Lexapro side effects ?

I took it for ablut to weeks but it made me to shaky I now take prozac i also makes me shaky but not as bad

i take LEXAPRO and is thrue first week make me shaky but not much.After 2 week i feel better,more happy and i see all have sens.Lexapro for me is good

Hi... I'm on Lexapro too. I was on Zoloft for 12 years before it but its effects weren't working on me anymore which is why I changed after seeing a psychiatrist. The Lexapro was fantastic in the beginning and made me feel quite happy and not anxious although a little spaced out and nauseous. Months later I feel ok, not as happy as I was when I first started but not extremely depressed. I still get quite anxious especially a week before my period. Sometimes I get to the point of anxiety I end up cutting myself. Overall, the Lexapro is better than Zoloft and better than nothing. Good luck with it!

I love it! It has helped so much with my anxiety the past few weeks I cannot imagine being like I was before! I was nausous from day three to day seven, but It wasn't too bad. I am now able to function at work, and I have worked over 30 hours this week and on top of all of the hours I have been a full-time student and going strong with school. Before, I wasn't able to even to ten hours and go to school, but now I am happy and I feel awesome!

That's great, Lady_Magoo. I'm glad it's making you feel better. It makes me feel a lot better than Zoloft did. I do still get anxious and grind my teeth but I think the depression is better. What mg are you on? I'm on the highest 20mg. I also work full-time (about 50 hours a week) and study part-time. It certainly takes a toll on you, doesn't it?

Do you feel spaced out at all with Lexapro? I find it makes me more tired than usual too.

I think Lexapro is fine but if it dosent work you dont have much option with dosage. Few shrinks will go higher than the 20mg and it starts at 10mg. I stopped because i was getting respiratory depression when taken it with seroquel, i needed something to go to sleep.

If you never tried a SSRI than it might be a good drug to start with.

What is Respiratory depression ??
Is Lexapro good for OCD ?? I am having trouble getting a deep breath and they think its because Im "aware" of my breathing and obsessed with thinking about it......All medical avenues seem to be exhausted.

Any thoughts ??

G

Hi G,

I was wondering what respiratory depression is too!

I don't know if Lexapro is good for OCD but I think Zoloft is supposed to be. I was on it for over 10 years so I think it stopped working after so long. I have mild OCD which was far worse when I was young and a teenager, before anti-depressants. If you haven't tried anything as yet, I'd enquire about Zoloft for OCD.

Good luck!
Joanna

Respiratory Depression is basically when breathing is slowed down or labored due to medications. Lexapro alone usually wont do that alone. But sometimes if you mix it with another drug; for me it was seroquel. I had asthmatic type symptoms.

I think an SNRI like Effexor or Cymbalta are good for OCD, but u can try an SSRI like Paxil or Zoloft first.

Other drugs for OCD are Neurolaptics as Invega or Seroquel. Benzos work but are addictive and even Neurontin or lyrica which are mild tranquilizers have potential for abuse.

this is from an article: "hypoventilation (also known as "respiratory depression") occurs when ventilation is inadequate (hypo means "below") to perform needed gas exchange. It generally causes an increased concentration of carbon dioxide (hypercapnia) and respiratory acidosis. It can be caused by medical conditions, by holding one's breath, or by drugs.

* During the early stages of hypoventilation with mild-to-moderate hypercapnia, patients usually are asymptomatic or have only minimal symptoms.

o Patients may be anxious and complain of dyspnea with exertion"

I took lexapro and for the first couple of weeks it made me feel all crazy like dancing around the house with bells and stuff. that would last for about 3 hours than i would sleep for about 20 hours and wake up and do it again. after a couple of weeks i slowly got back into a normal routine and was able to act like a normal person again but i still had this feeling that my heart was pounding. not beating fast, just hard. im guessing this is the worst that could happen as i am very sensitive with almost all medications i've been prescribed for my anxiety. as far as my anxiety went it was gone while i was on it. like all anti-depressants, it will take a couple of weeks for your body to adjust so unless it is unbearable, just hang in there for a bit and if you still have problems after a couple of weeks, talk to your doctor about trying something else.

to michael1230...you sound like I used to be. I would be trying to take a deep breath all the time and feeling like it wasnt enough. I went to the doctor who did a respiratory test which showed normal function. She referred me to a respiratory physiotherapist who got me breathing properly. It was chronic hyperventilation and the 'cure' was basically breathing in to my tummy to the count of 3 and out to the count of 4. Gentle breaths not deep ones. It felt awful at first and takes a lot of practice to get the blood gases back to normal. But it cured it. Every not and then I have to take a deep breath and I know I have been breathing shallowly again, so hold my breath for a count of 7, then start breathing normally again. Try it!

Anyway I have started on Lexapro really slow at first 2.5mgs and now up to 7.5. Early days yet...I still feel anxious and depressed at times but also at other times feel really good and calm. So hoping the 'good and calm' feelings are more frequent than the anxiety and depression, as I get used to it.

You will read about all sorts of yukky symptoms on any forum. Most people who take it and feel ok have no need to google symptoms because it is working for them. So everyone has different responses to different meds. The only way you will know is if you try!