[mmm424]

I have been taking Lexapro (10mg) for about 6 months now, it has made me gained a huge amount of weight and has made me extremely lazy. I moved to bristol (England) and the doctor here says he cant prescribe lexapro because its expensive and also because its not helping me. He has prescribed 70mg Lofepramine. I have ONLY 4 tablets of Lexapro left how do i wean myself off of them? and what time of the day do I have to take Lofepramine? Do I stop taking Lexapro before starting Lofepramine? or I should start while weaning myself off of lexapro?

Also, please share your experiences with Lofepramine. Does it make you less lazy? does it help you concentrate and do things? weight gain or loss? does it control obsessiveness?

Thank you so very much!

[stefano]

By all means don't improvise! What about your previous doc, was he a psychiatrist? Definitely you should keep in contact with him to decide development of the treatment.
And the new doc? Not prescribing a medication because it is expensive sounds very unprofessional. Not giving instructions about what to do with Lexapro (probably it should be stopped gradually, if stopped) sounds even worse. You need a serious doctor and has to be a psychiatrist. And the treatment must be planned.
My advice in these situations is: find a pdoc you trust and follow up with him.

[madisgram]

i am baffled why your new doc did not give you thorough directions about stopping lexapro and starting your new med. you will need to contact him ASAP or you will run out of lexapro and possibly take a nose-dive depression.
i don't know anything about the new med but usually these types of meds take about 21-28 to get to a thereuputic level. this leaves you a large window of time for mood swings and/or depression in the meantime.
i agree with steph...consider another pdoc who is more responsible to his patient's well-being.

[mmm424]

Thank you so much for replying!
I can't get a psychiatrist.. one I am not too depressed second my GP will have to refer me to one i think.. iam in the UK and i think that is how NHS works.
My problems are more to do with not being able to concentrate at all and restlessness. But i was amazed at how casually the doctor just changed my med and I was out of his office in like 5 mins! He did it so 'hurriedly' I couldnt even ask him how do I go about switching, I just asked him if he could give me at least some lexapro as i only have 4 or diazepam to help the transition he just said id rather not! he didnt even tell me its not an SSRI or that he is going to change the class of meds.. I came home and started googling!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!