A question about Lexapro

[peeonme]

I started taking Lexapro about 6 months ago. I was dealing with many issues and was having flashbacks and dreams accompanied by night sweats.
Much of what happened in my youth had me angry, I thought about it a lot.

Fast forward 6 months, now if I think of some incident from my past that used to piss me off, I find my self feeling as though it did me some good. Even if it was "unfair" I feel as though it made me who I am today.

So, the question is, Does the drug distort my view of the past, or, does it keep me from viewing it in some kind of irrational rage?

 

[KaraBulut]

SSRIs affect different people in different ways. Lexapro is one that is given for anxiety, as well as depression. SSRIs do tend to have a "flattening" effect on emotions which can be in the range from content to apathetic.

So, it's not exactly a distortion of your past as much as it is dulling the emotions that you felt toward the past.

 

[peeonme]

Thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

 

[Harker]

Lexapro for me calmed my anxiety, but it turned my emotions up to unbearable volumes. If I’d think of something sad from years ago, I’d become so depressed i couldn’t function. So, i absolutely get that.

 

[Windsong]

I started taking Lexapro about 6 months ago. I was dealing with many issues and was having flashbacks and dreams accompanied by night sweats.
Much of what happened in my youth had me angry, I thought about it a lot.

Lexapro is a funny thing. I found that it helped the primary problem - while I was taking it, I did feel much more in control of my own mind.

But the side-effects got too much to deal with. Lexapro is also what you recommend to someone with premature ejaculation (apparently), but if you don't suffer from that, Lexapro can (not always, but in my case, it did) delay or prevent you from orgasming completely. I was still celibate at the time, but it made all my porn worthless.

Then I tried Lovan, which did nothing but keep me awake at night. Then another one starting with "m". I don't remember the name, but that worked briefly for a week ... until I started feeling drained and smothered. I thought, "I'll take it night, if it's gonna make me tired anyway..." and one pill kept me awake at night for 5 days afterwards. Stopped taking those pretty quickly.

SSRIs are funny things. By that point I got sick of making things worse, and my psychiatrist was a dick anyway.

 

[123kid]

For me, it made me able to look back at an issue and be pragmatic about it. Now I can see back about how my emotions were somewhat out of contro!.

 

[crimsonpaine]

I have been dealing with social and other anxiety for over 20 years now, and bouts of depression here and there, so I finally decided to take some action to get my life under control. I let my doctor know that when I come in for my appointment I want to talk about Lexapro. I'm tired of living like this.

 

[novastar]

Lexapro helped with the anxiety and I am not experiencing side effects. At least I don't think so

 

[123kid]

I have been dealing with social and other anxiety for over 20 years now, and bouts of depression here and there, so I finally decided to take some action to get my life under control. I let my doctor know that when I come in for my appointment I want to talk about Lexapro. I'm tired of living like this.

I noticed a difference in 4 days.

 

[peeonme]

I have been dealing with social and other anxiety for over 20 years now, and bouts of depression here and there, so I finally decided to take some action to get my life under control. I let my doctor know that when I come in for my appointment I want to talk about Lexapro. I'm tired of living like this.

I think that talking to your doc. is the best thing, I would be hesitant to tell him/her what med. I wanted, of course it's fine to mention it. I am glad that I finally told a doctor how I really felt, that's the most important thing to do.

 

[crimsonpaine]

I don't think you should be hesitant to tell your doctor what you want, that way he will know you are serious about getting help if you are able to tell him what you want. He might not agree and want me to take something else, but at least by telling him what I want, because I have been doing my own online research and think this one may be best for me, I'm starting the conversation. Under normal circumstances I would just continue to keep quiet and go on the same wishing I had said something.

 

[mikey3000]

I am on this too and I don't like it. It kills my sex drive completely and I'm more stressed that no one will love me anymore because I have no libido at all. I'm trying to wean myself off but it is going horribly.

 

[KaraBulut]

I am on this too and I don't like it. It kills my sex drive completely and I'm more stressed that no one will love me anymore because I have no libido at all. I'm trying to wean myself off but it is going horribly.

SSRIs should be weaned because of Antidepressant Discontinuation Syndrome. The question is whether you're getting any benefit from taking an antidepressant. We have all seen patients who- given the options of being too depressed to get out of bed vs taking an anti-depressant to be able to work and function- would take the good effects over the bad side effects if the drug helped their depression.

For people who have conditions that benefit from the drugs, like situational depression or seasonal affective disorders, taking an SSRI is a key piece of having a normal life. Sometimes it's just a matter of finding the right medication where the benefits are there and the side effects are minimal.

SSRIs and SNRIs have sexual side effects in a lot of men. There's probably 20 drugs in these classes that are available on the market and sometimes it takes trials of 3-5 of them before you find the one that is best for you.

If the drug that you're on is really dulling your libido or taking away your enjoyment of sex, then talk to you doctor about changing to a different medication, especially if you are getting benefits from being on an anti-depressant.