Posted by Peter on September 23, 2003, at 19:22:36
In reply to Re: Lexapro side effects switching, posted by Luziluna on April 29, 2003, at 13:50:30
Hi all:
Just thought I'd touch base with all you fellow lexapro takers. Today was day 18 total (the first 6 days of treatment I took 5mg and then increased to 10mg on day 7, so it's been 12 days on 10mg).
The first 2 weeks I was seriously considering giving up because of all these crazy, sporadic, unexpected, severe SE's that would pop up out of the blue - feeling cold and flu-like, lethargy, 'mopey' disposition, dysphoria, irritability, stomach upset, urinary frequency, and the list goes on.
Even now I have not yet noticed any beneficial, therapeutic effects, but I'm just still holding on and remembering that a lot of you said it took 4-8 weeks to kick in. I was really considering throwing in the towel, purging my system for a while, and trying out an MAOI anti-depressant, which I've been considering for about a year now since it's been 8 years of one unsuccesful med 'cocktail' after the next (and the MAOI's seem to be the only class of drugs I've never tried for my depression/anxiety/ADHD.
But, I figured, even though I haven't had great succeses with the other SSRI's in the past, this one might really end up helping me if I just stick with it; and I want to thank you guys for encouraging side-effect riddled people like me to push on through with the med.
Another thing that helped my decision to stick with it for a few more weeks is that, after speaking with my pdoc today, we found that it's very possible that the other meds I'm taking - adderall and klonopin - are each, in their own ways, possibly hindering me from feeling tangible benefits from the lexapro, and the adderall especially could be worsening the lex SE's. I've used SSRI's + Stims together in the past with some success, but this is different; there's some wierd synergy for me between the lex and my moderate/high adderall dose (40mg); the adderall in itself acts sort of like a mood-dampener for me at higher doses; I believe it also gives me a whole slew of its own SE's, which are dort of unique in my case-intense back pains, zombie-like mood, social avoidance, exacerbation of depression. My pdoc said that it seems like the adderall is only beneficial for me (better focus and alertness) at LOWER doses. So he's having me decrease down to 30mg over the next week. He's also having me decrease my 3mg klonopin - I never took this much klonopin, but he told me to increase it up to 3mg about a month ago due to acute anxiety. Now, however, it's possible that the 2 daytime doses are putting a further 'dampener' on my mood and masking possible lex benefits. So he said I might notice an improvement over the next week from just decreasing those two other meds and sticking with the 10mg lex.
Finally, my doc said that my always feeling cold and flu-like is more likely because I AM ill - like I really do have a virus or bug, rather than it being intolerable SE's from the lex. Although this sucks, it's another reason why I dont have to just throw in the towel on the lex after having come this far.
Wish me luck! I need it(o:
I feel like crap, but not too much to say thanks for always being there, guys.
Peter
poster:Peter
thread:109458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030923/msgs/262757.html