Anyone used lexapro???

[heapsreal]

Hi,
Has anyone used lexapro before?
Just been feeling flat the last few weeks, finding hard to get motivated. Although i have dropped back to part time work I just have that dread feeling (ground hog day) of going to work, which is strange bcause i dont mind my job. I have dropped to 20hrs a week which has hit the budget abit hard so recently will start doing 30hrs and hopeing the extra hours dont increase fatigue too much but the extra money will help ease my mind financially. Gee i hate money or should i say earning it.

Im normally sensitive to ssri's but have had some success with a very low dose zoloft but it does muck my sleep up and have read that zoloft is a more stimulating ssri. I have ordered a very low dose lexapro, 5mg so will start with half and see how i go. From what i have read its suppose to be the best side effect wise and it and zoloft are suppose to be the best ad's on the market as far as efficency, side effects, price etc. And im too sensitive to any of the ad's that work on noradrenaline.

Can someone give me a couple of million dollars? Im sure i will feel better then

cheers!!!

 

[drex13]

I can't take lexapro at all. I had a very bad experience with it, where I literally didn't sleep for 3 days. ssri's don't agree with me, they make me very anxious/agitated. I do take Remeron and have found that I really like it, plus it helps me sleep.

 

[heapsreal]

I can't take lexapro at all. I had a very bad experience with it, where I literally didn't sleep for 3 days. ssri's don't agree with me, they make me very anxious/agitated. I do take Remeron and have found that I really like it, plus it helps me sleep.

Thanks for the reply, when i saw the reply i was really hoping you were offering me a million bucks, bugger, lol.

CAn i ask what dose you took? Im hoping the small dose i plan on using wont do that to me but i suppose i wont know until i try it and if i dont sleep then i know its not for me. Im sure in my previous life i was a lab rat for drug experiments, maybe with xmrv????

cheers!!!!

 

[August59]

It is one of the newer SSRI's and I think it is considered a "cleaned up" version of Celexa. Celexa has both "R" and "L" isomer of ??? and Lexapro is the "R" isomer only (might be the other way around). The idea was that 90% (?) of the serotonin reuptake inhibition of Celexa (Celexa has a very, very high affinity to serotonin as compared to Prozac and Zoloft) was provided by the "R" isomer, while the "L" isomer was responsible for 50% of the side effects of Celexa.

My geuss is that they knew this when the developed and manufactured Celexa, but it was a perfect way to bring a new drug to market. I've heard good and bad about Lexapro just like all of the other SSRI's. Woks great for some and not others, but from the CFS pespective try it and start very slow. I tried Prozac 5 or 6 years ago and I had gone all the way up to 80mg a day with virtually no effect good or bad. It didn't have present any sexual side effects at 80mg/day, but did notice a difference with Celexa which was like pushing a rope:Sign Help:

 

[PokerPlayer]

Well I am currently on celexa, which is about 1/3 as powerful as lexapro. I am only on 2.5mg right now and plan on bumping it up to 5mg in a few days, today is my 10th day on 2.5mg. SSRI's help my damage tolerance out a ton, I can do active things more, mentally straining things more, and even eat sugary foods without having a bad reaction.

The only downside is that it makes some people feel moody for a month or so when first starting up. This can be very intense when people as sensitive as us were to take a full dosage ssri, it could be a very bad situation.

I have read a lot of information out there that is in favor of ssri's being good for people with cfs, as long as they aren't too sensitive to them (I know many people on here are). Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, but also plays a role in natural killer cell activity. Personally, I think the psychological activity of ssri's are just a side effect to me (that I actually do not like at all) and the main thing they do for me is boost my immune system.

I totally recommend playing it SAFE. Start SLOW. 2.5mg lexapro is actually pretty powerful, I would recommend starting there. www.mindandmuscle.net has a lot of good information on psychiatric medication and conditions with fatigue as a factor are common there.

EDIT: I have used full dosage celexa in the past (20mg) but now am too sensitive for it, and hope to slowly build up to it. I was on 5mg in November 2010 but my doc took me off of it in favor of amitriptyline, which did not help anything but made me a bit less depressed and simply ambivalent about life in general.

 

[drex13]

Thanks for the reply, when i saw the reply i was really hoping you were offering me a million bucks, bugger, lol.

CAn i ask what dose you took? Im hoping the small dose i plan on using wont do that to me but i suppose i wont know until i try it and if i dont sleep then i know its not for me. Im sure in my previous life i was a lab rat for drug experiments, maybe with xmrv????

cheers!!!!

Sorry, no million dollars. I got like a $ 1.12 and some pocket lint. I don't remember the dosage, but I have tried it two different times, once only taking 1/2 a pill and still couldn't tolerate it, which is odd because I did take Celexa years ago and had no problems. I had also taken Paxil not long before the lexapro, but Paxil made me a little goofy and the sexual side effects were less than desirable.

 

[Lala]

I can not take Lexapro, too. It gave me horrible constipation, so I stopped after 10 days. I am on mirtazapine now, its effect is double-sided. It helped with depression somewhat and increased my weight, but I feel too nervous, dizzy and agitated on it. I sleep more hours, its sedative effect is powerful, but sleep is worse than before and I think it is its noradrenergic effect, which is doing no good.

How much Remeron do you take, drex? I am on 45mg right now..

 

[BEG]

This is just slightly off topic. I was on an SNRI for years, first with Cymbalta for pain; then with Effexor. I began to dread taking Effexor because, although it helped with mood, it made my heart race. And who needs that if you have POTS? I blame it on the "N" in SNRI. Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor. I switched to Zoloft (an SSRI), and I no longer have that problem. I take a low dose and am tolerating it very well.

I've enjoyed reading everyone's input on this topic. It's amazing how differently we react to the various SNRI's and SSRI's.

 

[Nielk]

Well I am currently on celexa, which is about 1/3 as powerful as lexapro. I am only on 2.5mg right now and plan on bumping it up to 5mg in a few days, today is my 10th day on 2.5mg. SSRI's help my damage tolerance out a ton, I can do active things more, mentally straining things more, and even eat sugary foods without having a bad reaction.

The only downside is that it makes some people feel moody for a month or so when first starting up. This can be very intense when people as sensitive as us were to take a full dosage ssri, it could be a very bad situation.

I have read a lot of information out there that is in favor of ssri's being good for people with cfs, as long as they aren't too sensitive to them (I know many people on here are). Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, but also plays a role in natural killer cell activity. Personally, I think the psychological activity of ssri's are just a side effect to me (that I actually do not like at all) and the main thing they do for me is boost my immune system.

I totally recommend playing it SAFE. Start SLOW. 2.5mg lexapro is actually pretty powerful, I would recommend starting there. www.mindandmuscle.net has a lot of good information on psychiatric medication and conditions with fatigue as a factor are common there.

EDIT: I have used full dosage celexa in the past (20mg) but now am too sensitive for it, and hope to slowly build up to it. I was on 5mg in November 2010 but my doc took me off of it in favor of amitriptyline, which did not help anything but made me a bit less depressed and simply ambivalent about life in general.

Hi Pokerplayer:

You say that you used to be able to tolerate 20 mg of Celexa and now your body is more sensitive so you have to start slow and build up.
I think the longer we are sick the more fragile our bodies become and less meds are tolerated.
You are smart to start very low and increase slowly and listen to your body.
I wish you success and hope it will help you!

 

[Nielk]

Hi,
Has anyone used lexapro before?
Just been feeling flat the last few weeks, finding hard to get motivated. Although i have dropped back to part time work I just have that dread feeling (ground hog day) of going to work, which is strange bcause i dont mind my job. I have dropped to 20hrs a week which has hit the budget abit hard so recently will start doing 30hrs and hopeing the extra hours dont increase fatigue too much but the extra money will help ease my mind financially. Gee i hate money or should i say earning it.

Im normally sensitive to ssri's but have had some success with a very low dose zoloft but it does muck my sleep up and have read that zoloft is a more stimulating ssri. I have ordered a very low dose lexapro, 5mg so will start with half and see how i go. From what i have read its suppose to be the best side effect wise and it and zoloft are suppose to be the best ad's on the market as far as efficency, side effects, price etc. And im too sensitive to any of the ad's that work on noradrenaline.

Can someone give me a couple of million dollars? Im sure i will feel better then

cheers!!!

Hi Heapspray,

Lexapro was the first drug they put me on when I first fell ill. (9 years ago) At the time I had very few side effects but it didn't really work for me. They kept increasing the dosage. When that didn't work, they added Zoloft and still no positive reaction.
After being on this combo for a while, I started feeling really depressed - like major depression! The funny thing is that to begin with, I was not depressed, just feeling very sick and my GP didn't know what to do with me after many tests all showing up normal so he gave me ADs. Because of my adverse reaction I am personally very scared of any AD. Yet, others do benefit from them so it's very hard to judge how you will react to it. I hope it works for you but don't make the mistake I did to allow them to keep increasing until a threshold my body couldn't take and crashed both Physically and mentally.

I hope it brings you relief.
Good luck

 

[heapsreal]

Thanks for all the replies. I think every year i go through a 2 month period of the bla's and just over it, i want to feel 110% again. I have mainly used a low dose of zoloft in the past for these periods but like someone has mentioned each time i have used it i seem to be getting more sensitive to it. I do now the first time i used zoloft i was using it for enrgy and brain fog and it worked great for that but eventually stopped working so i came off. Other times i have used it i have found it great for stopping u feeling crappy about feeling like crap, can put up with all the shit. But the last few times i have found it has overstimulated me, so this is why im looking at another med like lexapro.

There use to be a mars bar chocolate ad that use to say, a mars a day helps u work, rest and play. With cfs it seems like work, rest and rest, we dont have the time or energy to play. We need to find the time to play that doesnt wear us out, thats where i think the million dolars would help, lol.

drex, thanks for the $1.12 and the pocket lint will come in handy, i will pm my account details, lol.

cheers!!!

 

[PokerPlayer]

Lexapro is the strongest ssri by far, so be careful and good luck

 

[drex13]

I can not take Lexapro, too. It gave me horrible constipation, so I stopped after 10 days. I am on mirtazapine now, its effect is double-sided. It helped with depression somewhat and increased my weight, but I feel too nervous, dizzy and agitated on it. I sleep more hours, its sedative effect is powerful, but sleep is worse than before and I think it is its noradrenergic effect, which is doing no good.

How much Remeron do you take, drex? I am on 45mg right now..

I take 30 mgs. I started at 15mg then went to 22.5 then to 30. It's been really good for me. It helps me sleep, and basically no side effects. It can cause a person to crave carbs, which it did for me for awhile, but that has gone away.

 

[Lala]

Interesting, how everybody has different experience. It causes me heart beat and craving for chocolade. I eat half of large chocolade daily since on it and I put 12kg up. Also strange anxiety from dizziness.
I started with 30mg right away and first week I saw so many side effects, that I did not with any other drug...