Many times, it works well with limited side effects. It can cause weight gain and for some restless legs when your getting used to it. Its twin brother Lexapro works the same, same chemical makeup, pretty much same med, but it does not cause weight gain. They both work well for depression in BiPolar. These are both low dose meds, generally between 10mg - 40mg dosage.

After 29 years of BiPolar, mine is manageable enough that I can use 20 mgs of Lexapro every other day and it keeps the depression in check with no side effects. During certain Seasonal upticks I change it back to everyday, if needed.

I've used Celexa and/or Lexapro on and off for the past 10 years.

Thank you for this information. I will mention all of this to my doctor. I think adding an antidepressant while also taking my mood stabilizer is my next step in finding the right medications for me.

I took celexa for a while. But she though I was being over medicated and took me off. I liked it though

I haven't but I'll give ya a bump!!…..xo

I was on Celexa, but never tried Lexapro. The Celexa caused severe mania for me. I was a complete mess...highly irritable to the point of screaming and yelling and swearing at myself about EVERYTHING! I hated myself and hated almost everybody close to me! My Dad, whom I love and adore and rarely ever argue with, were both on Celexa at the same time and we had horrific arguments with each other about stupid, little things. It was horribly frightening because I felt violent towards him, but, never acted on it. I'm not a violent person under normal circumstances. I hated what I'd become on Celexa, so, finally went off of it. Everyone's different, though. It just happened to be the worst med I've ever taken! It may work well for you, however. You just need to try it under a doctor's supervision of course. Good luck.

Hi idk but the had me on I think Cymbalta it made me sick and tired. Another person in my group said the same thing.
I'm looking for another psychiatrist because I don't think I'm being diagnosed correctly I have PTSD as well because I was beaten and shot a couple years back so I'm a hot mess

Thanks everyone for your feedback. This helps :-)

Oh, one other question, do you think if I took Celexa only during my depression times, it wouldn't throw me into a manic episode?

Taking only and Anti-D when BiPolar tends to make people Manic, generally a Mood Stabilizer is needed to balance the brain chemistry.

And people with BPI often have trouble taking Anti-Depressants in their med cocktail they have negative reactions to them a lot of the time.

If you're under the care of a Pdoc, and he's DX'd you BiPolar, there would be no reason for him to only give you an Anti-Depressant, they know the risks. If you're on a Mood Stabilizer and you're thinking of stopping it and just taking an Anti-Depressant, that would be probably destroy any level of stability you have at this point.

I am currently on a mood stabilizer. Guess I should have mentioned that. So was just wondering if taking an anti depressant during the time that I'm not hypomanic would help my depression.

Its something you'll have to go over with your Pdoc. If you have bad dips of depression sometimes they can help, but not everyone reacts the same way to the same drugs. Also, stopping and starting Anti-D's can cause your Mood Stabilizer to work differently or not be as effective. I wish it was an easy "yes or no" answer, but it's not.

Talk to your Pdoc about it and see what he recommends.

I’ve been on 40 msg of celexa for many years.