Posted by dozy35 on January 9, 2005, at 15:42:58
In reply to Re: Lexapro - no motivation!, posted by ed_uk on January 8, 2005, at 17:31:15
Hi Ed,
I've been on 10 mg of Lexapro for a little less than 3 months now. (For the six months prior to that, I'd been taking Prozac, which worked fine for depression, but did nothing for my anxiety and OCD). I started at 5 mg Lexapro the first week (just to introduce it gradually to my system) - since then, I've been taking 10 mg per day. For the first month or so I felt pretty good, but as the medication built up in my system, the feelings of fatigue and lethargy became worse. I still struggle daily with OCD; however, my urges to perform compulsions have become less intense (much better than with Prozac) and I experience far less anxiety while attempting to resist the compulsions. It does a fairly good job of helping with my depression (although I don't quite have the "high" that I had while taking Prozac); however, now that I'm lacking so much in energy (in addition to putting on some weight), I'm not so sure how much it's really helping with the depression anymore - especially premenstrually. Back in November, my pdoc suggested taking 15 mg (instead of 10 mg) a week or so before my period. Unfortunately the higher dosage caused some stomach upset, so I immediately went back to taking 10 mg.
A couple of years ago I was on Paxil CR for OCD, anxiety, and mild depression. I was on an extremely high dose (for OCD). In some aspects it really helped my OCD, but of course it did not completely eliminate it. And I must say it did WONDERS for general feelings of anxiety and social phobia type stuff; however, it eventually turned me into a zombie and caused weight gain, to the point where I felt it was more important to stop the medication and and try to lose weight than to treat my OCD, etc. (and oh, what a joy it was discontinuing Paxil - or "Puxil", shall I say? - took me several weeks to get off the stuff, being on such a high dose & everything - but that's a whole other story)!
My alcohol cravings aren't as intense as they were when I was on Prozac. They do tend to get worse premenstrually. They mainly just hit me in the early evening ("happy hour"), as that tends to be a more stressful time of day for me (dinner time, dealing with my hubby when he comes home from work, bath and bedtime for the little one, picking up messes, cleaning the kitchen, etc). I'll make myself a cocktail or two because it "takes the edge off" and makes everything else I have to do much less boring. Once I start thinking about having that cocktail or glass of wine or whatever, it's hard to get the thought out of my head. I never do it before I have to drive anywhere, though. I think that once I start exercising again, it will be easier to manage my cravings. Perhaps I'll try some tea or something in lieu of the gin. My pdoc also prescribes Ativan for me, but even taking half of a 0.5-mg tablet tends to make me feel too sleepy. Anyway, sorry to be so long-winded! If you have any suggestions, let me know. Thanks!
poster:dozy35
thread:439504
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050108/msgs/439801.html