Prescribed Escitalopram

[Lydia]

Hi there, I wonder if you could help me. I saw a psychiatrist a few weeks ago and he prescribed me Escitalopram. Now, I've had really dreadful experiences with medication, having had dystonia, oculagyric crisis, parkinsonism, and finally neuroleptic malignant syndrom due to two doses of haloperidol, one of procycladine and promethazine. I nearly died and had to have speech therapy for six months to be able to speak near normally again (it paralysed my tongue) so as you can imagine, I'm rather anti taking pills. However, my life is getting ridiculous, with being too scared to speak to people amongst various other things that are wrong that I won't bore you with, and I have been told if I don't take pills I could take another twenty years to get to a place that these pills could take me in a year. So here's my question...

Does anyone have experience with Escitalopram at all? Has anyone heard of anyone getting movement disorders or dystonias with SSRI's? I've been told if I don't take the pills I'll not get anymore help, and I'm absolutely terrified. Please help, I don't want to end up nearly dead or thing made even worse than they are...

Thanks lots!

[Vorpalblade]

I~ havent heard many bad things all about Cipramil. i believe it is one of the better meds to be on (unlike effexor ggr)

Blade

[Lydia]

I think I worry because it's relatively new, what with it only being on the general market since 2002, which means they've got no long term data. Apparently it's pretty strong too.

I know Effexor can be a bugger, a friend of mine took two years to come off hers....

[Barebones]

sry ive never been on it.. here is some info on it im sure you read about it before.. but heres another site.http://www.medicinenet.com/escitalopram/article.htm

[pip]

Escitalopram is not branded as cipramil, it is cipralex.

Citalopram is cipramil.

They are sister molecules - different.

Cipramil has lost its patent and so the company have brought out a new AD in an effort to make more money.

When pharmaceuticals lose their patent, they become generic.

eg Prozac was £19.84, the generic Fluoxitine is around £4 a month

NHS Trusts want GPs to prescribe over 80% generic medicines and thus save money

Drugs are usually patented for around 8yrs - when this is over, they tend to try to extend their liscence.

eg Effexor becoming effexorXL and gaining the GAD liscence.

Anyway Cipralex is promoted as having very few side effects and working quickly.

In truth, the company involved are trying to make money and recoup its loses from Cipramil.

The drug will be as effective as any other AD and I wouldn't worry about side-effects.

Good Luck

Pip

x

[mrs tree]

I am not sure if you are saying they the 2 meds are the same....I took Cipramil and don't remeber any side effects ...

I am not suprised you are worried...Can they put you on a real low dose to see if you get side effects?

Let us know what happens

Mrs Tree

[Lydia]

Well, they've given me a deadline to start taking it by. I do have the choice not to take it of course, but the doc said I'm too ill to try and get well with just CBT and therapy. I've noticed that the 5mg tablets can be split in half, so maybe I could just take 2.5mg for the first week or so? Does that seem like a stupid thing to do? I've got myself so worked up I'm going out my mind with worry about what will happen tomorrow morning when I take it.

[mrs tree]

Dun't know is the answer......I guess it depends on how you see it yourself....SSRi's they say take 6 weeks to work which is quite a long time when you are struggling...I guess taking a 1/2 dose would mean it would take longer.....

Did you talk to doc about the likelyhood of S.effects? Don't know how likely it is something like that would happen again

Mrs Tree

[pip]

They are different drugs.

But are related.

Any side effects you do experience will be like an SSRI

eg nausea, loss of libido, headache, etc

This is the same as for prozac, cipramil, seroxat, etc.

I wouldn't worry.

You should be fine

Pips

x

[Lydia]

I hope I will be fine, the experience that I had with haloperidol has traumatised me an awful lot. Movement disorders are purest evil, especially when they involve your jaw being clamped open and tongue paralysed. Hopefully I won't be more prone to that side effect now because I've been through it before.

I'll be brave and take it tomorrow, I'd rather start on a tiny dose because I've coped for five years like this, I can cope a bit longer!

[pip]

Lydia, haloperidol is enough to scare anyone.

Your AD is completely different and you can shoot me if the same problems occur!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, any side effects will be mild and transitory.

Honest guv

Pip

x

[Lydia]

Hehe, okay, that sounds resoundingly positive. I shall let you know how I get on! Fingers crossed!

[pip]

You will be fine!!!!

[Eva*]

I've been on escitalopram and on citalopram. I know that they are very similar but citalopram worked for me while escitalopram didn't and the latter lead to a loss of libido which the first one didn't. I don't know if my metabolism changed or if they are different after all.

But I think escitalopram should be pretty safe. The loss of libido thing was the only side effect I had.

I think if it would make you feel better you should take 2,5 mg for a week or so. Most side effects occur when you start taking something. Then you should go up though I guess. I took 10 mg which is equal to about 20mg citalopram. (Maybe it didn't work because of that, I took 40 mg of that, sorry, doesn't matter)

Hope it works for you. It's said to be good.

Eva

[pip]

Lydia,

sounds like you will still be having sex!!!!!!!!!!!

so it can't be all bad.

Hope you are doing fine

Pips

x

[Lydia]

I wish I'd seen this earlier. I clearly have some pretty bad problems regarding my fear of meds, cause I just sat on the bed with my poor endlessly understanding boyfriend and cried and cried and got convinced I was going to die if I took it. Now it's too late in the day so I'm feeling really stupid. I've got to take it at some point. ARGH! I hate being like this!

Tomorrow. I don't get in till about 8.00am from dj'ing on a sunday, so maybe I could take it and then go to bed so I won't be stressing the whole time. Maybe. God, I think I just wind myself up much more than necessary....

Thanks for your help people, it's very much appreciated...

[Barebones]

its not that ive been on your mediaction but i know what its like to worry about taking somthing.. i have bad reactions to certain anti depressants which the one im on now is the first for me not to have a bad reaction too. i was the same with my anti pyschotic which i was afraid off aswell but it turned out well in the end with both medication and its doing me wonders. i did have certain side effects from my anti P but it wasnt as bad as i thought.

hope you take it and things are fine hun remeber your boyfriend is tehre for you so take it when hes about and see how you get on.. just try and relaxe and not let your brain go over drive.

[Lydia]

You're very kind! I think I also fear the fact that I was on an antipsychotic called Thorizadine for years that got taken off the market because people were dropping dead on it. I was on a very small dose, so I didn't get the parkinsonism or anything like I did with Haloperidol, and that should make me more confident. I just go in circles, which is probably something to do with my ocd and anxiety. My boyfriend has been so supportive of me but I could see he was trying to hide how crestfallen he was that I didn't go through with it.

It's like I'm waiting for something to say 'I guarantee you'll be fine', which no one can.

Tomorrow, 2.5mg, if I go slowly, then if something does go wrong, it won't be as bad with half the dose. Again, thanks for your kind words!

[Barebones]

lydia i guess all of us know that there might be some sort of side effect but it might not come to what happend in the past. so i guess we could give you more hope that having that small amount might not do anything to you. just make sure you have somone with you and you will be allright ((((hugs))))

[pip]

Lydia

Anti-Depressants are different from Anti-Psychotics

much, much different,

not like milk or white chocolate

but like coffee and gin

Does that make sense?

Have you been told to take it AM?

I think if you took it know you would be ok.

I am on HUGE prozac and i take it when I remember

Infact, hang on - taken it - see its easy!

All you (and me) need to do is get into a routine.

GO GIRL GO!!!!!!!!

You will be ok

Pips

x

[Lydia]

Yes, I've been told to take it in the morning, so I shall, tomorrow, and I shall probably freak out for the rest of the day but once that day, or first week is over, hopefully I'll stop being all paranoid. I don't know a huge amount about the properties of medication but it's reassuring to hear that AP's aren't like AD's. I think I have very low dopamine so when I took haloperidol I got every side effect I could hope not to. Then again, parkinsonism is a frequent side effect with that isn't it? The frequent ones with cipralex seem to be nausea and a bad tummy. I'm sure I can cope with that!

[realscape]

I can't remember which is which name but I was prescribed

Escitalopram first and then Cipramil or is it Citalopram second. I'm a bit mixed up, Pip would know. Anyway they were both (in my experience) completely crap and rendered me almost catatonic and I gained rapid weight, 5st in 2 years, felt like I was dead but still alive, completely unable to get my head together and were it not for the fact that I was being cared for at a friends house, where I mainly slept all day, my entire life would have been over and my cat would have died of starvation. Other friends have taken them both and had similar experiences.

My Psychiatrist has now prescribed Mirtazapine which I am not taking at the mo due to the risk of weight gain but which I heard only good things about. In my vast and tortuous experience NO antiD is better than any of them. I prefer to use sleeping pills to regulate insomnia and to take the edge of my anxiety and diazepam ad hoc.

Sorry to be so negative but I've tried everything from amytriptiline to prozac to seroxat and cipramil and none of them worked for me. They at best numb me out completely which is great if you're in a nursing home but shite under any other circs.

Just my experience.

[pip]

Everyone is different and so take diffrently to all drugs.

These ADs are SSRIs - which you can't tolerate

Your doc has changed class to mitazapine (NASSA)

I wouldn't take it either for the weight gain

It does help you sleep.

- but most people lose weight on an SSRI.

I suppose we are all diff.

Maybe you could try reboxetine - it works on noradrenaline and isn't associated with weight gain.

Just a thought

Pip

x

[Helen]

.

[Lydia]

Hi there! Well, I took my first, rahter measly dose of 2.5mg and apart from feeling a little bit sedated for about five minutes, which also could have been down to me being really anxious so I thought I was feeling odd, I feel okay. Obviously I've taken so little I probably wouldn't know if I was going to get side effects, but for now, I feel like I've climbed everest achievement wise....it's been six years since I let any medication past my lips and have obsessed and bawled about it...so yeah, feeling happy, if only for swallowing the pill!