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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by peacetoy on January 13, 2005, at 6:04:46
Hi, After around 8 years on fluoxetine, I changed to Lexapro (or Cipralex as it's called in the UK) just under 5 weeks ago.
Fluoxetine no longer seemed to be doing very much, and I was never free of occassional very black periods (though exercise, good diet, etc helped).
Anyway, I started on 10mg of Lexapro, moving up to 15mg a week ago. It will be 5 weeks tomorrow since I started, and I've had little noticible benefit aside from a slight decrease in anxiety. Side effects have been minimal, though I have some loss of sex drive (does this sort itself out over time?).
I'm wondering how long to give it, especially how many weeks to give the increase to 15mg. I've seen posts on this site mentioning 8 or 9 weeks waiting time for it to kick in, and others saying it worked in a couple of weeks.
I'm feeling frustrated and a anxious that it's not going to kick in and I'm in for many months of the misery and frustration of trying other meds....
Does anyone have any experiences or suggestions to share?
Posted by h on January 18, 2005, at 14:37:44
In reply to Lexapro/cipralex kick-in, posted by peacetoy on January 13, 2005, at 6:04:46
Peacetoy,
I know it's easy for me to say, and hard for you to do, but I'd give it a little more time. I've seen people on the board saying it took nine weeks.
I tried med after med and either got no noticeable results, or only bad ones. I really tried alot. Lex is the first one that worked for me, and unlike you I got results pretty soon, but if Lex isn't right, hopefully something else will be. Don't give up, please! We're all in the same boat and I am cheering for you.
h
Posted by peacetoy on January 19, 2005, at 5:01:03
In reply to Re: Lexapro/cipralex kick-in, posted by h on January 18, 2005, at 14:37:44
Thanks a lot - it's really comforting to get a bit of support. Actually I have been thinking that on every med I've taken that's had some benefit (Prozac and Nardil) it's taken at least a couple of months to kick in. My dad, who is bipolar (I just get the depression!) says it takes at least 8 weeks for his imipramine to start working.
And I don't know if it could be linked, but in my fairly limited experience of recreational drugs a few years back (nothing now), I always seemed to take much longer to "come up" than other people.
This week has actually been even worse than last week, I've been really anxious almost constantly, but one thing I've noticed is a side effect that seems to have just kicked-in. It's not in the package insert, but it's mentioned on another site [Crazy Meds] - it's very slight jaw clenching/chewing.
Anyway, thanks for your reply h - it's really nice to get this sort of support!
This is the end of the thread.
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