Lexapro

Specialties Psychiatric

Published

Is anyone here taking Lexapro? Care to share you expirences with it, any s/e? Thanks!

Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

Ativan 1 mg. PO QHS does it for me. I started taking it when my perimenopausal night sweats were interrupting my sleep so frequently that I was turning into a forgetful, anxious, angry, psychotic b****. Now I still have the night sweats, but I sleep too soundly to care, and I'm never groggy or grouchy in the morning. Voila! Problem solved. ;)

I have been on Wellbutrin XL since last July and have to say it great for me. I have quit smoking, lost 20 lbs, have been exercising daily (walk 3 miles a day). My Doctor says she wants me to stay on it at least a year so as not to go back to smoking, did I mention that I was tested for Cholesterol, was all borderline high,six months later now i am at the desirable levels. i did go through alot of side effects for like 3 months, just takes time. I hope to stay on this forever, as I have never had so much energy in my life, not to mention its great for the sex life compared to other medicines.

Wellbutrin XL is a great drug! It is what allows me to be human!! :roll

I personally don't notice any side effects. I've seen this drug really work well for others, too. Psychoactive drugs have come so far, its something of a miracle.

I started taking Lexapro last winter when my mother went into a nursing home. That, along with some other personal crap, and the winter blues was more than I could cope with so my doctor started me on it. I didn't notice any side effects whatsoever. I did start out on 10 mgs but increased to 20 a couple of months later and that did it for me. I have much more patience with my patients now. Pun intended. Everyone's different so who knows how you'll react until you've tried it.

Good luck.

Stephanie

Specializes in jack of all trades, master of none.

Lawnurse... I noticed in your first post on this thread, you mentioned very vivid dreams. I started the Wellbutrin 2 weeks ago, today, to stop smoking (after having tried umpteen times, with various methods).

But, the dream thing just jumped out at me, I have been having totally bizarre dreams since I started this, but it has DEFINITELY helped with the smoking.. I have gone from 1.5 packs per day, down to 6.5 cigarettes in 48 hrs. I feel more energetic & have not had any problems with s/e, other than the dream thing, a decrease in appetite (which is totally OK with me, LOL) & the obvious, the decrease in smoking.... My friends are already commenting on how I don't smell like an ashtray anymore, (I never could tell). My sense of smell is already improving. So far, so good.

thanks for the reply -

I took ambien for awhile will I was on effexor. Instead of putting me to sleep, it make me "drunk." I did some pretty crazy things on ambien (including getting out of bed and 'decideding' i need more ambien, and taking even more of it, hiding things form myself, telling my bf we should think of names for our unborn children, drawing on the walls with markers, etc. :selfbonk: ) and it made me not care about going to sleep. I also used Trazodone for a long time, but the effect wore off. Two MDs told me Trazodone wears off after a while.

I'm back to Benedryl 50mg hs, which is just not effective enough.

Anyone know anything about hydroxyzine for sleeping? Is that used?

Lawnurse:

How awful scary that must have been when you were taking Ambien. Using these medications are so different for everyone. I was on Trazadone for a short time and the nausea was so bad I couldn't tolerate it.

Right now I am decreasing to 1/2 of the Ambien. Started last night and still feel pretty good. Hope this continues so I can stop taking it. I am trying to get my energy back so I can start working out again. Once my brain starts working again and I can do that it helps me sleep.

Good luck to you and hope you find something for your insomnia. It is so horrible to not sleep, but be so tired you cannot do anything but still cannot sleep.

mv

Is anyone here taking Lexapro? Care to share you expirences with it, any s/e? Thanks!

NOW THIS MAY SEEM TO BE A STRANGE QUESTION TO ASK YOU GUYS AND GALS. WHEN IN YOUR CAREER DID YOU REALIZE THAT YOU NEEDED MEDICATION, SUCH AS ANTI-DEPRESSANTS? OR WHAT EVER IT WAS TO GET YOU THROUGH YOUR DAY OR NIGHT? WAS IT WHILE YOU WERE IN SCHOOL? CLINICALS? OR IN THE FEILD DUE TO NOT FINDING YOUR IDEAL JOB THAT YOU HAVE? I'M READING ALL OF THE THINGS THAT'S WRITTEN ALL THE TIME AND I'M TAKING IT ALL IN. IT MAY HAPPEN TO ME AND IT MAY NOT. WHAT WOULD BE SOME OF THE TAIL-TAIL SIGNS THAT YOU NEED TO SEE A DR.? I DON'T WANT TO WAIT UNTIL I'M READY TO CRACK LIKE A EGG. THIS IS REALLY HELPFUL INFORMATION YOU GUYS AND GALS. I REALLY TAKES GUTS TO SAY THAT YOU NEEDED HELP. . WHEN IT'S MY TURN AND FEEL LOST I KNOW THAT I CAN COME HERE AND I YOU GUYS AND GALS THAT'S HONEST. I LIKE THAT. WHATEVER WORKS FOR YOU STICK WITH IT. NO MATTER WHAT OTHERS SAY.

Tracy - yea for less smoking!! That's great! :hug

Movingalong - actually, my unusual reaction to Ambien was really funny...My bf called me "ambi-girlfriend" when I was on it because it made me so strange. While it was really entertaining, it didn't help me sleep because when I was "high" on it, the last thing I cared about what getting sleep...too busy drawing murals on the bathroom walls, etc. :chuckle I guess I'm lucky I didn't do anything dangerous like try and drive a car...

I just want to add my thanks to A476's...the honest responses here make it easier for those of us suffering in silence to seek help. :)

i have been taking lexapro now for 2 years - it has been a lifesaver!! after my husband was laid off, life took a downward spiral and i was clearly depressed. my dr put me on this and i will always be grateful to him. i did not suffer from any side effects except for headaches when i first started - they weren't even that bad. to me, the end result was worth a couple of headaches. i am bale to be a part of life and not just sick back on the side lines.:)

i have met many who benefit from lexapro, but.... my husband was prescribed lexapro for stress d/t new house/new job/car wreck all in a 2 week period. while we have friends who reported nausea etc with it, he had no adverse effects and it did great at mellowing him out and getting him to sleep. things calmed down and he decided to go off it slowly titrating down... he went ballistic, couldn't sleep, and became irrational. the md response was there's no side effects and he must obviously have a psych disorder. we searched for the pharm company website and found all these to be common side effects and that like many drugs it hasn't been tested much for long term or withdrawal. they finally had to put him on a different drug to subdue the withdrawal and basically use that to wean him from lexapro and then wean him from the secondary drug. now all's well but he's sworn he'll never use any similar medications in the future no matter how great the need, all because of the hell he had to go through with the lexapro.

fortunately, is is not anxiety waking me up. the Lexapro makes me feel wide awake and it carries over into the night, even though I take it in the early morning. I am very happy with the increased dose, and I won't decrease it just because of the insomnia because it has made such a difference, but I would like to get some sleep! :)

You might try taking a low dose of Benadryl before bed. I wasn't taking Lexapro, but Paxil (which turned out to have way too many s/e) but taking one Benadryl tab before bed took care of my insomnia and restless legs. Good Luck!

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