Lexapro vs. Prozac or best anti anxiety meds

[Kangirl]

I took Prozac in late highschool for about 1.5 years. It kicked ass. Meaning: it worked, big time. I still look back on that time as genuinely happy. 2 side effects for me were:

1. nausea/weight loss - it made me feel like puking, I didn't eat, I lost 15 lbs. and made the guidance counsellor dramatically accuse me of being anorexic

2. it made me unlikely to have an orgasm - I liked being happy better, so I didn't care very much about this

To this day I recommend Prozac, with the caveat that my experience won't necessarily be everyones. It worked fast and well, and it never made me feel like I was not 'myself' - if anything I felt more like myself on it.

 

[Shaula]

My cat currently has a prescription for 10mg of Prozac daily. She had a lot of anxiety in regards to her social order in the household with my other four cats. She viewed them as competition and she tried to assert herself through aggression and territorial marking (pissing on the carpet). It's been a very long-term behavioural problem.

For the first month of treatment she was noticably more tired and strayed from socialising. But after that she's perked up quite a bit and is well... a lot less onery and much nicer cat. It seems to work for her well. (And guess what? Prozac for cats is a lot less expensive eventhough it's the same stuff.)

I'm being serious.

 

[rhinosaur]

So, before jumping on the serotonin bandwagon, think twice. There are other things out there to treat anxiety. Regular exercise and meditation are pretty damn effective actually, you don't need that much medication if your life is in balance.

Just my .02.

Thank you for reminding me of this. I've been feeling kind of bummed lately, and nearly forgot that nutrition and exercise are the "first medicine."

 

[King sns]

Hm. I think the SSRIs can do wonders with many people though without many harmful side effects. When I was having a lot of anxiety attacks, I took zoloft for anxiety and klonopin for acute attacks. Very nice regimen. Zoloft caused odd dreams, but no nightmares. There were no other side effects. Coming off it, I had some dizzy spells for two weeks. (quit cold turkey without notifying my doctor. I just dont want to take pills in general.)

But Halla is right. I think that exercising can have that same "balancing" effect as many SSRIs, and more effective. Also, it has so many other health benefits besides being a natural anti-anxiety. VERY addictive, though There. I've said my two cents, even though it was just a repeat of what everyone else said.

 

[Geoff]

The best antianxiolytics are benzodiazepines (Valium/Diazepam, Xanax/Alprazolam, Ativan/Lorazepam, etc.) but most doctors nowadays insist on prescribing SSRIs/SNRIs because they (purportedly are not addicitive), which I say is B.S.

If you take any SSRI/SNRI daily for a month or more and then stop, cold turkey, you will have physically uncomfortable side effects, if not a full blown panic attack. Is that not the definition of an addicitve substance? One that when withdrawn from regular administration causes unpleasant side effects?

Benzodiazepines treat the symptoms of many neurotic disorders. Some people have an addicitive personality, and therefore abuse them, hence the pharmaceutical industries fascination with SSRIs/SNRIs. Oh, did anyone think that its not possible to make a whole lot of money on the benzodiazepines anymore because they are all generics? But you can with new variations of the newer meds!

I have seen my wife and my mother use SSRIs for over a year and the results were not very good. They did not alleviate the problems, they caused MANY undesirable side effects, and they had to be taken daily.

So, before jumping on the serotonin bandwagon, think twice. There are other things out there to treat anxiety. Regular exercise and meditation are pretty damn effective actually, you don't need that much medication if your life is in balance.

Just my .02.

15 months after her question, a bandwagon warning may be a little like closing the pharmacy door after the pills have bolted.

 

[FDG]

Do people in the US have the "needs mental medication" kind of gene mutation?

 

[phill]

Depression is one of those disorders which most people face in there life as some stage for one reason or the other. If it's children the pressure of studies gets over their head and if it's adults the pressure of work attracts depression. Rather than going on drugs, one should look for the reason behind there problem . Keeping yourself busy and changing the schedule also helps sometimes to get over stress and depression. And the medicines used to get over such disorders should only be used in accordance with the instructions of a physicians as such drugs are habit forming and sometimes the withdrawal symptoms are even more depressing.

 

[Fluffywolf]

Do people in the US have the "needs mental medication" kind of gene mutation?

I was thinking the same really. Seems a cultural trait doesn't it?

I only take meds if my life depends on it with the exception of the very occasional ibuprofen for my migraines if they just so happen to coincide with my work. And I don't know a single person in my life that is on AD's.

I have a disposition towards medicin which is probably going to be the death of me someday.

 

[Halla74]

Just wondering who has tried either of these medications and what your side effects were. Did they subside after a month or so?

I am not depressed, but I do feel overwhelmed, anxious and annoyed a lot of the time.

Everyone I know who has tried Lexapro really likes it so last night I took one 10mg tablet and I feel more anxious and irritated. I kept waking up last night and eventually had to take a half of Xanax just to get back to sleep. Should I take half (5mg) of the Lexapro for a few weeks until my body adjusts to it?

Prozac is OK, but the 20 mg my DR had me on was making me too jumpy.

I tried Lexapro for 2 days and got off it as I felt like an emotionally compressed zombie, and I had no libido. My wife's life was very diffficult when she was on Zoloft for 1.5 years (a decade ago). I am not an advocate of SSRIs at all. I think holistic methods and benzodiazepines are far safer and effective if they are not abused.

 

[maliafee]

I took Lexapro for quite a while (six months) and my dose was low, 10 mg. It helped me with my depression but had a few annoying side affects. I got diagnosed with a couple anxiety disorders and my psychiatrist doubled the dosage. Within four months I had gained almost 40 pounds!!! Also, when I decided to quit, I went through at least 6 months of MISERY quitting the drug --> vertigo, nervous brain "zaps" where you feel like you're rebooting, numbness and tingling, sexual side affects, nausea, weakness, exhaustion/fatigue, clumsiness, crying jags, bad mood swings. REALLY effective drug to take, horribly upsetting weight gain, and really annoying side affects to quit.

I am now on NOTHING and all is fairly good.

 

[Halla74]

I took Lexapro for quite a while (six months) and my dose was low, 10 mg. It helped me with my depression but had a few annoying side affects. I got diagnosed with a couple anxiety disorders and my psychiatrist doubled the dosage. Within four months I had gained almost 40 pounds!!! Also, when I decided to quit, I went through at least 6 months of MISERY quitting the drug --> vertigo, nervous brain "zaps" where you feel like you're rebooting, numbness and tingling, sexual side affects, nausea, weakness, exhaustion/fatigue, clumsiness, crying jags, bad mood swings. REALLY effective drug to take, horribly upsetting weight gain, and really annoying side affects to quit.

I am now on NOTHING and all is fairly good.

OH MY GOODNESS. I had NO idea Lexapro had such major side effects. It has a weight gain profile similar to Valproic Acid/Depakote. That's really rough, I'm sorry you had to deal with that.

You're on NOTHING! Good for you! You have guts and determination. I take Xanax occasionally, most of the time it's when I can't sleep, maybe once or twice per year I have a really tense/stressful day and it helps then too, but that's about it. The rest of the time I just stick with two glasses of red wine per day.

 

[maliafee]

OH MY GOODNESS. I had NO idea Lexapro had such major side effects. It has a weight gain profile similar to Valproic Acid/Depakote. That's really rough, I'm sorry you had to deal with that.

You're on NOTHING! Good for you! You have guts and determination. I take Xanax occasionally, most of the time it's when I can't sleep, maybe once or twice per year I have a really tense/stressful day and it helps then too, but that's about it. The rest of the time I just stick with two glasses of red wine per day.

I would LOVE xanax. I used to take it occasionally as well. But my prescription ran out and I want to have babies in a couple-three years so it's better to be on nothing now. Plus, I get migraines so have to take medicine for that as it is.

Thanks for the encouragement/support. It was SO hard to quit Lexipro. But if a person wants to be on a drug indefinitely for anxiety or depression, I recommend it (it can make you MORE anxious for the first couple days/weeks, however).

 

[INA]

Has anybody tried Celexa? A friend of mine was doing well on it, but lately has been on a terrible downward spiral and is considering changing drugs. Frankly, I am skeptical about the drugs and think what he really needs is to fix a few underlying issues in his life before anything can really help him. But maybe he has a point?

 

[Halla74]

I would LOVE xanax. I used to take it occasionally as well. But my prescription ran out and I want to have babies in a couple-three years so it's better to be on nothing now. Plus, I get migraines so have to take medicine for that as it is.

Thanks for the encouragement/support. It was SO hard to quit Lexipro. But if a person wants to be on a drug indefinitely for anxiety or depression, I recommend it (it can make you MORE anxious for the first couple days/weeks, however).

I was originally prescribed Xanax for insomnia. My doctor initially prescribed Ambien and it turned out I am allergic to it, my uvula sweeled to the size of my tongue and I had to go the ER to get shot up with epiniphrine, decadron, and 1,000 mg of Benadryl (A weird buzz that was!). Since I almost died from that he switched me to Xanax to be safe as it is pretty harmless.

I've had migraines since I was a kid, on and off. A few months ago I got a combination headache (migraine, sinus, and tension headache all at the same time). I went to the Urgent Care clinic of my HMO. They shot me up with three things (my butt hurt for a week!): (1) Stadol, (2) Decadrom, and (3) Caffeine, Butalibital, and Acetaminophen. Immediately after I got the three shots I was ordered into a wheelchair. Immediately after I began to verbally protest such said order the meds kicked in. I was ZONKED. I was babbling to the staff and my wife and the nurse who wheeled me to our mini-van basically laughed at me the whole trip to the car. When we were in the mini-van a little girl and her mom crossed in front of us (in the sidewalk) and it was night time. The little girls looked at me, her mother disappeared before my eyes and the girl sprouted angel's wings and dissipated into a cloud of bubbles that floated up into the sky. I have NEVER seen anything like it. Then I told my wife I was hungry (big surprise) so she stopped at Wendy's and I got a triple bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a Dr. Pepper. I couldn't even see the sandwich, all I could do was look at the wrapper, open it, and feel the weight and the warmth of the burger. I just dove into it and ate bite by bite until it was gone (maybe 2.2 minutes) and then got into the fries. My wife said I looked like a 2 year old with food all over his face by the time we got home. She wiped off my mug and pointed me toward our bedroom. I collapsed onto the bed and did not wake up for 14 hours.

Now I have a Rx for Fioricet for migraines. It works wonders!!!

 

[maliafee]

I was originally prescribed Xanax for insomnia. My doctor initially prescribed Ambien and it turned out I am allergic to it, my uvula sweeled to the size of my tongue and I had to go the ER to get shot up with epiniphrine, decadron, and 1,000 mg of Benadryl (A weird buzz that was!). Since I almost died from that he switched me to Xanax to be safe as it is pretty harmless.

I've had migraines since I was a kid, on and off. A few months ago I got a combination headache (migraine, sinus, and tension headache all at the same time). I went to the Urgent Care clinic of my HMO. They shot me up with three things (my butt hurt for a week!): (1) Stadol, (2) Decadrom, and (3) Caffeine, Butalibital, and Acetaminophen. Immediately after I got the three shots I was ordered into a wheelchair. Immediately after I began to verbally protest such said order the meds kicked in. I was ZONKED. I was babbling to the staff and my wife and the nurse who wheeled me to our mini-van basically laughed at me the whole trip to the car. When we were in the mini-van a little girl and her mom crossed in front of us (in the sidewalk) and it was night time. The little girls looked at me, her mother disappeared before my eyes and the girl sprouted angel's wings and dissipated into a cloud of bubbles that floated up into the sky. I have NEVER seen anything like it. Then I told my wife I was hungry (big surprise) so she stopped at Wendy's and I got a triple bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a Dr. Pepper. I couldn't even see the sandwich, all I could do was look at the wrapper, open it, and feel the weight and the warmth of the burger. I just dove into it and ate bite by bite until it was gone (maybe 2.2 minutes) and then got into the fries. My wife said I looked like a 2 year old with food all over his face by the time we got home. She wiped off my mug and pointed me toward our bedroom. I collapsed onto the bed and did not wake up for 14 hours.

Now I have a Rx for Fioricet for migraines. It works wonders!!!

Wow what a tale!!!

My migraines used to be so bad I'd get a 2 1/2 day-er every 6 days and they were incapacitating. So bad to the point I considered going on disability. But I've been taking a whole bunch of supplements (my INFJ mom is very into holistic treatments and my doctor has approved the supplements I'm taking) and now they're down to every 2 weeks and a lot milder pain. I take Relpax for them.

What's Fioricet?

 

[sade]

Has anybody tried Celexa? A friend of mine was doing well on it, but lately has been on a terrible downward spiral and is considering changing drugs. Frankly, I am skeptical about the drugs and think what he really needs is to fix a few underlying issues in his life before anything can really help him. But maybe he has a point?

I had two friends complain of similar side effects when they were on citalopram (the tradename was different) and in the end had to change medications due to condition worsening. Personally it worked well for me during depression, but I only took a small dose due to medical sensitivities.

Underlying issues should be fixed, it's not like meds fix it all, just make it more bearable. Depending on issue though, they may very much be required.

 

[The Third Rider]

I had two friends complain of similar side effects when they were on citalopram (the tradename was different) and in the end had to change medications due to condition worsening. Personally it worked well for me during depression, but I only took a small dose due to medical sensitivities.

Underlying issues should be fixed, it's not like meds fix it all, just make it more bearable. Depending on issue though, they may very much be required.

Really? I just started on this thing like a week ago. I guess I better keep an eye out then.

 

[UnknownLevy]

I'm on Wellbutrin...definitely the best antidepressant I've ever taken.

It has helped me get out of my shell and has worked wonders for me.

 

[Haight]

Since you guys are on the subject . . .

What's the Paxil replacement drug? In other words, I think they discontinued Paxil because of the side-effects *head twitches* and I was wondering what those folks transitioned to?

 

[scantilyclad]

I've been taking paxil forever (pretty sure it made me fat). It helps though. I also took zoloft at one point, but it didn't help as much.