PatientsLikeMe : Lexapro (escitalopram) Treatment Report

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What is Lexapro?

Lexapro® is a brand name for the antidepressant escitalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). It affects chemicals in the brain that may become unbalanced and cause depression or anxiety. It is used to treat anxiety and major depressive disorder.

Reasons taken & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Reasons taken	# of patients	# of patients evaluated by
Depression	470	103
Treat my mood condition(s)	198	40
Anxiety	163	44
Other	46	6
Mood swings	19	5
Fibromyalgia	19	4
Emotional lability	17	4
General health	13	3
Major Depressive Disorder	12	2
Problems concentrating	6	2
Panic attacks	6	5
Difficulty sleeping through night	6	3
Treat Parkinson's	5	0
Support another treatment	5	0
Fatigue	4	1
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD	3	1
disease-related symptoms	3	0
Anxiety due to Parkinson's	3	1
Cognitive impairment	2	0
Loneliness	2	1
Cataplexy	1	1
Muscle tension	1	0
Depression with anxiety	1	0
Pain	1	0
to ease anxiety	1	1
Depression, pain, paresthesia, migraines, buzzing and cold feet	1	1
Dysthymia	1	0
Repetitive Thoughts	1	0
chronic pain	1	0
pathological laughter	1	0
Depression/Anxiety/Mood Swings	1	0
Burning sensation, skin	1	1
Cognition	1	1
Memory loss (short term)	1	0
stop my feet from moving all the time	1	0
Obsessive compulsive disorder OCD	1	1
Bipolar Disorder	1	0
For depression	1	0
Irritability	1	0
anxiety and depression	1	0
ruminating	1	1
Don't know	1	0
Sexual dysfunction	1	0
OCD/depression	1	0
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)	1	0
My marriage is failing. He is not a calming influence on my life. Hurts like hell, so I need help.	1	0
Insomnia	1	0

See all 47 reasons taken ▼

See all 810 patients currently taking Lexapro

Mouse over the table for more information

Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe	11	6%
Moderate	39	22%
Mild	59	33%
None	72	40%

Most commonly reported side effects

Sex drive (libido) decreased	45	25%
Apathy	27	15%
Weight gain	26	14%
Brain fog	26	14%
Fatigue	26	14%
Restlessness	21	12%
Anxiety	20	11%
Insomnia	18	10%
Suicidal thoughts	11	6%
Depression	11	6%
Nausea	4	2%
Headaches	3	2%
anorgasmia	2	1%
dry mouth	2	1%
feelings of isolation	2	1%
Appetite change	2	1%
Sexual dysfunction	1	1%
Rapid Cycling	1	1%
dry mouth,tongue	1	1%
when starting, 6 weeks of feeling crazy, in pain, had diarrhea, stomach pain	1	1%
upset stomach	1	1%
muscle jerks	1	1%
Migraine Headaches	1	1%
possibly mood swings/anger?	1	1%
homicidal thoughts	1	1%
Drowsiness	1	1%
Night sweats	1	1%
Withdrawal is long lasting	1	1%
Vaginal Dryness	1	1%
Loss of appetite	1	1%
increased sweating	1	1%
"Brain shock" sensations when moving eyes during withdrawal	1	1%
slight paranoia	1	1%
cant sleep at night , so i have to take it right before i go to bed	1	1%
Drastically reduced ability of vaginal labia to become engorged before intercourse	1	1%
Agitation/Irritability	1	1%
Withdrawal begins w/in 36 hours of last dose	1	1%
nausea, dizziness	1	1%
mania	1	1%
orgasm delay	1	1%
if to much i laugh at anything	1	1%

Mild
Moderate
Severe

See all 41 reported side effects ▼

Dosages

Top 10 dosages based on patients currently taking Lexapro. See all 23 dosages ►

2 10mg as needed	5mg/5mL as needed	daily	5 mg/5 mL monthly	0.5 mg daily	1 mg daily	2.5 mg daily	5 mg/5 mL daily	5 mg/5 mL daily	5 mg daily	7.5 mg daily	10 mg daily	2 x 5 mg/5 mL daily	15 mg daily	20 mg daily	25 mg daily	30 mg daily	40 mg daily	45 mg daily	50 mg daily	60 mg daily	200 mg daily	300 mg daily
1	1	16	1	3	1	2	1	24	37	2	323	1	14	315	1	37	30	2	1	3	2	1

Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Taking Lexapro (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason	# Patients	Percentage of patients
Did not seem to work	78	34%
Side effects too severe	56	24%
Doctor's advice	46	20%
Other	46	20%
Expense	28	12%
Course of treatment ended	14	6%
Personal research	6	3%
Not indicated	4	2%

See all 222 patients who’ve stopped taking Lexapro

Duration See details about how long patients take this treatment ▼

Currently Taking Lexapro

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
4	15	46	85	83	168

Stopped Taking Lexapro

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
24	35	37	46	33	45

Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Always	139	77%
Usually	35	19%
Sometimes	3	2%
Never	4	2%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Very	9	5%
Somewhat	17	9%
A little	39	22%
Not at all	116	64%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

$200+	0	0%
$100-199	6	3%
$50-99	18	10%
$25-49	45	25%
< $25	65	36%

See more information, including instructions, precautions, side effects, and interactions.

Patient Evaluations

See all 181 patient evaluations

anne ball

Sex: F

Sensation: Moderate

Overall: Moderate

Cognition: moderate

Vision: moderate

Speech: moderate

Swallowing: moderate

Upper limb: moderate

Walking: moderate

See profile
anne ball

30 mg daily

since May 23, 2009
Efficacy Slight for Depression
Side Effects None
Advice/Tips Feel depressed seek treatment, meds & counseling See full evaluation

tink1227

Sex: F

Sensation: Moderate

Overall: None

Cognition: mild

Vision: none

Speech: mild

Swallowing: none

Upper limb: none

Walking: none

See profile
tink1227

5 mg daily

since Aug 18, 2008
Efficacy Moderate for Depression
Side Effects None
See full evaluation

NPRNewsman

Sex: M

Mouth/throat: mild

Arms: mild

Chest: none

Legs: mild

See profile
NPRNewsman

20 mg daily

since Aug 20, 2008
Efficacy Major for General health
Side Effects None
See full evaluation