Questions about Lexapro, zoloft and welbutrin?

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Thanks for the remider. Yes, you are quite right. Meds do effect different people in very different ways. That's a good point!

I think you probably need your dose adjusted. Docs usually prescribe a low dose to start with and increase a little at a time until is it effective. As an example, I started with 5 mg, went up to 25 mg and settled in at 20 mg (celexa - same thing as lexapro just less concentrated - save yourself some money).

 

[Stacykins]

Anti depressants are really hit or miss. It can take a few tries to find one that works. And depression is so subjective and hard to describe sometimes, it really is an invisible disease. People can say "snap out of it!" but they don't know what it is like. Makes me wish I had a Point-of-View gun to blast people who say that.

I was put on Lexapro when I was first diagnosed with major depressive disorder and anxiety (anxiety of which caused me to pick at my skin until it bled, not nice, but is a sort of ocd). Anyhoo, Lexapro did not work at all on me. Not one bit. I stayed on it for 10 weeks before my doctor and I agreed to try something else.

The second drug I tried was Zoloft. And it helped, though I am on a rather high dose. However, the one side affect that hit me BAD with the zoloft is severe fatigue. I didn't feel depressed, but I couldn't focus and I was always tired. Just like being depressed? Lol, not quite as bad. So, the doctor lowered the zoloft dose a bit and added an SNRI, Effexor. I take the zoloft at night (because it makes me tired), and the Effexor in the morning before, since it acts on norepinephrine, it perks me up. Changes in my life have helped too. The only thing that held me together when I was really bad was my cat, I didn't turn my shotgun on myself because nobody could take care of her as well as I do (and yes, that was literally my thought process, I was very suicidal at one point). It started when I lost my Army ROTC scholarship after three years (heart defect was discovered, I got the boot). Things went downhill from there. My father disowned me, I lost my job, flunked out of college, a dear friend of mine killed himself. It tore apart my life. But it does get better, eventually.

 

[gryeyes]

I am on Cymbalta. It works quite well for me. I take it twice a day. It helps with body pain, too, and is an adjunct to the Celebrex I take daily (for nerve damage from chemotherapy and now fibromyalgia).

I've tried Lexapro, it worked okay for a while but I did have to change a few years ago. Wellbutrin I tried when I wanted to quit smoking, and it was only marginally successful, but it did jitter me up some and I lost some weight.

The Cymbalta is expensive but dang, I have never been so ..... normal..... and yes, quite happy!

 

[KristyHall]

sometimes it takes trying several different meds to find ones that work for you. Most meds take at least two weeks to start kicking in.

I am on lexapro. it helps some. I was on cymbalta. absolutely loved it. It worked well for me because it was both an anti anxiety and an antidepressant. I am both prone to sever bouts of depression and a very very nervous person. Then I developed restless leg syndrome, and was so disappointed that I had to go off of it.

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:
Wow. I have had RLS for years - even before breast cancer and chemotherapy - and my physician has me on the generic form of Requip, which is Ropinidrole. I am taking it with my Cymbalta! Maybe you can check that out. It SO helps - but I gotta warn ya, some folks do not tolerate it well. It does make me very groggy during my Night Time Get Up To Visit The Chicks In The Bathroom trips. I kinda bounce off furniture to navigate across the house.... but it works. MUST remember to take it at least two hours before bedtime, though, or it takes too much time to overcome the RLS and get to sleep.

 

[Pumpkinpup]

I have an appointment tomorrow to see my Dr. again so I will talk to her and see what she suggests we do from here. I just hope that we can hit on something that helps very soon because it starting to cause alot of difficulties for me in relationships with people I care about. I wasn't even aware of how bad the problems had become until lately. It's effecting things I never saw coming until the damage was done!

 

[Pumpkinpup]

It's a truly miserable feeling being completely out of control and being helpless to do anything about it.

 

[annaraven]

Quote:
Talk to her about getting some therapy as well - you've been through a lot. And having some therapy can help with the other issues that your'e mentioning here. (Depression is an evil monster who likes to hide - good for you for dragging it out into the open so you can deal with it. )

Good luck getting the right meds. I liked wellbutrin when I was taking it - it seemed to help a lot without bad side effects.

 

[kathyinmo]

Lexapro (escitalopram oxalate) and Celexa (citalopram hydrobromide) are both prescription medications classified as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. They are very similar medications, although there are some important differences between the two.

Lexapro and Celexa are very similar molecules.
Celexa was available first and is a mixture of R and S enantiomers of citalopram. Lexapro is just the S enantiomer of citalopram. Enantiomers are forms of molecules that are almost exactly the same but are "opposites." You might think of your right and left hands as being enantiomers. They are very similar to each other, but they are opposites (although they are mirror images of each other, if you put one hand on top of the other, they are different).

Depression research has shown that the S enantiomer of citalopram is much more active as an antidepressant than the R enantiomer, which is why Lexapro (just the S enantiomer) was developed.

Both Lexapro and Celexa are approved for the treatment of depression. However, only Lexapro is approved to treat anxiety. This does not mean that Celexa will not work for anxiety or that your healthcare provider cannot prescribe Celexa for anxiety; it just means that Celexa has not been adequately studied for anxiety treatment.

Another difference between Celexa and Lexapro is that Celexa is available as a generic, while Lexapro is not.

Regarding the effectiveness of the two medicines, some studies have suggested that Lexapro may be more effective than Celexa for depression treatment, while others have not found significant differences between these two medications.

Many people find that Lexapro works for them when Celexa does not (or the other way around). If Lexapro works for you, this does not necessarily mean that Celexa will also work for you (and the opposite is true).

While Lexapro and Celexa are very similar chemically, there are a few important differences. Lexapro and Celexa are not interchangeable, and they are not approved for all of the same uses. Be sure to ask your healthcare provider about any other questions you may have about the differences between Lexapro and Celexa.

 

[redhen]

So what exactly does Wellbutrin do? Does it treat anxiety?