Posted by mtdewcmu on March 30, 2011, at 1:18:06
In reply to Re: Citalopram is CELEXA, posted by Phillipa on March 30, 2011, at 0:25:26
> Once took celexa when new. It made me so tired couldn't function hit a mail box with car. Lexapro doesn't do that. But medicaire makes you substitute celexa for lexapro. Still got doc samples though running out. Read it's like a hand on a glove but reverse the hand for other med. Phillipa
Celexa is actually two drugs, S-citalopram and R-citalopram. They are mirror images of each other. Lexapro is only S-citalopram. At one time, I guess it was hard to synthesize just the isomer you want, which is why both got left in. If R-citalopram had been dangerous, it would have been eliminated from the start, but apparently it only causes mild side effects. With a lot of drugs that come in pairs (enantiomers), the inactive isomer is not worth removing. I just came across a drug, Xyzal, that is the active enantiomer of Zyrtec. Obviously that one didn't make much of a splash.
poster:mtdewcmu
thread:981377
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110321/msgs/981452.html