Posted by merpmerp on November 29, 2010, at 17:18:07
As I expected, my doc does not want to let me decrease to 2.5 mg Lexapro. However, I would really, really like to give it a try. (Currently at 5 mg, have been on 10 mg in the past.) The doc says 2.5 mg is subtheraputic.
***Possible trigger, also maybe TMI***
At 10 mg, I have experienced very frequent, violent, intrusive OCD-ish thoughts, images of self-harm etc. I had that at 20 mg Prozac too. I had never had anything like that in my life prior to the meds. The doc says it's from the meds. These thoughts diminish but don't entirely disappear on 5 mg. Both Lex and Prozac also give me dose-dependent diarrhea. This never goes away unless I reduce the dose, and can be quite severe. I have been medically checked for any other cause; there seems to be none. 5 mg also gives me extreme apathy, lethargy, and extremely fuzzy brain which is not good for a grad student. I was on 5 mg for 4 months and this never went away.
So I'm about ready to kick Lex to the curb and try something else, but before I do that, it seems that a trial of 2.5 mg is the less drastic thing to do. (I am all for making small changes and waiting a long time to see how that goes, I would rather do that than try something riskier.)
How can I talk to her about this? Should I bring in any medical literature I can find on the subject of lower doses, or should I just repeatedly tell her what *I* feel and my symptoms? (I have, repeatedly and in writing, given her my list of symptoms along with a corresponding med chronology.)
What I do not want to do is just do a 2.5 mg trial without her consent, but I will consider this if I can't convince her.
Diagnosis: recurrent melancholic depression
Meds: Lexapro since Sept. 2009
poster:merpmerp
thread:971808
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20101117/msgs/971808.html