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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by candyann on March 23, 2003, at 15:42:50
My husband has been on Celexa for two years. Other than the sexual problems he was doing great. He was placed on Lexapro. HE has regressed something awful. HE is arugmentative and hateful again. I can see him going backwards. He was on 40mg of Celexa and now 10mg of lexapro. What happened to all the great studies I have heard. Am I the only one seeing this problem ? Is there studies showing that for some this is not a good move. And if the meds are so much alike why did this happen? I am confused, I have read all the posts on here. It sounds like the right move to make. I just need some answers. Candy
Posted by SLS on March 23, 2003, at 18:39:11
In reply to Lexapro vs. Celexa, posted by candyann on March 23, 2003, at 15:42:50
> My husband has been on Celexa for two years. Other than the sexual problems he was doing great. He was placed on Lexapro. HE has regressed something awful. HE is arugmentative and hateful again. I can see him going backwards. He was on 40mg of Celexa and now 10mg of lexapro. What happened to all the great studies I have heard. Am I the only one seeing this problem ? Is there studies showing that for some this is not a good move. And if the meds are so much alike why did this happen? I am confused, I have read all the posts on here. It sounds like the right move to make. I just need some answers. Candy
Hi Candy.If your husband needed 40mg of Celexa, he would probably need 20mg of Lexapro. Otherwise, 10mg would be no better than placebo.
Good luck.
- Scott
Posted by Janelle on March 23, 2003, at 19:22:31
In reply to Lexapro vs. Celexa, posted by candyann on March 23, 2003, at 15:42:50
Interesting response you got about 40 mg Celexa = 20 mg Lexapro. I happened to run into a company sales rep at the pdoc's office recently and she said that on average, 10 mg of Lexapro is all that should be needed. But everyone's mileage varies. Tell your husband's pdoc about what you have observed and see what the pdoc recommends. Perhaps 10mg is too much! Some tweaking of the Lexapro dosage may be necessary. Good luck.
Posted by babs on March 24, 2003, at 8:03:01
In reply to Re: Lexapro vs. Celexa » candyann, posted by Janelle on March 23, 2003, at 19:22:31
I was on celexa and tried to switch to lexapro because of the better side effect profile but it did nothing for me. Maybe he needs a higher dose or maybe it's not the med for him. Talk to his pdoc.
Posted by Bill L on March 24, 2003, at 11:02:38
In reply to Lexapro vs. Celexa, posted by candyann on March 23, 2003, at 15:42:50
I am doing better now on 20 mg Lexapro than when I was on 60 mg of Celexa. Maybe your husband should go up to 20 mg. If that doesn't help after a few weeks, send him back to Celexa.
Posted by SLS on March 24, 2003, at 11:55:41
In reply to Re: Lexapro vs. Celexa, posted by Bill L on March 24, 2003, at 11:02:38
> I am doing better now on 20 mg Lexapro than when I was on 60 mg of Celexa. Maybe your husband should go up to 20 mg. If that doesn't help after a few weeks, send him back to Celexa.
Hi Bill.
I started on 10mg of Lexapro 10 days ago, and I feel fatigued, tired, and sleepy. How would you compare Lexapro versus Celexa regarding this side effect. Does it disappear completely?
Thanks
- Scott
Posted by Bill L on March 25, 2003, at 10:47:01
In reply to Re: Lexapro vs. Celexa » Bill L , posted by SLS on March 24, 2003, at 11:55:41
Hey Scott, On Celexa I felt both tired and also a little foggy headed. On Lexapro I feel mentally very sharp. But I still feel tiredness. It's hard for me to complain about the tiredness because before I took any psych meds, I was also tired most of the time (as well as being extremely anxious and depressed). So my tiredness got better after a few months on Lexapro but it did not go away.
Things that help me are Cherry Coke (regular with caffeine), and a 1 ounce dark chocolate candy bar. Dark chocolate is healthy in terms of lower blood pressure, lowering the bad cholesterol, and elevating mood. I have been taking dark chocolate for energy for several months with very good results. Milk chocolate and cocoa powder do not have the benefits of dark chocolate. Dark chocolate has high levels of a certain type of flavanoid which is beleived to be responsible for the healthy effects. The flavinoids are lost when the cocoa is made into a powder.
Also, Dr. Richard Brown, a Columbia University psychiatrist who wrote a book on SAM-e, gives many of his patients arctic root. According to a recent Newsweek article, Dr. Brown has prescribed arctic root to over 300 patients. It gives them more energy among other things. I started taking it 2 weeks a go. I am taking the Rhodax brand. It's one of the effective brands mentioned in the Newsweek article. I found it at a local vitamin shop. It's also on the internet. Many brands are ineffective according to the article so be careful. It takes a month or more to work. So far it's too early to tell but I'll keep people posted.
> Hi Bill.
>
> I started on 10mg of Lexapro 10 days ago, and I feel fatigued, tired, and sleepy. How would you compare Lexapro versus Celexa regarding this side effect. Does it disappear completely?
>
> Thanks
>
>
> - Scott
Posted by jrbecker on March 25, 2003, at 14:54:16
In reply to Re: Lexapro vs. Celexa » Bill L , posted by SLS on March 24, 2003, at 11:55:41
Scott, the matter still seems unclear to me at this point as well. I have been back on celexa for about 2 months now after giving Lex a go for 4 months. In terms of daytime somnolescence, my past experience has been that 2.5 mg of Lexapro is slightly less sedating than 10 mg of celexa. Unfortunately, I could not tolerate either 40mg of celexa or the rough equivalent of 10 mg Lex, so I'm a poor person to offer judgement at regular therapeutic dosages. What I do know is that Lexapro induces anxiety and the celexa has much more "euphoric" mood effect for me.
I have recently re-added an augmention of 30mg of remeron. For the heck of it, I am planning an upcoming week's substitution of the celexa again for 2.5 mg of Lex to see if it might be useful now that I'm on the mirtazapine as an augmentor. I'll be sure to post any further results I glean from this.
JB
Posted by SLS on March 25, 2003, at 15:32:19
In reply to Re: Lexapro vs. Celexa » SLS, posted by jrbecker on March 25, 2003, at 14:54:16
> Scott, the matter still seems unclear to me at this point as well. I have been back on celexa for about 2 months now after giving Lex a go for 4 months. In terms of daytime somnolescence, my past experience has been that 2.5 mg of Lexapro is slightly less sedating than 10 mg of celexa.
Hi JB.I appreciate you taking the time to respond.
I am on day 10 of Lexapro taken at a dosage of 10mg. I have spent most of the last 3 days sleeping. I find it interesting that I experienced absolutely no somnolence during the first week. I am not nearly so sleepy as I was earlier in the day. It would be great if this were the beginning of a trend.
> I have recently re-added an augmention of 30mg of remeron. For the heck of it, I am planning an upcoming week's substitution of the celexa again for 2.5 mg of Lex to see if it might be useful now that I'm on the mirtazapine as an augmentor. I'll be sure to post any further results I glean from this.
What prevents you from tolerating therapeutic dosages of Celexa and Lexapro? You wouldn't be the first person who preferred Celexa to Lexapro.
A friend of mine had been taking Celexa for a few years before making the switch to Lexapro. He feels significantly better since making the change. From what I have seen, the sedating and somnolent effects of Lexapro begin to disappear after two weeks - if they do disappear at all. I'm going to hang in there. I don't have too many alternatives. I would rather have taken duloxetine had it been available. I hope duloxetine turns out to be a "clean" drug. You never know about a drug until it is used in the real world.
Good luck!!!
- Scott
Posted by jrbecker on March 25, 2003, at 17:15:30
In reply to Re: Lexapro vs. Celexa » jrbecker, posted by SLS on March 25, 2003, at 15:32:19
hang in there. yes, I can definitely say that some of the somnolescence wears off, as well as some of the insomnia and agitation. It probably took at least 4-5 weeks to reach a stable effect (for once the package insert is right on).
As for why I'm unable to handle higher dosages of Lex and Celexa, I'm not sure exactly. I'm fairly sensitive to most meds to begin with, some classes more than others. In terms of the SSRIs, they tend to induce anergia and sometimes agitation at regular dosages, so I tend to keep keep my levels low and augment with something else.
I'm definitely hopeful of duloxetine too, although based on my sensitivity to Effexor, I won't be standing in line at Walgreens the day it comes out -- gonna wait a while to see the typical reaction. My doc, who is on the Lilly advisory board for the drug, thinks it might be fairly effective. Ya never though... Strattera seems to be hitting the fan right now. If you can believe it, a lot of people are complaining -- of all things-- brain fog.
JB
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