Lexapro

It worked for me. Stillnox also is the only sleeping tablet that makes me sleep. So it must be how your brain is wired. I guess that is why there are so many different pills that do different things.

I started taking 10 mg. Lexapro for depression. Doctor wanted to increase it to 20 mg. Had daily headaches, nausea, indigestion, somnolence, fatigue/lethargy on 10 mg. after 2 wks. on it. Did not increase it. Called doctor and discontinued it.

I drove home for about 15 minutes and didn't remember driving. I told the dr and he didn't really know what to say.

About the third day, got sick.  By the fifth day, side effects became stronger and the headache began within 5 minutes of taking the pill as did the eustation tube pressure.   Complete list of side effects:  Flu like symptoms, severe headache, alternating between the left and right side of my head, eustasion tube pressure, ringing in ears, dry eyes, dry mouth, drowsy, nasal drip, shortness of breath, severe stomach gas, loss of appetite.  Getting off this drug. 

My 46 year old brother committed suicide last week.  We are able to confirm that he took 3 pills of Lexapro 10mg before his death.  We are totally devestated - never saw it coming.  Never would have guessed.  After reading all I have on the internet - I can't believe the number of people willing to take these SSRIs.  BE DEPRESSED & FIGURE OUT A WAY TO SOLVE DEPRESSION NATURALLY!!  I've never read anything about anyone committing suicide taking herbal supplements.

I have been on lexapro for 10 months now and I am slowly trying to get off it. My main problem with the drug is sexual disfunction. trouble maintaining an erection and now total anorgasmia. (not able to orgasm at all). I thought this must have been because i have put on weight and am getting older, 56yrs. But I now have discovered that the drug is causing this problem. While they say only a small percentage of men using this drug have this problem, we have remembered that my wife had exactley the same problem a few years back when she was taking lexapro. I also had a problem with cramps in one calf muscle every night for the last three months. I am thinking that this might be another side affect as I have had every test going and they can not find a reason for it.

I have been taking the minimum dosage of 5mg a day for 6 months. after about the 1st month I started gaining about 1lb a week until I started cutting back. The more I cut back the slower the wait gain.  I'm down to 2.5mg per day and am no longer gaining wait.  I went from consuming 2000 calories a day to 1500 and went from not running at all to running 12 - 15 miles per week and kept gaining weight until I cut back on the meds.  I take no other medication.  I also started having a lot of memory problems which I never had before.  Now that I've cut back, that has mostly went away.  Another strange side effect has been how salt and potassium is effecting my blood pressure.  Prior to taking Lexapro I was salt sensative.  I had to limit my salt consumtion to 1500mg or less per day and had to make sure I got 1bout 2000mg of potassium every day to have good blood pressure.  Now it is the exact opposite.  I have been taking my blood pressure multiple times per day for years, so I am very aware of what causes it to go up or down.  Most doctors will ignore the side effects you have if it isn't listed on the package.  I can tell you 7 years of study didn't make them more intelligent, they just know more about their proffesion.  They don't know any more about a medication then they read on the phamplet or on the web, they aren't pharmasists and they don't have the time, there are to many medications out there. They don't want to believe someone because then they would have to stop and think and admit they don't know.

I have.  The blackouts usually coincide with alcohol consumption.  I lost a few hours on two occasions and didn't recognize people that I know well, like one of my teachers and my boyfriend.   What happened to you?

My 19 year old cousin has been taking Lexapro for 3 weeks and tried to commit suicide this morning.  I am trying to figure out if taking the Lexapro was what made him to decide to attempt to kill himself since he never tried before.  Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

took for 3 months for anxiety and then was diagnosed with severe depression and my dose was upped from 10 to 20 mg.  the whole time I took Lexapro I felt wierd, walking into walls and being dizzy and brain sharp stabs and coming in and out of consiousness for a second or so.  I started to forget peoples names sometimes and was always haaving unusual symptoms, like swolen joints, and nots around my muscles and joints, and stiff back, and shoulders not working smoothly, stiff jaw, headaches, all kinds or irregular symptoms that would just show up for no reason out of no where.  My doctor said the symptoms were not from the Lexapro and to have my internist check for arthritus, flu, some kind of infection, or heart disease, or even a brain tumor.  I check all these things and wasted an inordinate of time at the doctor and paying bills for testing.  Then I just gave up on my doctor because he was not listening to me and just wanted me to take my medicine and quit complaining.  He even said he might increase my dose to 40 mg a day.  So I decided to slowely stop taking it.  I followed some internet advise to cut back by about 5 mg at a time and take a smaller dose for 2 weeks if I had taken Lexapro for 6 months and for 4 weeks at a time, if i had been taking it for a year.  Now I am down to 5 mg a day and will cut it down to 2.5 for a while before I stop completely.  So far I have has withdrawal symptoms, but they do not seem to be nearly as bad as the side effects from when I had the highest dose.  I do think the Lexapro was good to take for my anxiety, but the side effects are giving me anziety now and I want to get off this poison and learn better ways to deal with my anxiety.  I will work on exercise and training my brain, and discipline and this will keep me healthier and more in control than that poison.

Has anyone experienced amnesia or a black out episode from Lexapro? I experienced such an episode and would like to discuss with anyone who has had the same.

It's well known to most, and should be to any professional, that drugs can poop out after awhile. He could increase dose to see if his tolerance has increased, or he can just try a new drug.

If he has problems with aggression, he may do better with a mood stabilizer than an antidepressant, or by adding a mood stabilizer to his Lexapro.

I was on Lexapro 10mg for almost two years. I didn't understand my slow weight gain- I am a Lifetime member of Weight Watchers and I monitor my food intake (I have written down everything I have eaten since 2004 when I joined, so I could even show you what i ate!) and I exercise- run, kickbox, weights. I went on birth control a month later, and initially blamed the weight gain on the BC, so I went off of that a year ago. It continued.  I spoke to trainers, WW leaders, nutritionists- but always blamed myself and figured I was doing something wrong. I reduced calories and worked out more, and kept going up until I hit a 20lb gain. All in my abdomen- it just didn't seem normal. If I gained a pound, no matter WHAT I did, it wouldn't come off.  I worked out so much I had fit arms and legs- but love handles I had never had before (even BEFORE I lost more than 60lbs 6 years ago) and my stomach was so bloated. No pants fit. I was so, so depressed.

About 4 months ago, I started getting nightsweats, and my period started skipping months. I was petrified that I was in early menopause (I am 34). It was only then, after talking to countless friends, that I thought MAYBE it was the lexapro. I googled it and found boards like this where people shared their stories- I felt like I was hearing myself talk. The weight gain- in the same spots! I was amazed. Since then, I weaned off my dose. It sucked, I had side effects from that (brain zaps, light flashes, edginess, lethargy and really bad heart palpitations-- even though I slowly weaned off the drug over a month.) and now I am 14 days Lexapro free. I had a brain flash this morning- but it was weird, it had been a while since I had felt the side effects. In fact, I finally stopped the dosages (I was down to 2.5mg every other day) because the side effects had become more minimal. 

I have heard it works for many people- but not for me. It helped when I needed it, early on. But then I had so much anxiety about what was going on with my body. Not only that- the withdrawals had me scared about what was in my brain (when I went on, I got the brain zaps, but it was my first antideppresant ever and I thought that was normal). For me, it was NOT a long term drug. I am just glad I made the connection. 

I have not take lexapro but my husband does. He has been on it for years has agression problems. He also tends to shut off emotion. Everything was fine for a long time he takes 20 mg a day but started feeling like it really wasn't working anymore for him. He reached out to his dr and told him about it he said he was fine no big deal it was fine and if it has worked for years then it's works for him. Since then he has crazy mood swings out of no where but they seem totally rational to him but trust me they r not on second it's great the next it's like a switch is turned and he pushes me away shuts me out along with everyone. He is like a hermitt. After looking at side effects to this drug and I know sometimes he said he started doubling up on his pills!!! Could his dr be wrong? Could the mood changes bad depression, he can't sleep without taking pills and he all so has bad agression that has all kinda gotten wourse the past few monthes b lexapro???

bradycardia

ive only just taken it 10 mg and my vision dosnt seem right either i dont know what to do

i have just taken lexam as its called in australia and im worried from reading these posts that i will get worse not better the doctor has perscribed this 10 mg and 2 valiums a day i am only 20 i get very anxious and have trouble sleeping i have been put on everything from zanax, diazapan, stilnox,valium, and several antidepressents i just want something to work....will lexam???

I started taking Lexapro 10 mg. 3 weeks ago. First thing I noticed was when I would look intently at something my vision would quiver back and forth. My Dr. never said anything about not drinking while on Lexapro and I had some drinks one night and they hit me REALLY hard. My depression seemed to be getting better and yet the thoughts of suicide seem to be sliding back into my mind. Oh God.
Today, I was uncharacteristically aggressive sexually and quite angry. It was so weird and I don't know what happened to me. It was some kind of power trip and I felt outside of myself. I apologized to my boyfriend hours later and he's very upset with me. I humiliated him and I don't blame him for feeling hurt and confused. He said I was "over the top" and I was. It just wasn't "me."

I want to go off this stuff. What do I do??? Thank you.

Penny,
I am so sorry. But it is possible to get off of these drugs.  Please visit this website http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.drugawareness.org%2Fsuspicious-suicide-of-sister&h=91c9d or visit us on facebook, I and several others are creating a website for victims of ssri's and earlier antidepressants.  I met this person on the drug awareness website, here sister killed herself the exact same year as my father did, while withdrawing from imipramine and we are exactly the same age.  Imipramine was at the time considered "the gold standard" as lexapro is now.  History jsut keeps repeating itself.

Beware of Lexapro, make sure you are carefully monitored and report the earliest feelings of suicidal ideation. My husband hanged himself after being on Lexapro for 11 days. He was lucky enough to survive but made two subsequent attempts before being changed to Effexor. At no stage were we told there was a problem with Lexapro and when I called the doctor several days before the suicide to say how worried we were, he was not unduly concerned. From checking on the web it now appears there have been problems with ssri's from the outset.

Posted on this very website are the top 30 side effects of Lexapro and they include, Aggression, completed suicide, and gunshot wound?  And your telling people they shouldn't be drinking alcohol?  This is priceless.  Did you actually read your side effects?  People shouldn't be taking this drug.

Well I guess at least my side effect wasn't a gunshot wound.  That seems to be a common one in the reports on this page.  I don't recall seeing that on the bottle.

I was given this drug SPECIFICALLY because I told my doctor I was drinking heavily because of my problems and becoming an alcoholic.  That was the exact conversation I had with him. I don't know how I could have been more honest with these people.  I am totally not surprised that you would pick out the one thing the patient did wrong in this whole scenerio and blame the entire situation on that.  This type of thinking is what caused the situation in the first place.

you should not be drinking and taking these

Lexapro is a permanent life long cure for any depression if you can survive the treatment.  I was prompted by a marriage counselor to go to my doctor and request drugs for my OCD. I went to my husband’s pcp who never met me before.  He gave me a depression test and diagnosed me with depression and anxiety, then prescribed me Lexapro & Rozerem .  He also decided it was a good idea to start kissing me and grabbing me in his office. Lexapro did such a good job getting me up and doing things, lots of things, but  it also may have made me nervous because it raised my blood pressure from it’s usual 120/80 to 145/110.  I could drink twelve shots of straight liquor and still be walking around for hours.  This was the busiest year of my life. I got 2 DUI’s  4 drunk in publics & an involuntary commit for suicide, attend 2 rehab’s, a hypnotherapist, weekly ASAP programs, all while working full time. I was seen by 3 psychiatrists, 4 doctors, and numerous counselors.  Most of the follow up treatment involved more drugs, anti-buse, campral, and Buspar. All of which I had to stop taking  due to side effects such as full body tremors and falling down.  After the second DUI which I was also charged with a felony for pinching a police officers butt, I decided maybe I should stop taking the Lexapro b/c I seemed to have developed some obsession with alcohol. While in jail, I requested no more medication for 1 week and was able to fully withdraw from Lexapro, although the depression side effects of the withdrawal lasted about three months.  I met other women in jail for DUI’s while on Zoloft, Lexapro and Abilify and others for shoplifting on Zanax.  I have never killed anyone driving drunk, I didn’t kill myself, I am no longer in jail, I didn’t get my kid taken away from me, I am not in a mental institution, and I don’t have a lethal diastolic blood pressure of 110 anymore.    No matter what happens in my life now, I am always hopeful and never depressed.  I know things could be much worse.

I am on Lexapro for a few weeks now. The other night i went out, had a few drinks (was not the driver) and I behaved VERY aggessively. Is this normal?????

can lexapro be take with nitroglycerin?

The first day that I took Lexapro 10mg I ended up in the hospital for 2 days. Shortly after taking it I experienced a burning feeling that began in the back of my neck and washed all over me down my arms and back to about my hips. Numbness and sweating in all extremities. Burning across jaw. Extreme anxiety, dry mouth, panicky. Entire left side of body began trembling. Called paramedics - ecg normal but transported to hospital anyway. Set off heart monitor in ER twice so admitted for tests - all normal.