Been on 20mg for depression for a few years now. Never heard of it being used for BP, but it's been good for my mental health I think. I definitely get brain zaps if I miss more than a day in a row tho.
this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2024
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Well it's more that my anxiety causes BP issues.
Wtf are brain zaps?
When you stop a lot of antidepressants, some people will feel like an uncomfortable shock going through your head randomly. Depends on the person and medication tho
Very unpleasant side effect of going off some antidepressants. It feels more or less exactly how it sounds. Its like the feeling you get when you hear someone scrape a fork across their teeth when they're eating (that might just be me)
I had a bad time with escitalopram and the prescribing doctor was doing a terrible job of supervising how I was responding to meds.
He kept incresing the dose to ever-worsening side effects to the point that I suspect I had a mixed manic state or that something really screwy was going on.
Got to the point where I couldn't bear the thought of another day on it so I stopped cold turkey because the doctor wasn't listening to my issues with it.
It was a long time ago but I had about a week of the most intense brain zaps and then a very, very long time of them gradually reducing. Even the slightest movement of my eyes would bring on another attack. I imagine that's what torture must feel like.
Don't do what I did.
Never heard of it being used for BP
I could be wrong, but @ManFreakBeast@hexbear.net may be using BP to mean blood pressure, not bipolar
Yeah that's what I understood BP as.
I'm bp2 also and have lamotrigine for that
Should have made that clear, yeah I have hypertension.
I can't remember my dosage but I was on it in college. Made it impossible to orgasm... Would get right up to the edge and then...flaccid... Was absolutely not ok. And yeah getting off it meant brain zaps for a month which wasn't like painful or anything but was not pleasant.
Ive been on it for like 5 or 6 years. My libido was fine at 10 mg but at one point I went up to 15 mg and it got a bit worse (but its still good enough).
It also prevented me from being suicidal and living in a depression pit during really tough grad school times.
I have gained about 60 lbs since then but i cant blame it entirely on lexapro.
Just make sure to never miss doses. If you miss 2 doses you will absolutely get the brain zaps and just overall feel confused and weird.
Also, if/when you desire to stop the medication, you need to do a very slow taper, slower than your doctor says. People recommend lowering your dose by 10% a month, it will take a long time but its much better for your brain and you will be more likely to stay off it.
Personally, my life and mental health has gotten into a better place and soon im hoping to taper back down to 10 mg soon. Maybe go even lower afterwards. Its not perfect but it sounds like you are having some success so far and for me was better then the alternative
If you don't mind me asking, do you drink? Cuz I noticed they advise against drinking on the pill bottle but my Doc said that just means excessive binge drinking, and a few beers or some wine is fine. I like a nice beverage now and again but I don't wanna get messed up.
I have drank daily (low level alcohol use disorder), binge drank, and not drank and never had a problem, but your body might react differently. I also have used cannabis and currently do so pretty much daily. One thing my doctor said was that drinking and cannabis would "interfere" with how the drug is working and lower its efficacy, but we already know drinking isnt great for mental health. So i would hold off if you can, and when there is a special occasion or some other reason you really want to have a beer or a glass of wine give it a try. Stick to 1 drink at first just to be safe.
Yeah thanks. I used to drink a lot more (I actually worked in alcohol production so I go WAY too much free booze), realized it wasn't helping with the mental health or BP, and so have cut back a lot, but damn do I like a nice brewsky beer. Since starting the meds I've had the occasional beer out, but only 2 max and always with food.
Yeah i would keep it at that level. But i think the warning is just standard with any psychiatric medication
Lexapro is pretty mild as far as that class of meds go.
I don't remember it bring substantially different to Zoloft. It was a lot weaker than the 120 mg of cymbalta I used to be on, which did reduce libido a bunch
I've been on 20mg for depression for a while now and it's given me the least trouble out of the ones I've tried. It has dampened my sex drive a little bit, but that's okay. Recently had to switch to 40mg citalopram as a subsitute since my insurance ran out and my brother went on vacation to Mexico and that's what they had. Haven't noticed any adverse side effects.
I started with 10mg citalopram first few weeks then 20mg, then switched to 10mg escitalopram due to availability issues at the start of the year.
It was for anxiety and depression.
Had severe side-effects first few weeks on citalopram. Mainly lethargy and low mood.
After the initial side-effects, I remember it not really doing much except made it easier to unhook for anxious thoughts and a slightly lower baseline anxiety. I have a chronic physical illness and it often gets worse in periods where I am more anxious and have noticed it has generally gotten better after the anti-depressant.
Currently bumped up to 15mg escitalopram past few months. Had taken it for nearly a year now. The switch from citalo to escitalo wasn’t as bad, side effects were similar but less potent and lasted only a few days.
Libido did not really change, but I started taking Concerta (methylphenidate) for ADHD regularly the past couple months in conjunction which just increased it honestly. The side-effects for Concerta has/is more prominent than escitalopram for me now.
I have to switch back to citalopram again soon because of availability issues… again.
In general I am adverse to medication, and so depending how the next year goes, I am hoping to taper off of the citalopram.
Have taken 10mg for anxiety. Take it before bed since it makes me sleepy. Has almost completely eliminated a lifetime of low-medium grade anxiety. Makes it difficult to orgasm which isn't great. YMMV.
Edit: also it makes my dreams way more "literal" than ever. Like I never used to dream about shit that happened that day. Now I always do. Also I'm now prone to kick in my sleep.