lexapro dosages

Can anyone tell me what the ratio of strength lexapro is to celexa. Is lexapro twice as strong or four times as strong. I am currently trying to get started on a regime of lexapro and wish to cut the 10 mg pill down and gradually increase throughout the next two weeks. I am extremely sensitive to the side effects and had a hard time with starting celexa in the past although it worked very well for me once it got going. I really really need to start on this but am really afraid of being fogged and unable to function.
Thank you

Sorry I can't answer your question about the comparison of dosages, but just wanted to tell you I've had good luck on Lexapro. I haven't experienced any side effects and it's known for having low incidence of side effects. What did your doctor recommend?

2 of my neigbors are both on Lexapro and they feel better too,
they both have spoken with me about their eperiences on it and they have had little to no side affects....

Just what they have told me....

lexapro is exactly twice as strong as celexa with fewer side effects. this is because lexapro is an isomer of celexa--it helps to know chemistry to understand this

thanks so much for the info - double strength it is - i needed to know how to cut the thing down to start taking it - don't feel i could handle a full dosage right away

I switched back to Celexa because there is a generic form of it....Lexapro doesnt have a generic and I wasnt going to pay $79.00 a month for it

Just wondering -- did you find much difference in the side effect situation with lexapro--you say you switched back to celexa. I have been on celexa in the past and it worked well but the side effects at the beginning were terrible. I was hoping the lexapro would be easier easier one. I have a drug plan so I don't have to worry about the cost.
Thanks

the only side effects I have ever had from SSRI's (Zoloft,Paxil,Lexapro,Celexa,Cymbalta,) are the sexual ones......cant orgasm!

Ive never had any other side effect....I never get sick either.....in the last 5 years I have been sick maybe 3-4 days, so I guess my body is different than most

I am not sure about the twice as strong, because according to psychopharmacology:

SSRI dose equivalents: 20 mg Celexa = 5 mg Lexapro = 50 mg Luvox = etc

This is from Preskorn Applied Clinical Psychopharmacology

I had heard that it was roughly four times as strong but I was hoping that I could find info that it wasn't. I really need to start taking this med and I am just petrified of side effects. Needless to say anxiety issues are my biggest problem.

i checked preskorn online--its the 2004 edition and i could not find a reference to lexapro just celexa. might you have a page number citation that i can look up? thanks
pi

in the absence of a reply from riptide let me tell you exactly what i know about celexa and lexapro based on my eight years of using them...
celexa came in weekly trial packets of 7 or 14 20mg pills while lexapro is packaged in weekly sample packs of 7 or 14 10mg pills.
my dosage on celexa was 60mg while my dosage on lexapro is currently 30mg although i started at much lower doses. there are psychiatrists who believe that there is never any gained effect from using a dose of lexapro in excess of 20mg/day and will complement the lexapro with remeron, an anti depressent which works on other brain sites than the SSRIs to give the lexapro a 'kick'.
again since lexapro is an isomer of celexa you are just getting rid of 50% of the stuff that wasn't helping you yet causing side effects.
i think i could learn something from riptide's citation if he can be more specific.
pi