Posted by firefly on March 6, 2003, at 7:33:48
So far I have taken four doses of Lexapro (I am taking a very small amount - 2.5mg a day - I have to cut a 10mg tablet into quarters). I am taking it for panic disorder, agoraphobia and depression. Because of my extreme sensitivity to medications (read my first post above from 3/3 to know more), my psychiatrist wanted me to start on a very low dose of Lexapro. So far, the following is what I am feeling:
The first day, several hours after taking the dose I felt slightly tired and a "bubble-headed" feeling, kind of disconnected, as if when I spoke, my voice didn't feel like it was coming out of my body. Other than that, there was really nothing else, and I was pleasantly surprised and hopeful that it might actually help me.
The second day, around the time I was supposed to take my next dose of Lexapro (previous dose was wearing off), I experienced a sudden "brain zap", like an electrical zap in my head which lasted several seconds, afterwards I was slightly dizzy. An extremely uncomfortable feeling which scared me, which I hadn't felt since coming off of paxil 1-1/2 years ago. The third morning, before my third dose, I had another smaller "brain zap" and several more small ones since then. I spoke with my psychiatrist and he believes the brain zaps I'm experiencing are most likely because of the Lexapro, since they seem to happen around the time I'm supposed to take my next dose.
Since taking the Lexapro four days ago, I have started to feel more side effects, like a heavy sleepiness, slower breathing, a feeling of "chills" like before getting a fever (this one makes me wonder if the Lexapro will do to me what the paxil did - I had a constant low-grade fever the entire time I was on paxil, which was over a year, and also night sweats and general sweating, in general it messed with my body temperature). I also feel my jaw slightly clenching (I developed symptoms of TMJ and fibromyalgia while on paxil - I believe because of the paxil - and the TMJ feels even worse now on Lexapro). I have also felt a lack of a desire to eat, food just does not seem appetizing, even when I hear my stomach growling and I know I'm hungry. Have also had some foggy thinking, and felt the need to use the bathroom more often.
The Lexapro does seem to be helping my depression and elevating my mood, but so far I don't feel any change in my anxiety level, and the side effects are making me uncomfortable enough to not want to go out of the house to work on my agoraphobia, so in that respect, it's being the opposite of helpful. So far, because the side effects seem to be worse than the benefits, the scales are in favor if stopping it altogether. I'm giving it another day or so to make the decision.
poster:firefly
thread:206374
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030306/msgs/206374.html