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LEXAPRO AND EXHAUSTION

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Posted 9/12/2006 6:52 PM (GMT 0)

HI ALL!

Anyone have any suggestions to beat the exhaustion I'm experiencing since starting lexapro (10 mg) 4 months ago.  MY mood is quite improved,yet I can't get through a day without a nap.  It's driving me crazy..  Thanks in advance

Posted 9/12/2006 7:07 PM (GMT 0)
Hi

I am questioning the same thing myself - I have tried several (including lexapro) and still can't lick the exhaustion. I am not on anything currently, due to pretty much giving up on rx drugs. Trying to go more of the holistic route...

Good luck on your search! Please let me know if you find out anything!

Thanks!
Kim
Posted 9/13/2006 1:50 PM (GMT 0)
 did not help me at all . only made me much worse . but if it helps you , stay with it . while i was on lexopra myself , the exhaustion got to me too . did not sleep on it at all while i was on it . it also supressed my apetite as well . was only on it for a month . sorry that i can't help you . hope the exhaustion dies down for you  sad

 

Post Edited By Moderator (Victoria) : 9/13/2006 2:09:10 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 9/13/2006 2:59 PM (GMT 0)

My wife has now been on it for about 1 month. 10 mg.

She is doing quite well on it. She is not a side effects reader-so she had no preconceived notions of exhaustion or appetite problems.

Our sleeping habbits are attrotious to begin with, so taking a nap is normal everyday behavior for us. I work, she does not. So I try to stay up late with her, which of course means I am exhausted during the day and need a nap when I get home. She usually is very willing to nap with me.

This behavior was common prior to Lexapro (switched from Effexor) and is still common. Her mood has been much better, and she doesn't seem to really be feeling any side effects. I guess everybody is different.

So give in to the nap, and continue to feel better.


Post Edited (tase2) : 9/13/2006 11:10:58 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 9/13/2006 4:14 PM (GMT 0)
Lexapro was great for me.  I did not have any side effects and it worked very well.  I was not haveing sleep issues before I started taking it.  I find that the depression and effort to keep moving forward while deal with issues is exhausting.  I believe that mental and emotional fatigue is much more difficult to deal with than physical fatigue is.  I did notice that regular exercise was very good and had great benefits to deal with exhaustion.
Posted 9/13/2006 8:09 PM (GMT 0)
Lexapro works very well for me but I have noticed feeling so tired a lot but didnt really link it to taking the medication. Maybe thats why I am always tired!
Posted 9/13/2006 9:48 PM (GMT 0)
Hi guys,

I only really get this drowsiness when I'm depressed or bad with the anxiety/panic. That said, Venlafaxine made it much worse. When I switched to citalopram I got my life back. Sadly now I have so much going on and not helping me boot the depression and a/p that, after a few weeks on citalopram this time round, I'm not really back to ok. Things are better, but not great -- anxiety's flaring up again, and the depression and blankness, but I think the thing that really told me it's not worked out for me yet is that my sleep patterns are all over the place -- and I'm back to "needing" daytime naps... .

Rosie x
Posted 9/14/2006 4:06 PM (GMT 0)
I'm rethinking my answer yesterday concerning my wife. yesterday she slept until 1PM. (She usually wakes between 9:30-11:30. Then when I came home from work at 5PM, I napped. At around 6PM (after only being awake for 5 hours) she napped with me. We both woke up around 8:45.

I immediately started thinking about this thread, and the fact I mentioned she had been on Lexapro for around 1 month. Then I was thinking that is usually the time frame for antidep meds to kick in.

Now I'm thinking that she is experiencing exhaustion with Lexapro. She kept wondering why she was so tired. As I mentioned, she does not read side-effects info. I did not want to mention this info to her.

I will keep you posted as to her behavior over the next couple of weeks.
Posted 9/21/2006 4:28 PM (GMT 0)
Hi TASE2

just wondering about your wife's progress with the lexapro and exhaustion...

Posted 9/22/2006 8:08 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Marez

I think I eventially mentioned to her that this appeared to be a normal side effect of Lexapro the next day.

Since then she is fiddling around with the time of day she takes it. We tried a week at nighttime with her normal Trazadone. She was actually having trouble sleeping. Today we (she) are going to start taking it around 5PM in hopes of exhaustion kicking in around midnight. Her pdoc gave her full permission to try taking it at different times.

I hope you are feeling better. Hang in there

tase

Posted 9/23/2006 8:40 AM (GMT 0)
I've never taken Lexapro. But, when I started taking Paxil 30mg. plus Xanax three times daily. I felt very sleepy, no energy to do anything else but sleep, since I had no experience with antidepressents, I blamed the tiredness and sleepiness to my depression.
The crying had stop, but I just wanted to sleep. Had no interest on working on my garden, going shopping or anything else, So, my dr. increased Paxil to 40mg., plus Xanax three times daily. six months later, dr. switched me to Paxil 25mg. CR. - This dosis seems to be working and I only take 1/2 of Xanax or more as needed.
Posted 9/24/2006 4:44 PM (GMT 0)
hi,

I too was wondering if the Lexapro made me tired or if it's the depression/anxiety making me tired or all the stressful things going on in my life that make me tired. I was commenting to a friend who also takes Lexapro that I have never been so tired in all my life. But really, I've never had so many stressful things going on at one time.

Have had a lot going on at work and home -- I soon will have a few concerns resolved one way or the other and then maybe I can figure out what to do with my life.

I think sometimes I would rather sleep than try to deal with problems that are beyond my control.

-- MK 

Posted 9/26/2006 1:51 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Marez,
I am on lexapro 20 mgms. 2 years now. It's worked wonders for me. I wish I knew about it years ago.
I take it after dinner so if I do get tired at least I know its almost time to go to bed.
Try taking it at night if you aren't already. Good Luck....
Posted 11/4/2006 11:46 PM (GMT 0)
Was looking for a topic about Lexapro. I am taking 10mg. of Lexapro and 150 mg. of Wellbutrin. I YAWN all the time now - the kind where you have to catch your breath. Anybody else experience this?
Posted 11/6/2006 4:07 PM (GMT 0)
I've been on laxapro 10mg for 3 days now. And I do find myseld yawning a lot throughout the day.  My appetite has diminished, to the point that I don't even think about food now. I drink tea when I feel sleepy, that helps with the yawning.  I also drink a lot of water because of the dry mouth lexapro causes. Haven't had any trouble sleeping.  So I guess, besides this annoying yawning (that was hard to say ;-) ), so far so good. I wonder if lexapro will give me any energy boost so I can feel motivated in general?

Hussaina

Posted 11/6/2006 4:37 PM (GMT 0)
wow, sounds like a lot of people are taking lexapro, I too am.  I took it a year and a half ago then went off to try to have a baby, after a horrible bout of anxiety and depression I went back on about a month ago.  the first 2 weeks we tried my original dose of 10 and I seemed to get more anxious so went down to five for a few days then to 7.5 and now to 10 again for the last few days.  I am wondering if it is normal for the anxiety to increase and for how long when you change the dosage.  I too am tired however like someone else said I think the depression in itself causes exhaustion mentally plus I think that these side affects do subside after a couple months if you can hang in there.  I have been posting alot on the anxiety page but am starting to realize they go hand in hand.  hope all of you are on your way to better days.

scaredy cat.

Posted 11/7/2006 2:54 PM (GMT 0)
hi,

I have been taking 10 mg of Lexapro for about three months (got the prescription from my family doctor) and finally went to a psychologist for some counseling. My symptoms are going from anxiety to depression and she thinks I might actually need a higher dose... or maybe even a different drug.

I wonder what that will be like. Right now I am trying to find a psychiatrist with decent hours. I want to make sure I'm really on the right stuff, and I don't know that the family doctor is the best person to see. The psychologist was saying that Lexapro is a hot item right now, it's very widely prescribed because it has few side effects.

MK

Posted 11/10/2006 6:36 PM (GMT 0)

I have been on Lexapro for about a year now and require a nap every day.

Posted 5/18/2008 2:37 PM (GMT 0)
Hi all, I have have been on Lexapro for depression for 5 months now and am exhausted. I yawn constantly and my sleeping patterns are all over the place. I was great for months but the weariness is bringing me down. I've taken to drinking coffee which helps perk me up for a while but I really don't want to be drinking gallons of coffee a day.
It's a pretty heavy side effect but I'm nowhere near as depressed as I was before going on it. I guess a few naps is a small price to pay, I don't know.
Good luck!
Posted 5/18/2008 4:20 PM (GMT 0)
Bluesaway, have you experienced any weight gain or increased appetite from lexapro? 

Posted 5/18/2008 6:07 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Bluesaway,

Welcome to Healing Well.

It isn't normal to feel so tired, you should discuss this with your doctor and see what they say. You might need a different med or a stimulant to get you going.

I wish you luck with this, keep posting.

hugs, Karen
Posted 5/18/2008 7:12 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Karen, I will pop into the doctors :)

AmericanDancer, I haven't noticed any difference with my appetite since taking lexapro. Have you?
Posted 5/19/2008 12:13 AM (GMT 0)
I don't take lexapro.  I was taking cymbalta, but my doctor wanted me to stop and try wellbutrin xl instead, because I kept having high blood pressure readings.  Needless to say, the wb is not the greatest for me because I have anxiety.  I was curious about lexapro.  I tried it in the past and it made me itch so my doctor went ahead and took me off of it, but I really don't think it was an allergic reaction.  I may ask him about trying it again.

Posted 5/19/2008 10:05 AM (GMT 0)

Hi there,

There is a non-pharmaceutical solution which works for some people. I know this sounds completely backwards but if you exercise regularly every day (even if it is just a couple of laps of your block... I think thats what Americans call housing estates) you release endorphins which make you feel better and also your body prepares for a lack of energy which is KNOWS cant be solved by sleeping so it makes you change your reaction to the exhaustion.

RE: Getting a stimulant from the doctor... Coffee is one thing but pharmaceutical stimulants are quite another (in my opinion) and I completely disagree with using them. If you use them for any length of time you can get a dependence on them (not an addiction but similar) as you use them as part of your daily routine. When you start to come off them, your daily routine gets interrupted and your body finds it hard to cope (in the short term at least) without them so you are back at square 1. Thats just my personal opinion and it doesnt happen to everyone but I wanted to share my 2 pence worth with you as well.

All the Best

Darren

Posted 5/19/2008 1:28 PM (GMT 0)
Darren,

Your two pence is worth a lot. I guess because I have to take them to function (due to fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue) that always comes to mind. But that would only be a last resort for somebody who can't get above it. I am sure there is a better medication for Marez that would help her not to be so exhausted. Beatind depression on it's own could help. Since fatigue goes along with the depression. Thank you for your opinion. I respect that so much.

Luv and hugs, Karen
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