Posted by hawkeye on September 15, 2002, at 12:55:06
In reply to Re: LEXAPRO » hawkeye, posted by pharmrep on September 14, 2002, at 9:57:47
I have only taken three "modern" ADs for any length of time: Prozac - 3 years; Serzone - 2 years; Celexa - 6 months. I never had any serious side effects with Prozac or Serzone so my experience with them is not instructive here.
I was taking 20mg/day of Celexa. Celexa is one of the few drugs that has worked very well for me. It is one of the few drugs I could actually feel. I wasn't able to take 40 mg of Celexa because of the degree of sexual dysfunction that it caused. At 20mg the SD was present to a degree but it was almost tolerable. But at some point I decided that I couldn't accept even the partial sexual dysfunction that it caused and I stopped it.
Many years ago, I took a tri-cyclic that caused sexual dysfunction. (I don't recall the name-it might have been imipramine, but I am not sure). In that case the sexual dysfunction eventually went away, but this was after several months.
Sexual dysfunction is a side-effect that I now find totally unacceptable. Two other drugs that have caused it for me are Zoloft and Effexor. But with these drugs the onset was not as quick as it has been with Lexapro. In both of those cases I stopped within two weeks of starting them.
Because of the hype and relatively low dosage of Lexapro I was taking, I was not expecting any major problems/side effects. The immediate, sudden onset and totality of the sexual dysfunction was an unpleasant surprise. I was taking 10mgs/day. Correct me if I am wrong, I am under the understanding that 10 mg is the functional equivalent of 20 mg of Celexa. I should note that I am also taking 200mg/day of Lamictal which I have been taking for several months and which has never caused me any sexual problems.
I feel that even after just one week I was getting positive benefits from the Lexapro. I even continued to take it for a couple of more days after my last post before I stopped it. Normal sexual function restored after two days of cessation. Needless to say this has been a disapointment for me. I know Celeza/Lexapro works for me. I am considering continuing with 5mg of Lexapro. If I do I will let you all know. I am not certain that taking less than the recommended therapeutic dose would be worth it.
poster:hawkeye
thread:109458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020914/msgs/119911.html