tired on ssri

[alison77]

on lexapro 10 mg/day after bad trials of wellbutrin and zoloft. it feels like i've let out a huge sigh - anxiety is really under control and i am scared to make any changes b/c i haven't felt this good in a while. however, i am tired all the time. i want to snuggle for longer every morning in bed, i sit in class and nearly fall asleep, and just feel low energy all day long. does anyone have any suggestions for dealing with this side effect??

[bjorker]

How long have you been on it? Honestly, it just may take a little bit more time. When I started Celexa, the awful side effects went away after a few weeks or so, but I had others that lasted much longer. They did eventually go away, but I just had to deal with it in the meantime. :\ It WILL get better, just stick with it.

[alison77]

it's been about 6 weeks now, which i had hoped was the upper limit of side effects that were going to go away. how long did yours last, those that did eventually disappear?

[sncmom]

I was a zombie on lexapro during a 2 week trial. I also had an extremely difficult time (hallucinations and sleeplessness) with even briefer trials of zoloft and welbutrin (2-3 days each). I'm on celexa 20 mg/day (get too sleepy when I try to take more) which is working well. You may want to ask your psychiatrist to check your levels of the liver enzymes that metabolize these drugs. I have barely any of one called 2D6, which may also be the case for you since we've had trouble with the same meds. Good luck, keep trying until you find one you like.

[mom0810]

It's pretty normal to feel this way on an ssri for a while. I felt like that for more than 6 weeks, I think, but it was a welcome change from the severe anxiety I was feeling prior to meds.

Can you go down in the dose a tiny bit? I don't know the dosages of lexapro, only zoloft. I would give it another month and if you are still feeling really sleepy, talk to your pdoc about going down in dose a tiny bit.

[bjorker]

Originally Posted by alison77

it's been about 6 weeks now, which i had hoped was the upper limit of side effects that were going to go away. how long did yours last, those that did eventually disappear?

Well, the lengthiest side effect I had was grinding my jaw down tight-- I guess I'm not really sure how to explain it, but I'd wake up with sores on the inside of the lower part of my mouth because I'd bite down a lot in my sleep. I'd also notice in the evening that my jaw would hurt because I couldn't relax those muscles. I'm not sure how long it took to go away, it just slowly got better until I didn't notice it anymore. Definitely longer than the 2-6 weeks it took the other side effects to go away, but enough to where I could handle it and ride it out. I *was* very concerned for awhile that it would never go away, but it did eventually.

[greeny]

What time of day do you take it?

I take it in the evening because I had really bad fatigue in the beginning and the doc thought taking it before bed might help. I've been on it for over 2 years and have no ill effects at all.

[alison77]

i am taking it at night b/c of that same reason as well. i did a morning trial, but ended up feeling weird and out of it for much of the day (what i think i am missing out on by sleeping through that part - and have noticed it if i get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night). glad to know that these things can go on longer than you expect. i sense it might be getting a little bit better, so hoping that that's really the case. it might also be a dose issue as well, though i feel like i have just stabilized so want to wait a little longer before trying that out - maybe a couple more weeks.

[brokenheart]

Not sure about Lexapro, but I used to be on Zoloft for years. The entire time I was on it, I was so tired. I would even wake up tired. I tried going way down in dose (to even an untherapeutic dose at one point, which incidentally still helped my mood), but the fatigue always remained. I switched to Prozac, which is supposed to be a more "energetic" choice, but still had the same side effect.

I would nap every day when I got home from work. Sometimes, I would even go lay down in my car (with an alarm clock ) during lunch so I could catch a 45 min nap. And I always was in bed early.

Since I was on the SSRIs for so many years, I kind of forgot that this isn't normal. When I went off them, my energy levels normalized and I no longer needed naps, etc. I have read information that suggests that SSRIs do something to affect the level of REM you get, which contributes to daytime fatigue.

It might just be an initial symptom that lessens with time. However, just wanted to give you my experience in case it does not go away. You might want to drink more coffee and try to sneak in naps wherever possible.