Yesterday, I took my first dose of Lexapro, 10mg, and had terrible side effects from it.

About 4 hours after I took it, I became extremely light-headed, shaky, anxious, I felt like I was burning up inside, and my mouth became very dry. When I got up to walk, I felt like I was very drunk. This combination of symptoms lasted about an hour, but the extreme-lightheadedness lasted about 10 hours, followed by about 2 hours of agitation with me pacing my apartment. Several times during the night, I woke up, which is something I don't normally do.

When I called my doctor, she suggested that today I should try taking a half or a fourth of the 10mg dose that she prescribed, but I've become afraid to try this drug again.

Does anyone have any experiences, bad or good, with this drug? I went in with an open mind, but now I'm terrified to try this again.

Cathy

Hi, Cathy,

Yes, those antidepressant side effects can really freak a person out. At one time, I was going to try lexapro. I was very hesitant because I always have bad side effects from even small doses of medications. I may still try it sometime in the future. I still have the RX. One suggestion might be to ask your doc to prescribe liquid lexapro. That way, you can start out at an extremely low dose such as 1.25 mg. or 2.5 mg.

My sister has taken lexapro for sometime now and thinks that it is great. She, however, does not have the problems with side effects that I have experienced.

There is a website where you can read about others' experiences with lexapro. It's a website where you just type in the name of the medication. I don't think that I can say the name of the website, but try googling (sp) different words.

Good luck.

Colleen

I recently tried Lexapro, and wasn't thrilled. But since having a bout of a weird, long-term virus (we think), I've had side effects from most medications I've tried, so I don't want to blame this entirely on the drug.

I took 10 mg and had trouble sleeping. The next day I wasn't just tired, I felt like a total zombie. I drove my child to work, and realized that that was NOT a good idea. I wasn't sick, but it was very uncomfortable. The day after that I felt somewhat nauseated although I didn't take any more.

I then tried 5 mg using a pill cutter. I was tired, and didn't feel good, but I could function. After a week or so of that I decided to give it up...I'm so tired of feeling rotten that the cure may have been worse than the disease.

Depression is awful! I'm doing a lot of praying and some cognitive therapy, and that is helping somewhat, so I'm hoping that I won't have to keep trying ADs. I do know a number of women who swear by lexapro--I'm just in a delicate state right now, and my body just doesn't seem to want an AD (I tried Wellbutrin and had bad side effects, altlhough I had previously taken it for years with no real issues).

You might want to try 5 mg and see what happens. Let us know what happens.

Oh, the site is ask a patient...just google it. It's very interesting, but of course can freak you out big time! I was scared off Effexor completely after reading about it (sounds much worse than lexapro based on reviews).

Good luck....

A very good friend of mine is taking Lexapro, and she has had no adverse affects to it at all since starting it. It brought her out of a very deep depression - she started feeling better in only 4 days, which was good, because she was literally unable to get out of bed and function.

My story is similar to yours, only I am trying Effexor (my insurance would not cover the Lexapro). I have been on it for two weeks, and have terrible dizziness, stomach upset with diarrhea, and extreme sleepiness! I am not too bad if I am busy at work on my feet, but the minute I sit down to do something quiet, I literally am falling asleep sitting up! Then driving home in the afternoon is scary - I am constantly fighting to stay awake at the wheel. The only good thing about the sleepiness is that I am finally getting some sleep at night. I had been so depressed and anxious, that I could not get to sleep or stay asleep. So, I do feel more rested, which makes my mood a little brighter. My doctor wants me to give it two more weeks, and we will see if it improves, which he thinks it will. If not, we will reduce the dose, and think about switching to something else.
It is hard - you feel depressed and know you need help. But, sometimes the cure is worse than the disease! There seems to be no easy fix! I truly feel for your struggles, as I am in a similar state. Keep me posted!
Di

Wow, thanks everyone, for your support and for sharing your experiences with me. It's really comforting to hear your thoughts, and to know that I'm not alone in how I'm feeling.

That bad experience two days ago has me too scared to try that drug again anytime soon. After talking with my pharmacist, I realize that 5 mgs or 2.5 mgs would probably have been a much better starting place for me, and that reaction may not have happened on the lower dose. So for now, I'm holding off.

It's just so disappointing. I've spent the last 3 years working up the courage to try an antidepressant, fearful of what side effects might occur since I do react strongly to medicines, and my first time out I got bulldozed over with a really strong drug.

This was a new doctor to me, too, a general practitioner, who seemed to know what she was doing. But after asking the pharmacist a few questions, I've lost confidence in this doctor's judgment...

I just started Lexapro 2 days ago to help settle down these constant heart palps I am having. My doctor said to start at 5mg. for 7 days then go to 10mg. He said starting higher than 5 mg. could cause problems. I asked which was the best between Lexapro, Effexor and Celexa, and he said Lexapro had far less side effects. So far I haven't notice any change in my palps but I am not having any side effects either. I have a high tolerance for meds, so I might not notice anything till I go up to 10mg. Good luck, hope it works for us. Connie

Lexapro worked as a stimulant with me also.
So far I have not been able to find ad that works for me, I'm either knock out cold or hyper.
Very good point about trying it in a liquid form and very small doses, people whom are sensitive to drugs need to desensitize them self first with smaller doses.

Thanks, Connie and Snowmoon56, for your advice and experiences with this drug. It really helps to know I'm not alone in having these bad side effects, and that there are ways to work around them so they're not so strong.

Cathy

Hi Citycat:

I have been taking lexapro now for almost a year. I had tried other AD's which did not work for me the side effects was the worst. My doctor put me on the lexapro and the only side effect I had was it made me very sleepy and yawning for about a week. But I had my doctor start me off on a low dosage which was 5mg for about a week then he raised it to 10mg, now i'm on 15mg and have been for almost 6 months. After raising it to 10mg that is when the sleepiness came in. I stayed home from work until the meds got into my system. (I feel like myself again back to baking cakes )

But I must tell you it's has been a lifesaver for me. Now I feel I have control of my life. My doctor told me these meds are a hit or miss and there are so many out there. I'm just luck this was my third one I have tired and it worked for me.

Lower the dosage split the pill in half for about a week or two until it gets into your system you should do fine.

Ladycakes

Ladycakes, thanks for the advice and for sharing your experience with this drug. I wound up ditching the GP and seeing a psychiatrist instead. He's put me on a low dose of Klonopin for a couple of weeks so that my panic attacks would calm down. After that, he's going to ease me into a very low dose of an AD. Don't know which AD yet, but it might very well be Lexapro again...We'll see.

Has anyone had problems with shortness of breath on Lexapro? I had started on 5mg. for 1 week with no problems then raised it to 10mg. last pm. All day today I have had trouble catching my breath. I am not wheezing or coughing, I just don't feel like I can get a good deep breath. Maybe it is an anxiety symptom that will subside. Thanks for any help. Connie

Lexipro agitated me so badly that I wanted to jump off my roof. It was horrible. But I think it works really well for many people. I would titrate it up REALLY slowly though if you're sensitive to meds. Much slower than the Dr.'s say. I'm sure that was one of my problems. It take very little medication to give me a reaction so going from .5 for 3-4 days and then right up to .1 was horrible.

I didn't take it long enough to find out, cakh. Let me know if this subsides or not.

thanks,
Cathy

Apparently I'm pretty sensitive to meds too. Right now, I'm only on Klonopin, but I know that my psych wants to move me onto an AD. Hope it's not Lexapro again...

I know a lot of people that love Lexapro. I did have another friend recently who had a horrible experience on Lexapro too. Before that I thought it was pretty much just me! But it does a lot of good for a lot of people though. AD's and other meds are different from person to person.

It seems like something of a crapshoot as to whether a drug will work for you or not, doesn't it?

In psychiatry, it is definitely a crapshoot! There isn't any blood work or any other test that shows you what you need. I have heard that there is a way to measure different neurotransmitters to determine an excess or deficiency, but traditional psychiatrists do not use this test--only alternative practitioners.

Colleen

Thanks Colleen. I made that comment because everyone I know who's on psych meds had to go thru several trial and error ones before they found one that actually works for them. In my familiy, I've got four brothers who are all on different meds for the same problem - anxiety. What works for one brother, does not work for any of the rest...go figure!

I took liquid Lexapro at a very low dose for just a few days, a lower than the dr. said (that's why I wanted the liquid) and even that tiny amount made me very hyper...not only that, but both of my eyelids swelled up and I was itching, so I called the pharmacist and he said it was an allergic reaction and not to take it again...So as of now, I have tried every single AD on the market and have had bad side effects from all of them, and an allergic reaction and bad side effects with the Lexapro....So I will not EVER take any kind of an AD again. My body cannot tolerate them for some reason....

I took liquid Lexapro at a very low dose for just a few days, a lower than the dr. said (that's why I wanted the liquid) and even that tiny amount made me very hyper...not only that, but both of my eyelids swelled up and I was itching, so I called the pharmacist and he said it was an allergic reaction and not to take it again...So as of now, I have tried every single AD on the market and have had bad side effects from all of them, and an allergic reaction and bad side effects with the Lexapro....So I will NEVER take any kind of an AD again. My body cannot tolerate them for some reason....

Sorry for the double post.

Wow, that's pretty scary, Tina!