Coughing???

I started Celexa beginning of October. Coincidence I also have a horrible cough? My doc doesn't think it's related, but I can't figure why else it would start? It's a dry tickle that fires off all of a sudden and creates violent cough. I saw cough listed as a side effect, but didn't know it could be this bad!

Do you also take bloodpressure meds?
I take lisinopril and that tends to give me bouts of a dry nuisance cough. Very unpleasant, but further (relatively) harmless as long as you don't have broken or bruised ribs.

I have no cough at all.. however my mouth gets dry, I drink alot of water, and other liquids (not too much alcohol though) Possibly that's the reason I don't experience this side effect.. try drinking more water, or chewing gum.

If this is directly related to the citalopram (no other medicines involved) then it would be part of the FREQUENT adverse effects associated with the drug. Google up a citalopram drug sheet, then scroll down to the WHO post-marketing reports of adverse effects, and you'll find something along the lines of:

'Respiratory System Disorders - Frequent: coughing. Infrequent: bronchitis, dyspnea, pneumonia. Rare: asthma, laryngitis, bronchospasm, pneumonitis, sputum increased.'

Excess serotonin causes, amongst other things, constricted bronchioles. Patient queries on dry cough, worsening of asthsma, bronchitis and similar are very common.

I had wheezing, plus the cough.

Thanks for the info everyone. I'm not on any other meds. I'll see what the info sheet says and maybe go back in. I did have the dry mouth when I started on them and carried water everywhere I went and it seems to help the cough when it starts, but doesn't help prevent it. I'd love to not have to take anything, but that just isn't an option for me right now!:)
Thanks everyone!

Kel wrote:

I started Celexa beginning of October. Coincidence I also have a horrible cough? My doc doesn't think it's related, but I can't figure why else it would start? It's a dry tickle that fires off all of a sudden and creates violent cough. I saw cough listed as a side effect, but didn't know it could be this bad!

Any update on this? Change of medication, result on cough?

Kel wrote:

I started Celexa beginning of October. Coincidence I also have a horrible cough? My doc doesn't think it's related, but I can't figure why else it would start? It's a dry tickle that fires off all of a sudden and creates violent cough. I saw cough listed as a side effect, but didn't know it could be this bad!

I have the same problem and I'm stopping and switching to something else. I have been coughing since I started

I take lisinopril also ( since Jan.)and that's when the weird uncontrollable cough started. In fact, the dr. prescribed celexa (May)to help lower the spiking blood pressure during my high anxiety bouts. I contribute the cough to lisinopril.

I started taking Celexa two weeks ago and I started coughing about a week ago! It's very sudden and starts with the dry tickle. I am going back to the doctor to request a change - which I hate to do since I feel so great on this med. But I am experiencing other difficult sexual side effects that I can't live with either.

I think you should drink more water, I assume the coughing is cause by a dry throat/mouth, which is a side effect of taking Celexa, all symptoms wear off eventually though, I've been on for about 6 months or more..

I have a terrible dry tickly cough which almost makes me vomit when it starts. My blood pressure meds have been increased (AVAPRO) so i'm wondering if its a combination of the two drugs?

That could very well be, and you may be on to something here. I was on lisinopril/HCL prior to going on Citalopram 20Mg and had no or negligible problems with it, but no sooner I went on Citalopram, I started having sudden onset coughing-fits that produce some clear-looking and very strong tasting (salty) sputem.(Sorry about that, but I just want to be complete.). As soon that's out, the cough immediately stops and I'm fine to the next episode which will be between 2 to 4 hours later, day or night. I was losing a lot of sleep over that and it started to adversely affect my professional life.
I cut my Citalopram dose to 10Mg, and suddenly the coughing fits came 4 to 8 hours apart. Same other symptoms, just longer intervals.
Still unpleasant, but I'm losing less sleep.
Oh well, back to the Doc.
I'm planning to get off the citalopram anyway and see whether my therapy can take up the slack, like I think it can. Thanks to my year on citalopram, I am much more confident and I have managed to come to grips with the deeper causes of my depression like I would never have been able to do without it.
Some things to ponder until my next doctors-visit.

Cheers and Good luck!

This is an interesting discussion, because I've been on citalopram since late February and have been trying for months to figure out the source of my sudden chronic dry cough. It's worst at night, but sometimes I also get coughing fits during the day. Like some of you, it comes on suddenly with a tickle in the throat, lasts a few minutes, then goes away for awhile. I just started tapering down to 10mg (from 20) last week and the cough seems to have gotten worse.

I havebeen taking citalopram for 10 years and have had an annoying cough for that time. My doctor says it isnt a side effect but I have looked into it and find that it is actually quite a common one! I just tend to put up with it rather than stop the medication.

I had a horrible bout of coughing last night while over friends for dinner. throat dry. I have high bloodpressuer and take 120 mg of nifedpin plus 50mg of atenolol

dry throat and coughing not able to control help

I have been on citalopram since October, and since then I've had violent coughing fits where it's like I'm breathing in sawdust, and I can't stop gagging, and I have to take gasps of air, because with so much coughing, I can't even take a second to breathe! I usually get the coughing fits in the middle of the night, but also when I'm eating.

Celexa Cough wrote:

<quoted text>
I have the same problem and I'm stopping and switching to something else. I have been coughing s
ince I started

Hi, I have been on ciprimil for 10 years to great effect but have had a cough from the beginning. I have always believed its caused by the medication but it is low down on the contraindications. I'm assuming it isnt a cough which could cause me any problems?

I've been on Celexa for almost two months. Started with 10mgs and gradually upped the dose to the 40mgs that I am on now. Around the time I began taking 30mgs I started getting the dry-tickle-coughing-fits that you all are describing. It's just been getting worse since then. It's embarassing sometimes coughing like that... I hope this goes away, it's horrible!

I am on 10 mg of celexa. Just woke up by a coughing incident that has been happening for a while now. I am awaken in the middle of the night by a tickle in the back of my throat. This is followed by lots of coughing and tonight it almost caused me to throw up. I sleep on 3 pillows after this happens.