tricia386
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 29623
posted
As many of you know I have been dealing with anxiety.
My LLMD said I Could try Lexapro and then use xanax when I am having a panic attack.
Has anyone had any experience with these pills?
-------------------- Lyme activated in April 2010 by gardasil vaccine. DX: Lyme,Babs,Myco,Bart 11/10 Treatment Started: 3/28/11 Posts: 1752 | From Albany, NY | Registered: Dec 2010
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nonna05
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 33557
posted
Hi! I hope you get some good response on this...I've been ill over 5 years. Not on antidepressants right now. tried a few in the beginning cause they said this was all in my head.
Now doctors that know something is wrong say who wouldn't be down. So I tried a couple more.
It just changes who I am to much. So I do low dose Valium for crying jags and muscle spasms and once in a while a Xan ax or 2 for anxiety, low dose,....This also varies during flare ups. FYI Rifampin interferes with all this, it makes several meds and hormone supps. much weaker in system.
So if you get put on Rifampin and notice pain is worse or something like that ,it means you med. is not working as usual.
TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
I used xanax for a number of years while I had undiagnosed lyme disease. My diagnosis was menopause, and the gyns gave it to me for that--the anxiety of menopause.
It was years later that I found out I had a false menopause from lyme disease. Once I got good lyme treatment, my "menopause" went away and so did the anxiety.
I tried Lexapro once but it overwhelmed me as did many, many other antidepressants.
Finally, when I went into the real menopause, I went to a psychiatrist who started me on "a ridiculously small dose" (his words) of an antidepressant (zoloft), and in this way I was able to work up to a real dose without being overwhelmed.
It worked wonderfully for the racing thoughts, gloom and doom thoughts, fears, etc. of my menopause. It was the lack of estrogen that caused this problem according to the psychiatrist.
I stopped the zoloft after 9 months as statistically, people with no history of depression can stop it after this amount of time without the depression recurring. It worked for me.
My main message is that if you get Lexapro and other antidepressants from PCPs, gyns, etc. just know that they don't know that much about these meds. If you are overwhelmed by the meds (become a zombie, so that you don't even have a life, etc.), they don't know what to do. But, a psychiatrist does. Pay a psychiatrist and you will get a doc who can help you ramp up with these meds and take them successfully.
My psychiatrist didn't require me to keep coming to see him. And, he told me how to ramp down the meds when the time came. So, I was able to do it myself.
You tell the psychiatrist your symptoms and he picks the best med for you. It was well worth the money I spent on the 3 or so visits I had with this psychiatrist. Before the zoloft, my life was totally unbearable. No price can be put on peace of mind.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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Bugg
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8095
posted
HI there-
I, too, am struggling with anxiety right now because of landing in the ER a couple of weeks ago from extreme dehydration...
Ugh...I'm trying to take the lowest dose possible of Xanax right now to calm me down when I start feeling faint, weak, shaky, heart racing..
The Xanax is helping with the anxiety but is making me very weak and is increasing my joint pain/stiffness...
I'm not on Lexapro but my sister has tried it...She said it definitely helps her anxiety but also leaves her feeling a bit detached...
I hope you can feel relief soon....Also, magnesium helps some with anxiety....
Posts: 1155 | From Southeast | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
Those are excellent possibilities. Give them a chance. I know many people with anxiety/depression on Lexapro and they are quite pleased. I have taken Xanax on occasion for five years. I know you have been suffering, from your other posts, give yourself a break and try these meds. It is not forever.
Posts: 47 | From Pacific Northwest | Registered: Jul 2011
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posted
I took Lexapro for a year, during my second year of treatment. I was also entering menopause and the anxiety attacks were joined by depression and feelings of doom.I had been taking xanax for the prior year.
I was very resistant to the idea of an anti-depressant. My PCP pointed out that I was taking xanax and sleep meds and a consistent use of low-dose Lexapro could help alleviate the depression and anxiety and help with sleep.
He was right and the Lexapro was very helpful. I titrated off of it VERY incrementally and the process was fine.
I have had to go back on my sleep meds,and returned to xanax PRN, but nowhere near as frequently as in the past. BTW.
Good luck to you!
Posts: 520 | From Maryland | Registered: Jan 2007
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quote:Originally posted by joysie: My PCP pointed out that I was taking xanax and sleep meds and a consistent use of low-dose Lexapro could help alleviate the depression and anxiety and help with sleep.
He was right and the Lexapro was very helpful.
- exactly... that's what a lot of people don't understand about anxiety. Anxiety can often be relieved by the right anti-depressant....as the two go hand in hand.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
Interesting. I have been on xanax for inner ear disorder from surgery for over 15 years. I have to stay on it consistently to control my vestibular system or I start spinning!
I never heard of lexapro, I wonder if it would help more than xanax for the same issues? I am currently on .5 4x a day and maintained this dose all these years.
You need to try whatever meds give you your life back. I was so afraid of all the hype of xanax but without it, I live in bed with my world spinning around me. This is the reason meds were invented..to help those that are ill and need them. I hope you feel better soon!
-------------------- Diagnosed with chronic neuro lyme 12/10 after 30 years of vertigo.2 tick bites in 3 yrs from upstate NY. Was on omincef for nine mths..zith and rifampin stopped.Remission~ All the pain and symptoms are back and I am not treating now with biaxin. Posts: 788 | From New york..queens | Registered: Nov 2010
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randibear
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 11290
posted
i've tried them all practically. however, they made me feel numb, no feelings at all, no joy, no sorrow, no nothing.
i'd rather be a walking basket case than a zombie so i quit.
now i go from a circus to a volcano. go figure..
-------------------- do not look back when the only course is forward Posts: 12262 | From texas | Registered: Mar 2007
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tricia386
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 29623
posted
I am so scared to try the Lexapro
-------------------- Lyme activated in April 2010 by gardasil vaccine. DX: Lyme,Babs,Myco,Bart 11/10 Treatment Started: 3/28/11 Posts: 1752 | From Albany, NY | Registered: Dec 2010
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Everyone of them made me a mess emotionally, manic, a zombie, no sex drive, etc. It was freaky.
The prescribing doctor was shocked b/c they had never seen anything like it before, she said it made no sense.
It could have something to do w/wiring, but I suspect it has more to do with the infections I have and what they've done to my neurologic system as well as chemically.
Just as well -- once you are on them a while, it is quite difficult to get off of them or stay off of them and there are quite a few side effects regardless.
Posts: 192 | From New England | Registered: May 2011
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tricia386
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 29623
posted
thats why i dont want to take it
-------------------- Lyme activated in April 2010 by gardasil vaccine. DX: Lyme,Babs,Myco,Bart 11/10 Treatment Started: 3/28/11 Posts: 1752 | From Albany, NY | Registered: Dec 2010
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tricia386
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 29623
posted
maybe I will try 5htp
-------------------- Lyme activated in April 2010 by gardasil vaccine. DX: Lyme,Babs,Myco,Bart 11/10 Treatment Started: 3/28/11 Posts: 1752 | From Albany, NY | Registered: Dec 2010
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posted
Tricia, I was scared too. But I was also sobbing, panicking and popping xanax. Not great for me, my job, or my kids.I don't disagree about the warnings people have given you. But if it gets that bad, you may want to try a very low dose medication. It made a huge difference for me.
Posts: 520 | From Maryland | Registered: Jan 2007
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Cass A
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11134
posted
The potential adverse effects are worse than having emotional issues.
And, they can be nearly impossible to quit.
These can cause permanent brain damage.
Try some B Complex and B 1.
Best,
Cass A
Posts: 1245 | From Thousand Oaks, CA | Registered: Feb 2007
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ax or 2 for anxiety, low dose,....This also varies during flare ups. FYI Rifampin interferes with all this, it makes several meds and hormone supps. much weaker in system.![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
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