Lexapro...Anxiety, agoraphobia newbie... Please help

[Ncraven]

I have become extremely anxious and had trouble going to work this past spring. since I've been off I have barely left my house and become agoraphobic like my dad. I was on Buspar and it didn't help. I then tried lexapro and within 20 minutes after taking my first pill I was sitting on my bed hysterically crying and rocking. Tried citalopram and that made me vomiting frequently going to the bathroom, stomach cramps, uninterested in food, exhausted and zombie-like so I stopped taking it.

I have now been off medicine and seeing a therapist. the problem is I Start work again in 10 days and I'm looking back and wondering if the lexapro dose at 10 mg was just too high for me since I am only 104 lbs. Has anyone tried it at a smaller dose and had positive results?

[kiwiang]

hi,

I have had 2 attempts on lexapro and was only ever on 10mg max, which worked really well for me but I had massive weight gain so am now trying prozac, my gp has said if I ever need to go back to lexapro that it would be 5mg, we are all different and tolerate meds differently so I would try the 5mg what is there to lose? I to developed agoraphobia from my anxiety so am doing CBT with the meds this time and I am doing ALOT better :) hope this helps answer your question

[Fashoom]

Are you phobic about taking meds? Your reaction to the Lexapro sounds more like a panic attack about starting medication than a functional reaction to the med -- which is highly unlikely 20 minutes after 1 10mg dose. But agree w/ kiwiang - try Lexapro 5mg, you can always bump it up later.

[alankay]

Yep, try 5 mg for a few weeks. Starting any ssri can bring on anxiety temporarily but as kiwiang mentioned after 20 mins I bet it was more you being concerned about starting the med. Some docs add a small amount of a long acting benzo for these ssri related temp bumps in anxiety until you get used to the ssri. I prefer prozac but lexapro is a good med to try as it acts only and purely on serotonin. Alankay.