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Lexapro, horrible side effects, one 10 mg. pill

AJC
It has been over 3 and a half months and I am still experiencing horrible side effects from only taking one 10 mg. pill of Lexapro. I do get slightly better each month so if anyone has a similar problem I'd like to hear about your experience. I have learned many ways to deal with this condition so I may be able to help someone else but I am also looking for people who have gone through this and could offer me some advice too. ***@****

Tony
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148354 tn?1211233906
Just wondering the symptoms of your side effects? I was prescribed 20mg lexapro,took it 2 times,and felt like total zombie,been afraid to take it again,but still wonder if I should still give it a chance?,was taking paxil prior but it quit working for me (anxiety issues)ty!
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Avatar universal
I am surprised to hear that Lexapro has been such a terrible experience for some of you!  Especially you, Tony.  It is horrible to hear and I feel bad that you are having such a tough time with it.  

I just wanted to share what my experience has been even though it is almost opposite of yours.  I began taking Lexapro in June 2006 after more than a year of my psychologist recommending to me quite often to begin taking something - I was not a fan of it at first.  As my depression got worse (and when I say depression, I mean more of a lack of motivation rather than walking around sobbing all the time), and I almost failed out of college, I began to take it.  It helped me very much and I have had not one side effect (except for that of my sex drive, of course!! I think I would rather take the nauseau).  The only time I begin to experience sickness is when I don't take my pill, which does upset me, but I am sure I could slowly stop taking it when I feel the time is right (which I plan on doing once I graduate this summer).

I don't know what to tell you.  I do know though, from having a very close open relationship with my mother, that medications can effect people in different ways.  My mother has a very difficult time with medication and almost always experiences their side effects - because of her history she is reluctant to take a lot of medication even if it is meant to cure a simple cold.  I hope that your situation works out for you in the near future.  You should just stay away from anti-depressants all together (since they are all essentially containing the same ingredients) because it seems your body is not a big fan.  I have no idea why your doctor would even prescribe you lexapro because I do not recall you saying that you suffered from depression in the first place?  

Anyway, my sister-in-law also took Lexapro for a while after she had her first child.  She stopped taking it because she felt it was inhibiting her from expressing her true feelings.  She couldn't cry, and she told me she could hardly feel emotion even when serious things happened.  I have encountered the same problem with the crying situation.  I don't think I have cried at all since I have began taking this pill.  

Sorry to make this so long - hope you are doing well and I apologize for not being able to help you more!

Best,
Amanda
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Avatar universal
AJC
I know 3 people personally that are taking Lexapro and all 3 say it works fine, with the exception of no sex drive for which they take viagra. Also they take a 3rd medication because of the side effects of the viagra. Seems like a lot of meds to me. They suffered from depression. However, I have never been clinically depressed and usually I feel fine. My problem was insomnia due to working 7pm to 7am overnight shifts with lots of overtime. I just couldn't sleep more than 3 or 4 hours in the daytime. Lawnmowers would wake me up.

After 4 months of being on this shift, I went to the doctor because I was not able to troubleshoot and repair the complicated machinery I worked on due to lack of sleep. My Dr. informed me that Lexapro has now been approved by the FDA to be prescribed for anxiety. He suggested that anxiety was the culprit and after reading many positive posts and speaking with the 3 individuals I know who were on it and somewhat healthy, I decided to go for it.

20 mg. is an awfully big beginning dose!!!!! Of course you felt like a zombie.

I took the 10 mg. pill and went to sleep. I sure wasn't ready for what I was going to wake up to. I jumped out of bed and started running around my house due to rushes and intense physical feelings I have never had before. It was like I was on fire from the inside. My brain was buzzing and I had a terrible pressure in my head especially behind my ears. My ears were also ringing loudly and I had the weirdest feeling in my hands, as if they wren't really there. I was sooooooo sick with nausea. On the 3rd day I had all this with all the symptoms usually present with the flu. I was positive I had the flu but on the 4th day it was back to the nervousness. I couldn't take a shower for days because the feeling of intensity on my skin actually hurt. I had to sleep in an upright position for the first week or I would wake up with horribly intense nervous sensations. I would jump out of bed right out of my sleep.

To write about the past 3 months would take far too long so I will attempt to summarize. Each month has been better than the previous. I am still unable to work which is very difficult when you have worked all your life and are a driven person. I never used to cry, but there have been many many times where I have broken down and cried. It is like I am extremely sensitive to everything and my brain can't make sense of things. I used to be resiliant but now I am fragile. When I watch movies or tv my brain perceives it as reality and I get emotional. I can't handle stress almost at all.

I am not the only one this has happened to. I have met 10 others online who have had a similar experience with only taking one pill. I am afraid there are many more out there. Some get better in a month and some a couple years.

My thinking on this matter is that this medication along with other brain meds should be given out with much hesitation and forethought. As far as Lexapro, I still haven't gotten a definition of what happens when a person takes this med, and that includes family practitioners, pharmacists and my neurologist. It is my opinion that if the professionals don't know what these meds do they shouldn't be handing them out like candy. To all of you who have benefitted from these meds, I would say I am glad for you and happy you found something to help your life or ease the suffering. Although, this drug has disabled me and others. Also, take into consideration that no long term studies have been conducted by forest pharmaceuticals, (who are located in Denmark). At least people who are allergic to peanuts get a warning on the package. I think the possible negative effects may warrant further research into what this drug is really doing inside of us. How many lives have to be shaken up before we realize our society and lifestyle may be bigger contributing factors to our problems than our brain chemicals. God made us all to be different, I believe. I think we were also made to get adequate sleep, exercise, nutrition and a moderate stress level. How many of us can say we get those 4?
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Avatar universal
I think it's a really good and important thing that you shared your experiences with Lexapro here.  Mine were strikingly similar.  I was initially prescribed Wellbutrine to help me quit smoking.  I experienced unsettling side effects and went back to the doctor where I was told that the WB should be out of my system, and anything I was experiencing was anxiety.  My GP prescribed me Lexapro, which came highly recommended by my fiance who was on it for 4 years, so I gave it a try.  I could write a book about the things that those pills did to me; they nearly ruined my life.  It's important to note that I've always prided myself a super-stable person.  I am an honors student at the University of Arizona, and have never had anxiety issues before.  I got on this roller-coaster because I was trying to quit smoking!  Anyway, my S/E's included, in summary, severe ear ringing, intense dizziness and a headache that sent me to the emergency room, hallucinations, debilitating paranoia, paresthesias and eye floaters that began after swallowing my first pill and are still hanging around 2 monthes later, loss of coordination, the inability to complete simple tasks, night terrors that nearly left me in SHOCK, flashing lights when I closed my eyes, muscle twitches, and I even lost a bunch of hair (WHAT?)  Anyway, I've been to a billion doctors and subject myself to a BAJILLION tests to see if my symptoms were something more.  I am, on paper, perfectly healthy.  A few months after my week (ONE WEEK) on Lexapro, I am finally feeling much better and most of this nightmare is a thing of the past.  I almost dropped out of college, and even had bouts of suicidal thinking (I can't even believe I'm saying that, it's SO not me).  The night terrors alone almost had me considering checking myself into a mental hospital.  I couldn't remember what I liked and didn't like, and looking back at the old "me" was like looking at someone else.  I thought it would never end.  For the most part, it did, but I think that it's extremely important that people who have had these experiences get the word out there so that others may make an informed decision whether or not to take these drugs.  Maybe they work beautifully for 99 out of 100 people - I don't know - but if that ONE person in 100 has to go through what I went through (or you went through), I don't feel like it's worth it.  It's also important for people to know that sometimes this DOES happen, that way they don't spend thousands of dollars on worthless medical tests because their doctors tell them that the drug shouldn't affect them that way.  If anyone reading this is actually wondering whether or not a certain scary symptom is related to some anti-depressant, SSRI, whatever, I want to tell that there is a GREAT chance that the answer is YES.  I mean, obviously get it checked out by a pro if you have your doubts, but the only thing that got me through this thing to the other side was the realization that I didn't just HAPPEN to take some weird meds and then coincidentally get a neurological disease at the same time! :)  
Anyway, if any doctors ever read this; please realize that Lexapro (or whatever else) is potentially extremely damaging and should be dispensed with EXTREME caution.  And please don't put your patients on a medicine roller coaster, using one drug to relieve the S/E's of another.  Statistics are great, but they aren't representative of individuals and from what I've read on the internet, statistics and individuals are saying some VERY different things about Lexapro.  
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Avatar universal
I have heard similar stories about nearly all of the SSRI's that are out there. I don't think these side-effects are exclusive to Lexapro. I went through a very difficult time adjusting to Prozac a few years ago. I had very bad anxiety attacks, teeth-clenching (i actually chipped a crown in my mouth), feeling jittery, nightmares, night-sweats, headache, dizziness, etc. I've since learned that Prozac is not a good choice for someone with intense anxiety - like myself. These side-effects were horrible, but they DID go away after about a week or two on the drug, and I continue with the Prozac for about 3 years with no further problems (except for decreased libido and a few extra pounds). My doctor should have given me a different SSRI (like Paxil)) and an anti-anxiety drug like Xanax to help me through the adjustment phase. My dr. also started me on the full dose (20mg) instead of slowly building me up. I've since gone off Prozac because it was never very effective for me. I am now considering trying a different SSRI. This time I am going to see a psychiatrist instead of a general practitioner. I am also going to make sure that I start slow and that I am given a benzodiazapine to help with any side-effects that arise. I think people who have both depression and anxiety suffer the greatest side-effects from starting an SSRI. If the side-effects are unbearable, and you are most in need of relief from anxiety, a low dose of a benzodiazapine (like xanax, adivan, etc) as needed should be good enough.
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AJC
Thank you for your personal experience. It has been 14 months and I still get some effescts, although, not anything like how bad it was the first 3 or 4 months. I really needed to find out what was going on with me in the beginning. It was horrifying.

If you are still checking this page please send me an e-mail: wdtony at hot mail. I am keeping track of those who have had similar experiences due to the abundant disbelief from several individuals who don't completely believe this happened to me. Also anyone else who had a similar experience please contact me via e-mail. It is very important for those of us who have had this reaction to be able to communicate to the public that this does inded happen to some and it is horrible.

Tony

It is always refreshing to hear that more are coming forward to address this issue.
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Avatar universal
AJC
I have heard so many stories about so many other SSRI's and anti-depressants. I agree, I think every individual can have a bad reaction to any of these meds. I don't believe they are as safe as everyone acts like they are. I don't have much but I have my story and several others who went through hellish side effects from many psychiatric meds. If I hadn't gone through it myself I might suppose they had an underlying condition but I know this is not the case. I am considering posting a webpage for Adverse reaction victims. There are so many people without a voice in this matter.

Tony
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Avatar universal
AJC
I am still around. One 10mg pill of Lexapro and my life was turned upside down for over 2 years. Anyway, I am still experiencing some side effects but I have learned how to deal with them and the severity has diminished dramatically.

I am now strong enough to create a website based on my experience as well as the similar experiences of others solely based on lexapro.

e-mail me: ***@****   if you are interested in getting involved or need some help.

Tony
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Avatar universal
AJC
contact me.
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