Depression + Anxiety = Lexapro. Not a happy camper.

[goin2Bgood]

I saw my Dr. this morning. I've been dealing with anxiety since around Christmas but now it seems depression has crept in there too. I can sit at the damn computer and start crying for no reason. I don't want to leave the house, not even to pick a child up from school (I have been, it's just been hard). I can't recall the last time I was truly pleased about anything. I mean, I can pinpoint happy things happening, but my own reactions seems lackluster.

I was prescribed .25 MG Alprazolam (I think it's like lorazapam or something?) in January to take when I'm anxious but I've never taken it because taking pills make me.. well ANXIOUS. Today Dr stressed "please take them, you'll notice a big difference and if you take them as prescribed you won't get addicted" I don;t know that I trust that.

Also, reading the back of the lexapro stuff it says the most common adverse effects reported were nausea, insomnia (I sleep great right now, I'd hate for that to change!!), ejaculation disorder, somnolence, increased sweating, fatigue, decreased libido and anorgasmia. My libido already is a little low due I suspect to the anxiety and depression itself so what can it hurt tot take the lexapro right? But my thinking is "Better the evil you know.. I'm comfortable in some strange way with my depression and while I deal with some level of anxiety daily I have a fear of change too, even if it means GOOD change. I feel so stupid. And I'm frustrated. And I especially feel really alone. And I'm tired of sitting here crying while trying to work (I work at home)

Good things, overall I'm sticking with Atkins and staying off the scale until the first of the month again. I doubt I'll see another 19 inch loss, but clothes seem to be fitting looser yet. Bad things, I'm on extended induction and part of the way I'm dealing with my emotions right now is overindulging in nuts. Peanuts especially. Those have to go. But that's my only food issue and the rest is totally on plan. In ther past hopping in the bed with a bag of hershey's kisses would have been my cure-all.

So if anyone has any words of encouragement regarding Lexapro I could sure stand to hear it. Dr. told me to take it at night before bed, said it would help me sleep better.... so of course I'm worried it'll keep me awake and panicky :::bangs head on keybord:::

[2big4mysize]

:hug no words on lexipro.

just wanted to tell you you took a leap of faith when you started your Atkins I'm sure you read some of those websites that bashed the plan and listed all kinds of "side effects" you'd have on Atkins but you screwed up your courage trusted yourself and Dr Atkins and wham 19 inches gone and pounds too. SO why not screw up your courage and test the waters with those meds. Not everybody gets those or any side effects. you can do it all it takes is one glass of water you are already drinking and some courgae to make a positive change for you and your family to swallow those pills.

How long did your doc say it would take to see a change from your pills? Think of that as your induction depression/anxiety period and do it!

You can do it!

[DebbietheHugBug]

:hug no words on Lexipro either


But what I can tell you is this:

I hate taking pills. I take tons of vitamins everyday and I hate it. But I like the way they make me feel. I take Premarin and I hate it, but now I'm not up all night every night with sweats. I take Wellbutrin for anxiety. I hate it but I like not having the heart palpitations and other things associated with anxiety.

The bottom line is.... do you want to feel better? Give the meds a chance. You don't know what is going to work for you if you don't take them and make a judgement.

Several years ago, I was going through a severe depression. Severe enough that I almost took my life. I got help, went on Prozac and it saved me. A year later I was off and have been ok.

Listen to your doctor. Sometimes we have to do things we don't like to feel better. Once it becomes a habit, it's not so bad :nod

[ttdriver]

I agree; I hate taking pills. But you should see the stash of vitamins I take everyday ... WHY? Cuz they are worth taking. I've got incredible stamina and energy, not only from doing Atkins for 3 and a half years, and exercising, but from the vitamins. And that's why I won't stop taking them.

I also take Premarin and Levothroid .. which I have to take.

And now I take Effexor XR anti-depressant .. Never thought I would ever need an AD .. cuz I have such a great life, but a very stressful year last year put me in the pit of depression and the Effexor has worked wonders. I swallowed my pride and swallowed the pills and life is a beautiful thing again.

I hope to be able to go off them in a few months .. slowly ... but we'll see. It was a tough decision when I finally started taking them, but believe me, they've been worth it for me and pulled out of a very dark place in my life.

Betty

[SanSSanity]

My doctor tried putting me on that same drug and I said no. I dont like the ideas of SSRIs as I had a really bad side effect happen with Zoloft and Paxil, and will never go back to taking SSRIs again.

I asked for Welbutrin and have had pretty good sucess with it I guess, however it causes sexual side effects that I dun like and makes me feel like a zombie. I literally do not have a sense of touch....which effects me sexually as well, and I feel numb. I dont react to bad news the same way, and its almost like im not even human. So I have taken myself off them and havent really had any problems as of yet with depression or anxiety. Plus the fact that Wellbutrin costs more than a months supply of high quality weed is messed up.

The one legal drug that had helped me in the past for anxiety and depression was Xanex but the dr thought that I was becomming too dependant on them. So he put me on the wellbutrin.

Just be careful with those pills. I am pretty weary about them. You hear about these kids going nuts while on them. I believe it! It happened to me after taking Zoloft. Plus, drug companies are evil and are worse than most drug dealers on the street imo. Theyre all about the money and charge an arm and a leg to make people "better". Most of these pills ARE addictive and cause chemical dependancy. For paxil I know that one of the withdrawal symptoms is "shocks" in the brain. For 3 weeks I felt like I had electrical shocks going up in my head after weening myself off it.

For most of these pills I could buy high quality weed off the street, and take care of a bunch of problems without chemical dependancy and crap like that. Things like headaches, depression, anxiety, motivational problems etc.

The problem i have with the drug companies is that if you do some research on them, they dont know as much about depression and everything as people would like to believe. Its not proven that these drugs work, and doctors dont know why people get anxiety or depression. They dont know what causes it and they dont know for sure that its a chemical imbalance or whatever they tell you or want you to believe. So its almost like theyre just giving you chemicals or substances that may possibly help and may not help. Thats why some people have to go through a list of different drugs until they find one thats right for them cause theres no way of telling. Its like hit or miss kinda. I dont like the fact that someone has the right to give me something that will mess with my brain like that.

The other thing that I dont like is that the pharmaceutical companies pay the doctors a percentage if the doctors prescribe a certain brand drug to their patients. Also, they get a percentage just by giving samples.

A lot of it is about the money. Its all corporate, so when you get a drug by the doctor, go pick it up, ask your pharmacist about it, then take it home and do research about it on the internet before you start taking it. THat goes for ANYTHING that a doctor prescribes for you ingest.

The other thing is that it seems like I read somewhere about when you go on Atkins it messes with the seratonin in your body or something. Dont quote me on that, as im kinda remembering back a few years. Anyways that could be a reason why your depression is creeping on.

[Mychelle]

I personally have not ever had to take any kind of drug like what you have been but I do care for my elderly grandma and she has been on anti-depressants and mood elevators for as long as I can remember and probably since way before I was born. She is curently on Lexapro and Lorzapam(sp?) Since she started eating correctly and being a little more active she has almost completely quit the Lorzapam as it was only for emergency anxiety attacks and those rarely happen now. She still takes the Lexapro (she takes it in the AM)and it has done wonders for our home. Before or even when she would skip the occasional pill she would cry and yell and not eat and sleep way too much. Since we have gotten her regulated she has been happy she has been eating, she is reading again(her fav past time she quit because she was too tired she said)she is going to bed around 10 each night and up at 7 (she used to stay up till the wee hours of the morning and sleep all day) she is even able to watch my son so I can run out the trash or run to the corner store. I personally have seen great results from the two drugs you are contemplating. I just wanted to give you my two cents!!
Good Luck with whatever treatment you choose but always remember that you need to love your life and if a pill can help use it don't look at it as a bad thing, you never know you may be able to stop them when you loose some weight and get you body healthy and they may make it easier for you to continue you diet. Just some things to ponder.

[Peterlock]

Hi Going2bgood, :wave

I'm sorry you're having a hard time, depression and anxiety are very tough to live with, believe me I know I've been fighting them my entire life.

You've allowed yourself to get caught up in that viscous cycle of wanting to get better, wanting to break through these miserable, desperate feelings but succumbing to fears and apprehensions that prevent you from doing so.

Your Doctor was right, there's no reason for you not to be taking your Alprazolam (that's just generic Xanax) he has you on a minimal dose of .25 that's one quarter milligram - I was on over 20 milligrams a day for eleven years and yes I needed to be detoxed. You won't become addicted at that dosage and it will help you to feel better.

As far the Lexapro like all anti depressants it has a long list of potential side effects, what prescription drug doesn't?

Some people find Lexapro is a life saver, for others it doesn't effect them one way or the other. One of the real headaches with regard to depression is that finding the right medication or cocktail (mix of medications) can be difficult. But you have to get in there and try, depression is a progressive disease it isn't going away by itself - as you can clearly see. So you have to start taking steps to help yourself and you need to begin now.

Now I understand you don't like taking pills - ok, well people have to do a good deal of things they don't like in order to go on living with a decent quality of life. I don't know a single cancer patient who likes their chemo, a diabetic who likes their testing or insulin, or a person with MS like myself who looks forward to MRIs, spinal taps, Milagrams and Steroidal medication that blows me up like the Hindenberg.

So my friend you don't like pills? Well, time to build a bridge and get over it, because you have bigger fish to fry.

Lexapro will take a couple of weeks to kick in, anti depressants need to reach a certain level in your system before they begin to work, usually 4 - 6 weeks. Some of the newer SSNRI medications like Remeron and Cymbalta work much faster but they may or may not be good options for you - although it couldn't hurt to ask your Doctor about them.

Speaking of your Doctor, if he's not a Psychiatrist please get a referral for one and set an appointment. General practitioners, as well meaning as many of them are don't have the expertise in these types of disorders or the knowledge of anti depressive medications and other options that a good Psychiatrist does - so if you need to make that switch.

I really want to urge you, and your Psychiatrist will as well to get started with talk therapy - you need to be seeing someone. It's important for many reasons from monitoring how your doing on your meds to helping you get better by taking a hands on pro active role in your recovery. No one gets through this by medication alone, just like no one gets fit on Atkins without exercising along with the way of eating - they go hand in hand. Same with depression Psychiatrist + medication = well being

There are no short cuts.

So please, take your medication, make the appointment with your Doctor and get a referral for a Psychiatrist you've worked to hard and have to much love and wonderful things inside of you to waste another nano second sobbing in front of the computer. Those baby steps, they go a long way - I hope you begin taking them.

Peter :hug

[ttdriver]

No one gets through this by medication alone, just like no one gets fit on Atkins without exercising along with the way of eating - they go hand in hand. Same with depression Psychiatrist + medication = well being

I couldn't agree more!

Peter, you have an awesome way with words! Always right on the money!

Betty

[goin2Bgood]

Thanks guys :hug Thank you so much for posting your thoughts, they're very helpful. Hearing your stories help me realize taking a dumb pill won't cause me to drop dead (or whatever the **** it is I'm fearing)

Peter, I made an appt. with a Psychiatrist. I can't get in for 3 weeks but she put me on a waiting list on case someone cancels. I'll call around tomorrow morning and see if anyone else has sooner openings. I wasn't able to call today until close to 5pm.

The Alprazolam says to take one tablet up to twice a day for anxiety. Generally, I'm not anxious when I'm here at home. I get anxious when it's time to drive somewhere, and that's probably not a good time to take it right? I'm not sure how to work that in but maybe I should just freaking take one this weekend to prove to myself it's not awful. I say weekend because tomorrow is busy for work, I do not need to take a nap in the middle of the day if it makes me tired.

oh man time to build a bridge and get over it, because you have bigger fish to fry. I'm framing that one, I swear No, I don't like taking pills. I take my armour for my thyroid and my zyrtec-d for allergies and my vitamins and that's it. No asprin or cough drops or anything else either. When I had my gallbladder out I never even used the pain meds. It's something I've fought most my life, this "fear" of medicine. I don't even know why it's there, it just is and you're right, time to get over it LOL

If I can get in to see a Psychiatrist sooner than 3 weeks I might wait to start taking the Lexapro and see if that's what they suggest too otherwise I'll start it this weekend.

Again thank-you everyone. I wish I could explain better how your words help my heart.

[Peterlock]

Hi Goin2bgood, :wave

That's such great news! I know you're in pain but believe me these steps you're taking are all part of something much larger. They lead towards healing and relief so excuse the cliche' but there really is light at the end of the tunnel.

As for the Xanax (AIprazolam) I agree with your Doctor - start taking it now, here's the reasoning:

It's the smallest dosage which is fine, it can still be helpful. When you first take it you'll feel very relaxed in about 15-20 minutes (Xanax has a short half life and takes about an hour to peak then actually starts to fade rather quickly)

It kind of feels like you've had a martini! but your body gets used to this as it would with any Benzodiazepine (Valium, Xanax, Atavan, Clonopin etc etc) very fast and the feeling disappears. By getting used to the medication now should you have to drive a car you'll be better off because you won't be jumpy and anxious and the Xanax won't be making you feel a little "high" any more so you'll actually end up more relaxed, confident and in control behind the wheel.

Same with the Lexapro - Lexapro is an extremely effective medication for instance for OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) aside from a medication called Luvox it's about the one that helps. Stopping Lexapro isn't difficult and certainly not the nightmare associated with some other SSRI meds like Paxil which for instance my own Dr. refuses to prescribe.

Anyway if you have to wait three weeks that's a good time to evaluate how you're doing on Lexapro and your Dr may make some adjustments to your dosage or even switch your medication depending upon your feedback.

If the anxiety keeps up I would definitely ask your Dr to switch you over to clonopin - chances are he/she will anyway. Clonopin is a benzo as well but it's much more well suited for long term use than Xanax. Clonopin has a longer half life so although it takes longer to "kick in" but you experience the benefit for much longer periods of time. Clonopin also doesn't "wear off" as soon making your body crave more - a problem with long term Xanax use. I was weaned off Xanax onto clonopin five years ago and have never had the urge or desire to have my dosage increased.

That said - don't be alarmed, Xanax is a great medication for short term anxiety treatment (six - eight weeks) or the occasional anxiety attack (immediate relief) but for a long term therapy with literally zero side effects, clonopin is by far the better choice.

If things are "breaking point" bad for you don't be ashamed to call the Psychiatrist and tell them it's an emergency - if you had a broken leg or an ulcer chances are you wouldn't put up with a three week wait - depression is no different it's just as debilitating if not more so and being progressive time is of the essence. Doctors know this and will work harder to fit you in sooner if they know how serious it is - chances are they'll make it a point to see you ASAP.

I'm also a believer in seeing more than one shrink, therapy is a long, close and involved relationship. It's different from any other patient Dr relationship - it's a wise idea to have a good feeling about your Dr.

It usually takes a session or two in order to judge if it's a good match for you or not.

So you may want to actually get another referral or two so you can choose whose style and manner you're most comfortable with. But there's always time for this later, the important thing is you've made an appointment and will hopefully start taking your medications.

This is a huge step and I'm so glad you took it.

Peter :hug

[fancypantstomatch]

For what it is worth, I've taken Lexapro and it did wonders for me, I really liked it. It kept me leveled. I wouldn't get overly excited about things, but I also wouldn't get overly sad about things.

DH takes it, and doesn't like it for the same reason LOL go figure.