Anyone taken Lexam?

[Silmarwen18]

Anyone ever taken Lexam? Side effects? Did it work? Doctor has put me on it....

Any advice would be appreciated :)

[gypsylee]

Anyone ever taken Lexam? Side effects? Did it work? Doctor has put me on it....

Any advice would be appreciated :)

I had to google Lexam - it's called Lexapro here and yes I've been on it for about a year. I've been on various SSRIs for twenty years and Lexapro/Lexam is much the same as the others (Prozac, Zoloft) in my case.

If it's your first SSRI be aware that they tend to make you feel worse in the beginning. They aren't like benzodiazepines (Valium etc) which work straight away; they have to build up in your system. This can be pretty unpleasant for a couple of weeks. But hang in there because once the levels of serotonin stabilise they do work. SSRIs have gotten me out of some really bad depressive/anxious episodes.

So the side effects can be increased anxiety/depression at first. Some people get nausea but I don't. Just make sure you keep in touch with your doctor in the first month or so and tell him/her if you feel really terrible.

If you go alright you can increase the dose - I started on 10mg and am now on 20mg. Also, don't stop taking them if you feel better because they don't "cure" anxiety.. They sort of just keep you on an even keel once you get out of the bad stage of depression/anxiety.

Good luck :)
Gypsy

[crmac50]

I've been on Lexapro a couple different times. The generic version (escitalopram) is actually responsible for triggering a "relapse" of my anxiety, which happened after I made the mistake of asking my doctor for anxiety meds, after a couple years of being med and anxiety free (I was trying to be proactive). I took 5mg of escitalopram and overnight I had an epic panic attack—bad enough that I blacked out. That being said, the brand version helped me quite a bit at 10mg, but 20mg gave me side effects. I wasn't able to power through them and decided to switch to something else. I was on the 10mg dose for awhile though, and it did help me, with fairly minimal side effects. Coming off of it wasn't terrible, but was definitely annoying: primary withdrawal symptom was "brain zaps,' i.e. electric shock-like sensations in my head. Very unpleasant and uncomfortable, and made it difficult to concentrate on anything. But they went away about about 3-4 weeks. Hope that helps.

[Silmarwen18]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for responding. I think my body has accepted this stuff pretty well... started at 5mg and have gone up to 10mg... I experience some minor nausea when I first take it and a decrease in appetite seems to have taken hold but besides that I feel pretty good... best ive felt in a long time... Im sleeping better, im relaxed, I can think straight and I don't feel like ive got a swarm of angry bees buzzing around in my head.

Good luck with your medications as well :)