor says nothing is contra-indicated.
It's important for your doctor to know what supplements you are doing because this changes diagnostic pictures.
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