Prescribed Escitalopram

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My Psychiatrist prescribed me Escitalopram today saying it would help with anxiety and some of my sensory issues. Anyone have an experience with this? If you have please don't say it does or doesn't work (in general). Please specify if it did or didn't work for you and why. If you generalize the experience as a fact or truth then I get anxious. I have never taken anything besides heartburn medicine so I'm kind of scared.

lexapro (escitalopram) is the last pure brand name ssri on the market.. its quite potent, but not as potent as say a dual acting snri such as effexor.. it is quite possible to go manic on the 20mg dose but some say the 10 mg might not be enough so you have got to be careful.. There is a real fine line between helping your issues and going manic.. Your supposed to take it in the morning with say toast, because it is stimulating and if you take it at night it will keep you awake at night.. if taking it in the morning keeps you awake talk to your dr about zquill to counter the effects.. Hope this helps i should mention i am not a doctor by any means, thus i want to make it clear i am stating opinion and not giving medical adive.. i however have a bit of obsession with this sort of medication hence why i know so much.. if you need further information trying looking up everyone's favorite aspie psych doctorofmindmd on the youtubes he has a video for this exact drug should be able to answer any further questions you may have.. p.s. i got most of what i wrote here from him

"manic or mania is a state of abnormally elevated or irritable mood, arousal, and/or energy levels.[1] In a sense, it is the opposite of depression" (wikipedia). But just because it can happen does not mean that it will so don't worry about it.. just keep an eye on your mood.. I have massive anxiety too my doctor put me on 40mg of prozac and it is working great For sleep i just take zquill which is bendryl it works great and knocks me right out If things get real bad anxiety wise i have something more potent but i wont mention it because you want to avoid it like the plague as its real is easy to spiral into a full on addiction with it.. I my self take it once in a blue moon when i'm having a really bad day.. which is very rare these days..

I took Escitalopram for social anxiety. Started at 10 mg, and that worked really well, eventually went up to 20 mg, and then I started having side effects, like leg cramps. I also would get super dizzy if I missed a dose. It did work well though. I took it for maybe 9 months, and the positive effects lasted years. Not only did it help with social anxiety, but it helped with decreasing obsessive thinking in general. I will say though that I had some very low lows while on it- occasional brief episodes (30 min or so) of deep depression plus feeling freezing cold, followed by exhaustion. Don't know what exactly that was. I don't have problems with depression in general. I even wondered if it was some weird sort of seizure. I didn't have any manic episodes. Overall, my experience was that it was helpful. Good luck!

This is just my experience.

I was first put on 20mg of citalopram in 2012 - but it's a very, very similar drug so I thought I'd still post. This was to treat depression. I had horrendous side effects for a week, and they calmed down in the second week. I used to take it in the mornings but it was making me drowsy so I switched to take it before bed which was beneficial for me. I had a few mild side effects for the first few months of taking it (mostly excessive yawning and dry mouth) but after about a month the drug started to help my depression. I have been on it since.

I had the dose increased to 30mg at a time when my anxiety disorder was particularly out of control but it did nothing for my anxiety so I came back down to 20mg and was prescribed a beta-blocker instead to use. The beta-blocker can sometimes be helpful but it only helps manage the physical symptoms and often it's not enough for me to avoid a panic attack and I can't just increase the dose because I have low blood pressure generally so I could end up faint/passing out.

I went back up to 30mg about two months ago when my depression was getting very severe again. It seems to be helping that a little and I don't have any extra side effects as a result. However I'm having another awful time with my anxiety so again it's not helping me with that at all. I'm actually going back to my doctor later today to ask for diazepam as it's the only drug I've taken that really helps my anxiety and insomnia (I've taken other peoples' before so I know, but absolutely not condoning this behaviour at all it can be dangerous).

Just my experiences. Hope it's a little insightful. Edit: Oh and with regards to sensory problems it hasn't affected them for me at all.

Edit 2: Also I've missed the odd dose of 20mg before and never had a problem. The higher the dose the worse the effects will be if you miss a dose so I've not missed a 30mg dose so far. Obviously everyone is different though and definitely buy one of those things if it will help you remember. I rely on my partner to remind and motivate me to take all my meds as otherwise I get confused and demoralised and would probably be patchy with taking them (I take a bunch of other stuff too for various things).

I took Lexapro (in combination with a mood stabilizer, since I'm bipolar), and it did absolutely nothing for my depression/anxiety, and absolutely nothing for my sensory issues (light and sound, mostly), though it was not prescribed for those. However, be wary of what other people say works or doesn't work for them. Every brain is different, and it might take some experimentation to find the right one for you.

It really helped pull me out of my depression and anxiety.I take 20 mg a day and a small dose of Ativan.I had a few side effects when I first started,but they went away.It made me really sleepy at first,a very mild headache on occasion,dry mouth and the occasional leg cramp.I also had anxiety issues that it helped with.I used to worry constantly when I left the house that I had left the stove on.Even though I checked it numerous times,I've even turned the car around and went back to check.I don't have these issues anymore.

I was on this med and also its sibling citalopram for a while. It was reasonably effective for me, for depression and a bit for OCD related anxiety. I eventually switched to a different med as the side effects were problematic for me. Some weight gain and very unsettled sleeping (vivid dreams nightly).

edit --- it had no effect positive or negative on my sensory issues. no med has for sensory. i have been on many.

I am on Lexapro 10mg daily and have been for 4 years now. I love it.

I switched to the generic for 2 weeks when it came out, and I got so manic -- my sensory issues went through the roof, I had screaming tantrums (I'm in my late 20's...lol), and I couldn't wait to be alone so I could hurt myself (NOT AT ALL like me).

I called my psychiatrist the worst day and she said she would write me a new prescription. Now I have to buy the name brand, which costs $90 a month (compared to $8 Escitalopram). I'd rather pay more and be level-headed.

I would never, ever go back on Escitalopram again, but Lexapro is awesome.

Like gretchyn said, every brain is different; they all respond to medications differently. I was on escitalopram for social anxiety and depression for almost a year. I started on 10 mg daily for 1–2 weeks and then went up to 20 mg a day. I usually took it in the morning after I'd had something to drink. I had no side effects other that a bit of nausea for the first day. However, it did pretty much nothing for my social anxiety and depression, either.

Eventually I ended up taking myself off the medication, which is actually a really stupid thing to do. You should definitely consult your psychiatrist or doctor before making that kind of decision. Some people can have severe withdrawal symptoms by taking themselves off medication suddenly. Luckily I didn't suffer any setbacks, but it's still not a good idea.

Sometimes you have to keep trying different medications, with the help of your psychiatrist or doctor, before you can find one that works for you. But in my case, psychotherapy is what helped me out more – especially with a psychologist who specialised in ASD + social anxiety + depression. Everyone's different, though.