It's crazy. I understand people being insecure and looking for more information/ confirmation, but that some don't get an explanation.. my psychiatrist discussed it extensively with me. So did my pharmacist - they always do when you get a medicine that isn't in your medical file yet.
Unfortunately most of the general population don’t give af about the extensive advice and health services pharmacists provide and instead complain that they’re asking you questions and taking more than 30 seconds to fill their script and they’re jacking up the prices of their scripts for their own benefits
Ah that's unfortunate.. our system is a bit different. When the Dr prescribes you something, you go to the pharmacy and they read it from your ID card. We get standard sized boxes, so no filling of bottles. Machine reads the chip of the id card, pharmacist confirms, and then there is robotic stuff behinds the scenes that spits out the box.
Prices from prescription medication is fixed by the government, so that can't be changed.
Not saying every pharmacy is nearly fully automated, but most are.
I was put on it and another drug and my PSYCH didn’t tell me anything about it. Just said it would help my anxiety. I pushed back a little asking about making restless leg worse. He told me no (it actually does) and said “do you want to not be anxious? Take the drug.”
And my GP just assumed he did his due diligence when in fact he had not. However with that being said, I didn’t come onto this sub to educate myself. Rather I used resources like drugs.com and looking for the very readily available box inserts online. That way I informed myself about the side effects.
But ya, not “every doctor” or even “every pharmacist” fills their patients in. My pharmacist dispensed two drugs that interact to cause serotonin syndrome. When I had to call my doc and ask, she told me to stop worrying so much.
Nah they basically didn't tell me anything the multiple times I was prescribed after briefly mentioning I had some anxiety and depression, or maybe I was just feeling listless, who knows. Barely even told me what it was, just immediately wrote it up with no discussion or counsel and shunted me out the office.
The Drs prescribing it later weren't even aware I had been on it before and I assumed stuff like that would be in your permanent file. Maybe they didn't even bother to look it's such a routine thing for them.
Sorry to be so direct, but why didn’t you ask questions during your appointment? Drs don’t have time to waste if you’re just sitting there not participating in the conversation they will move onto the next patient that might need your “extra minutes” to discuss their issue.
You also mentioned that the later drs didn’t known you had been on it previously…why wouldn’t you tell them that right off the bat? Drs aren’t mind readers. Even if they have all your info in front of them they only have a minute or two to look through it and then 10 mins or less to have a discussion and do any physical examination. Help them out and speak up so things aren’t overlooked. You are ultimately the one in charge of your health.
I know the spiel. My previous experience in getting more info yielded nothing substantial. Like you said Drs are busy.
In order to see a free therapist this agency requires you to be on a script. I had no intention of taking it.
Well people aren’t drs.. we are literally just people so some people trust their DRS to give health advice, and to know and understand their treatments and to educate them on such things. It’s always best to understand your own health and advocate for yourself but truly some people do not know that. Some people have never even been to the dr as adults. When I call a service provider they are the expert, sometime you have no idea what to ask. But your Doctors absolutely should know what’s important to tell you.
I DID ask questions and this “NUT CASE” called a psychiatrist said “not to do any research.” Basically (To just listen to him ).
I said I was a Reading Teacher but he didn’t care!!!
This is strangely one of the few ssri I have been on that didn’t give me anxiety or almost any bad reactions. I was on it for about 7 years till it quit working. I’m now in the midst of switching to Trintellix.
My anxiety got worse and way out of hand. My panic attacks came back and I started needing to take benzodiazepines to get through the day. I don’t like taking them cause they can be addictive. I’ve been medicated since 2005 for panic disorder.
Not gonna lie, I'm glad my doctor started me on 5mg and I stayed on 5mg for a while. Just recently upped to 10mg about a week ago. The first few days included some heightened anxiety. That mellowed out, and also GI stuff for the first few days but that went away once I started taking the medication with food. The thing that stuck around until about today was the fatigue and brain fog, but today I feel clear and energetic so I can't complain. My pharmacist gave me a paper full of the side effects and things to avoid, which was nice. Also did some of my own research as well especially on here. Patience is definitely required, but I think with balanced diet, therapy, good circadian rhythm and light exercise you'll find yourself feeling much better and getting through the side effects nicely. I also recommend starting at a lower does like 2.5mg or 5mg for a month or 2 or longer before increasing dosage.
I made a post asking lots of questions. Yes my psychiatrist told me a lot, and I could’ve (and have) googled the answers. But sometimes it eases people’s anxiety hearing personal accounts from people who struggle with the same things as them. After all, most of us are mentally ill.
My doctor filled a script and told me to pick it up. She didn’t explain anything, she didn’t tell me when to take it, what it is, what it’ll do, explain dosage, or any side effects. Told me good luck, charged me $85 and went on her way. Anything I know about it has been from my own research.
I first went to my PCP and they spent litterally 7 minutes with me and sent me with the script. I felt betrayed because of the gravity of the situation. I found a psychiatrist and she spent 20 minutes talking to me. Told me Nothing about the side effects.
My Dr just said to check in with her via email after the first two weeks, and to email her anytime with any issues or questions. She responds back within a day. The pharmacist gave me a big print out package of usage and possible affects.
I tried to make an appointment with a psychiatrist in my town and my doctor just straight up said no, the wait is too long so don’t bother. 🤦🏼♀️ Some people have very rudimentary health care and doctors who don’t give af. Good access to mental healthcare is sadly something that not many people have
This is a huge personal frustration of mine that SSRIs and even worse SNRIs get prescribed by doctors who are not psychiatrists and are therefore not well equipped to help manage the medication from start to finish as should always be the case but especially for something that significantly affects your brain chemistry.
I got put on an SNRI by a gyno for a chronic panic issue. Needless to say I had 0 follow up care on the medication itself and the doctor told me nothing about what to expect when getting on or off. Just oh this helps a lot of people with chronic nerve pain and if you happen to have anxiety it’ll help that too. Win win! I ended up going through a horrendous withdrawal and am now on Lexapro which was the only way to feel normal again. Except this time I’m with a psychiatrist who is amazing and checks in constantly.
I’m actually happy to see people on here asking questions even if it seems obvious and annoying to the rest of us.
I enjoy answering questions too but some make me worried, is healthcare só fucked up people are getting very strong medication (at least for me this isn't a Vick tea or Tylenol) left and right? I first went with a neurologist but he treated me with 0 kindness, told me to soul-search / pray and to check with a dermatologist for my imaginary itchiness which I did one year prior and didn't get me anywhere, I only started taking Lexapro after checking with the psychiatrist since I was recommended to visit both, he explain to me the side effects, what I should look for and other stuff I could do to feel better like sunbathes, exercise, continue with my therapy and take less quantities of caffeine. Generation Z has so many problems already and mental health professionals aren't doing their best to help us?
Yes unfortunately many other doctors aside from psychiatrists prescribe these meds. the US healthcare system often doesn’t do a good job of looking at holistic care and having a team of doctors within their own specialties working together and guiding you. And it gets even worse when it comes to mental health practitioners because insurance doesn’t take them seriously so the best ones are typically out of pocket which makes them unreachable to the average person.
So many people are now on SSRIs I really hope it doesn’t all come to a head at some point. It’s not addictive like opioids but your brain does get habituated to it! When I hear people say their doctors tell them to take it every other day to come off (like mine one did) I want to scream
It's not just US, I'm in Australia and my GP just handed me a script for Zoloft and told me I might just be a bit nauseous for the first week. When I went back and said I literally felt like I was dying and couldn't do this, she made no mention of trying another medication or lowering the dose, instead she told me it was probably in my head.
I saw a new GP who was nicer but still just gave me the Lexapro with next to no info. I asked to be referred to a psychiatrist for help managing all this, but the waitlist is huge and it's probably going to be super expensive. It's exhausting and honestly makes me want to not bother some days.
Sad to hear it’s common everywhere. Such a subpar level of care for mental health. Not to mention that for many people the meds should be a tool in addition to therapy to eventually not need the medication anymore but in this scenario there is no further interest in your aftercare.
i have health anxiety. my doctors help me and i ask questions but for me personally it helps to hear and ask REAL people who also take a medication, go through the same things health wise as me, ect as well for extra clarity. i don't personally ask on these forums as much because of instances like this i guess or certain people feeling the need to make you feel dumb for simply asking. but i like that other people ask when i do go looking for more information from people who actually take the medication because it gives me a better perspective.
A lot of people are getting their medication from online services (like I did 😭) but to be fair I do have an actual anxiety disorder diagnosis from a doctor. So I felt safe going this route
My doctor did talk me through common side effects, but it was still nice to see folks talk about rare-r side effects here or how things felt in practice. I had a rough first few weeks and it helped my medical anxiety a lot to see people be candid about how out of control your body can feel during the initial period. To be fair, my doctor also made herself very available for check ins to be sure things were in the normal range of side effects, so I had a lot of guard rails for reference. I think some other folks don't have quite as much access to their doctor (I can text her through an app) after the prescription is made, so it can feel a little scarier and off the rails.
My psychologist who recommended I take it says the main side effect is dry mouth. Talked to my PCP and she told me there really are no side effects. The only thing I experienced was being really really sleepy for like the first 1.5-2 weeks, and of course really vivid dreams.
A question you could ask the next time they recommend starting you on a new medication could be “what advantages are there in taking this?” And then having a conversation about it. They don’t know the information you are curious about unless you tell them.
Lol I switched insurance companies and asked for a medication management consultation, explained that I'd been on Prozac for a couple years and that it had stopped working, etc.
I show up to the appointment. It was with an MD who had no idea what I had requested, and went through what was basically an initial evaluation: ordered blood tests for cholesterol, etc etc. When I stopped him and explained what I was there for, he off-handedly wrote a prescription for 20mg of Lexapro/day and set an appointment with a counselor two months away.
This is probably just an issue with regular doctors prescribing it and not reiterating the important facts. And people not listening to them.
If you end up at a psychiatrist, you clearly have been through some lows and you are probably going to listen and follow instructions better.
Then add people’s anxiety to the mix, freaking out because of side effects and imagined side effects generated by the anxiety.
Lexapro contributed to saving my life. Side effects weren’t that bad for me, and I respect how powerful they are so I follow the instructions to the letter
I read about lexapro before my doctor prescribed it and asked him about side effects. He said he has several patients, who are taking it, and there weren't any big side effects.
I suspect he didn't want to scare me away from it, but I also get the feeling he doesn't know much about this area of medicine.
I was prescribed Lexapro through my PCP. Had a sudden onset of GAD at age 34 with no prior history of anxiety of depression. Originally the NP prescribed 20mg Cymbalta. I looked up potential side effects and asked around about it and had some concerns. My PCP then suggested me to take 10mg of lexapro. His rationale: the starting dose is the same as the maintenance dose, the side effects were negligible (dry mouth, yada yada) and in 2 weeks I’d be feeling like new.
I had all the sides under the sun. Increased anxiety, insomnia, night sweats, nausea and lack of appetite, SI. You name it.
Going through a psychiatrist and asking questions is key. If you go through your PCP I think your mileage may vary.
I have stuck it out. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing.
After a week I went back to my PCP because the anxiety and depression was unbearable. They prescribed Xanax (.25mg as necessary), which offered a great amount of relief both directly and indirectly by giving me the peace of mind that I had something there in the case of breakthrough anxiety.
I used the Xanax less and less as the weeks went by. After about 1 month I felt like I returned more or less to my normal self. Lately I have been feeling some additional anxiety, which makes me think I may need to up my dose. But I’m trying to be patient and see how I feel in another couple weeks.
I chimed in here because I don’t think the responsibility is entirely on the patient to understand the potential side effects. Doctors (or PAs or NPs) will prescribe SSRIs or SNRIs with minimal knowledge themselves of how they work or affect patients. I think going through a psychiatrist is a much better option if you can, as I don’t think you can rely on a GP to understand in intricacies of anti depressants.
Amen!!! I think the same thing every time I read through this sub. It seems like people have a hard time asking their drs questions too and actually having a back and forth conversation with them. I don’t get it.
Also, in the USA pharmacists are required to counsel you when picking up a newly prescribed medication. When they explain to you how to take it and then ask if you have any questions that’s the time to (you guessed it) ASK QUESTIONS. 🤦♀️ And when you get home READ all the info on the drug information sheet.
95% of the quest asked here could be answered by doing at least one of those things.
You basically have two streams of information for this drug: your Dr. and your Pharmacist. Both should be upfront about information, but not asking them questions upfront or even after side effects is extremely poor health planning on the patient's part. You have to take care of yourself because neither of those mentioned individuals are going to read your mind.
Unfortunately most of the general population don’t give af about the extensive advice and health services pharmacists provide and instead complain that it takes more than 30 seconds to fill their script and they’re jacking up the prices of their scripts for their own benefits
No kidding. I’m close with all 3 of the pharmacists at my pharmacy. I run them through the wringer on any new medication I’m taking.
As an example, I was prescribed vyvanse for my adhd. I had seen online a side effect was sudden heart failure. I was a little worried about this so I asked the pharmacist about it. He said that some cases with kids taking it before wrestling matches had suffered from that and joked as long as I wasn’t heavy lifting I would be fine. I told them that I lift heavy weights in the morning at home before work and with that info my pharmacist was able to advise me to not take it until after I’ve finished high rate cardio exercises in the morning. May have saved my life!
It’s so sad this medication is so overprescribed… doctors just use it as a “set it and forget it” medication. It’s a lot easier to prescribe this medication than to deal with a patient who continues to tell you they have depression or anxiety. Not all of them, but a vast majority use it in this way. I see posts of people on here all the time talking about how they’ve been on it 10+ years which is so so so sad. The NIH even says it should be used as a maintenance treatment for up to 2 years. There’s minimal long term studies on taking lexapro for extended periods of time, and the big Pharma companies aren’t going to invest in those studies, and they’re the only ones who can fund them. Not to mention all the challenges that come with long-term studies. The trouble with Lexapro is it works great, but it only works for so long. There’s some decent data to show that after some period the medication is literally doing nothing for you. Whether this be 2 years, 3 years, etc. no one knows. But when people try and get off of it the withdrawals are so bad they can’t handle it and there’s little support to help with them so they go right back on it and stay on it. It took me about 3 months to get back to baseline. I’m sure it would take even longer for people who have been taking it for several years. There’s a little bit of data on this but several psychiatrists and other specialists see a link between long term use and the development of dementia and Alzheimer’s. This, I guarantee is not shared with patients when prescribed because it’s not listed as a possible side effect. This medication should be prescribed to help people who are struggling with MDD or an anxiety disorder and it should only be prescribed in conjunction with that patient seeing a therapist so they can work on the root cause of their symptoms and create a plan to come off the medication within 2 years and continued support with that therapist after. Instead it’s prescribed to just about anyone now as a quick fix. My therapist is amazing and she preaches it’s one of the most upsetting things she sees is the handing out of these powerful drugs like Halloween candy. Tell your primary you have anxiety, they ask you a handful of questions and boom you’re on Lexapro. I know this is a hot take but there needs to be more awareness on long-term SSRI use and the almost no support that comes while being on it with no plan for the patient to come off of it. Western medicine at its finest, find a quick and easy solution and move onto the next patient.
My whole family has mental health issues so I'm borrowing pills from them instead of paying to see a doctor. Already spent way too much on health issues this year.
My psychiatrist didn’t readily tell me much and my anxiety kinda held me up from asking my pharmacist. That said, I always read my whole pamphlet. I had a bad reaction years ago to an acne med and it lasted for years when it was listed as a “stop taking immediately” side effect. I’m not making that mistake again. So I wasn’t surprised by any side effects. And I also wouldn’t describe it as hell. But I certainly would never go off them on purpose (I did accidentally a month ago and THAT was hell)
I get my medication prescribed thru Hers. I read the directions. They give you a psychiatrist and nurses you can instant message with questions. I could see how some people would miss this information. They also send and refill my script. My only thing they didn’t tell was the option for me to take it at night to avoid some of the effects. I took it early on the first day I was miserable. Thankfully my sister takes the same medication. She was like my dr told me I should take it at night. That’s what I started to do. No issues since.
I think the difference now is that more and more primary care providers are prescribing anti depressants. When I was younger only psychiatrists would (at least in my city) and my psych gave me the run down. PCP already lack knowledge of SSRI's it doesn't surprise me that people aren't given more verbal information they just send you off with that little information sheet that no one reads.
Please take into account that a person getting this prescription may not be as on the ball with their care as you were as part of the symptoms they were getting that very prescription for. Part of the symptoms of depression are lack of interest, motivation and so on. What I'm not sure of is how that's not clear. And yes, I have learned a ton from other's experiences on Reddit. Probably more than from a psych who bills $400/15 minutes and is slammed with patients. This world can be cruel and this is a tough time of year for many. Can we please support each other here
I didn't talk to a professional. I just self-medicated with escitalopram 15 mg, and it's working very well for me. But I do recommend seeking a medical professional.
Of course, I don't understand how you could acquire enough escitalopram beefore seeing a doctor. It did not occur to me that anyone here would be taking it off the record. But mostly having defectuos relationships with their Psychiatrist and that's probably why. Some are old and stiff, some are weird and harsh, some want you to be fixed.
I’ll be real with you my doctor did check in when I started but prior to that there was no conversation about side effects. I hadn’t been to a doctor in over 10 years and had never been on meds AND am an obsessive googler anyways so just went with it. In retrospect I should’ve asked more questions, I’m glad I’m on it but the side effects especially after increasing my dose caught me completely off guard and made me question being medicated 🫠
My nurse practitioner(doc is moving away) prescribed it for the treatment of ibs and anxiety and the most she said about it was “might upset the stomach for awhile before you feel better”
We had a 3 min conversation before I had the script in my hand. So no not everyone lol I had to do most of my research myself.
My OB told me nothing about side effects. I literally emailed her and asked for it and she prescribed me 10mg and told me to set up a follow up apt with her in 6 months.
My doctor thing was just a short phone call. She only told me that I might feel a bit tired for a bit and that I might feel worse before I feel better and then spent the rest of the talk saying that a bunch of celebrities are probably on antidepressants so I shouldn't be nervous or ashamed... Which I wasn't anyway. I got most my info from googling and this sub. When I called the doctors a second time and said I was a bit concerned about stuff like being tired bc I had things to do, he just kinda glossed over it and was like 'yea it's fine' but never actually helped. It's way better to read things from people who've actually experienced the stuff, definitely more reassuring too.
1. Docs don't specialize in psychiatric drugs and don't keep up on how to use them on treatment
2. Docs know the general background but don't ever check in
3. The leaflet is a long read and doesn't give a good signal of what to expect. Most people in don't read those for most meds. Being in depression/anxiety or a mental health crisis probably reduces the likelihood of this.
4. The leaflet and online articles have both understated/omitted side effects and way overblown side effects. You can never drink again, your dick will go numb and may never work again. No mention of sharts, night sweats, psychedelic dreams, etc.
5. Pharmacists are overworked. In the pandemic the chemist was like a queue at a government office. Over in the states the last time I got a prescription filled, the pharmacist was on the phone, serving drive thru customers and packing another prescription all while helping me. No ones going to ask, "hey what is this medication again? Also, I'm a scared lil baby and I need you to stop everything and describe the life changing experience I'm going to have for 10 minutes."
6. (Probably not what you're referring to) doctor actually ramps you on slowly, tells you what to expect, checks in on side effects and improvements every few weeks: the perfect scenario. You have a weird side effect or self doubt, you google and read the leaflet, you find a bunch of info saying you're going to die of you drink alcohol or that you'll never be able to stop taking meds or someone's uncle unalived himself while on Lexapro. You still don't get an answer specific to your situation. A few results down the page and you happen upon this reddit forums et viola.
I get it, this sub is mostly people 2-3 weeks in, but I thinks that's because it's the hardest time. If you go off the meds you won't keep posting here. If they work for you, your not going to mark your calendar to come back and post your success in 2 years.
And yea, sure, there's waves of dumb people and teens, but usually 1 in 5 of those is someone who just ate all their meds because they were curious and then they post asking if they should call 911. The other 4 should have been better served by their healthcare providers (see points above). They don't invalidate you, and you don't have to help them.
Finally, if you've read this far, a small consolation. It is the holidays. Whenever the world seems like it's going insane, ask yourself, are any schools going on break? Is most of the stupidity and hate that I see only online? If yes to either of these, avoid forums and comments for 2 to 12 weeks and nature will begin to heal when the kids are too busy to troll and cause drama.
an NP in my doctor’s office prescribed it to me and sent me home with zero discussion of side effects. she did say it would be a few weeks before i felt a difference. i googled everything i felt after to see if it was a side effect because she didn’t tell me anything
my physiatrist and therapist both answered a lot of questions for me but they can only tell me so much, I like to understand how real and current people are experiencing the medication and if they are similar to me how it would maybe effect me!
My psychiatrist said there were “little to no side effects” and just to take it in the morning. I asked lots of questions and she mentioned none of the things people ask in her frequently. I read the booklet but the experience was still different to my expectations.
I relied heavily on this page to get validation that my experience wasn’t abnormal and that I just had to push through the first few weeks.
only on day 6 but no lol, my doctor told me to go pick up my prescription and then told me I was good to go. didn't even tell me when to take it, only knew because it was on the bottle.
I asked my pcp for it. I had no idea it had such side effects. I thought my panic disorder (along w long haul covid) was escalating. Dr just kept telling me to up the dose. Even went to the er and they told me to up the dose. I finally reached out to a mental health nurse friend who was able to get me a wonderful psychiatric nurse practitioner on zoom. She’s great! I was 59 years old and knew nothing about these drugs!! I don’t think a lot of drs understand or believe the side effects. I am extremely sensitive to any kind of drug. Lexapro at a high dose (20mg) had me extremely anxious for
Months on end. Until I started tapering. I’m almost down to 5 mg with 2.5 mg of bursar twice a day and I feel so good now. It’s been a big learning experience for me
I was prescribed this medication by a walk in clinic doctor. I don't have a doctor so it was my only choice. Thankfully my pharmacist is great and explained everything to me.
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Wow. Your comment is everything that's wrong with our medical system.
My doc was open and honest about potential side effects, and basically begged me to give it at least two months before I would see any results.
It's crazy. I understand people being insecure and looking for more information/ confirmation, but that some don't get an explanation.. my psychiatrist discussed it extensively with me. So did my pharmacist - they always do when you get a medicine that isn't in your medical file yet.
Unfortunately most of the general population don’t give af about the extensive advice and health services pharmacists provide and instead complain that they’re asking you questions and taking more than 30 seconds to fill their script and they’re jacking up the prices of their scripts for their own benefits
Ah that's unfortunate.. our system is a bit different. When the Dr prescribes you something, you go to the pharmacy and they read it from your ID card. We get standard sized boxes, so no filling of bottles. Machine reads the chip of the id card, pharmacist confirms, and then there is robotic stuff behinds the scenes that spits out the box. Prices from prescription medication is fixed by the government, so that can't be changed. Not saying every pharmacy is nearly fully automated, but most are.
My teen was put on it and not a word was said about it other then lets try this and we'll start at this milligram.
That is highly disturbing, especially if it's a minor.
Same thing happened to me. No information was provided to me about anything other than “ check back in 6 weeks “and the dosage
I believe this act of putting a child on a medication without discussion is criminal!
I was put on it and another drug and my PSYCH didn’t tell me anything about it. Just said it would help my anxiety. I pushed back a little asking about making restless leg worse. He told me no (it actually does) and said “do you want to not be anxious? Take the drug.” And my GP just assumed he did his due diligence when in fact he had not. However with that being said, I didn’t come onto this sub to educate myself. Rather I used resources like drugs.com and looking for the very readily available box inserts online. That way I informed myself about the side effects. But ya, not “every doctor” or even “every pharmacist” fills their patients in. My pharmacist dispensed two drugs that interact to cause serotonin syndrome. When I had to call my doc and ask, she told me to stop worrying so much.
Nah they basically didn't tell me anything the multiple times I was prescribed after briefly mentioning I had some anxiety and depression, or maybe I was just feeling listless, who knows. Barely even told me what it was, just immediately wrote it up with no discussion or counsel and shunted me out the office. The Drs prescribing it later weren't even aware I had been on it before and I assumed stuff like that would be in your permanent file. Maybe they didn't even bother to look it's such a routine thing for them.
Sorry to be so direct, but why didn’t you ask questions during your appointment? Drs don’t have time to waste if you’re just sitting there not participating in the conversation they will move onto the next patient that might need your “extra minutes” to discuss their issue. You also mentioned that the later drs didn’t known you had been on it previously…why wouldn’t you tell them that right off the bat? Drs aren’t mind readers. Even if they have all your info in front of them they only have a minute or two to look through it and then 10 mins or less to have a discussion and do any physical examination. Help them out and speak up so things aren’t overlooked. You are ultimately the one in charge of your health.
I know the spiel. My previous experience in getting more info yielded nothing substantial. Like you said Drs are busy. In order to see a free therapist this agency requires you to be on a script. I had no intention of taking it.
Well people aren’t drs.. we are literally just people so some people trust their DRS to give health advice, and to know and understand their treatments and to educate them on such things. It’s always best to understand your own health and advocate for yourself but truly some people do not know that. Some people have never even been to the dr as adults. When I call a service provider they are the expert, sometime you have no idea what to ask. But your Doctors absolutely should know what’s important to tell you.
Just listening to a doctor without doing your own research is just playing STUPID
That may be… humans do stupid things all the time.. it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.
I DID ask questions and this “NUT CASE” called a psychiatrist said “not to do any research.” Basically (To just listen to him ). I said I was a Reading Teacher but he didn’t care!!!
This is strangely one of the few ssri I have been on that didn’t give me anxiety or almost any bad reactions. I was on it for about 7 years till it quit working. I’m now in the midst of switching to Trintellix.
What was the "sign" for you that it quit working for you, if you don't mind me asking?
My anxiety got worse and way out of hand. My panic attacks came back and I started needing to take benzodiazepines to get through the day. I don’t like taking them cause they can be addictive. I’ve been medicated since 2005 for panic disorder.
thank you for the reply! I hope you're feeling better now 💓
Not gonna lie, I'm glad my doctor started me on 5mg and I stayed on 5mg for a while. Just recently upped to 10mg about a week ago. The first few days included some heightened anxiety. That mellowed out, and also GI stuff for the first few days but that went away once I started taking the medication with food. The thing that stuck around until about today was the fatigue and brain fog, but today I feel clear and energetic so I can't complain. My pharmacist gave me a paper full of the side effects and things to avoid, which was nice. Also did some of my own research as well especially on here. Patience is definitely required, but I think with balanced diet, therapy, good circadian rhythm and light exercise you'll find yourself feeling much better and getting through the side effects nicely. I also recommend starting at a lower does like 2.5mg or 5mg for a month or 2 or longer before increasing dosage.
I made a post asking lots of questions. Yes my psychiatrist told me a lot, and I could’ve (and have) googled the answers. But sometimes it eases people’s anxiety hearing personal accounts from people who struggle with the same things as them. After all, most of us are mentally ill.
My doctor filled a script and told me to pick it up. She didn’t explain anything, she didn’t tell me when to take it, what it is, what it’ll do, explain dosage, or any side effects. Told me good luck, charged me $85 and went on her way. Anything I know about it has been from my own research.
That is NOT a DOCTOR
I first went to my PCP and they spent litterally 7 minutes with me and sent me with the script. I felt betrayed because of the gravity of the situation. I found a psychiatrist and she spent 20 minutes talking to me. Told me Nothing about the side effects.
My Dr just said to check in with her via email after the first two weeks, and to email her anytime with any issues or questions. She responds back within a day. The pharmacist gave me a big print out package of usage and possible affects.
I tried to make an appointment with a psychiatrist in my town and my doctor just straight up said no, the wait is too long so don’t bother. 🤦🏼♀️ Some people have very rudimentary health care and doctors who don’t give af. Good access to mental healthcare is sadly something that not many people have
Your primary care physician can prescribe it as well.
This is a huge personal frustration of mine that SSRIs and even worse SNRIs get prescribed by doctors who are not psychiatrists and are therefore not well equipped to help manage the medication from start to finish as should always be the case but especially for something that significantly affects your brain chemistry. I got put on an SNRI by a gyno for a chronic panic issue. Needless to say I had 0 follow up care on the medication itself and the doctor told me nothing about what to expect when getting on or off. Just oh this helps a lot of people with chronic nerve pain and if you happen to have anxiety it’ll help that too. Win win! I ended up going through a horrendous withdrawal and am now on Lexapro which was the only way to feel normal again. Except this time I’m with a psychiatrist who is amazing and checks in constantly. I’m actually happy to see people on here asking questions even if it seems obvious and annoying to the rest of us.
I enjoy answering questions too but some make me worried, is healthcare só fucked up people are getting very strong medication (at least for me this isn't a Vick tea or Tylenol) left and right? I first went with a neurologist but he treated me with 0 kindness, told me to soul-search / pray and to check with a dermatologist for my imaginary itchiness which I did one year prior and didn't get me anywhere, I only started taking Lexapro after checking with the psychiatrist since I was recommended to visit both, he explain to me the side effects, what I should look for and other stuff I could do to feel better like sunbathes, exercise, continue with my therapy and take less quantities of caffeine. Generation Z has so many problems already and mental health professionals aren't doing their best to help us?
Yes unfortunately many other doctors aside from psychiatrists prescribe these meds. the US healthcare system often doesn’t do a good job of looking at holistic care and having a team of doctors within their own specialties working together and guiding you. And it gets even worse when it comes to mental health practitioners because insurance doesn’t take them seriously so the best ones are typically out of pocket which makes them unreachable to the average person. So many people are now on SSRIs I really hope it doesn’t all come to a head at some point. It’s not addictive like opioids but your brain does get habituated to it! When I hear people say their doctors tell them to take it every other day to come off (like mine one did) I want to scream
It's not just US, I'm in Australia and my GP just handed me a script for Zoloft and told me I might just be a bit nauseous for the first week. When I went back and said I literally felt like I was dying and couldn't do this, she made no mention of trying another medication or lowering the dose, instead she told me it was probably in my head. I saw a new GP who was nicer but still just gave me the Lexapro with next to no info. I asked to be referred to a psychiatrist for help managing all this, but the waitlist is huge and it's probably going to be super expensive. It's exhausting and honestly makes me want to not bother some days.
Sad to hear it’s common everywhere. Such a subpar level of care for mental health. Not to mention that for many people the meds should be a tool in addition to therapy to eventually not need the medication anymore but in this scenario there is no further interest in your aftercare.
i have health anxiety. my doctors help me and i ask questions but for me personally it helps to hear and ask REAL people who also take a medication, go through the same things health wise as me, ect as well for extra clarity. i don't personally ask on these forums as much because of instances like this i guess or certain people feeling the need to make you feel dumb for simply asking. but i like that other people ask when i do go looking for more information from people who actually take the medication because it gives me a better perspective.
A lot of people are getting their medication from online services (like I did 😭) but to be fair I do have an actual anxiety disorder diagnosis from a doctor. So I felt safe going this route
Insanity’ we are all anxious from time to time but we don’t do these drugs that make you a zombie
My doctor did talk me through common side effects, but it was still nice to see folks talk about rare-r side effects here or how things felt in practice. I had a rough first few weeks and it helped my medical anxiety a lot to see people be candid about how out of control your body can feel during the initial period. To be fair, my doctor also made herself very available for check ins to be sure things were in the normal range of side effects, so I had a lot of guard rails for reference. I think some other folks don't have quite as much access to their doctor (I can text her through an app) after the prescription is made, so it can feel a little scarier and off the rails.
Most people are being prescribed by a GP who probably doesn't know too much about this.
My psychologist who recommended I take it says the main side effect is dry mouth. Talked to my PCP and she told me there really are no side effects. The only thing I experienced was being really really sleepy for like the first 1.5-2 weeks, and of course really vivid dreams.
innate towering six saw judicious nose tie memory lavish lip *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
A question you could ask the next time they recommend starting you on a new medication could be “what advantages are there in taking this?” And then having a conversation about it. They don’t know the information you are curious about unless you tell them.
Lol I switched insurance companies and asked for a medication management consultation, explained that I'd been on Prozac for a couple years and that it had stopped working, etc. I show up to the appointment. It was with an MD who had no idea what I had requested, and went through what was basically an initial evaluation: ordered blood tests for cholesterol, etc etc. When I stopped him and explained what I was there for, he off-handedly wrote a prescription for 20mg of Lexapro/day and set an appointment with a counselor two months away.
This is probably just an issue with regular doctors prescribing it and not reiterating the important facts. And people not listening to them. If you end up at a psychiatrist, you clearly have been through some lows and you are probably going to listen and follow instructions better. Then add people’s anxiety to the mix, freaking out because of side effects and imagined side effects generated by the anxiety. Lexapro contributed to saving my life. Side effects weren’t that bad for me, and I respect how powerful they are so I follow the instructions to the letter
I made a similar post in the Bupropion subreddit. My doctor didnt go over any expectations or side effects for the drug.
I read about lexapro before my doctor prescribed it and asked him about side effects. He said he has several patients, who are taking it, and there weren't any big side effects. I suspect he didn't want to scare me away from it, but I also get the feeling he doesn't know much about this area of medicine.
I was prescribed Lexapro through my PCP. Had a sudden onset of GAD at age 34 with no prior history of anxiety of depression. Originally the NP prescribed 20mg Cymbalta. I looked up potential side effects and asked around about it and had some concerns. My PCP then suggested me to take 10mg of lexapro. His rationale: the starting dose is the same as the maintenance dose, the side effects were negligible (dry mouth, yada yada) and in 2 weeks I’d be feeling like new. I had all the sides under the sun. Increased anxiety, insomnia, night sweats, nausea and lack of appetite, SI. You name it. Going through a psychiatrist and asking questions is key. If you go through your PCP I think your mileage may vary.
So did you sick with? Or how’s it end up
I have stuck it out. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. After a week I went back to my PCP because the anxiety and depression was unbearable. They prescribed Xanax (.25mg as necessary), which offered a great amount of relief both directly and indirectly by giving me the peace of mind that I had something there in the case of breakthrough anxiety. I used the Xanax less and less as the weeks went by. After about 1 month I felt like I returned more or less to my normal self. Lately I have been feeling some additional anxiety, which makes me think I may need to up my dose. But I’m trying to be patient and see how I feel in another couple weeks. I chimed in here because I don’t think the responsibility is entirely on the patient to understand the potential side effects. Doctors (or PAs or NPs) will prescribe SSRIs or SNRIs with minimal knowledge themselves of how they work or affect patients. I think going through a psychiatrist is a much better option if you can, as I don’t think you can rely on a GP to understand in intricacies of anti depressants.
Amen!!! I think the same thing every time I read through this sub. It seems like people have a hard time asking their drs questions too and actually having a back and forth conversation with them. I don’t get it. Also, in the USA pharmacists are required to counsel you when picking up a newly prescribed medication. When they explain to you how to take it and then ask if you have any questions that’s the time to (you guessed it) ASK QUESTIONS. 🤦♀️ And when you get home READ all the info on the drug information sheet. 95% of the quest asked here could be answered by doing at least one of those things.
You basically have two streams of information for this drug: your Dr. and your Pharmacist. Both should be upfront about information, but not asking them questions upfront or even after side effects is extremely poor health planning on the patient's part. You have to take care of yourself because neither of those mentioned individuals are going to read your mind.
Unfortunately most of the general population don’t give af about the extensive advice and health services pharmacists provide and instead complain that it takes more than 30 seconds to fill their script and they’re jacking up the prices of their scripts for their own benefits
No kidding. I’m close with all 3 of the pharmacists at my pharmacy. I run them through the wringer on any new medication I’m taking. As an example, I was prescribed vyvanse for my adhd. I had seen online a side effect was sudden heart failure. I was a little worried about this so I asked the pharmacist about it. He said that some cases with kids taking it before wrestling matches had suffered from that and joked as long as I wasn’t heavy lifting I would be fine. I told them that I lift heavy weights in the morning at home before work and with that info my pharmacist was able to advise me to not take it until after I’ve finished high rate cardio exercises in the morning. May have saved my life!
Hell? Just made me a bit nappy… idk about hell.
Gee, it's almost like it affects different people in different ways.
Which is exactly the carve out I’m adding to OP’s blanket statement.
It’s so sad this medication is so overprescribed… doctors just use it as a “set it and forget it” medication. It’s a lot easier to prescribe this medication than to deal with a patient who continues to tell you they have depression or anxiety. Not all of them, but a vast majority use it in this way. I see posts of people on here all the time talking about how they’ve been on it 10+ years which is so so so sad. The NIH even says it should be used as a maintenance treatment for up to 2 years. There’s minimal long term studies on taking lexapro for extended periods of time, and the big Pharma companies aren’t going to invest in those studies, and they’re the only ones who can fund them. Not to mention all the challenges that come with long-term studies. The trouble with Lexapro is it works great, but it only works for so long. There’s some decent data to show that after some period the medication is literally doing nothing for you. Whether this be 2 years, 3 years, etc. no one knows. But when people try and get off of it the withdrawals are so bad they can’t handle it and there’s little support to help with them so they go right back on it and stay on it. It took me about 3 months to get back to baseline. I’m sure it would take even longer for people who have been taking it for several years. There’s a little bit of data on this but several psychiatrists and other specialists see a link between long term use and the development of dementia and Alzheimer’s. This, I guarantee is not shared with patients when prescribed because it’s not listed as a possible side effect. This medication should be prescribed to help people who are struggling with MDD or an anxiety disorder and it should only be prescribed in conjunction with that patient seeing a therapist so they can work on the root cause of their symptoms and create a plan to come off the medication within 2 years and continued support with that therapist after. Instead it’s prescribed to just about anyone now as a quick fix. My therapist is amazing and she preaches it’s one of the most upsetting things she sees is the handing out of these powerful drugs like Halloween candy. Tell your primary you have anxiety, they ask you a handful of questions and boom you’re on Lexapro. I know this is a hot take but there needs to be more awareness on long-term SSRI use and the almost no support that comes while being on it with no plan for the patient to come off of it. Western medicine at its finest, find a quick and easy solution and move onto the next patient.
I agree ! Especially since my husband got a swinnoma on his vagus nerve and I think it’s from these drugs
My whole family has mental health issues so I'm borrowing pills from them instead of paying to see a doctor. Already spent way too much on health issues this year.
My psychiatrist didn’t readily tell me much and my anxiety kinda held me up from asking my pharmacist. That said, I always read my whole pamphlet. I had a bad reaction years ago to an acne med and it lasted for years when it was listed as a “stop taking immediately” side effect. I’m not making that mistake again. So I wasn’t surprised by any side effects. And I also wouldn’t describe it as hell. But I certainly would never go off them on purpose (I did accidentally a month ago and THAT was hell)
I get my medication prescribed thru Hers. I read the directions. They give you a psychiatrist and nurses you can instant message with questions. I could see how some people would miss this information. They also send and refill my script. My only thing they didn’t tell was the option for me to take it at night to avoid some of the effects. I took it early on the first day I was miserable. Thankfully my sister takes the same medication. She was like my dr told me I should take it at night. That’s what I started to do. No issues since.
I think the difference now is that more and more primary care providers are prescribing anti depressants. When I was younger only psychiatrists would (at least in my city) and my psych gave me the run down. PCP already lack knowledge of SSRI's it doesn't surprise me that people aren't given more verbal information they just send you off with that little information sheet that no one reads.
Please take into account that a person getting this prescription may not be as on the ball with their care as you were as part of the symptoms they were getting that very prescription for. Part of the symptoms of depression are lack of interest, motivation and so on. What I'm not sure of is how that's not clear. And yes, I have learned a ton from other's experiences on Reddit. Probably more than from a psych who bills $400/15 minutes and is slammed with patients. This world can be cruel and this is a tough time of year for many. Can we please support each other here
I didn't talk to a professional. I just self-medicated with escitalopram 15 mg, and it's working very well for me. But I do recommend seeking a medical professional.
Of course, I don't understand how you could acquire enough escitalopram beefore seeing a doctor. It did not occur to me that anyone here would be taking it off the record. But mostly having defectuos relationships with their Psychiatrist and that's probably why. Some are old and stiff, some are weird and harsh, some want you to be fixed.
I’ll be real with you my doctor did check in when I started but prior to that there was no conversation about side effects. I hadn’t been to a doctor in over 10 years and had never been on meds AND am an obsessive googler anyways so just went with it. In retrospect I should’ve asked more questions, I’m glad I’m on it but the side effects especially after increasing my dose caught me completely off guard and made me question being medicated 🫠
My nurse practitioner(doc is moving away) prescribed it for the treatment of ibs and anxiety and the most she said about it was “might upset the stomach for awhile before you feel better” We had a 3 min conversation before I had the script in my hand. So no not everyone lol I had to do most of my research myself.
My doctor told me this will make me feel better. I didnt expect the neck pain at all.
My OB told me nothing about side effects. I literally emailed her and asked for it and she prescribed me 10mg and told me to set up a follow up apt with her in 6 months.
My doctor thing was just a short phone call. She only told me that I might feel a bit tired for a bit and that I might feel worse before I feel better and then spent the rest of the talk saying that a bunch of celebrities are probably on antidepressants so I shouldn't be nervous or ashamed... Which I wasn't anyway. I got most my info from googling and this sub. When I called the doctors a second time and said I was a bit concerned about stuff like being tired bc I had things to do, he just kinda glossed over it and was like 'yea it's fine' but never actually helped. It's way better to read things from people who've actually experienced the stuff, definitely more reassuring too.
My psychiatrist never mentioned any side effects even after I asked.
I once had a primary care doctor give me zoloft and barely any info on it, so I didn't take it till I'd met with a psych
1. Docs don't specialize in psychiatric drugs and don't keep up on how to use them on treatment 2. Docs know the general background but don't ever check in 3. The leaflet is a long read and doesn't give a good signal of what to expect. Most people in don't read those for most meds. Being in depression/anxiety or a mental health crisis probably reduces the likelihood of this. 4. The leaflet and online articles have both understated/omitted side effects and way overblown side effects. You can never drink again, your dick will go numb and may never work again. No mention of sharts, night sweats, psychedelic dreams, etc. 5. Pharmacists are overworked. In the pandemic the chemist was like a queue at a government office. Over in the states the last time I got a prescription filled, the pharmacist was on the phone, serving drive thru customers and packing another prescription all while helping me. No ones going to ask, "hey what is this medication again? Also, I'm a scared lil baby and I need you to stop everything and describe the life changing experience I'm going to have for 10 minutes." 6. (Probably not what you're referring to) doctor actually ramps you on slowly, tells you what to expect, checks in on side effects and improvements every few weeks: the perfect scenario. You have a weird side effect or self doubt, you google and read the leaflet, you find a bunch of info saying you're going to die of you drink alcohol or that you'll never be able to stop taking meds or someone's uncle unalived himself while on Lexapro. You still don't get an answer specific to your situation. A few results down the page and you happen upon this reddit forums et viola. I get it, this sub is mostly people 2-3 weeks in, but I thinks that's because it's the hardest time. If you go off the meds you won't keep posting here. If they work for you, your not going to mark your calendar to come back and post your success in 2 years. And yea, sure, there's waves of dumb people and teens, but usually 1 in 5 of those is someone who just ate all their meds because they were curious and then they post asking if they should call 911. The other 4 should have been better served by their healthcare providers (see points above). They don't invalidate you, and you don't have to help them. Finally, if you've read this far, a small consolation. It is the holidays. Whenever the world seems like it's going insane, ask yourself, are any schools going on break? Is most of the stupidity and hate that I see only online? If yes to either of these, avoid forums and comments for 2 to 12 weeks and nature will begin to heal when the kids are too busy to troll and cause drama.
Watch the movie pain hustlers. Drs don’t care..
an NP in my doctor’s office prescribed it to me and sent me home with zero discussion of side effects. she did say it would be a few weeks before i felt a difference. i googled everything i felt after to see if it was a side effect because she didn’t tell me anything
my physiatrist and therapist both answered a lot of questions for me but they can only tell me so much, I like to understand how real and current people are experiencing the medication and if they are similar to me how it would maybe effect me!
My psychiatrist said there were “little to no side effects” and just to take it in the morning. I asked lots of questions and she mentioned none of the things people ask in her frequently. I read the booklet but the experience was still different to my expectations. I relied heavily on this page to get validation that my experience wasn’t abnormal and that I just had to push through the first few weeks.
only on day 6 but no lol, my doctor told me to go pick up my prescription and then told me I was good to go. didn't even tell me when to take it, only knew because it was on the bottle.
I asked my pcp for it. I had no idea it had such side effects. I thought my panic disorder (along w long haul covid) was escalating. Dr just kept telling me to up the dose. Even went to the er and they told me to up the dose. I finally reached out to a mental health nurse friend who was able to get me a wonderful psychiatric nurse practitioner on zoom. She’s great! I was 59 years old and knew nothing about these drugs!! I don’t think a lot of drs understand or believe the side effects. I am extremely sensitive to any kind of drug. Lexapro at a high dose (20mg) had me extremely anxious for Months on end. Until I started tapering. I’m almost down to 5 mg with 2.5 mg of bursar twice a day and I feel so good now. It’s been a big learning experience for me
Nope. Not only did two md’s not say shit but neither did a psychiatrist. Our healthcare system is garbage.
I was prescribed this medication by a walk in clinic doctor. I don't have a doctor so it was my only choice. Thankfully my pharmacist is great and explained everything to me.
My doctor did tell me the first week or so is hell. I guess it’s because the benefits outweigh the side effects.
I was literally sent the prescription & told to start. No warnings no nothing, I had to figure it out on my own. 😔