Posted by Luziluna on April 16, 2003, at 9:37:04
In reply to My experiences with Lexapro and Celexa, posted by MattD on April 16, 2003, at 4:51:39
Thanks for this post Matt.
I just started on Lexapro and have been reading the posts about this drug. I am currently only on 2.5 mgs, and will ease up to 5 mgs some time this week. I don't plan on going above 5 mgs, as even 2.5 has been sedating to me.
I too have experienced no sexual side effects on 2.5, and actually have had a slight increase in libido!!
One side effect I have noticed is dry skin, and slight flushing, though not as bad as I had with Paxil- I had severe flushing with Paxil!
Anyone else had the dry skin thing?
Anyway, I hope to stay on Lexapro at a low dose- Anyone else out there had success with lower doses of SSRI's? My doctor wants me to eventually go to 10 mgs, but my thinking is that if I have already felt effects on 2.5, why push it too much? What do you all think?
Thanks for letting me share
> I've been on Celexa up to 70mg and experienced definite alopecia (happened to me on Zoloft and Prozac). I recently tried Lexapro and now am on both. I titrated up to 10mg Lexapro. I experienced an increase in libido (which is strange for me on SSRIs--the increase, that is), and hardly any sexual side effects. Then I went to 15mg Lexapro. Libido dropped and sexual side effects appeared to a moderate extent. But there was a definite difference in side effects between 10 and 15mg. I found 10mg quite sedating, and 15mg even worse. I added 10mg Celexa and found an improvement in mood and a slight increase in sexual side effects. When I went to 20mg Celexa, there was a large increase in sexual side effects.
>
> In overall comparison (and this is to be taken with an extra grain of salt, since all these drugs are being taking together)--I had very few sexual side effects at 10mg Lexapro. At 15mg L there was a definite increase--the sexual side effect profile was more like 10mg Celexa. 20mg Celexa showed the most dramatic sexual side effects.
>
> Strangely, I've gained weight since starting Lexapro (7-8 pounds in 6 weeks). Usually I (and most) lose weight at first when starting an SSRI. I did (do) so with Celexa.
>
> Right now I'm looking at 5mg Lexapro and 10mg Celexa--we'll see what hapens.
>
> My p-doc says that in his experience Lexapro tends to be less effective than hyped, and 40mg Celexa almost always gives more improvement than 10mg Lexapro.
>
> Best,
>
> Matt
poster:Luziluna
thread:109458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030411/msgs/219787.html