Just started escitalopram

I'll start it tomorrow. 10 mg ecitalopram. Pdoc gave me atarax 25 mg to offset anxiety the first few weeks. Any advise?

Day 7 today on 10mg, I take in the morning. I started taking .25 mg of Xanax with it. I also started taking the Xanax before bed and sleep well. This morning I woke feeling so depressed and anxious but I took the escitalopram and the Xanax and now a couple hours later I'm feeling a little better. I hope I'm going to see some positive results soon. I don't think I'll be able to go into work tomorrow feeling this way. Thanks for the discussion! 

I had to quit after day 7. I was more depressed, felt like crying. Slept only a few hours. I didn't go to work today because I felt so bad. I got into see my psychologist and he agreed this med wasn't for me. I was hoping it would work.

Hi Claire - I started Apo escitalopram yesterday and taking alongside HRT (Tiberlone) and 'Sleep Aid' (an antihistermine short term over the counter sleep tablet - quarter per night - non-addictive and wonderful thing).

Have just completed a uni degree and have no interest in commencing my work now qualified - also experiencing menopause symptoms (53) and lost my Dad, had a move. So everything has caught up and could not go on trying to feel better with just great diet and excercise. Started the HRT couple of months back and that sorted all the menopause symptoms except sadness which to me is the most important - hence back to the Doc for some further assistance. 

Not in the same situation to you, but will keep you updated with how I go on the same medication you are taking.

Stay strong, life throws awful things at us, but strongly feel there will be a medication out there that will suit you.

Research on informative sites - there is some really useless and incorrect info in cyber space

Take care,

Loui

Hey Claire! I was prescribed Cipralex to deal with general anxiety. The first 5-6 days were like hell. As soon as I woke up my anxiety was through the roof, so much that I needed 0,5 Xanax to get through it. I looked it up and I was happy to see that it was normal. Don't stop it, it will pass and eventually you will feel much better!

I have recently switched from Citalopram to Escitaopram - I had been on 30mg of Citalopram for a few weeks and have now been on Escitaopram for nearly 4 weeks - 20mg for nearly 4 weeks and 10 mg for a fortnight before that.

I made the change because my GP was not 100% happy of prescribing me 40mg of Citalopram because of the possible heart issues at 40mg or above - i felt it had not been working at a lower dose and she did agree to take it higher but I eventually decided to err on the side of caution too and asked to change to something else.

In the last few years I have also been prescribed Sertraline which was fine for anxiety but not that effective on low mood. My depression is of a purely reactive type.

Unlike my previous two anti-depressants I have had my first significant side effects since starting on Escitaopram -  which I am hoping will clear over the next few weeks. On Citalopram all I had was the "usual anxiety worse than before for a couple of weeks" which is almost to be expected on starting on a new SSRI.

On Escitaopram however my stomach has been upset - bloating and a generallly ill feeling that I often get when my digestion isnt good.

However the most noticeable side effect has been waking up on edge and at its worst actually feeling my heart racing and also experiencing a very nervous feeling i can liken to drinking too much caffeine. In tandem with this is a feeling of apathy and lack of motivation to actually do anything. This can mean that if I do not have to get up for anything I can lie in bed very late something that is normally just not me however low my mood is.The anxious feeling will pass after an hour or so but the lack of motivation is very hard to shift.

I notice from reading other posts that such symptoms are very common in the first couple of months on Escitalopram and that many people say they gradually diminish over the time. i hope this happens to me as many people seem to think this is a very good drug.

At least these effects seems to point to Escitaopram being a significantly different medication than Citalopram. The debate in the pharmaceutical world being whether it is generally different than Citalopram in a psychotropic way.

It is accepted by even the naysayers that there are less permanent physical side effects from Escitalopram but the crics maintain that psychiatrically any claim of different results are dubious. However considering my own experiences so far I am sceptical of there being no differences at all on this point if only because I have had psychiatric side effects (increased anxiety, demotivation) which I did not encounter on Citalopram. 

i suppose the next 2 to 3 weeks are going to be decisive in finding out if this is the drug for me.