Too scared to take my first Lexapro

Hi AubreyBear,

I wanted to try to offer you a little encouragement. I know what it's like to be too afraid to take the first pill when starting a new med or starting over on an old one after being off of it for a while. So know that you are not alone in feeling anxiety about that.

What stood out to me is the fact that you said the lexapro completely changed your life for the better, you were happy, motivated and felt more like yourself. If you take the lexapro you can start to get back to feeling more like yourself again. I know the fear of those side affects, trust me I do, I've had the sexual side affects and gained a lot of weight on meds and I have to admit those are at the top of my worries when starting a new med but deep down inside I know that I have to at least give it a try so I can begin to feel better. I actually posted about anxiety about taking new meds so you are far from alone.

It sounds like you are making some very healthy choices for your physical well being now you need to make some choices about your emotional well being so you can have a good balance of the two. You're dealing with a lot of stress from work and family and you need a little extra support/help and the lexapro may just help you get back feeling more like yourself.

I know that you're afraid of the sexual side affects and the heart palpitations but you'll never know how it will affect you this time until you give it a try and like you said this time you are eating very healthy and that's a good thing. If you give the medication a try and find that you cannot tolerate the side affects after it's been in your system for a while, then you can discuss it with your doctor and he may have some other options for you.

Sometimes it helps me to know that I'm not alone or like others can understand or relate to how I'm feeling. I hope this helps you a little and you're able to take that first dose of lexapro.

Sending hugs your way in case you need them.

May I ask why you need to take Lexapro specifically? there are other antidepressants that work very well at reducing anxiety too. Perhaps you would not get the same side effects from one of them. It is always a trial and error with any AD. I am now on Prozac and have actually found that it suppresses my appetite! :)
Remember, if you start to have any problems with Lexapro this time, there's no law that says you have to continue on it. There are other ADs to try. Just monitor how you feel and how you do and if you sense that it is not right for you, go back to your doctor and see what you should do nect.
Wishing you the best!
jl

Demetri - Naturally, I mentioned all of these things to my doctor, as any person would. I find that doctors, unless they have gone through an experience themself, have no clue the effects that medication have on people. They only know what the pharmaceutical people tell them. In fact, my old doctor told me flat out that the medication was not giving me palpitations. Funny, because when I stopped the Lexapro, the heart palpitations stopped altogether. This time, when I told my doctor all of these things, he agreed that Lexapro was the best option for me. So we'll see.

Demetri said...
I think you should tell your doctor that prescribed you Lexapro all that you posted here and work it out with him.

I totally understand being afraid. I have had bad side effect with some meds and none at all with others. My doctor told me the same thing about how our bodies change and react differently to the same things. It might be just what you need at this time!

It's very frustrating when our doctors try to convince us that we're not *really* feeling what we're feeling.

Some of us, -- I think many of us, -- are hyper-sensitive people. The same way some folks are not in touch with their bodies, we on the other hand are super aware. Why is it more "okay" by society's standards to be "tough" and "not feel" (even when there's obvious things going on)?

There are different standards.

I'm convinced that like in many other regards, if we present with any sort of complication (or that 0.000002% of the population that *may* get XYZ s/e), because it's sooooo uncommon, it's just easier to brush us off than it is to take the time to investigate.

They're under pressure from our insurance companies to provide dx's, standardized medical care, established rx protocols, and get us in and out in a very small amount of time. There's a lot of red tape.

Does it make it right? Certainly not!! Is it fair? No way!! Does it happen? All the time!!










M.

AubreyBear said...
Demetri - Naturally, I mentioned all of these things to my doctor, as any person would. I find that doctors, unless they have gone through an experience themself, have no clue the effects that medication have on people. They only know what the pharmaceutical people tell them. In fact, my old doctor told me flat out that the medication was not giving me palpitations. Funny, because when I stopped the Lexapro, the heart palpitations stopped altogether. This time, when I told my doctor all of these things, he agreed that Lexapro was the best option for me. So we'll see.

Demetri said...
I think you should tell your doctor that prescribed you Lexapro all that you posted here and work it out with him.

If I were you I would go to a different doctor and tell him your situation and ask to switch meds.