The verdict
May. 26th, 2004 02:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
danaerisToday I went to the doctor to discuss my medication. It was unclear to me whether I am having trouble coping for situational reasons, or for chemical reasons (ie. wrong dosage or wrong medication).
As many of you know, I've been on 30 mgs of Celexa since about Thanksgiving. Well, it started at 20, but most of the time I've been on 30. At 20 I had no side effects, but was definitely not ok. At 30 I have jaw clenching/teeth chattering (like being on mdma except without the good parts), and lately, still haven't been quite right.
When both![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dragon_spirit, who knows me pretty darned well, and my therapist suggested I up my dosage or something, I decided it was time to talk to the doctor about it.
Well, it turns out that I need to change medications eventually anyway. You see, the company that makes celexa (that's the brand name; the technical name is citalopram) has made another drug called lexapro (s-citalopram). According to my doctor, they looked at celexa and realized that fully HALF of the molecule was not only not necessary for the desired effects, but was the cause of many of the negative side effects (such as sexual dysfunction). Furthermore, because Lexapro is physically smaller, it takes only 2-3 weeks to stabilize in your system whereas Celexa took 2-4 weeks (which was still way shorter than most antidepressants). And, less of it is needed because there isn't mass being taken up by unecessary materials.
Since Lexapro should work just as well for patients who like Celexa, or better, they are simply phasing Celexa out. They're going to stop making it at some point. Not clear on when, but eventually.
So I have a scrip for 10 mg of Lexapro dated for June 1. I plan to make the transition as soon as high stress stuff is resolved (primarily, desiging the final exams for my students and finishing the writing contract). Apparently, there might not even be a transitional period (coming down off one and up on the other) simply because they are essentially the same chemical.
If Lexapro doesn't do the trick for me, we can try something else over the summer. But I'm hoping it will. My reluctance to up my celexa dosage is based largely on the already existing side effects. But if I can have an equivalent Lexapro dosage with no side effects, then if that continues to not work we could up it and still have no side effects.
I did a lot of walking on my trip out and I'm pretty exhausted AND loaded down with work. Unless I work far more efficiently than expected, or reach a point where I'm going in circles, it looks like I won't be coming to S&P. My regrets and love to you all!
As many of you know, I've been on 30 mgs of Celexa since about Thanksgiving. Well, it started at 20, but most of the time I've been on 30. At 20 I had no side effects, but was definitely not ok. At 30 I have jaw clenching/teeth chattering (like being on mdma except without the good parts), and lately, still haven't been quite right.
When both
dragon_spirit, who knows me pretty darned well, and my therapist suggested I up my dosage or something, I decided it was time to talk to the doctor about it.Well, it turns out that I need to change medications eventually anyway. You see, the company that makes celexa (that's the brand name; the technical name is citalopram) has made another drug called lexapro (s-citalopram). According to my doctor, they looked at celexa and realized that fully HALF of the molecule was not only not necessary for the desired effects, but was the cause of many of the negative side effects (such as sexual dysfunction). Furthermore, because Lexapro is physically smaller, it takes only 2-3 weeks to stabilize in your system whereas Celexa took 2-4 weeks (which was still way shorter than most antidepressants). And, less of it is needed because there isn't mass being taken up by unecessary materials.
Since Lexapro should work just as well for patients who like Celexa, or better, they are simply phasing Celexa out. They're going to stop making it at some point. Not clear on when, but eventually.
So I have a scrip for 10 mg of Lexapro dated for June 1. I plan to make the transition as soon as high stress stuff is resolved (primarily, desiging the final exams for my students and finishing the writing contract). Apparently, there might not even be a transitional period (coming down off one and up on the other) simply because they are essentially the same chemical.
If Lexapro doesn't do the trick for me, we can try something else over the summer. But I'm hoping it will. My reluctance to up my celexa dosage is based largely on the already existing side effects. But if I can have an equivalent Lexapro dosage with no side effects, then if that continues to not work we could up it and still have no side effects.
I did a lot of walking on my trip out and I'm pretty exhausted AND loaded down with work. Unless I work far more efficiently than expected, or reach a point where I'm going in circles, it looks like I won't be coming to S&P. My regrets and love to you all!
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no subject
Date: 2004-05-26 03:14 pm (UTC)