Lexapro and mania?

Before I went to this site I had no idea about this but I've been reading and so many people said it happened to them. I really am in shock. I was on 20 mg of Lexapro for over a year and it made me absolutely nuts. I did hurtful things to people and myself, I didn't think like myself at all and would fly off the handle at nothing. I thought it was just me being a crazy nut but after I took myself off I was a completely new person.
Have a lot of you experienced this with Lexapro? What did it feel like to you?

It makes me so wary now that I'm looking for a new medication, but I know it's something I need.

GREAT best med I have had lexapro is an ANTI DEPRESSANT you have anxiety its not the med for anxiety only , I does heLp a little with anxiety but that's months into your treatment so you never should have been on a AD anyway. CTB and anxiety meds like use has need benzos. But if not depressed don't take a anti depressant it will screw you up.

I didn't take it but celexa which is similar and it made me manic. I almost wound up dead. I stopped on my own though because my doc didn't seem like dead was a big issue.

Lexapro made me absolutely bonkers! I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I did a lot of hurtful things to people I cared about too. I found a better medication to deal with my bipolar, its called Haldol, its a little old school, but it does the job nicely.

I want to try this now..

You are beyond wrong here. It's an SSRI which is used and proven to treat anxiety disorders.Please know your facts before trying to talk down to me.

What mood stabilizer were you on with LEXAPRO you haven't said /

Has a 35 year acute anxiety sufferer, I can tell you now a AD alone will not cure anxiety , they have anxiety agents in them , which take forever to kick in, there main job is DEPRESSION in England I don't no where you live. NARDIL is the 1 used for anxiety alone hear. I do take an anti depressant but I have depression , if just anxiety I would not put myself through side effects of ssri,s for anxiety alone. CBT should have been you docs first call , it is not a thing I responded to but 1off my daughter,s responded well an is now a head teacher , she got her illness from my genes but is rocking now. I am talking to you, not down at you if you think me wrong that's ok, take 1 strong Benzo when the anxiety comes and its gone in 20 minutes but only in emergency take it. Sure take your ssri but if not depressed you soon will be, with weight gain and no sex life its a no brainer to me.

But it didn't treat yours

That doesn't mean as you said that it's not for anxiety. You said to me it's only for depression and I was using it wrong. All SSRI's are proven to treat anxiety disorders and OCD. Lexapro didn't work for me. That doesn't mean that it's not still a drug used to treat anxiety disorders.

You were taking anxiety now OCD , I thought the question was for anxiety , LEXAPRO is not for OCD ?? LUVOX is the main med used and maybe PROZAC. You should look to how good your shrink is .A year on a med that don't work is way off healthy and any doc that keeps you on it is crap. My main problem is like you anxiety so I take meds for anxiety as well has LEXAPRO for depression, Lexapro on its own does not give the full cover for ANXIETY has does not other SSRI,s if you illness is acute, by this I mean fainting, loosing your body functions anytime, seizure , I had to give up construction work has unsafe on site with seizures. But panic attacks and general anxiety is different all together, there in a lower bracket of illness general anxiety is suffered by %70 of the population and treated with breathing exercises and self help . I am only trying to help you I don't tell lies, its just I am blunt and to the point, take it and feel free to insult me, its not a problem.

That's why I like my psychiatrist.

But sewerrats is right, over time and at high dosages, antidepressants can cause "the flat effect" where you basically have these symptoms;

Emotional side-effects of SSRIs:

General effects on all emotions:
Reduced intensity, or even absence of emotions, which are flattened, numbed, dulled or blanked; thoughts rather than feelings; difficulty understanding emotions; emotions feel fake or artificial; improved emotional control.

Reduction of positive emotions:
Reduced intensity and frequency of e.g. excitement, enjoyment, happiness, love, affection, passion, enthusiasm.

Reduction of negative emotions:
Reduced intensity and frequency of e.g. sadness, anger, aggression, anxiety and worry. Reduced ability to cry.

Emotional detachment:
Detachment or disconnection from the environment; from the self; and from other people, including children, partner and friends.

Just not caring:
Not caring about self, about others, about responsibilities; apathy; reduced interest and motivation; disinhibition; thoughts of self-harm.

Changed personality:
Aspects of personality are altered or removed; behaviour is out of character.

Effects on everyday life:
Helpful and/or unhelpful; often helpful initially, but becoming unhelpful as recovery occurs; masking or hiding problems; impact on responsibilities, on own behaviour, on relationships with others, on creativity, on judgement and decision-making.

I had that with Zoloft, I was depressed but I didn't care. My life was falling apart didn't care thanks to the med.

The one I take now and on a lower dosage doesn't even every bump out but makes me non depressed, I still have ups and downs and I feel things. I'd rather have it this way.

I guess I should have been more clear, I was NOT seeing a doctor. At all. So no no one was prescribing me. I looked up my disorder and took the proven method for it. I appreciate you all telling me to take a benzo but myself and my Just murdered best friend had a problem with drug addiction. I would in no way be prescribed that., Here in NYC they won't allow that. Don't know about where you live. If you've previously misused benzo s for recreation you won't get a prescription and I don't think going back to being an addict is a great plan.

If you had a drug problem , your right you wont get benzo,s, In England it would be hard to even get AD,s if you once had drug prob. They would make you go to the surgery for meds every day, unless like me my wife is carer of my meds so I never see them only at med times. A guy in the bar I drink had a son who was a heroin addict , well was on metherdone, he looked after his AD,S but the son always wanted to take more has that had been his life so you can see a doc,s problem. By the way his son is dead now stabbed trying to rob a dealer

Hmm I'm sorry for the guy at the bars sons death. I hope that's what you said, I had trouble reading it. But yeah addiction is a hell of Thing.

SORRY atomic, im dyslexic

Okayy, I just had trouble figuring out who you were talking about that died

The guy in the bar son died, he discharged himself hospital after the stabbing has he hated hospitals and police ect. A blood clot formed and he was rushed back in for an op and died after from a blood infection

That's very sad :/ I hope the father has had some help in dealing with the loss.

OK so back to your main post.

I'd say from what I have seen, most SSRIs can cause unwanted effects. But just from what I heard it seems like celexa and lexapro are one of the worst for causing these things.

I could take another SSRI and it was OK. Some people cannot take SSRIs. Some can take one and not another. I know it is scary not knowing what category you are in but if you manage to find a good doc that could do real followups they could prevent bad things from happening if you decided to try another SSRI. That way if you don't notice a change for the worse someone else would. I get scared when I hear of docs giving people meds and don't even schedule one more visit... It happens here all the time anyway.

Yes, thank you for that! Yes, I've seen that too. I know some people who take SSRI for their GAD and it works great and then I hear of so many who have issues. It's scary to think of but I think it may be my only option to try. I go to school full time every day early in the morning and work with autistic children the rest of the day..things like xanax and ativans seriously hinder my ability to do these things :/.
My doctor is through my college so I'm hoping I can get to her pretty quickly if I have any problems!

He had to deal with him for years from 15 to 28 heroin, he came off many times but the pull was to much, he was a really good looking boy , and had any woman he wanted with his bad boy image. he could street fight near anyone he had to at times . I went to his funeral the church was overflowing many ladies who has breezed in and out his life , they never forgot him he had a presence