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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by seatgti on April 2, 2004, at 9:22:15
I know I only posted a couple of days ago and got a nice reply from K and Bill (thanks) but I was kinda hoping for a little more response. This coming monday will be my 12th full week of taking 10mg of lexapro. I upped my doseage yesterday to 15mg. The last 10 days have been the worst since I started with GAD and depression at xmas. Very high anxiety and all the symptoms that go with it. I figured I had pooped out and after following the board for a while now decided it might be time to up it. I cant ask my pdoc for advice because he is on holiday and wont talk to patients over the phone anyway and my next appointment is in May!!! I am looking for advice and support from fellow lexapro takers coz my morale is kinda low (understatement). So any contact via here, msm, e-mail would be really good ( I will provide email address to any interested parties) and I will try my best to support others as well. Didnt know if this should be in babble or social.....probably both. Please write soon
Andy UK
Posted by Rix on April 2, 2004, at 11:19:07
In reply to Lexapro - Really need support, posted by seatgti on April 2, 2004, at 9:22:15
Andy:
I am a brand new Lexapro user, so I may not be much help: (but I ad tried every other antidperessant and this one has the least side effects for me )
I am on my 5th week, but my doctor Warned me that the serotonin enhancement effects of Lexapro can Markedly INCREASE anxiety for many many weeks......SInce I suffer severe GAD, OCD, panic and agoraphobias, he started me on 5 mg.....At first I trembled, gasped for air, got frightened, fuzzy and confused and scared and wents nuts.....He told me to "hang in there" as this can be expected, so at least I felt like i understood it and it helped me bare it...he also gave me xanax, or ativan to take several times a day to assist me with this increased anxiety...I found that the xanax made me more fatigued (and the Lexapro was very very fatiguing), so I pulled back on the xanax, and went just with the Lex....I have tried it ams and pms, but now the faituge is also diminishing...I upped the dosage to 7.5 mg (which is 3/4 of a 10 mg tab(I use a razor blade to cut it)...as soon as I Upped the dose the extreme fatigue and anxiety came over me again..I felt like I had to sleep all the time and it felt like depression but it was just exhasution)..which has taken three full weeks and is still NOT settled, but this time I know its ok....I am on 3rd week of that, and miraculously am just feeling much better, altho have a hard time sleeping, so I take the Ativan at night to sleep. I noitce that I am bothered less by stuff that used to make me crazy..not alot, but enough to make life less painful..also I expect that this will keep improving)
My point is:
You may feel bad from starting too high on the Lex...instead of allowing your mind to become accustomed to the rushes of increased anxiety....
I have had several friends who's doctors put them straight on 10 mg and they could barely function, and consequently were sooo disorietned that their anxiety went thru the roof...your mind needs to slowly slowly adjust to the antidepressant effects....More people seem to quit the Lex when they start off too high...(its just my observation.)
I know for myself, I may have to stay on 7.5 mgs for months until I learn to think new ways, and reorder my world.....I am also using cognitive therapy to address how I think and what I do...theres a book called Feeling Good by DAvid Burns which could help.
I don't believe a magic pill will just make the world rosy. You must reorder your life, values and interpretations of things....what you do, and how much pressure you put on yourself..I have pulled back and given myself permission to stop being all things to all people and take a more "whatever" attitude..and thats helping amazingly well...
One more idea: if you are drinking or taking other sorts of "depressants" this can defeat the anti dpressant effects...
God Bless......
Posted by kellieann7 on April 4, 2004, at 21:17:52
In reply to Lexapro - Really need support, posted by seatgti on April 2, 2004, at 9:22:15
Andy,
If you are looking for support, you have come to the right place. Everyone here is incredibly open and supportive. There is a large thread up above, and also on the Psycho-Social board. I forget to go there sometimes, and I miss out on all the fun. I will tell you about my Lex story.
I started taking Lex for depression in December. I started at 10 mgs, and upped to 20 mg two weeks later. I felt an immediate "mellowing" but I was pretty unstable at that time. We put a pet down three days after I started the meds, and I don't think I would be able to function that day without the medication. I didn't notice the long term effects mood-wise until after Christmas, about 6 weeks after I started. I suddenly noticed that I could wake up in the morning and didn't have to argue with myself for 30 minutes. The meds would make me tired, but wired. I felt my pulse race, I would feel panic-y and disoriented. However, because I was depressed, I welcomed and encouraged this feeling. I have not had anxiety problems in the past, and I have noticed an increase in my anxiety, particularly around "that time" of the month. I think it is because as a rule Lexapro makes me high strung. For someone who wanted to sleep all day, this is a good thing. I hope this helps you get an idea for how Lex works for everyone.
My husband takes Paxil for GAD- actually, he has irritable bowel and has almost a phobia/PTSD thing with our pets dying. He would have panic attacks and his IB would flare up. He lost 30 lbs in about a month and a half. The Paxil has worked well for him, and he got through our two pets dying in December, while I was the mess. He would be INSANE on Lexapro because he is a nervous, high strung guy anyway, and I think the wired feeling would make him feel manic.
Posted by witzkey on April 4, 2004, at 23:56:25
In reply to Lexapro - Really need support, posted by seatgti on April 2, 2004, at 9:22:15
I have been taking Lexapro since January the 13th, which was the same day I quit smoking. Lexapro has helped me tremendously. It helped me become less socially anxious and less worrisome. I love the stuff. I'm actually afraid I may run out and start smoking. Whew, that's scary. I take 10mg a day in the morning. I don't know what to say except I'll take your leftover Lexapro if you don't want the rest. ;-)
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