Fatigue with Lexapro

Ive been on lexapro 10mg. for 6 months, was on celexa for 10+ years before the lexapro.

are you taking it for anxiety? have you recovered from anxiety with lexapro? did the fatigue start with lexapro? just thinking? ive had that fatigue not wanting to anything before when starting prozac, paxil and zoloft. i did notice the fatigue gradually came up with paxil after taking it for 13 years dont know if that was the cause? i thiught it was at the time. im on lexapro now.

i took celexa for many years before lexapro and had fatigue with that too, thought changing to lexapro might help. My anxiety is really good right now, might be more depression than the anxiety that im still dealing with. I went up to 15mg. and started gaining weight so back down to 10mg.

so you had fatigue with while on celexa and lexapro? your anxiety is better thats great! so could the fatigue be side effects of 2 different ssris or from anxiety or from depression or something else? mm i know you said youve been on lex for 6 months how long have you been well from anxiety?

hello, ive been on lexapro 10mg. for 6 months and try to exercise 3-4 times a week. I just have to force myself to do stuff i just feel blah.

Hi teena, I have been on lexapro 20mg for 6months . I take 10mg in the morning and 10mg in the evening.It has helped with anxiety.

teena something you just said caught my attention! you have to force yourself to do stuff and just feel blah. ive said this so many times ! this happened to me a few times before. kids want to do things but you really just dont want to. ive had general anxiety from over stress many years ago. ive had a rough go for past 4 years and at different times for many months at a time i would feel this when i wasnt well between meds or doses. i am recovering anxiety is under control now. these meds work good for anxiety it just takes time and going through some side effects. im learning that i just need to stay on them!!! its always taken me around 6 months to recover. the second time on paxil it took about 9 months. ive read and my dr told me that when you are stressed and anxiety for a long period of time you develop depression which could explain the fatigue. its a long process!

Yeah,, it may just take some time. Thanks for responding!

teena

look up katecogs she is in celexa and prozac forums. she is very knowledgable and helpful and supportive on these issues. she also has a blog and facebook page for anxiety.

Hi, late to this thread... but I was wondering... started Lexapro at only 5mg... was going very well... 6th night I woke up at 2am with a moderate anxiety attack... I took a Alprazolam .25 to quell it... should I have waited and seen if the anxiety would have gone away on its own?

Did you ever get anxiety attacks when starting the Lex? IF so... how long before they went away? Are the attacks short duration? Common side effect, i know... but I want to find out about it before going back on... or I will go back to celexa... which I was on for 2 years with very few problems... just found it sort of "dulled" me, reduced my libido to just about zero... might have gained a few pounds...

Thanks!

did you change from celexa to lexapro because of those side effects you listed ?

we are all different and you will have side effects like this. your body is adjusting and compensating for extra seritonin . this will take time. we have anxiety about having anxiety. there are several ways to help with side effects and anxiety a few are excercise do things with friends and family be around positive people get busy with your hands etc. yes i do have extra anxiety when i changed dose or brand. and when ive done this it can take from 5 to 9 months to recover and about 3 or 4 months to start feeling better. lve read some people 6 weeks . but if you read this forum alot of people say it can take anywhere from 3 to 6 months . dont put a time on it. stay on same dose same brand for many months if you change you may be starting time all over again . and yes i would say the same thing im going back to the one i was on. anxiety is telling you your new med is wrong. its tricking you. we can make bad decisions when we have anxiety and we know this so we sit around and worry and it takes forever to make a decision or we run around looking for the answer . when it happens dont try and fix it. if you can just keep doing and moving. try not to latch on to an anxios thought just let it go one by like a song on radio you listen to it and then its gone you move on to next song. all ssris work basiclly the same some have different side effects . so lexapro should be just as good as celexa or paxil or zoloft. personally i like to take tablets because you can cut them to reduce or increase. many people have helped me on this forum. try not to surf web searching for magic answer this feeds the anxiety. search out katecogs and she has a blog with tons of info. i also have some good info on comparing ssris. if you want i can PM any info you want

hope you feel well soon!

No. I took Celexa for a couple of years... but that was many years ago. thought I'd try another SSRI, as I have had some major stress lately... for a full year or more... leading to some anxiety and depression issues.

I had very few bad side effects from Celexa... other than almost total loss of libido and a sort of dullness for life... no lows... but no real highs either. I will discuss with an MD shrink I see soon... about getting back on one... maybe I will... maybe not.

5-9 months of side effects? Seems a lot.

When a person has moderate to serious anxiety... it is difficult to exercise, or do things with friends and family. Depression... ditto.

IMO, the various SSRIs all have very different effects on individuals... at least they did for me... I tried Serzone (a disaster)... Effexor (disaster)... paxil, Zoloft... (OK, but not the right stuff) couldn't handle the side effects of any, and Serzone damaged me permanently... Celexa is the only one I could tolerate... so no, they are not all "as good". I think it is an individual thing... or else there would soon be only one that was prescribed.

Thanks for the feedback.

im there with you it was very hard to do anything. you will recover faster if you make yourself get up and go and you feel better after you do those things . i would feel worse like guilty if i didnt and just layed there.

and yes 5 to 6 months is a long time !

my dr tried my on a few different ones because evidently he is one that doesnt understand these ssris or anxiety and the time thing as well . and i didnt either. i had to research and get on this forum and meet folks that actually have experienced to learn more about it .before i met him i was on paxil for 12 years worked good decided to come off had withdrawels it all came back and i didnt understand it so i met this psych dr and he would try this and i would come back change dose then med. i couldnt stand start up side effects. i never would give it time to settle and body to adjust. so we went round and round with meds for a couple years. zoloft worked good for a few years decided to come off and here we go again. swapping all up again . katecogs and many others helped me to understand about all of this. anyway i understand about the side effects that you speak of that continue after the start up side effects. paxil worked well a little dry mouth and after years i was kinda tired alot. zoloft worked well no noticable side effects, prozac bad heartburn i stuck this one out for about 8 months i new i had to to see if it would go away. it didnt. i mostly recovered and felt better but the heartburn side effect was still there so i knew this side effect was here to stay but the prozac helped the anxiety! on lexapro now working pretty good. all the ssris have giving me a little short term memory loss names and such no biggy. from my experience they work about the same. i guess what i was saying is that they work about the same but you have to be patient to find the one that side effects are beariable for you. thats where i think we are all different. in the side effect part i agree some are not as good . if you can stand the start up side effects stay the course.everyone is different !

I think that many here in the forums on SSRI's forget that they started them due to some pretty bad issues... anxiety... depression... both... and after being on them for awhile... or for a long time... they stop... and even if they taper properly... they go back to their BASELINE... which is anxious and/or depressed!

My issues are borderline... so the side effects of SSRI's are very close to not being worth it... I do not mean the temporary stuff like anxiety, though that really sucks... but the usual effects of desensitization... fatigue... loss of libido and erectile dysfunction... possible "brain zaps"... weight gain... etc... for the last ten years of so... I have been under pretty significant stress (taking care of parents as they slowly got more and more ill and died)... then my brother died last February... that was a really nasty thing... only 63... so that really took me down... I have recovered a bit... but still not doing very well...

I see a MD shrink soon... will discuss pros and cons of trying another SSRI ... or the same one, Celexa... I am leaning towards NOT.

Best to you and GL!

3archbay

if you can do without the ssri you may be better off. im trying to lower my dose without having withdrawals and one day come off these meds due to dry mouth, eyes and sinuses and a few others. alot of times withdrawal symptoms get confused with your anxiety/depression coming back. most drs do not know about start up/withdrawal symptoms or how to start up slow and how to come off slow. our nervous system cant take big jumps. good luck to you!

Thanks.

No shock... the MD shrink talked to me for about 20 minutes and prescribed Prozac. I really think MD shrinks are one trick ponies... drugs is their only treatment plan, and SSRIs are their drug of choice.

I decided after long term smoking small amounts of ganja nightly... I needed to quit that first... to determine what might be called a "baseline"... mixed results... clearer thinking, sleep worse, but no morning fuzziness... dreams are vivid... I do have a quicker temper... some low grade anxiety... almost like an extra cup of coffee...

So I feel decent... not bad enough to get into the SSRI addiction again.... still... I wish there was something out there that made me feel relaxed, positive and makes me breath easier... yes, benzos do that... but way to risky daily.

I don't remember having dry eyes/mouth on Celexa... maybe you should switch and try it, if you still feel antidepressants are necessary?

Some interesting alternatives are Lamictal or Elavil... but for me, now... too much chance or side effects... I seem to get any and all side effects from any drug... I might even consider going back to the ganja... only this time not nightly... we'll see... BTW: I get a very bad reaction to CBD oil... odd...

Thx for the feedback!