Posted by JenStar on June 2, 2005, at 10:20:19
In reply to My family doc says Celexa is a mood stabilizer..., posted by Deneb on June 1, 2005, at 21:28:14
hi Deneb,
I take Lexapro, which is a derivative of Celexa, and basically works the same way. For me, it's definitely smoothed out my anxiety. I suffer from extreme anxiety at times. I'm not sure how it works, and I don't even know if the scientists know exactly! That's the scary thing about brain drugs - that we don't know exactly WHY they work as they do.Generally, these drugs work by increasing levels of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is a chemical largely responsible for feeling good, calm & happy. The story goes that the more serotonin you have, the more "you" you feel. When you have more serotonin, you feel less depression, despair, anxiety. For some women, taking SSRI's also decreases PMS! But the exact mechanisms behind how and exactly why it works are still being researched.
Anyway, for ME this drug is helping. And Celexa/Lexapro have lower side effects (supposedly) than other similar SSRI's. I've really had NO side effects on Lexapro (yah!) which is great.
Anyway, I'm sure that there are people here who know a lot more about the drug mechanisms than I do. But at least I'm one "success story" (sort of, anyway!) I'm still anxious a lot of the time, but it's definitely better.
take care!
JenStar
poster:JenStar
thread:506568
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050601/msgs/506849.html