switching from paxil to lexapro

L81796 · Post by **L81796** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 5:11 pm

A couple of days ago my Dr. had me switch from paxil to lexapro. I did this for a couple of reasons, first off, after being panic free for almost 6 months, new stresses have caused my panic to return (i have not really been practicing all the skills i learned from the program) and secondly, i am sick of the weight gain i had with the paxil. I have a couple of questions for anyone with experience on either.

First: Is the constant headache from the lexapro? Since i started it 2 days ago, I have had a migraine. It could be weather related or just the stress, but i was wondering if anyone had similar side affects and if so, how long they lasted.

Second: Has anyone had success maintaining or losing weight while on lexapro? I have started to lose weight since coming down in dosage on the paxil and would like to continue losing.

Third: How long should I give the meds before i try something new? Obviously it takes time for any side effects to lessen or diminish, just not sure just how long that is.

Thank You
Laura

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 5:42 pm

I had a bad experience with lexapro, and actually switched off of it. I won't get into the details though. Not saying this to scare you or anything though. Medications work well for some, not for others.

You should give your meds at least two to three weeks to start kicking in.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 8:33 pm

I tried paxil and lexapro and trazadone and zoloft and prozac and elavil and effexor xr which gave me electric brain shocks and remeron and there is no differance between lexapro and paxil and zoloft. none worked for me I am currently trying remeron. It was doing me some good and the other neds failed. The shrink was anarogant ass so I got no refill after 30 days, but the remeron waws working. I do not believe the antidepressants do anything for anxiety or panic..if anything they make anxiety worse. They might help the depression but do nothing for anxiety or panic. These docs are so afraid to give xanax now that the let us suffer and feed us usless antidepressants. We are not depressed. We may be unhappy hiding in our rooms becuase of anxiety but we r not being treated for anxiety. They treat us for depression with crap that alters out serotonin and other things. They dont want to incrase our GABA levels becuase thet dont want to get sued if someone gets addicted to benzodiazepines..the only thing that really worls is addicting and these docs are more worried about getting sued that helping us.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 8:49 pm

ok look.. It takes an antidepressant at least a month to work it had to build up in your system. you have to try it for at least 2 months.
look up ketamine and depression as search words in google or any other search engine. Its pcp. They now know it cured depression in a week?
1 dose?
this is rediculous I even know if i smoked angel dust id be normal... i am depresses so it just makes me normal and full of life. Its illegal? It cures depression in a 1 week dose
been saying this for years. I just need to smoke some and I will be cured.
Nothing else workd for me I have tried 8 antidepressants and I am tired of their mind altering drugs for my anxiety
they wont ever use ketamine for d3epression becuase it gets u high..makes u feel good like a xanax.. its illegal to get relief from constant panic and distress i guess...the us govermend dont want anyone high or happy they would rather angorics suffer in their rooms like me than give then something that works becuase it might make them feel good for once and maybe make them a productive member of society. I want out of my room and I want a gd job. I need meds to do so. Why is every doc afraid to give xanax or ativan anymore? They keep pushing antidepressants on me and I have a gd panic disorder. They dont work.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:49 pm

I agree with you celticwitan, I also had been under many medications before...Prozac, Paxil, Trazadone, Zoloft, respiradal, Klonopin,wellbutrin, effexor, zyprexa, Sonata, Xanax. I also experienced those electrical brain sensations that kept me up all night creating insomnia. All this because I had some anxiety/panic issues. I guess Doctors feel that if they raise the serentonin levels with these aboved mentioned SSRI's that we would be able to cope better. I always ask myself why do people drink instead of taking a deep breath????????????? Someone's drink is just like a low dosage of Xanax for me. I quit all meds and I just take Xanax as needed. There are so many days that I don't need a Xanax and I can cope.

L81796 just be patient with meds. You can place a call to your Doctor in regards to the Migraine headaches. But for most ssri's one has to normally allow 4-5 weeks for the medication to fully kick in. But also remember there is no magic pill that can take everything away. I did lost all the weight that I had gained from the Wellbutrin and Zyprexa, the other meds did not cause weight gain.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 1:02 am

Hello,

I started lexapro almost a year ago, it has helped me, I have GAD and panic disorder and I started on 10mg but now I am on onlly 5 mg a day. I do remember having headaches and neausa for a few weeks, but like you am not sure if the headache was from tension or the med. I hold all my tension in my neck and shoulders so I get tension headaches.

As far as losing weight I was able too, I joined weight watchers and lost 32 lbs. I need to get back on the wagon again I find when I am eating right and exercising I feel better

Debbie

Faith_TX · Post by **Faith_TX** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:32 pm

L81796,
I took Paxil for 7 years. It helped me with both anxiety and depression. Towards the end it kind of stopped working and I was getting a lot of side effects. My body adjusted to the dose 30mg, and wanted more, which i didn't want to do. So i decided to start weaning off. I have been told by many that Paxil is hard to get off of an if famous for the 'discontinuation syndrome'. So it's been a year of tapering off the Paxil extrememly slowly and am now down to 2mg. At about 7mg I became extremely depressed and was started on Prozac.
So I'm now on 40mg of Prozac and 2mg Paxil with Klonopin morning and night and an occasional 1/2 ativan if the anxiety is untolerable.
Did your doctor have you just stop taking the Paxil? How long and how much were you on? I did get headaches, but my big symptoms were night sweats, horrible weird dizziness which they call the 'swoosh effect', all kind of lovely stuff but the biggest was the rebound anxiety. Which I am still having....hopefully not for long.
I have lost 20lbs with weight watchers and another 15 thanks to the depression. I haven't tried lexapro and am not sure if the headaches are common in the beginning. I would talk to your prescribing doctor about all of this. What you hear from people on this website, including myself, are just their stories and eveyone tolerates medications differently. I wish you luck and have heard great things about Lexapro, give it a chance i'm sure it'll help. Most importantly work the program!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 3:26 pm

I want to thank all of you for your input and help. The headache seems to have subsided. My Doc said it was most likely a withdrawl symptom from the paxil. I am going to stick with the lexapro and we can reevaluate things in a few weeks. But so far so good. I have been trying to more actively apply the lessons and skills that I learned from the program and I am going to start the whole thing over. The only problem is that my 2nd disc no longer works. Does anyone know if I can buy a new one and how I would go about doing that? Also, can we get new work books?

Again, THANK YOU ALL. I wish each and everyone of us continued success!

HAPPY EASTER!

Laura

cfe · Post by **cfe** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 5:43 pm

I wouyld definately agree with your Doc. I took Paxil for 2 years and one of the withdrawl symptoms I most disliked was migraine headaches. Glad your doing better.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:06 am

“after being panic free for almost 6 months, new stresses have caused my panic to return “

Laura,
Look at what you are saying to yourself.

If I may, rewording this might help you get a different perspective:

"after being panic free for almost 6 months, (my reaction to) new stresses have caused my panic to return"

Going through the course again sounds like a very good idea. In fact I may do so myself. It's hard to learn it all on the first pass.
Repeating it, as often as it takes, and putting the principles to work, will cure your panic. You just have to remember to keep doing it an not slip back into your old ways of thinking. Remember it's your own though processes that will cure you or set you back. It depends on how you choose to use them.

Yes headaches are typical with Lexapro at first.
It takes several weeks to get over some of the symptoms when first starting this med. And unfortunately, Lexapro DOES increase your appetite so watch out for weight gain.
However, I will say that Lexapro helped me get through a tough time and helped me ‘break’ the GAD cycle I was in at the time. But I started weaning myself off it within 2 months. Most docs don’t recommend that but my research indicates it’s much easier to get off this drug sooner and start using your CBT skills to deal with life’s stresses so that you don’t have deal with the whole withdrawal issue later.
God Bless you and peace be with you.