There similar because there made by the same company, LEXAPRO is suppose to stop the negative sides of citalopram like a quicker start up , my hospital only uses citalopram saying its the same med in a different box. But that is to do with money Lexapro being 100 times expensive to buy than citalopram. it may be 2 strong for some has 10 mg usually works where it takes 20mg of citalopram so if sensitive to ADs it may seem harsh, I love it because I can take less and still have a sex life on 10mg .