Posted by Wildman on December 23, 2003, at 11:47:04
I'm new to this forum, but have been following the discussions regarding Lexapro.
I went to see a pdoc about a month ago for anxiety and mild depression that I have been experiencing for 10+ years. Originally, the pdoc and I worked on my sleep, as it was clear that I wasn't getting enough. Tried some Seroquel for a few days, which helped a little bit, but I didn't like the side effects. Moved on to Doxepin, which made me have the worst food cravings.
Finally, we talked about SSRIs and he gave me a sample of Lex. I was very nervous about trying this sort of thing, but was in such bad shape that I just went ahead and started on it.
I started with a 5mg dose for the first two days (a weekend) and then moved up to 10mg/day. The first two days were uneventful, but when I moved to 10mg that first day (meds taken at 7AM each day), I was very uncomfortable after about 5 hours. Felt like a panic attack, but 1mg of Ativan helped a great deal. Next day, same thing.
The third day of 10mg I started to figure out the pattern to my response to Lex. I take the med a 7AM each day and after about 5 hours, I am very stimulated ("peaking", in psychedelic terms).
At first this was somewhat unpleasant, but after a week, I don't seem to have the roller coaster effect anymore, I guess my blood levels of the drug have stabilized.
I must say that so far my experience has been great, although I am experiencing the ejac. delay issue, (which my wife enjoys).
I feel like a new man. My old stressed out and extrememly irritable self is a thing of the past, and I haven't felt the need to reach for the Ativan for many days now. In fact, my desire to drink beer or smoke pot is also greatly reduced (I was self medicating for 20 years with that stuff).
My wife notices a great change in me and tells me that I am much more like the man she met 18 years ago, which is helping our relationship a great deal.
Gone are the leg aches that I would get from workplace stress, gone is the irritability, gone is the constant "running on adrenaline" feeling, gone are the nights with lousy sleep, etc.
In short, this drug has exceeded my expectations, and I am very pleased to have gotten relief from my symptoms.
Wildman
poster:Wildman
thread:292801
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031219/msgs/292801.html