Posted by PHV on September 20, 2003, at 22:30:58
In reply to re: PHV's Lexapro Side Effects, posted by mph-speedy on September 19, 2003, at 11:22:50
Hi everyone - It's Patty here again. Wow, have I learned a whole lot on this message board this evening. Been on Lex 11 weeks now for depression. Nearly immediate results for the depression - but started with major anxiety last week. Thanks to this board, I was encouraged to go see my doc right away. She put me on Busbar & Xanax. Got me through this week on a stressful business trip okay. Seemed to get better as the week progressed and I was assuming the anxiety (something I've NEVER experienced before) was due to the stress of this trip. Meds were required less and less as the week progressed. Here I am at home today - and I feel like I'm ready to jump out of my skin again. I can't stand this! I'm waiting for the Xanex to kick in - tho it seems to be taking forever right now. This just so isn't me. I'm really troubled and debating the lesser of two evils. Was it worse being depressed, crying every day and feeling down almost constantly - or is it worse now dealing with this anxiety, jaw clenching, weight gain - and I even saw someone mention the constant need to stretch - which is what I started doing recently too??!! I've even seen posts about excessive thirst. My God - I can't believe these are the options we have to deal with to make our depression and/or anxiety go away. I noticed a strange trend on this board. Seems like those of us taking Lex for depression - find ourselves with anxiety side effects - while those taking Lex for anxiety find themselves w/ depression side effects. What's worse??
Anyway, I guess I'm just feeling really discouraged right now. I was initially so impressed with the depression going away so quickly. But these other goofy SE make me feel so not in control of my life - which is so not me.
Since the anxiety started last weekend - and it subsided greatly as the week progressed, I thought it was due to the fact that I would be seeing many ex co-workers, etc. for the first time in years during my conference. Due to my depression in the past year plus, I have gained 20 pounds - and was really nervous that everyone would look at me and see how much weight I put on - which is extremely noticeable due to how thin I used to be. Fortunately, I was the only one who seemed to be cognizant of my weight gain - or at least grateful that no one commented on how heavy I now am. Therefore, I attributed my anxiety to seeing many people I've not seen in years. Yet I woke up this morning at home - and have been feeling as anxious as I was last weekend for the first time and can't seem to come down. The Xanex I took earlier today knocked me out for a few hours, but I woke up clenching my jaw and ready to run a marathon again. I'm STILL waiting for my second Xanex to kick in - along with a Tylenol PM my doc told me I could add if I wasn't feeling the R&R from the Xanex.
This just sucks. I thought taking Lex would improve my life. Now I'm starting to feel that SE's just aren't worth it. I think I need to head back to my doc to try to come up with some other solutions. I just can't imagine continuing this way . . .
Thanks for listening to me vent . . .
Patty
poster:PHV
thread:109458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030917/msgs/262064.html