I'm taking citalopram to treat anxiety and depression but have seen that some antidepressants can interfere with thyroid function/medication

[Mini102]

Is citalopram one of them if so is there a better antidepressant to take?

anxiety and depression caused by my under active thyroid

[PinkNinja]

If your depression and anxiety are caused by your under-active thyroid, it suggests that your thyroid replacement dose is inadequate. Do you have your latest blood test results? If you have, could you please post them with the reference ranges if possible please. We may be able to see if you need an increase in your thyroid medication.

What are you taking for your thyroid? It might be, if all else fails, that you need an alternative to what you are currently taking.

Other things to look at are serum iron, ferritin (stored iron), vitamin B12, folate and vitamin D. All of these can cause symptoms similar to hypothyroidism and also seem to be important for your metabolism, of which your thyroid function is a part. If your doctor agrees to do these tests (he should if he thinks you are on the right dose of thyroid medication) please post them on a blog here so we can have a look. The reference ranges are very wide and the lower end is often inadequate for most people.

Ferritin is a particularly important test. You can have low ferritin even if you are not anaemic and you may find that getting your ferritin above 70 (120 for men) will help you to feel much better. It seems that iron is not only important for making red blood cells but also for your body to use thyroid hormones. A recent study showed that non-anaemic women with ferritin levels below 50 showed significant improvements on supplementing with iron showing that iron must have uses other than to make blood cells.

If citalopram suits you it would probably be best to stick with it until you have investigated the other things above. It may be that once everything else is sorted out (iron, B12, vitamin D, thyroxine etc) that you feel much better and no longer need an antidepressant at all.

I hope you find what is causing your depression and that you start to feel better soon.

Carolyn x

[PinkNinja]

You might also find this information useful. thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/treatm...

Just as a quick note, the current NHS B12 test is not that good because it doesn't measure active B12. This is why it is important that your B12 should be above 500 (not the 200 that the NHS states!) because that gives a better chance of you having sufficient active B12.

Sorry if I have given too much information and confused the issue.

Carolyn x

[tbird43]

I have a terrific gp here in Somerset who knows his stuff extremely well. I have been taking cymbalta for a number of years now and he feels it does not interfere with the levo.

[Willowluv]

I was on antids and benzos and have never felt worse...much better now off both and on adequate thyroid hormones.