Posted by Jen Star on July 19, 2005, at 13:38:52
In reply to Cipralex/lexapro - increased anxiety anyone?, posted by catachrest on July 18, 2005, at 12:45:57
hi Susan,
I'm one of the people who take Lex to help reduce anxiety, and it works for me! So unfortunately I'm not able to offer direct advice.One thing I've heard about though, is that the dosage might need to be adjusted for you. Maybe a lower dosage would alleviate depression w/out increasing anxiety?
I think medicines are complicated. If you feel anxiety on the medicine, it's possible that Lex is causing it. Doctors are not 100% sure exactly how these drugs work, so it's very possible that they affect different people in different ways. Don't force yourself to accept that "it's all in your head" because, after all, ALL this stuff is in our head, right? Maybe try an experiment - taper off or down, and see if the anxiety goes away. (With Dr.'s support, of course!)
It's also possible that if you were suffering from multiple things like depression AND anxiety, now that one is getting better the other one is more apparent? (Kind of like cleaning all the dust off an old record, and then finding that it's cracked under all the dust?) Some people take 2 drugs - one for depression, another for anxiety. You might need to experiment to find the right mix for you.
Also, are you experiencing extra stress at work or in your life? Lex isn't a magic bullet (sadly, sadly, sadly!) I think it HELPS but doesn't prevent all anxiety.
Do you do exercise or yoga? For me, working out plus meds seems to be a great mix and really helps me keep anxiety low.
take care!
hope you feel better.
JenStar
poster:Jen Star
thread:529535
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050718/msgs/530122.html