Question about SSRI med

I know this may sound ridiculous but what can be the results if a doctor prescribes you an SSRI med like Lexapro and you really dont need to take it. What I mean is can a med like Lexapro cause damage to your system if there is really nothing wrong with you seritonon balance in your brain. I've been on a .5mg dosage for five days and even though I've had no side affects so far, I've had some days where I really feel down and depressed.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

No, it can not hurt you if you do not have a serotonin problem, but of course , it can't help either if you don't need it.

[JeffG10]

Well, this really is a problem, you dont want to be on a med that you dont have a need for, but i doubt your doctor would have prescribed it had he thought u didn't need it. How often do you feel depressed, if its more then once a week i would say that you should be on something, everyone has there bad days but if it keeps coming back there is most likely a serotonin imbalance. However, i do not know the problems it could cause if you really dont have a disorder, i would think it could cause serotonin syndrome, something you definately do not want, but i'm not in med school yet, i would deff talk to your doctor about it.

[JeffG10]

wow, just read up on serotonin syndrome, i apologize for worrying you, you have no risk of that, that's if your taking more then one of the same medications, sorry about that.

[imcrazy2]

Keep in mind that MANY times when starting a new med, or adjusting dosage, things get WORSE before they get better.  That is a pretty widely accepted effect.....HOWEVER, you need to be very aware of those feelings, and why they are occurring, and if they get really bad or if you feel suicidal AT ALL, call your doc or go to the ER IMMEDIATELY.  If it is manageable, still let your doc know, but it should get better as your body adjusts in the next few weeks.
I can't keep track of all of the posts, so if you already wrote this elsewhere, bear with me, but why do you feel that you might not need the meds?  What were your symptoms before, and why did your doc prescribe them?

[Jimmy1965]

Thanks for the responses.

It's not that I feel like I dont need the meds but its seems that I have felt better or just as good while I was off of them. Let me tell you a brief story of why I feel this way. Over the summer I was put on Zoloft. I started at 50mg and worked myself up all the way to 125mg. This was over a four month period. Working up to 125 was a struggle. I did feel better for awhile but I had GI side effects because of the ZOlOFT so finally my pdoc decides to take me off of ZOLOFT. He brought me down 25mg at a time. As I started downward I started feeling better. When I finally got off of ZOlOFT he did not start the Lexpro until 2 weeks later. During those two weeks I was feeling ok. I also have to mention that I also take 2.5mg of Lorazapam per day so I'm sure that helps tremendously with the anxiety. I started Lexapro last Friday at .5mg and so far I've had no side effect issues to speak about but I have had days where the depression has been surfacing up to the top and it's been hard at times. I hope it starts to get better soon. My doc is going to raise me to 10mg after I've been on .5mg for 10 days.

Thanks,
Jimmy

[imcrazy2]

Don't forget that each of these drug works slightly differently....you may have a lot of trial and error with many different meds befor you find the one for you.  If the Lexapro doesn't work the way you hope it will, don't give up--try something else.  Also, you will probably find uncomfortable side effects with each one--it's sort of a process of choosing between the lesser of evils.

[scaredycat1]

I take the lexapro also, I started right off on 10 and was extremely anxious for 2 weeks, than I went down to 5 and gradually went up, 7.5 for a week and then 10 now for the last 6 days, it does seem to be helping and the anxiety is almost gone however the depression is still there quite a bit so still waiting for it to work, I know they say 6 weeks for full effect or maybe I need to go up a bit more, not sure, like they say trial and error with dosage and types something will work though, my point is I did have some effects for the first couple weeks also so you really need to give it time, also each time you increase the dosage you may get some also but htey do eventually pass if it doesn't after a couple weeks with each change or if it gets really bad, call your doctor but do be patient, good luck to you, keep us posted.  

scaredy.

[cheercoach]

Ok, so it's normal to have wierd side effects from going from Celexa to Lexapro?  It's been 7 days and I feel jerky and nauseas....i went from 20 mg to 10....????  Anyone else go through this?

[scaredycat1]

yes I think so like I said I had them the first few weeks til I finally leveled out, I didn't think they were working but feel much better now, not quite 100 percent but much better than before.  Still a work in progress but am at least getting better instead of worse.

be patient,
good luck,
let us know how your doing.

scaredy

[AJC]

I took one 10 mg. pill of Lexapro and had horrible side effects for over 7 weeks. I think it has damaged my central nervous system or something. I cannot work and am on short term disability. For me, this has been one of the worst times in my life. I have had several tests that show nothing. I have improved but not enough to suggest that I will ever get completely better. Beware of these ssri brain drugs. I also posted on the undiagnosed symptom forum if you would like to see more detailed info about what happened to me. It is under the heading, :Lexapro, horrible side effects after only 1 pill"

[Sobriety]

YES.PHYSICIANS SOMETIMES MIS-DIAGNOSE YOU FOR IT TAKES A LONG TWO-FOUR SESSIONS TO DIAGNOSE CERTAIN MENTAL DISORDERS!!GO TO A PSYCHIATRIST NOT A GP!!!!!!! THEY DIAGNOSE YOU SYMPTOMATICALLY, W/ OUT MUCH RESEARCH IN YOUR HISTORY. PAXIL SEEMS A GOOD OPTION SINCE YOU SAY YOU HAVE ANXIETY AS WELL IN CONJUNCTION W/ DEPRESSION!! THIS COULD BE SITUATIONAL VS. CLINICAL DEPRESSION!!!

[LindaGlass]

Hi Jimmy,

Drugs do help but they should be combined with psychological therapies (prefferably a psychologist at Phd level) - cognitve therapy has been proven to work better than anti-depressants can - drugs only work for short term and its best to see what the underlying problems are - see a psychologist.

Warmest Regards