Cipralex, time to switch?

[nickelfault]

Hey all, first time poster here :) I'm a 26 year old male and I have generalized anxiety. Up until just over a month ago after getting quite sick I was totally able to manage it (and didn't even know I had it). Ever since getting sick for about a month I've had some pretty bad anxiety. I went to my doctor and he's prescribed me Cipralex. I've been on 10mg a day since December 5 (about 4.5 weeks ago) and while I actually felt relief in about the second week, that's since disappeared and I seem to be having more side effects than relief. The side effects when starting the medication were insane however I told myself I was going to power through them because there would be light at the end of the tunnel. I've read that you're supposed to give AD's a month before you start questioning if they're working or not, and now that I'm approaching 5 weeks I'm wondering if it's time to switch to something else. I've been crazy tired due to the meds and insomnia. I have no trouble falling asleep but it's staying asleep that's the hard part. Even if I do manage to sleep almost through the entire night I wake up exhausted. This didn't happen before the medication, even with the anxiety. Normally without the meds I would only wake up about once a night, but at least most of the time I felt rested in the morning. Sometimes I also feel like a zombie or that I'm almost on auto-pilot, it's really weird. My question is, should I give this medication a little longer to see if anything changes or is it about time to try something else? At this point the side effects are definitely outweighing the positive!

[EclecticJoe]

Maybe the initial positive was a placebo effect?

My experience is the stuff takes longer to work for anxiety. I have no idea why that is, but I don't notice any real improvement sometimes for 12 weeks. Depression it seems to work much faster.

I've been a user of that drug and Celexa off and on for 12 years.

[nickelfault]

Thanks for the quick reply EclecticJoe :) It's kind of ironic because since starting this medication I seem to have actually acquired slight depression. I haven't felt the 'lift of mood' that's supposed to come with these AD's, just the numerous side effects. They have gotten better since I started, I felt totally out of it for about a week at the beginning then felt a hell of a lot better the second week, kind of plateaued since then and now side effects seem to back, yay! Maybe I will give it a little more time. My doctor has been more or less useless the whole time I've been seeing him and I'm thinking about switching doctors here soon. He wouldn't give me anything for the initial anxiety, or the spikes that happened during the first while with Cipralex. He forced me to ride the month out. Grrrr I hate doctors!

[EclecticJoe]

Intrusive thoughts and spikes will get worse before they get better on this stuff, in my experience. Then all you can think about is how you are feeling from the moment you swallow the pill until you go to bed.

Is it helping? Is it hurting? Am I going to get suicidal thoughts, diarrhea, burning skin or any other side effects from it.

Drives me crazy too. I'm starting to think some kind of brain surgery or TMS is my next move for my OCD and anxiety. Feeling much better, just can't get over the hump to normal.

[nickelfault]

Which medication has been more effective for you, the Cipralex or Celexa? The doc gave me Pristiq as well, only made it one pill in with that. I woke up in the middle of the night higher than a kite and couldn't sleep the rest of the night, it sucked. Also, after reading the horror stories of people trying to come off that stuff I don't think I want to go anywhere near it. Sure it might help when you're on it, but when the time comes to get off it sounds 10x worse than when starting it. Not something I'd be interested in!

[EclecticJoe]

Which medication has been more effective for you, the Cipralex or Celexa? The doc gave me Pristiq as well, only made it one pill in with that. I woke up in the middle of the night higher than a kite and couldn't sleep the rest of the night, it sucked. Also, after reading the horror stories of people trying to come off that stuff I don't think I want to go anywhere near it. Sure it might help when you're on it, but when the time comes to get off it sounds 10x worse than when starting it. Not something I'd be interested in!

I think the Celexa was a little better, maybe more calming.

[insights]

My question is, should I give this medication a little longer to see if anything changes or is it about time to try something else?

It is probably a little too early to jump ship. I'd give it a full 6 weeks.

Ian