New to escitalopram

[anxguy]

Hello,
I started taking 5mg per day of escitalopram 5 days ago.
Yesterday I started to notice I have a loud heart beat. it is still there today. I find it more annoying than anything although when i tried to take a nap yesterday i could not...every time i tried it would feel like my heart "bounces" whenever i try and fall asleep.

Is this normal for this drug while my body gets used to it? i'm assuming this might have to do with the fact that my anxiety his currently increased as i am new to the medication?

i have also noticed my resting heart rate has gone down from a normal anywhere between 80 to 100 down to 60-70. is that cause for concern? It seems like a rather big drop off to me.

it seems like every day is a different set of symptoms while taking this drug (the first 2 days it was a constant chest pain on my upper mid chest) but i want to try and hang on as people in general seem to do well with it.

i'm trying not to think of the symptoms but it is hard to ignore my loud heart beat

[gypsylee]

Hello,
I started taking 5mg per day of escitalopram 5 days ago.
Yesterday I started to notice I have a loud heart beat. it is still there today. I find it more annoying than anything although when i tried to take a nap yesterday i could not...every time i tried it would feel like my heart "bounces" whenever i try and fall asleep.

Is this normal for this drug while my body gets used to it? i'm assuming this might have to do with the fact that my anxiety his currently increased as i am new to the medication?

i have also noticed my resting heart rate has gone down from a normal anywhere between 80 to 100 down to 60-70. is that cause for concern? It seems like a rather big drop off to me.

it seems like every day is a different set of symptoms while taking this drug (the first 2 days it was a constant chest pain on my upper mid chest) but i want to try and hang on as people in general seem to do well with it.

i'm trying not to think of the symptoms but it is hard to ignore my loud heart beat

5mg is a low dose (I'm on 20 and started on 10) but if you've never taken SSRIs before you would get pretty noticeable side-effects. So yeah I'd say it's normal until it stabilises - these things knock you around quite a lot for the first few weeks. Hang in there.

[anxguy]

5mg is a low dose (I'm on 20 and started on 10) but if you've never taken SSRIs before you would get pretty noticeable side-effects. So yeah I'd say it's normal until it stabilises - these things knock you around quite a lot for the first few weeks. Hang in there.

thanks for the comments. i still have the palpitations...those bug me the worst right now and they seem to be more noticeable when i try and lay down.

[anxguy]

the palpitations combined with waking up from a heart spasm or something every time i was about to fall asleep meant i didnt fall asleep last night at all.

i went to see my doctor today assuming he would just give m sleeping pills and he took me off this drug to another (z-something...cant remember the name right now but i have to start taking that one on Wednesday night).

i'm a little bumed i did all this for nothing so far and i hope after 8 dozes i dont have much of a withdrawall on Saturday/Sunday. i mentioned i was ok to continue with the drug if he felt it could still do the trick and he mentioned it is unlikely the palpitations would go away if i continued it

I also got sleeping pills in case i still cant fall asleep tonight.

[Jill Rs]

It's a shame your Doc took you off the Escitalopram so early. It takes weeks to be fully adjusted. I started taking Lexapro 10 mgs in November and the first week especially was insane. I had new symptoms every day, sometimes every hour. It was certainly a crazy ride for the first two weeks them all settled. Heart palpitations were the biggest and scariest issue for me and not being able to fall asleep normally, something just felt off for weeks until I was adjusted. I hope your feeling better now, it will get better and you will start feeling like yourself again. Try and be patient and realize all those crazy physical symptoms are just your body/brain adjusting to the meds. and that your OK.

[anxguy]

It's a shame your Doc took you off the Escitalopram so early. It takes weeks to be fully adjusted. I started taking Lexapro 10 mgs in November and the first week especially was insane. I had new symptoms every day, sometimes every hour. It was certainly a crazy ride for the first two weeks them all settled. Heart palpitations were the biggest and scariest issue for me and not being able to fall asleep normally, something just felt off for weeks until I was adjusted. I hope your feeling better now, it will get better and you will start feeling like yourself again. Try and be patient and realize all those crazy physical symptoms are just your body/brain adjusting to the meds. and that your OK.

i really didn't want to give up now but he felt i shouldn't be having palpitations. after he took me off of it i used sleeping pills to sleep for 6 of the next 9 days. I started Zo-something about a week ago and seem to be reacting to that one better...still have palpitations but less noticeable. last couple of days i was feeling really stressed for no reason and had a short fuse for a little while (more so than usual). i'm not slated to see him again for another couple of weeks so i'm sticking with the new meds and hope he keeps me on it

[Jmillhimes]

sometimes it can take 4-12 weeks to get effects! I'm on week 4 of citalapram and still have panic attacks from times! The rested heartbeat being down is actually a good thing as a high 85-100 can be u healthy! It could be because it's cLming your nerves? Either way, give your new med Atleast 10-12 weeks to kick in before getting worried! Palpations happend but there not as bad as you think