[Maya]

My T referred me to a pdoc who just prescribed lexapro for me. I have never taken an antidepressant before. Anyone out there taking this? What are your feelings, opinions about it? We are hoping it will take care of both anxiety and depression - maybe bipolar as well...Also taking 5 mg of Xanax 6 times a day to try to lessen the anxiety. Any input would be gratefully accepted. Thanks!

[ktp]

Mars:

My mother takes Lexapro and my sister did take Lexapro but stopped because she could no longer afford it. Both say nothing but good things about it. Well my mother I do not trust, but my sister says good things about it. My sister-in-law also took it and it helped her tremendously. I am currently taking my second anti-depressant (Prozac) and Xanax for anxiety but I take .5 mg once a day, but I take them in halves. 1/2 at around 6 pm and then the other 1/2 at bedtime. Sometimes I need it more, like when I have panic attacks but my doc, unfortunately, has not allowed for that, so I get 30 pills a month and hope they last So far, so good.

Hope it works out for you. Usually the side effects, if there are any, and I had quite a few with the Prozac and ALOT with Wellbutrin, tend to go away around the 3rd week. Some of them lingered until the 4th, but now I'm right as rain

Take Care of yourself,
Kimberly.

[Taonuviel]

I take it in combination with some other medicine, and I think it's working ok. No side effects on it. Its' efficacy is difficult to know for me because it's combined with Cymbalta and Eskalith, and because I'm not doing that great - but I may be doing as well as medicine is going to help. I have a lot of other things to work on. It's a good medicine.

[DazedandConfused]

They prescribed Lexapro for my step-father when he was in the hospital. He was having terrible mood swings and would lash out at the hospital staff also. After about three days on it, his eyes sparkled and he was tooo happy. Mellowed out since then. I always thought it took a couple of weeks for certain meds to start working, but it was a couple of days in his case. I am glad he is on this, as it helps with the depression of finding out he has cancer. I think it is like Paxil.

[Crazy_Charlie]

Hoi
I think Lexapro is the same is Cipralex, or Escitalopram?
I used it Norway, here in the Netherlands I can't get it so I have to take Citalopram instead. I liked it very much, it helped me get out of a mahor depression and helped me keep my chin up during a very turbulent time. I have struggled with recurrent major depression (endogenous) since I was a child, and this is helping me a lot. I am a bit surprised that it is also supposed to help you with possible bipolar though. Mt p doc was a bit reluctant to give it to me since I have bipolarness in the family. She said it could possibly trigger a manic episode. It has not taken away my anxiety totally, but most of it, and it has given me full control over possibly panic attacks. I had been working quite successfully through the worst of my anxiety and panick attack already, but I could now relax more about it. What I noticed most was the change during the first weeks. I got suddenly full of energy, and lost everything that can be called fear. After 2-3 weeks this stabilized, and now I feel very much similar to the normal me (with 10mg escitalopram/40mg citalopram)... That is, I have my ups and downs, but Im not crawling on my knees all the time. I have normal reactive sadness, normal feelings of anger, happiness and pleassure. I have had a few small cracks, but that was in a period where I could finally start caring for my wounds after a terrible time. I never cracked totally, and it didn't take me that long to get out of it.

I don't take anything else, but being a clinical psychologist I am also quite train in thought controlling myself when I feel something threatening approach me. Having gone through different types of psychotherapy, read so thoroughly about different clinical situations, and met so many people with different problems... I have many advantages to help me up and around. And of course, I am so lucky that I can feel that my daughter work as an antidepressive for me, with her caretaking kindness and artistic interpretations of music. She makes me laugh so often that my endorphine level probably shoots up.

Good luck on it, it doesn't work for everyone, but for me it was a very good one.

Sincerely, Charlie

[Maya]

Thank you all for your information. Charlie - I think what my pdoc said was that it could, if I was given that particular brain chemical problem, trigger a bipolar response and he will watch for it. So far (only 2 days on it) I have had no side effects other than a very mild headache in the morning (I take it at night). He started me on 5 mg to start for the first week and will increase it to 10 the second week. He also increased my xanax from .25 6 times a day to .5 6 times a day. So far, so good. I have been in intensive therapy with a clinical psychologist for 9 months and he thought I was already on an antidepressant and when he found out I was not he sent me immediately to a pdoc for the prescription (my own selection of the doc - I chose one who I know is a friend of his and whom I have known professionally for 20 years and trust). The two will work together easily to get me over this - I am hopeful for a full recovery to a whole, complete person, at peace with myself and with the demons who have inhabitated my world for my enire life. Thank you so, so, much for your information.

[Crazy_Charlie]

I really hope this one works as good for you as it has for me. I started with the same dose as you, 5mg for two weeks, then I went to 10. I started noticing the effect of it around the time I started with 10mg I think, and the first time I was quite agitated, as ine, active. But I took it out on cleaning, and never went into the illogical mania. I think you could possibly call me hypoman for a tiny while, but it stabilized without dramatics.

[Maya]

Thank you - I have hope for it. My goal with my T was to be healed and whole - or to die. I could not continue on as I had been for so many years. His therapy has helped so much but I do agree with him and with the pdoc that the Lexapro might be the final touch to my healing. I am also meditating and doing yoga which have done a great deal to calm me. Not to mention - my T told me many months ago to try to go 3/4 speed instead of full speed til I dropped and that has also helped. I don't think I could have survived this past year without my T and all his support and love and compassion for my situation.

[ickydog2006]

I take 10 mg of it a day. It seems to work okay for me. It helps with my anxiety and depression problems, but it helps most with my OCD. The main thing I don't like is that at night I can feel it sorta wear off. This makes me have panic attacks and major mood swings at night which can be hard to deal witth. Other than that I'm okay with it

[adieuolivaw]

MARS: I take 20 mg Lexapro daily. It's just what I needed. Not surprising I would need 20, because I always require the max recommended dose of any AD. I did have some rather irritating side-effects during the first three weeks, including nightmares and sleeplessness. They suddenly resolved, and no further problems! I've taken it for a very long time and highly recommend it.

ICKYDOG: I prefer to take my Lexapro at night. I have a lot of trouble sleeping, and it seems to even out my mood so that I sleep better. Have you considered taking 5 mg AM and 5 mg PM? Or would your doc consider adding 5 mg so you can take it at night, making a total of 15 mg for the day?

Adieu

[Maya]

I thank you all for your answers. I am on 10 mg per day - I take it at night because it puts me right to sleep (that combined with 1 mg of Xanax also at bedtime). So far it seems to have helped - I very rarely think of suicide anymore, despite the fact that I still feel the depression most of the time. I am hoping that with more time and more therapy even the depression will get better.

[ickydog2006]

Thanxs ADIEU for the advice. I think I'll ask my doctor what to do about the problem. Unlike most people the side effect of Lexapro for me is energy. It helps me stay awake through my classes but seems to wear off quickly. I think I'm going to have to see my Doc and get my dose increased. I don't know though. But thank you for your input.

[luvtiels]

I have taken Wellbutrin, Paxil, Prozac, Effexor, Amiltryptilline, Etc, etc. I have not taken Lexapro yet. Nor do I have any kind of therapist - thru our local mental health clinic (they tell me I am too functional for them) - . I am on DSHS, Medicaid, a state-funded program.
My question is this :
Shyould I talk to my regular physician about possibly taking Lexapro for my social anxiety and depression? She is trying to manage that angle of my care, while my rehab doc is in control of the chronic pain issue. I am also taking Methadone, 2.5mg every 6 hours for chronic back pain, along with 7 mg. Percocet for breakthru pain. Would the 3 drugs interact with each other? I have been severly depressed lately, so much that I sleep most of the day, awakening only when I absolutely have to. I am now, and always have been, a night person, so I stay up late anyways. And I am usually unhappy with me and the way my life is going - or rather, isn't going. I was dx'd with clinical depression way back in my teen years, but given no therapy - drug or otherwise - for it. For the past year or so, my reg. doc and I have been experimenting with different antidepressants, none of which seem to have much of an effect. And I can't get into the mental health system because I am neither suicidal nor homicidal. YET -- LOL.

[Larry_Hoover]

Lexapro is one of the few modern antidepressants that would not adversely interact with the pain meds. It uses a liver enzyme that the other meds don't.

Every antidepressant has its own characteristics. I hope Lexapro is the charm for you.

Lar