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Escitalopram

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I am an INTJ pending adult aspergers assessment at the Bethelm & Maudsley... & I've just been prescribed this antidepressant today, starting at 5mg, for social & general day to day anxiety. all of the research I've read indicates that it is very effective for anxiety. I was just wondering if anyone has any personal experience of it...?

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I have come across anti-depressants being used for anxiety before, but I have never been convinced. Doctors seems to be handing these things out all the time these days and many of them say they have very few side effects and are not addictive, which is rediculous, because they do and they are, espcially the tricyclic anti-depressants like Escitalopram and Citalopram.

 

Please don't misunderstand me, I am not saying you shouldn't take it, but research the drug first and talk to your GP about it.

 

Zen

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I have come across anti-depressants being used for anxiety before, but I have never been convinced. Doctors seems to be handing these things out all the time these days and many of them say they have very few side effects and are not addictive, which is rediculous, because they do and they are, espcially the tricyclic anti-depressants like Escitalopram and Citalopram.

 

Please don't misunderstand me, I am not saying you shouldn't take it, but research the drug first and talk to your GP about it.

 

Zen

 

Escitalopram is not a tricyclic, neither is Citalopram... they are SSRI's (Selective Serotonin Reupatake Inhibitors). I have researched them & understand how they work on the terminal buttons of & synapses of neurons... I just would like to hear of anyone's personal experience of them for anxiety...

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Yes apologies, it was a typo. I meant to say the non tricyclics....

 

I haven't used them myself, but in my field of work I often come across people who are using them and they are usually going through withdrawl when they get to me. I can tell you that with some of these people, they do have some fairly serious withdrawl effects (in some cases serious enough to be tempered with 100mg of df118). You have to bear in mind that these drugs behave chemically in a similar way to amphetamines, targetting exactly the same proteins.

 

Having said all that an Ex partner of mine did use Escitalopram for three years without any side effects (aside from occasional drowsiness) and managed to come off them at the end of that period (10mg - 5 mg - 0mg) in three months, and they worked wonders for her. She used to have a lot of incredibly severe panic attacks and theseslowed and then stopped within four months of uptake of Escitalopram.

 

I hope that helps :)

 

Zen

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Yes apologies, it was a typo. I meant to say the non tricyclics....

 

I haven't used them myself, but in my field of work I often come across people who are using them and they are usually going through withdrawl when they get to me. I can tell you that with some of these people, they do have some fairly serious withdrawl effects (in some cases serious enough to be tempered with 100mg of df118). You have to bear in mind that these drugs behave chemically in a similar way to amphetamines, targetting exactly the same proteins.

 

Having said all that an Ex partner of mine did use Escitalopram for three years without any side effects (aside from occasional drowsiness) and managed to come off them at the end of that period (10mg - 5 mg - 0mg) in three months, and they worked wonders for her. She used to have a lot of incredibly severe panic attacks and theseslowed and then stopped within four months of uptake of Escitalopram.

 

I hope that helps :)

 

Zen

 

Yes, that's very helpful information, thank you. Do you know why your partner stopped taking Escitalopram if as you said it worked wonders for her? You say the panic attacks ceased after 4 months treatment but would they not then return soon after she stopped taking it...?

 

It sounds as though you work in the mental health field too...? df118's, or Dihydrocodeine... analgesic medication... what sort of pain do people that you've known experience when they're coming off Escitalopram?

 

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DP was on citrolpram for anxiety issues last year, but they did nothing for him really and the GP changed him after 10 minths to something else, when he decided to send him for a psych referral he was told to come off the meds completely so he was 'clean' at the assessment / referral which we are still waiting for 6 months later...

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Yes, that's very helpful information, thank you. Do you know why your partner stopped taking Escitalopram if as you said it worked wonders for her? You say the panic attacks ceased after 4 months treatment but would they not then return soon after she stopped taking it...?

 

It sounds as though you work in the mental health field too...? df118's, or Dihydrocodeine... analgesic medication... what sort of pain do people that you've known experience when they're coming off Escitalopram?

 

Yes I do work in mental health.

 

With my ex partner, her GP recommended a slow reduction after three years, and she was concerned that her symptoms might return. She was however undergoing some cognitive behavial therapy during that time which helped her cope with her anxiety and to some extent the underlying cause (in her case adhd).

 

As for withdrawal symptoms, in my field (I work with vulnerable adults, who shall we say are in extremely difficult circumstances), the people I come across have often been without medication for a few days. Now this could be anything from heroin use to anti-depressants, so an in-depth knowledge of pharmacology, side affects and withdrawal symptoms is essential, and I can say that in some cases, these non tricyclic anti-depressants have withdrawal symptoms comparable with amphetamine withdrawal; sweating, nausea, headaches, hallucinations, poor concentration, severe depression, mood swings, severe paranoia and many more.

 

Slowly reducing dosage is a slightly different story and is a lot more controlled, but the symptoms are still quite severe. A likely course of treatment would be low dosage Prozac. It is important to explain something else at this junction. The withdrawal symptoms, even when slowly coming off these kinds of anti-depressants are very often confused with the return of depression or symptoms of anxiety, as they can be very similar.

 

I will also add that approximately 30% of people show very little sign of withdrawal and Citalopram is probably the better choice in my opinion when it comes to side effects and withdrawal.

 

As an aside, in my field, in the first instance withdrawal is almost always treated with df118 as it is an opioid and reduces withdrawal symptoms quite effectively and very quickly, with very few side affects, (nothing to do with physical pain - df118 has many uses). This obviously isn’t a practical long term treatment for withdrawal, as DF118 is highly addictive in itself and certainly wouldn’t be the approach recommended by a GP. I should also make it very clear that this is a treatment for people who are going through withdrawal and are likely to spend the next few days under the most stressful conditions most of them are likely to ever encounter.

 

I hope that is helpful, sorry if I rambled a little.

 

Zen

Edited by zenemu

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