Posted by bassman on June 30, 2006, at 20:38:01
In reply to Lexapro vs Celexa - Bonus material ;), posted by MARTY on June 30, 2006, at 19:00:02
I respectfully disagree with many of the "Quick facts" presented in this post. Just a couple are:
- Lexapro is the most prescribed SRI in America.
No, that honor goes to Zoloft:
Among pdocs, Wellbutrin is the most prescribed.
- There's no Generic version of Lexapro, so it cost a lot more than Celexa does.
Yes there is, see:
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2006/05/24/generic-lexapro-coming-to-stores-near-you/
--- Celexa vs Lexapro: Equivalency
Lexapro (Escitalopram) is the S-Isomer, half, of Celexa (Citalopram); that's why they called it (e)SCitalopram. BUT it doesn't mean 20mg of Celexa = 10mg of Lexapro. In fact 10mg of Lexapro = 30mg of Celexa (20mg Lex = 60mg Cel).
Maybe in the Forrest Lab ads, but see Remedyfind.com under "depression" and compare the Celexa and Lexapro efficacy as reported by a total of ca. 1500 users. No statistical difference in efficacy and the average Lexapro use is 10 mg and for Celexa it is 20 mg, as predicted by 50% of Celexa being inactive biochemically. From a chemical point of view, it’s hard to see how taking a 50% “impurity “ out of Celexa would then make it more effective on a per mg of active isomer basis. Sort of like taking Lexapro with a cookie vs. taking Celexa by itself and expecting to see a difference in AD activity. The main advantage of Lexapro vs. Celexa really has to do with toxicity: you’re better off taking less drug if half of it isn’t helping you. The idea of two optical isomers being in the same drug substance but one of them being inactive isn’t really very unique-ibuprofen is an example-it has 50% of an inactive isomer, just like Celexa. No one thinks that if you isolated just the active optical isomer of ibuprofen that you wouldn’t just take half as much. Enhanced activity is theoretically possible, it just doesn’t appear to happen clinically with Lexapro or most drugs containing two enantiomers. As with any drug, YMMV.
poster:bassman
thread:661382
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060623/msgs/663041.html