All about Lexapro

Greetings. Today is day three on Lexapro. It is my first anti-
depressant ever. I am 31 and have been in and out of therapy for over
20 years. I’ve resisted ADs for a very long time now but the bouts of
depression are getting more frequent and deeper. I’ve felt the nausea
for two days but it went away when I ate. Mostly it is in the morning
around 11 am. For me it seems as if things have slowed down in my head.
And that is good. I look forward to chatting.
Jen

Hello everyone, I’m new to Lexapro. Today is my first day on it and I’m
having a hard time. I have been on Prozac, Celexa and Paxil in the past but
kept going off thinking everything would be ok “this time”. Here I am again
with depression and anxiety so bad it was time to get my butt in gear and
quit denying I need help.
Already after taking my first pill this morning I’m agitated more so than
normal, crying and dizzy. Sooo nauseated too! I’m going to try and eat
again as I’m sure this will help though! I do have some Ativan to help with
the anxiety but haven’t dared take it WITH the lexapro. I’m so afraid of
mixing things and how I’ll react! I don’t want it to knock me out as I have
my two year old to take care of all day. :o)
Can anyone share with me how long it took them to adjust to this med to
where the dizziness and nausea went away? I’m also a bit clumsy and it’s
hard to type this. LOL
Thanks in advance!
Cyndi

dear Robert,
I just want to send you some gentle hugs if its ok
. i am rooting for you and that you find ways to get your needs met and
that you can find your way through to things getting on the upswing for
you. i saw your mention of chronic pain and that is one thing i know
about and have almost had to check myself in to psych ward for that
myself. i have even asked the ER to do so if they refuse to treat. i
don’t claim to know your exact situation cause I am not you .But I want
you to know i lost my common law husband to suicide and the thing is I
don’t think he realized HO much people loved him or in the end . when he
was doing heroin.,.,i think it got lost a but just HO much i loved him .
even though 13 years should say a lot . I am saying this to you because
I want to remind you that people may care much more than you realize .we
here obviously are ad we are not even face to face. But we know how hard
things can get so you are not alone.
The chronic pain is for sure a serious issue and you need to get proper
help for that and their are doctors who do pain management for people
known to have drug issues ( in case you were told they will not treat
you. do not LISTEN there are specialty doctors btu you have to commit to
not using and would be monitored close ..the trade off hopefully would
be actual ( legal ) reduction in pain.
I hop i am not speaking out of place as i got a partial account my mail
box of what is going on with you. i did read you went to hospital and
though i am very sure it was a nightmare ( I have not gone a few times
when maybe it would have been a good idea to go cause i am afraid they
will take even my RXd pain meds away ) anyhow I am really glad you went
eleven so cause your life is most important off all to save the rest will
follow ) i commend you cause that must have been such a hard thing for
you to do . I hep they let you stay home and go on your way to the job
meetings and the girl .
alison

Hi there this is alison.
I just want you to know that WOW its like i could have written your
post. i also have pain “syndromes” s well as like 5 different
degenerative issues going on in my spine. it took me about 3 years to get
them to stop trying to say it was nothing or anxiety and now the docs are
stunned. i also have a DX if fibro btu not sure if it holds water cause
they claimed that before they actually MRId my back and also i saw a
rheumy who said no and later my P doc has it DXd in my chart.( AND she
never told me . i only know after getting my files and seeing it in there
as a DX.)I asked about 20 times if she Still thought i had that and what
it meant ( i played i didn’t know to try to get her to talk about it. i
never got any answer just a gloss over. i am still unclear if i need to
go back to rhumatology to confirm this or if i just should go with it to
get treatment for all my pain ( like another reason i need pain
management) in any case. I too am young ( 36) but they say my spine looks
90 and i walk like i am 102. If i can walk. some days i cannot walk more
than 1/4 block other days i am much more active and tend to hurt myself .
I also have anxiety issues and so far lexapro was the most tolerable of
the drugs i have tried. I am seeing my psych and wonder what she is
pulling out of the hat next for me to try and give me bad side effects. i
am almost better off on nothing and just dealing with it. the sh*tty
thing is i cannot refuse meds i think cause i am on disability and
noncompliance is not going to go well should i go up fro a review. really
freaks me out i ado not have the leeway to make my own choices about what
works for me even if that means stay in therapy . do not use SSRIS and
stay with ativan as needed ( and i don’t use it that often ).
anyhow as you were saying about friends thinking ( and they get the
anxiety even less) they think i am over here having a pill party or
something when its so not like that they do not get it i am sort of
fighting for my life.( for it to be of acceptable quality if not pain and
anxiety free) they do not get how hard it really is for me . also i live
alone which makes things even harder they do not get if i need to stoop
soemthign and come home. now they have stopped calling OR they call and
say they would ask me to go but they know i am not up for it ( instead of
asking am i up for it today ) many days i d LOVE to see my friends
(friends are everything to me) and would extend myself to try to go out
ya know ( even if it meant i was wrecked for some days after. its very
frustrating . i found a letter on-line that is perfect to explain this
stuff. with permission from the group id like to post it here because i
think this letter could apply to both pain and depression and HO it is to
deal day by day and not be Able to do stuff or not know if its a good day
or bad. the letter is from a chronic pain patient but i really think its
great and does apply to anyone with an illness.
ye and the docs blaming one thing for symptoms and then another is SO
frustrating. it goes by specialty. docs say its physical. the psych
people lean harder On the psychological. OR there are the docs who just
do not belive you and then blame it on anxiety or depression once they
know that is a DX for the patient. it is all connected btu i know sort
of what is what . i have it . i feel it an I kind of do know to some
degree and I do have both things going on. doctors ahave forgotten a lot
of empathy and realy donto afdmit how much they do nto know. sadly
freidns soemtiems forget empathy too . I do find many tiems its due to
theor own issues more than mine or hwo they see theirs in lioght of mine.
liek when i was first DXd with anxiety mybest friend got angry wiuth me.
thenshe cam e round but told e what to do to cure it (liek she knows
whats bet for me ..bette than i do ) last she came full circle to
admitting to her own anxieties. and i think the admissionof mine made her
have to focus on hers more than she wanted to so it caused upheaval. now
soemthign new seems tobe goign on with her andi havenot had a callin over
2 months. maybe its 3 now. this is from isunderstandign also. she does
nto want to burden me is her claim. she coudl NEVER burdon me except by
NOT callign and tellign me her stuff as usual. i am still me just
didfferneces in what i cna and cannto do, that s what no one gets in
relation to my pain and my anxiety and it certianyl doesn effect my
carign for other s , ability to hear them , or desire to help or see
threm. it onyl increases those thigns inmy case thogh yes i have days
where i cannto talk due to my pain & /or anxiety cause i want to give out
my full attention to those i love
alison

I’ve been experiencing a bit of weight loss over the past few months.
I know that can be a common thing, but did anyone’s weight loss stop
after a while? I’m still within the average range for my height, but
I don’t want to fall below that range. I also dont want to stop
either of my meds because they’re working so well for me.
Jen

Hello Group,
Just started taking 10 mg Lex on Friday. I used to take Celexa, been
off for a year, depression and some OCD back Has anyone felt
shaking after they starting taking Lexapro?
Thanks,
Darren

after 3 nights (2 at 10mg and 1 at 5mg) of Lexapro and horrible side
effects - extreme panic attacks, loss of appetite, etc, I don’t want to
take this drug anymore. Can I just stop since it’s only been 3 nights?
I don’t know if there will be withdrawls already. I have low level
anxiety, but this drug is giving me CRAZY panic attacks! At less than
100 pounds, these doses might have been too high, or maybe I’m just
having bad reations. Any thoughts?
Danielle

Hi, I’m new here. I was just prescribed Lexapro this week. I’ve taken
it (10mg) two nights now. I’m suffering massive panic attacks, loss
of appetite. I think it;s weird that I’m having such big side effects
already, but I haven’t had panic attacks like this in YEARS. I have
been prescribed 10mg, but I’m thinking it’s too much since I’m having
such a reaction, plus I only weigh about 98lbs (5′1″). I’ve been
given .25 Xanax and I’m planning to take it tonight when I take the
Lexapro to help reduce the anxiety I’ve been waking up in the night
with.
Here are my questions to those of you with more experience:
-normal to feel these side effects right away?
-do others experience this affect often?
-will they go away?? when???
-how can I cope when I’m “freaking out” with panic attacks???
I guess I really need hope and encouragement that I’m doing the right
thing by sticking with it and that these panic attacks will go away.
Any hope to offer???
Danielle

I just love sharing info that I have so that the people in the mental
health profession aren’t the only ones with the knowledge.
So I found this info about this model from Mentalhelp.net
The article is longer than this. I just copied the opening paragraph.
When professional mental health clinicians are asked to figure out
what is wrong with a patient, they assess that patient broadly, using
something they call the “bio-psycho-social” model as a guide. The
bio-psycho-social model assumes that mental health problems are hardly
ever limited to just one domain of human experience (say, just a
“mental” problem). Instead, most mental health problems are influenced
by multiple domains of human experience, and have biological
(medical), psychological (mental) and social/spiritual impacts. For
instance, someone who is depressed, might have become that way because
of a medical condition (such as a heart attack), a social condition
(such as losing a loved one), or a psychological condition (such as an
overly self-critical nature). Further, regardless of the cause of the
condition, that person’s depression will likely show physical symptoms
(such as slowed speech and lessened appetite), psychological symptoms
(such as suicidal thoughts) and social symptoms (such as social
withdrawal). Perhaps most importantly, it is possible to treat
depression through physical means (anti-depressant medicine, physical
exercise), psychological means (cognitive therapy) and also social
means (urging the person to get out and interact with other people)
regardless of how that depression got started. All of these methods
are likely to prove helpful in lifting depressed mood. What is more,
they can all be used at once despite their different origins; you
aren’t limited to trying one intervention at a time.

I think you’ll do just fine. The reaction I’ve heard most is, “Why did I wait so
long?” I’ll be keeping you in my thoughts. Barbara