Has anyone had a similar experience with Lexapro?

[rockki]

Lexapro is a permanent life long cure for any depression if you can survive the treatment.  I was prompted by a marriage counselor to go to my doctor and request drugs for my OCD symptoms (checking, intrusive sad thoughts, previous eating disorders as a teen and heavy drinking-probably perpetuated by my father’s suicide in 1981 while he was on imipramine and numerous other psych med’s)  I went to my husband’s pcp who never met me before.  He gave me a depression self-test and diagnosed me with depression and anxiety, and then prescribed me Lexapro and Rozerem since I had a terrible insomnia problem.  He also decided it was a good idea to start kissing me and grabbing me in his office.    The Lexapro did such a good job getting me up and doing things, lots of things, but unfortunately, I believe it also may have made me nervous because it raised my blood pressure from it’s usual 120/80 to 145/110.  I was really up, up, up.   I could drink twelve shots of straight liquor and still be walking around for hours.  This was the busiest year of my life.  I managed to get 2 DUI’s  4 drunk in publics and an involuntary commit for suicide, attend 2 rehab’s, a hypnotherapist, weekly ASAP programs, all while working full time.  During the course of my medical treatment,  I was seen by 3 psychiatrists, 4 doctors, and numerous counselors.  Most of the follow up treatment involved numerous more drugs, anti-buse, campral, and Buspar.  All of which I had to stop taking  due to side effects such as full body tremors and falling down.   Finally, after the second DUI which I was also charged with a felony for pinching a police officers butt, I decided maybe I should stop taking the Lexapro b/c I seemed to have developed some obsession with alcohol and I could see I was also becoming delusional.  So, while in jail, I requested no more medication for 1 week and was able to fully withdraw from Lexapro, although the depression side effects of the withdrawal lasted about three months.  I met numerous other women in jail for DUI’s while on Zoloft, Lexapro and Abilify and others for shoplifting on Zanax.  My depression is 100% permanently cured.   I no longer ever feel sad about my life.  I have never killed anyone driving drunk, I didn’t kill myself, I am no longer in jail, I didn’t get my kid taken away from me, I am not in a mental institution, and I don’t have a lethal diastolic blood pressure of 110 anymore.    No matter what happens in my life now, I am always hopeful and never depressed.  I know things could be much worse.

[SoCalTricia]

I'm sorry you had trouble with Lexapro...but I am SO GLAD to see that someone else has had the same issues I have had. I wondered if it was the Lexapro, and strongly suspected it was - so I stopped taking it and switched back to Zoloft (which worked well for me in the past). I ended up on Lexapro because I had switched PCPs. My son died in September and, of course, I was very depressed. So I went to my new doctor, who put me on Lexapro. Since then (it's been about five months), I have gained 25 pounds, I hardly have the energy to do ANYTHING, I am unmotivated, and it has also made my sleep apnea worse. On top of all that, I can't even have an orgasm anymore! If I wasn't damned depressed before, I sure am now! Anyway...I stopped taking it, waiting about ten days, and am now taking Zoloft again (I still had it from just after our son was born). I'm upset that the stupid medication did that to me.

[gp816]

I've been on Lexapro for about a year now, and although it has helped a lot with my irritability and anxiety, it has left me with severe weight gain, an uncontrollable urge to eat sweets every day, extreme fatigue, and worsened sleep apnea.  I never feel like I really wake up, ever.  I do have sleep apnea and the cpap helps, but its a losing battle I think while on Lexapro.
My doctor put me on Nuvigil for the sleepiness and the apnea and it really helped me to stay alert and focused, but its still a daily battle with fatigue and sleepiness.  My psychiatrist said I could cut the Lexapro in half to lessen fatigue, from 10mg to 5mg.  I started tapering this way 2 days ago.  The Nuvigil is a god send.  Yes, I am light headed and generally out of it, in the morning, but after taking the Nuvigil it helped lessen these symptons.  I know everyone is different but this is what is helping me.  GP

[rockki]

I was being very sarcastic.

[RefractoryMan]

You write; "Lexapro is a permanent life long cure for any depression if you can survive the treatment."

LOL! I'm sorry, but nothing could be further from the truth. I took Lexapro for 2 years (before it stopped working) and in that time I will admit that among most other SSRI's it was probably the most potent and effective. I took 30mgs a day which is a pretty high dosage.

The fact is that no antidepressant including Lexapro is even remotely close to being a cure of any sort. Just a treatment and a flawed one just like all other Psychotropic meds on the market today.

In fact even many tricyclic antidepressants are more effective than Lexapro. I'm not saying it isn't a good SSRI, but it's very far removed from a cure.