[Mogeii]

So I have what is hopefully a temporary dilemma that turns out not to be a dilemma at all.

Been on 10mg Lexapro for a week now and off my zoloft for 3 days. As far as Depression and Anxiety go, Lexapro is doing great for the depression. I have read and heard that Lexapro can work a bit faster than other SSRIS, and it seems this is the case for me. Ide say depression is 70% better than last week, anxiety is about 30% better. Anxiety would be even better if the dilemma wasn't going on.

Here is my question. Side effects of coming off zoloft and onto lexapro seem pretty similar. Headache, nausea, maybe some anxiety, "flu like symptoms". Ide say I haven't had any more anxiety than usual during the switch, and flu like symptoms makes me think of that painful all over sick feeling which I dont have either. Side effects from Lexapro that are common are the usual, headache, nausea, sweaty, fatigue or insomnia, dizziness. No headaches for me, no nausea, tiny bit sweaty I guess. But here is where the problem starts. Fatigue/tiredness is really there mid day. Im sleeping great, 7-9 hours a night and waking up with much less anxiety/depression than I did last week. Then I am up and feeling good for a few hours, and around 12-3pm I feel like I havent slept in days. I fight off the nap urge and wake back up, but its really frustrating to be THAT tired in the middle of the day regardless of what I am doing or not doing. The dizziness is pretty intense, if a 10 was unbearable dizziness i'de say mine upon standing is a 6 or 7. These two side effects can go away I know over time and I DESPERATELY hope they do because the drug seems to work well for the mental issues I have, or at least so far.

The two "side effects" I am really worrying about, and in turn increasing my anxiety, are itching and warm flushes. When you look up Lexapro and itching you get 2 results on the internet. One is the IF YOUR ITCHING AND YOUR THROAT SWELLS UP GO TO THE ER. Reading those make my anxiety rise and my throat feels tighter already, but I am fairly confident I am not having that kind of allergic reaction. The other result you get is a bunch of people posting saying the itching was so intense it drove them crazy and they had to drop the drug. My personal itching is mostly on my right arm. It comes in these 30 second waves of intense itching, no rash, no hives, just itchy as hell for 30 seconds to a minute. I scratch the hell out of my arm, it goes away and my arm is just a little red from the scratches. Happens every few hours, other than that I get minor itchyness all around my body which I cannot tell if its normal itches, anxiety fueled itching by being worked up about this, or side effect. The arm is definitely not psychological though, it came outta nowhere and comes with no trigger. Then between the itching I got hot flashes, and Im a 22 year old guy . Hot enough to break a sweat, dry my lips, make me thirsty. They go away too but are a bit unsettling.

OOOKAY long post sorry. Here is what i am looking for. I know, call your doctor if your are concerned about side effects bla bla bla. Maybe I will tomorrow. Just looking for some supportive advice. You guys think that the usual ssri side effects will go away over time? I hope so. And as for itching and hot flashes and dizziness, anyone experience this with ssris and have it go away? I really hope it does. I guess it makes sense being only a week after starting lex and only 3 days without zoloft that my body is a little out of whack cause of the transition, but I could really use some happy med stories to calm me .

[Rohag]

Hello, Mogeii!

My personal itching is mostly on my right arm. It comes in these 30 second waves of intense itching, no rash, no hives, just itchy as hell for 30 seconds to a minute. I scratch the hell out of my arm, it goes away and my arm is just a little red from the scratches. Happens every few hours, other than that I get minor itchyness all around my body.... The arm is definitely not psychological though, it came outta nowhere and comes with no trigger. Then between the itching I got hot flashes, ... Hot enough to break a sweat, dry my lips, make me thirsty.

You know it -- tell your doctor as soon as possible. Med side effects usually go away after a while, but not always. The itching and hot flashes you describe are not things I would want to live with for long.