Lexapro/Celexa

I have been on Lexapro for almost 2 yrs and find it works very well for me. I had a severe depression and social anxiety issues when I started taking it. I could feel it kick in on day 10 and each day following got better until I began to feel like me again.

I did have the "sexual side effects" you read and hear about with antidepressants, so my GP suggested I add Wellbutrin XL to help with that. My libido improved and I was able to have an orgasm again (better even!). My GP also told me it would help mood swings and hot flashes, and it has.

The only negative thing I find is if I forget to take my meds in the morning, by afternoon I feel very funky. I can't concentrate and get little "blips" in my head...sort of like a little electrical shock. My GP said it is a withdrawal symptom from the Lexapro. So, if you do begin with an anti-depressant, it is VERY important to tell your doctor when you want to go off of it and that you wean yourself off over a period of time...not just cut it off cold turkey. All of them work on your brain chemistry and you can feel pretty strange if that is abruptly changed.

Good luck in your decision. I hope this has helped.

Maggiemay

Bizet Woman:

I only quit taking it because it quit working for me. Actually it probably had stopped working a few months earlier, it just took me a while to realize that miserable feeling was lasting a long time! I guess it had worked for so long it didn't occur to me that it might stop.

Since then I haven't found anything that's worked for more than about 6 months, except Effexor, which worked for about a year, though the side effects were awful. I haven't taken anything in the last year, and I've been waiting until after the surgery to start anything else. I didn't want to add any new drugs to the mix before surgery. From what I hear, when they take those ovaries I'm definitely going to need something though!

HollyK

Hi Christina

Well, I didn't start antidepressants after my hyst, but a part of the reason I've had to take them was the mood swings during peri-menopause & menopausal hormone changes & now the hyst. I've been taking Celexa for a couple years now. No problems at all. I was on Prozac for quite a while before that. In between I was switched around to Effexor, Wellbutrin, Paxil, then the Celexa.

There are several anti-depressants out there as you know and I agree with hollyk. Sharing our own experiences with Celexa & Lexapro side effects will not help you, because YOU may not experience those same side effects at all.
I found myself WAITING for dreaded side effects to hit that others told me about with their various anti-depressants. (I am a worrier). Now, I just read the drug insert and try not to think about it too much

Not that it really matters, but HollyK & Bizet Woman's posts got me to thinking about what answer I got when I questioned why I was taken off Prozac when it did work....

Correct me if I have this totally wrong...
Didn't the patent on the name "Prozac" run out around 2000 or so and that's when Celexa became more prescribed and also when the drug companies introduced LexaPRO (as in PROzac)??

Good luck, Christina. s

Holly K... what were your side effects after taking effexor? I'm taking effexor and i'm not sure if i'm feeling any side effects. Although I have heard of the sexual dysfunction part. That is not effecting me.. thank goodness. I hope to get off this med within the next year or so . I think it has carried me through the rough spots. Just curious what side effects you're having.

Hi Ladies

Working for a drug company (not one that does anti-depressants unfortunately, or pain killers anymore) I may be able to shed some light. I can tell you that Lexapro was launched by the same company as Celexa when Celexa (Ciprimil in Australia) came off patent. I think they are very similar drugs (minus a molecule or two) which supposedly has less side effects in some people. I know Prozac is off patent in Australia and you can get cheaper gereric versions made by other companies (such as Lovan) but they are exactly the same drug as Prozac. Not sure how it works in the US. Its the drug companys' way of keeping up their sales once a drug comes off patent - they remove something from the product to make it slightly different and re-market it under a different name. Of course, it has to have all the usual FDA approvals, trials etc, so is quite legitimate.

Keep smiling

Thanks Ozjules for the info.
Yeah, I thought Celexa & Lexapro were essentially the same as Prozac- my dr. had told me all that too some time back. I just didn't want to go off in 10 directions on this thread, just sort of hint around that SOME of the anti-depressants are quite similar.

Talk about confusing, though. I actually called up my pharmacist last month and told him I had to WRONG prescription - first time I got generic Citolopram (sp?) and not Celexa. Very embarrassing-I blamed it on the hyster

All these patent names sounds much better coming from someone working in the pharmaceuticals area

Jan so cal:

If you aren't having problems with the Effexor so far then you'll be fine. I was sick going on them for a few days, mostly dizziness and nausea. That wore off, but if I forgot to take a pill at the same time each day within a few hours I'd start experiencing withdrawal symptoms. When it finally quit working and I had to go off it I was sick for days, trying to wean myself off. Finally just started my next one (Celexa I think), and that stopped all the symptoms right away.

I've been taking one kind of AD or another for about 30 years now, and I'd never experienced such a thing before. There were some where I had a bit of dizziness the first day, but that was pretty much it. And I was on MAOI's for some years, before the SSRI's came out. They were ok unless I cheated on the dietary restrictions, but that was my fault, since I knew the rules. But when I had so much trouble with effexor I started checking it out and found all kinds of web sites devoted to the evils of effexor's side effects! I've since talked to many others who have had similar problems.

But it still comes down to the individual. You have already had a better time with it than I ever did, so none of this applies to you.

About Prozac, I know here in Canada we've had a generic equivalent available for a couple of years.

Happy days.

HollyK