SUTHHERN REDD replied: "Ummmmm. No. Number one your mother should not be trying to self medicate you when you have a prescribed medication for Citalopram. She should know better as a mother. I realize she might be trying to help but she isn't. Taking a herbal supplement - not a prescription medication - with a prescribed medication is not good unless recommended by your doctor. and most won't do that. There are prescribed medications out there for many reasons and if one doesn't work another will....there are all kinds on the market and sometimes you start with one at a low dosage and have to build up on that dosage. For example: most anti's have a level in mg's of medication that start low. You will build up to a certain number which your doctor will work with you on getting to that point. With most people when they begin a medication they do start at the lowest dosage to build up to a point that you and the doctor - along with how you are doing on it - is all rolled into one. I would *not take this "karma" pill until you discuss it with your doctor. I don't think it will be safe for you to do this.... You can also call any pharmacist - Walgreen's, CVS etc.....and ask them what their opinion is. They give these medications to people prescribed everyday and if you read the ingredients to them they will tell you to or not to take it......I would go by that in making a real decision and if you don't want to do that then get into see the dr that prescribed your Citalopram to begin with and talk to him or her about it... -- good luck..."

Dr OChem replied: "I don't know what you know about nearly all pharmaceuticals and their origin. In one manner of speaking, your assertion must be true on its face that to interfere with our biological machinery, drugs will perform as a mimic (agonist or antagonist) of a biochemical agent. However, that may or may not have been the path to their discovery. Pharmaceutical companies have many broad screening programs using natural products and various synthesized organic compounds. Certainly, we know that penicillins and various steroid drugs came from natural products. I believe benzodiazepines were discovered from entirely synthetic compounds. Looking at some of this history of Citalopram, it appears to follow a more synthetic route, though some natural product may have been modeled at several generations of drugs before it. If you look at wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citalopram), you can learn that it is an SSRI which is loosely related to Prozac and before it Benadryl and before it neoantergan. According to Wikipedia, Daniel Bovet was awarded a Nobel Prize for his work on neoantergan and George Rieveschl synthesized Benadryl to overcome side effects of neoantergan. Looking at the structure of neoantergan, it does not appear to have an obvious connection to any natural products as it origin, but that is only a guess on my part. However, even the leap across different modes of action for one class of drugs to another as an indication of a natural product origin is a huge leap."

needtoknow replied: "There are many different types of anti depressants that your doctor could prescribe for you which would have the desired effect for lifting your mood. Citalopram does seem to be a popular one at the moment but it it duelly used for people who suffer from anxiety or panic attacks as well as depression. I am not sure about the ingredients and am assuming you are talking about the tablet form. Do you know you can get citalopram in liquid drops which may not contain lactose?? It doesn't taste very nice but its only 4 drops to 10mg so you can mix it with juice."

ckm1956 replied: "Usually 2-3 weeks. Talk to your doctor. You may need a higher dose or a different med."