Anyone on Lexapro?

[peilover010202]

I've had PPD since ds2 was born, but am just now seeking treatment. Thought I could get over it on my own, but no dice so far.

Anyway, dr put me on Lexapro. The first day, I took it in the evening. I only slept from 11pm-1:30am. I was up then from 1:30am - 11pm (the next night). Ugh! I felt jittery and obviously couldn't sleep.

So, I skipped taking it the next day. So, today I took it early in the morning. And, again, I've felt jittery and scattered-brained all day (but I have WAY more energy.)

I called the dr and they told me to cut the 10mg pill in 1/2 for about 4 days then increase back up to the 10mg pill.

Has anyone else had these symptoms?

[mom0810]

Hi,

It's pretty normal to feel that way when starting any ssri. I would take 1/2 a pill for at least a week and then go up to the full dose. You can do that for two weeks, even. Usually, they will start you at half the initial dose for a week or two and titrate you up to the therapeutic dose.

Anxiety, heart palpitations, nervousness, jitters, insomnia... all are totally normal at the beginning. Did you get the script from a GP or a psychiatrist? The advantage with a psychiatrist is that they will warn you of all these things before you go on the drug. GP's don't usually know any better.

Anyway, now you know. You may also have gastrointestinal symptoms for a couple of weeks, but those will go away, too. Most of the serotonin in your body is actually in your gut. This is why the stomach reacts to ssri's. But it will normalize and you will feel tons better in a few weeks.

If you don't feel lots better after a little while, then you can switch to another. Sometimes it takes a while before you find the right medicine. Are you nursing? usually they will start you on zoloft first as it is the safest for nursing. But all of them are fine to take. There is just the most research on prozac and zoloft at the moment.

Best wishes to you and I am so glad you took the step to get help!

[peilover010202]

It's my GP that me me on it. I had actually requested Lexapro because I can get free samples of it from my place of employment (whereas I can't get zoloft or prozac) and $ is tight for us right now.

If lexapro doesn't work, I will definitely keep the others in mind and will consider seeing a psych.

Oh, and yes, I'm nursing. But, I read on Tom Hale's site that from recent research, he thinks Lexapro is safe.

Thanks so much for telling me this is normal.

[mom0810]

Oh Yes, Lexapro is totally safe. I didn't mean to imply that it's not.

Sounds like it will work just fine for you. Just ride out the first couple of weeks and you will be fine.

[IndyNanny]

Hi, there. I've not posted before as I just got registered. I'm also on Lexapro (10mg). I have 2 children, both teens, so I'm not on it for PPD. My younger brother was killed in a motorcycling accident in June, and I've been on Lexapro since late July. When I began taking it, I first noticed some slight dizziness, loss of appetite, and stomach upset. These only lasted for a few days. It helped when I took it before bedtime. I didn't get the jitters or sleeplessness, but when I first began taking Lexapro I was also on Ambien. All of my side effects have gone and I'm pretty comfortable with it now. If you just started with it, it may take a few weeks for your body to adjust. Good luck, I hope you are feeling more like yourself soon!

[takasmom]

I have been on Lexapro in the past. Def. take the advice to gradually build up the dose. It is possible it will normalize in your system. Then again it is possible Lexapro is just stimulating to you. (For me it was actually the opposite, and so I took it before bed.) Another thing to keep in mind is sometimes it takes a "cocktail" approach to address your symptoms and balance out side effects. For example, I got a lot of benefit from Wellbutrin but had the overstimulation thing so I took it in the morning and then used a small dosage of Lexapro in the evenings which was the balance that worked for me. Best wishes momma...keep at it, because the first week or so is always the hardest and it gets better from there.

[~Jenna~]

I started taking Lexapro about 2 months ago. The first day I took the whole 10mg and it made me feel very loopy and high and I couldn't sleep. I kept up with it though and I got over the initial reaction. I'm still a little scattered brained lately, I don't know if that's from the meds or not, but I'm on 20mg now. The GP said it was fine to take with nursing and so did the pharmacist, but the pedi freaked out . Ds has been fine though, and when I weaned him he didn't have any withdrawal symptoms or anything. Of course he was only nursing twice a day when I started it, so that might have something to do with it. I do advise that if you stop taking do so gradually. I missed a dose by just a few hours and was really really sick. I was shaking, weak and sick to my stomach. Overall though I've had a good experience with it and I'm glad I started taking it.

[llisaredd]

I'm not on Lexapro, but am on Citalopram which is the older version of Lexapro. I agree with the pp who said to give it a couple of weeks. It took me two weeks to get regulated and stop having that high feeling. I have found that I need to take mine early in the morning or I run out of energy and patience by late afternoon.

[kalisis]

It's funny, b/c I have the opposite side effect on Lexapro - when my dosage was too high, I was comatose on the couch, snoozing for a week.

A middle of the road approach has been good for me, I take 10 mg and have started weaning myself off by only doing 10 mg every other day.

[suzylou]

Like everyone else said, give it a couple of weeks to work "normally". I felt sick and dizzy and couldn't stop yawning at first!

I also had to switch to taking it in the morning as I was having the strangest dreams and sleeping terribly. But it's been a great drug for me. I'm off it at the moment but frankly, as soon as this LO is out I expect to be back on!

[IndyNanny]

Suzylou, that is so funny about the yawning! I have that too. My doc hadn't heard of anyone else. I'm not tired, just yawning more. That's a big part of why I like to take it before bed.

[~Jenna~]

Oh man I do the yawning thing too!!! It's bad when you can't stop yawning. It makes my eyes water and everyone thinks I'm crying all the time. It's not that I'm tired either, I just can't stop . Actually now that I'm at about month 3 the yawning thing is getting much better.

[Melda]

I had alot of symptoms when starting .... she also gve me lunesta at the same time ... so i never had sleep issues but i did have some major weird side effects ... dizziness....feeling like i was going to pass out ... ad just felt weird ... but boy oh boy ... when all that dust settled .... i wonder howi lived without it ... i am a much happier person now ..

[jillmamma]

I was on it for about 3 months, and had the tiredness symptoms a lot, but it just did not work very well for me. So now my GP started me on Effexor, which I am hoping will do better.

[haynmama]

I take it in the afternoon because it makes me tired, too. I've been on it for about 3 mo now and it's really working.

[midwestmeg]

Originally Posted by IndyNanny

Suzylou, that is so funny about the yawning! I have that too. My doc hadn't heard of anyone else. I'm not tired, just yawning more. That's a big part of why I like to take it before bed.

It is a side effect! My dr told us about it when my dh started taking Lexapro. I just peeked in on this thread as I was scrolling down to see what others had to say about it. :

For us, Lexapro has been a godsend. My husband's anxiety was out of control and it was taking a huge toll on all of us. 10 mg per day makes all the difference. He takes in in the morning because if he takes it at night he can't sleep. Good to know he's not the only one.

to you all. Meg

[friendlymamma]

I've been on Lexapro for about 3 months now, and it has just saved me!! When I first started taking it I was a little dizzy and sleepy. It took about 4 or 5 days for that to go away. I'm fine now, and I take it mid morning. I'm still nursing and DS hasn't shown any affects from it. I was so miserable, depressed, and unhappy before Lexapro, and now I'm me again. I hope that it works for you too! Hang in there, mamma.

[Jojo F.]

I took and didn't like the way it made me feel. So now I take Omega 3 and vitamin B complex and feel great!! Even better than when I was on Lexapro.

[WannabeaFarmer]

Originally Posted by Jojo F.

I took and didn't like the way it made me feel. So now I take Omega 3 and vitamin B complex and feel great!! Even better than when I was on Lexapro.

Same here, It took away my libido and made me feel tired and lazy all the time. So I stopped taking it and did the same as JoJo.. Feel much better.