PatientsLikeMe : Escitalopram Treatment Report

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What is Escitalopram?

Escitalopram is an antidepressant in a group of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). It is used to treat anxiety and major depressive disorder. Off label it is used for mild agitation in patients with dementia.

Reasons taken & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Reasons taken	# of patients	# of patients evaluated by
Treat my mood condition(s)	233	52
Depression	136	58
Anxiety	66	26
Other	16	5
Problems concentrating	6	2
Panic attacks	5	5
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD	3	1
pain,depression,fatigue	3	0
Obsessive compulsive disorder OCD	3	1
Support another treatment	2	0
General health	2	1
disease-related symptoms	2	0
Muscle tension	2	0
Loneliness	2	1
Depression with anxiety	1	0
Dysthymia	1	0
Fatigue and sleepiness	1	1
stop my feet from moving all the time	1	0
Repetitive Thoughts	1	0
Irritability	1	0
anxiety and depression	1	0
ruminating	1	1
Don't know	1	0
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)	1	0
major depressive and anxiety disorder	1	0

See all 25 reasons taken ▼

See all 380 patients currently taking Escitalopram

Mouse over the table for more information

Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe	10	8%
Moderate	34	29%
Mild	46	39%
None	28	24%

Most commonly reported side effects

Sex drive (libido) decreased	35	30%
Apathy	23	19%
Fatigue	20	17%
Restlessness	19	16%
Brain fog	19	16%
Weight gain	18	15%
Insomnia	15	13%
Anxiety	14	12%
Depression	9	8%
Suicidal thoughts	9	8%
dry mouth	5	4%
Nausea	4	3%
Headaches	4	3%
Loss of sex drive (libido)	3	3%
Withdrawal symptoms if dose missed	3	3%
Tremors, hands	2	2%
stomach upset	2	2%
Appetite change	2	2%
Sexual dysfunction	1	1%
Drastically reduced ability of vaginal labia to become engorged before intercourse	1	1%
dry mouth,tongue	1	1%
when starting, 6 weeks of feeling crazy, in pain, had diarrhea, stomach pain	1	1%
Rapid Cycling	1	1%
"Brain shock" sensations when moving eyes during withdrawal	1	1%
anorgasmia	1	1%
Withdrawal begins w/in 36 hours of last dose	1	1%
Drowsiness	1	1%
Night sweats	1	1%
muscle jerks	1	1%
increased sweating	1	1%
Migraine Headaches	1	1%
Dizziness	1	1%
Withdrawal is long lasting	1	1%
feelings of isolation	1	1%
Loss of appetite	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 39 reported side effects ▼

Dosages

Top 10 dosages based on patients currently taking Escitalopram. See all 18 dosages ►

daily	5 mg/5 mL monthly	0.5 mg daily	2 mg daily	2.5 mg daily	5 mg/5 mL daily	5 mg daily	7.5 mg daily	10 mg daily	15 mg daily	3 x 5 mg/5 mL daily	20 mg daily	25 mg daily	30 mcg daily	30 mg daily	40 mg daily	45 mg daily	60 mg daily
7	1	2	1	1	9	29	2	145	15	1	126	2	1	17	22	1	2

Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Taking Escitalopram (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason	# Patients	Percentage of patients
Did not seem to work	62	47%
Side effects too severe	37	28%
Doctor's advice	30	23%
Other	23	17%
Expense	10	8%
Course of treatment ended	5	4%
Personal research	3	2%
Not indicated	2	2%

See all 127 patients who’ve stopped taking Escitalopram

Duration See details about how long patients take this treatment ▼

Currently Taking Escitalopram

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
2	4	20	45	34	43

Stopped Taking Escitalopram

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
21	26	21	26	14	18

Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Always	90	76%
Usually	23	19%
Sometimes	2	2%
Never	3	3%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Very	8	7%
Somewhat	15	13%
A little	33	28%
Not at all	62	53%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

$200+	1	1%
$100-199	6	5%
$50-99	10	8%
$25-49	25	21%
< $25	36	31%

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

Patient Evaluations

See all 118 patient evaluations

mountabora

Sex: F

Depression: 1

Emotional: 2

Compulsion: 0

Anxiety: 1

Mania: 1

Physical: 0

External Stress: Moderate

25 F

Function: Moderate

Distress: Low

See profile
mountabora

20 mg daily

since Dec 20, 2002
Efficacy None for Treat my mood condition(s)
Side Effects None
See full evaluation

robalidabily

Depression: 2

Emotional: 1

Compulsion: 1

Anxiety: 2

Mania: 1

Physical: 2

External Stress: Moderate

Function: High

Distress: Low

See profile
robalidabily

10 mg daily

since Aug 25, 2008
Efficacy Moderate for Treat my mood condition(s)
Side Effects Moderate
Advice/Tips stick with it - really good at keeping me well - less good at getting me there See full evaluation

fragiletruth

Sex: F

Depression: 0

Emotional: 0

Compulsion: 0

Anxiety: 0

Mania: 2

Physical: 0

External Stress: Low

24 F

Function: High

Distress: Low

See profile
fragiletruth

10 mg daily

since May 31, 2004
Efficacy None for Treat my mood condition(s)
Side Effects Moderate
Advice/Tips It didn't work for me, but then again, my DX was dysthymic disorder at the time, which was incorrect. See full evaluation

See all 118 patient evaluations

Forum

See 22 topics tagged with Lexapro

See 1 topics tagged with Escitalopram

There are 620 posts in our forum about Escitalopram. Join now and see what people are saying.

Report created on November 20, 2009.

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Escitalopram Treatment Report