Posted by JLM on October 4, 2002, at 21:31:15
In reply to Lexapro and agitation, posted by CindyLou on October 4, 2002, at 20:10:15
> I just started taking 5 mg. Lexapro today, and felt very agitated -- had to take double my Klonapin dose to offset the irritablity. Is this a common side effect, and will it subside?
>
> Thanks for any information you can give me!
>
> cindySeveral researchers such as David Healy feel that the incidence of severe agitation, allthou rare, can be incredibly serious.
To me there is a difference between 'anxiety' and 'agitation'.
Can you not sit still, or do you feel like you have to constantly move about? If so, it may be akathisia. Both Prozac and Zoloft did this to me, and to a less degree Celexa and Paxil. With the Zoloft and Prozac, it was severe. I was highly agitated/hysterical and couldn't sit in the same spot for more than 2 minutes, for about a week. When I stopped the drugs, the reaction stopped. It was 10x more anxiety then I have ever experienced at any point in my life. Quite frankly it scared me.
For years, the makers of SSRI's have tried to deny that in a very small majority of people, the drugs produce akathisia. Which is rather ironic, considering the US Patent document for the failed r-fluoxetine claims that it REDUCES akathisia, thoughts of suicide, and thoughts of violence compared to the original Prozac. It claims to reduce these SIDE EFFECTS of the Prozac, which Lilly has vehemently denied.Maybe this will help you clarify what akahtisia is:
http://abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/2020_000621_prozac_feature.html
poster:JLM
thread:109458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020930/msgs/122382.html