Posted by MARTY on June 30, 2006, at 23:11:56
In reply to Re: Lexapro vs Celexa - Bonus material ;), posted by bassman on June 30, 2006, at 20:38:01
Hi Bassman,
>> I respectfully disagree with many of ?the "Quick facts" presented in this post. Just a couple are:
-- Well, let's see if I can respectfully proof my claims ;)
>
> - Lexapro is the most prescribed SRI in America.
>
> No, that honor goes to Zoloft:
>Zoloft is the most SOLD / -> REPRESCRIBED <- SRI antidepressant, not the most PRESCRIBED (as in "new prescription"). Zoloft being older than Lexapro has more users accumulated, who gets REPRESCRIPTION from their (P)docs at x interval: making Zolof the most SOLD and the most REPRESCRIBED of the SRI, not the most PRESCRIBED. Lexapro is the most prescribed SRI and AD. hope you can SEE the difference with all those CAPS LOCK ;)
Not a VERY reliable source of information, but it has cute graphics in colors! heres you can see that even in 2005 docs intention was to prescribe more Lexapro than Zoloft:
http://www.impactrx.com/>
> Among pdocs, Wellbutrin is the most prescribed.
>Lexapro is the most prescribed AD by psychiatrists. Lexapro.com even write it big on the front page. Okay, maybe this is a too much biased reference. Here is another on PubMed called "Why isn't bupropion the most frequently prescribed antidepressant?". Take a second look, yes, it's about psychiatrists.. not just everyone who can prescribe. 2 in 2 :P just kidding.
> - There's no Generic version of Lexapro, so it cost a lot more than Celexa does.
>
> Yes there is, see:The FDA as approved 3 pharmalabs to produce generics of Lexapro in 2006, BUT THEY CAN'T PRODUCE AND MARKET THEM UNTIL 2009.
Here's a link that explain this.. but wait.. it's the link you just send me! damn the Internet is so little! :)
http://www.pharmaceutical-business-review.com/article_feature.asp?guid=3877F59E-45CF-4D59-B729-58DCFE46D1AE> BUT it doesn't mean 20mg of Celexa = 10mg of Lexapro. In fact 10mg of Lexapro = 30mg of Celexa (20mg Lex = 60mg Cel).
>
Bassman said >> No, 2 - 1 = 1 and so 50% of 20mg(CEL) is 10mg (LEX).
(sorry, too long to put your whole answer in the reply. the essence is there)
While technically 10mg of Escitalopram = 20mg of Citalopram is equal in terms of quantity of the S-enantiomer of citalopram, the equivalence that I gave was base on end results: level of alleviation of depressive symptoms. A STEPS review conducted by the respected Baylor College of Medicine found that citalopram, in a dosage of 40 mg daily, was not more effective than escitalopram at 10 mg daily on the majority of the major efficacy outcome variables.http://www.aafp.org/afp/20031201/steps.html
How could it be possible ? Go figure. Why Lexapro kicks in faster than all SSRI INCLUDING Celexa ? I'm one of those who can relate to those conclusion; I got a stronger effect at 10mg of Lexapro than 30mg of Celexa. I asked one of my 2 Pdocs (both superspecialized) which is one of the most respected Pdoc in Canada and he told me there is some clinical evidence that the 1:3 ratio is good for about HALF people.
Oh, about RemedyFind.. compare the number of reviews for Zoloft and Lexapro; 1:4 ~ 1:5 that's because most reviews are written when people start to take their new AD.. and there's way more New users of Lexapro than New users of Zoloft.
Take care,
Marty
poster:MARTY
thread:661382
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060623/msgs/663138.html