2784 replies to this topic

[fishinghat]

Ecitalopram (Lexapro) is one of my favorites. It has a good reputaion among members. Of course, like all ssri it can have side effects.

[invalidusername]

Also used in a lot of studies as the "go-to" anti-depressant - but despite that, it didn't work for me!

[Axlejames]

So this is what I am struggling with right now. First was the not being able to finish in the bedroom then Friday I noticed I had the urge to urinate a lot all day yesterday was super focused on that urge have had tension in my lower stomach area. above my bladder. My urine is normal color I feel like I am constipated but I still can still have a bowel movement is this normal ? I am worried I have some kind of serious disease like bladder cancer or prostate issues or something not sure what to do I reached out to my mental health nurse team and he said that I should not be concerned but all day I have had this pressure in my lower stomach I am really worried anyone else have this

[fishinghat]

In my opinion not common among member but there have been a few mention similar symptoms during Cymbalta withdrawal. All of these psych meds tend to effect the GI tract as well as the urinary tract. I can't dismiss the concern you have over this set of symptoms though.

[Axlejames]

Went to the dr today got blood work done and x rays of my stomach my blood work came back normal and they said I am backed up with poo basically and that is the reason why I have had a constant urge to pee. Has anyone seen constipation cause you to feel like you have to urniate all the time.

[fishinghat]

Absolutely. The back-up occurs typically in the lower parts of the colon which is directly beside the urinary bladder. A common sign of bad constipation.

[Axlejames]

Talked to my doc yesterday as well and making the switch from 50mg of zoloft to 10 mg of ecitalopram he wants me to take 5 mg for a week then go to 10 should i expect any weird effects with the switch 

[fishinghat]

I can't think of any other than the usual possibilities for any antidepressant.

[Axlejames]

Having a rough day of it. Cause of my recent high anxiety cause of this stuff. I keep focusing on having to urinate and now I am freaking out about it. I worry what if the dr was wrong and what he thought was feces is actually stomach cancer or something worse. Hard day for sure 

[fishinghat]

Do you have blood in your stool? If not then it is unlikely you have stomach or colon cancer. Did he feel your colon? If so he could tell you were backed up and it was pressing on the bladder. It is OK AJ. Take a few deep breaths.

[Axlejames]

Do you have blood in your stool? If not then it is unlikely you have stomach or colon cancer. Did he feel your colon? If so he could tell you were backed up and it was pressing on the bladder. It is OK AJ. Take a few deep breaths.

Yeah he did and no i dont have any blood at all I know i am being a bit silly 

[fishinghat]

Being silly, paranoid and worried comes free witrh antidepressants.  lol

 

Been there done that.

[invalidusername]

AJ...

 

You really have let this get the better of you. Are you receiving any therapeutic support? You need someone to bounce this stuff off who you can see on a personal level. Make no mistake, Hat and myself are here to help - there are no limits to our wanting to help you, but I feel that the two of us, all of us miles apart, and limited to writing, will only be able to go so far. 

 

Again, there would be far more significant symptoms if you were to. As Hat said, no-one can categorically say one way or the other, but you need to do your best to create that gap between the thought and the action so you find yourself. I am quite sure that the whole COVID thing is very much to blame in this.

 

Not quite sure of all this chopping and changing of meds though, buy this is what doctors do - they are anti-depressant dispensing machines. 

 

The anxiety CAN be overcome, but it is a lot of work - I won't lie to you, but more importantly, you need to believe in yourself that you can do this. And you CAN.

 

IUN

[Axlejames]

AJ...

 

You really have let this get the better of you. Are you receiving any therapeutic support? You need someone to bounce this stuff off who you can see on a personal level. Make no mistake, Hat and myself are here to help - there are no limits to our wanting to help you, but I feel that the two of us, all of us miles apart, and limited to writing, will only be able to go so far. 

 

Again, there would be far more significant symptoms if you were to. As Hat said, no-one can categorically say one way or the other, but you need to do your best to create that gap between the thought and the action so you find yourself. I am quite sure that the whole COVID thing is very much lame got this.

 

Not quite sure of all this chopping and changing of meds though, buy this is what doctors do - they are anti-depressant dispensing machines. 

 

The anxiety CAN be overcome, but it is a lot of work - I won't lie to you, but more importantly, you need to believe in yourself that you can do this. And you CAN.

 

IUN

So i have a nurse who comes to my house mondays and a social worker I see on thursdays and I have a psychologist appoitment during the week as well. I have a lot of support yet I still find it difficult. I appreciate you all 

[frog]

It sounds like you have a good core team of support (I am a huge advocate for talk therapy to help uncover the ROOT of how and why we think and act the way we do) but have you ever specifically tried CBT to help address some of your health anxiety? If you haven't I think you might find it super beneficial and it is considered a pretty effective treatment for health anxiety. Not all psychologists or therapists are trained in CBT so you may need to ask yours to connect you with someone who is. As I'm sure you know many doctors also prefer to just fix problems with medication and while there are definitely times where that's the right choice, it's not the ONLY choice. The other benefit of CBT alongside or instead of medication is that you get to use what you learn with CBT forever and apply to other situations that may come up. 

 

I recently used CBT to treat what I thought was persistent insomnia that I developed during withdrawal. Before Cymbalta withdrawal, sleep was so automatic for me that I never even thought about it. Like breathing or walking down stairs. Such a subconscious process that you don't think about it. You just rely on the fact that you know that when you get in bed and close your eyes you will fall asleep. Then something happens and you start analyzing that process and suddenly you realize you don't know how it ever worked and you can't do it right anymore. Have you ever been walking down stairs and then suddenly you start thinking about what you're doing and you trip? Anyway CBT for sleep was so helpful for me. It turns out that my insomnia was already long gone but when I would get into bed, instead of shuttin down, my brain would wind up and start checking for sleep trying to turn an automatic process into something laborious. 

 

I think CBT for sleep is probably simpler than for most other things because sleep is just SO fundamental that it's always there, and you're just learning tools to optimize your sleep readiness and some tricks to take your mind off it, but I went into with some skepticism and I was pleasantly surprised.

 

Personally I will be trying to do CBT for my gut issues next. I basically developed some phobias around food and my stomach and feeling trapped when I'm not near a bathroom because of a few scary close calls I experienced a year or so ago when withdrawal really screwed up my colon. Now my mind is still convinced that my stomach is not reliable and that I should be constantly worried but I'm starting to believe that it's another issue of overscrutinizing and overanalyzing every single sensation. It's like I forgot how to separate when a sensation is notable and needs to be addressed urgently and when it's best ignored. Everything feels immediate and urgent now and of course as a result I'm often terrified of stepping too far away from a bathroom or eating the "wrong" food and it's turning me into a basket case. Prior to withdrawal I thought about my gut maybe... 15 or 20% of the time? Now it seems more like 80-90% of the time depending on the day. I thought it would just go away on its own when my stomach got better but now it's turning into a bad habit and I don't want to let it get even further. I'm nervous because I think "exposure" is part of the process of CBT bit I'm willing to try.

 

Anyway just wanted to share some of my experience and hope it helps. I really feel for your health anxiety struggle but I do think you can work through it with time and effort and the right help

[Axlejames]

It sounds like you have a good core team of support (I am a huge advocate for talk therapy to help uncover the ROOT of how and why we think and act the way we do) but have you ever specifically tried CBT to help address some of your health anxiety? If you haven't I think you might find it super beneficial and it is considered a pretty effective treatment for health anxiety. Not all psychologists or therapists are trained in CBT so you may need to ask yours to connect you with someone who is. As I'm sure you know many doctors also prefer to just fix problems with medication and while there are definitely times where that's the right choice, it's not the ONLY choice. The other benefit of CBT alongside or instead of medication is that you get to use what you learn with CBT forever and apply to other situations that may come up. 

 

I recently used CBT to treat what I thought was persistent insomnia that I developed during withdrawal. Before Cymbalta withdrawal, sleep was so automatic for me that I never even thought about it. Like breathing or walking down stairs. Such a subconscious process that you don't think about it. You just rely on the fact that you know that when you get in bed and close your eyes you will fall asleep. Then something happens and you start analyzing that process and suddenly you realize you don't know how it ever worked and you can't do it right anymore. Have you ever been walking down stairs and then suddenly you start thinking about what you're doing and you trip? Anyway CBT for sleep was so helpful for me. It turns out that my insomnia was already long gone but when I would get into bed, instead of shuttin down, my brain would wind up and start checking for sleep trying to turn an automatic process into something laborious. 

 

I think CBT for sleep is probably simpler than for most other things because sleep is just SO fundamental that it's always there, and you're just learning tools to optimize your sleep readiness and some tricks to take your mind off it, but I went into with some skepticism and I was pleasantly surprised.

 

Personally I will be trying to do CBT for my gut issues next. I basically developed some phobias around food and my stomach and feeling trapped when I'm not near a bathroom because of a few scary close calls I experienced a year or so ago when withdrawal really screwed up my colon. Now my mind is still convinced that my stomach is not reliable and that I should be constantly worried but I'm starting to believe that it's another issue of overscrutinizing and overanalyzing every single sensation. It's like I forgot how to separate when a sensation is notable and needs to be addressed urgently and when it's best ignored. Everything feels immediate and urgent now and of course as a result I'm often terrified of stepping too far away from a bathroom or eating the "wrong" food and it's turning me into a basket case. Prior to withdrawal I thought about my gut maybe... 15 or 20% of the time? Now it seems more like 80-90% of the time depending on the day. I thought it would just go away on its own when my stomach got better but now it's turning into a bad habit and I don't want to let it get even further. I'm nervous because I think "exposure" is part of the process of CBT bit I'm willing to try.

 

Anyway just wanted to share some of my experience and hope it helps. I really feel for your health anxiety struggle but I do think you can work through it with time and effort and the right help

I need to put the work in that is where I am struggling physically I am so tired and mentally drained its hard to do CBT when you feel weak and tired all the time. I struggle lately yet have all kinds of help. 

[frog]

That's very true. Approaching from a place of strength is important.

[Axlejames]

Today is my 39th birthday had half a donut this morning and i started feeling dizzy could it be the sugar 

[fishinghat]

Possible but you really need to be able to take your blood pressure. 

 

Happy birthday!!! I was 39 once but that was a long time ago.  lol

[Axlejames]

Possible but you really need to be able to take your blood pressure. 

 

Happy birthday!!! I was 39 once but that was a long time ago.  lol

My garmin watch says my average bp over the last 4 hours is 116/56

[fishinghat]

When ever you feel dizzy, off balance, faint or lightheaded you should check and see what your bp is at that point. Average tells you very little as that data includes during exercise, sleep, etc.

[Axlejames]

So starting tomorrow will be on 5 mg of lexapro for a week then up to 10 

[invalidusername]

" Such a subconscious process that you don't think about it. You just rely on the fact that you know that when you get in bed and close your eyes you will fall asleep. Then something happens and you start analyzing that process and suddenly you realize you don't know how it ever worked and you can't do it right anymore."

 

Great Frog... love the way you have this innate way of putting stuff so well across to members.

 

AJ - happy birthday man!! To be back the right side of 40 again!! And poor Hat having to think back that far when he was with Ben Franklin and the rest of the crew.

 

Will be interesting to see how you get on with the Lexapro - as we have said, it is a popular drug and might be the right formula for you. I certainly hope so, and I will be praying for you.

 

Bit of a quick jump within a week, so don't be too surprised if you get a few symptoms along the way...

[fishinghat]

"And poor Hat having to think back that far when he was with Ben Franklin and the rest of the crew."

 

(Sigh)  How true.

[Axlejames]

My doc said I could just take the 10 mg so  I am gonna try that tonight I think and see how it goes took 5mg yesterday and felt kind of tired but not sure if it was from the med or my anxiety had a lot  going on for my birthday weekend driving about 600 miles and then spelunking in a cave anyways feeling tired and anxious about my bp dont know what to do

[invalidusername]

I doubt the first dose will have had any effect on you, so likely the anxiety making you tired. Directly onto 10mg is not generally advised - it is a potent drug and often is the case that 5mg is all some people need. 

 

Wait.. hold the phone... you drove 600 miles?! Seriously?!

[Axlejames]

I doubt the first dose will have had any effect on you, so likely the anxiety making you tired. Directly onto 10mg is not generally advised - it is a potent drug and often is the case that 5mg is all some people need. 

 

Wait.. hold the phone... you drove 600 miles?! Seriously?!

So maybe do what doc suggested 5mg at night for a week then up to 10. and yes 300 on saturday 300 on sunday 

[invalidusername]

If the doc has prescribed 10mg as the dose you need to be on, then I would personally give it a couple of weeks before moving up a dose, but that said, if the side effects aren't so bad by day 7, then I would go right ahead and bump up to 10mg.

 

I can't believe you drove 600 miles. That has slayed me! With all that you have had on... I'm speechless. That's the veteran in you brother - you get the job done.

 

So proud of you.

 

I've got to do a similar journey in a fortnight and I am bricking it.

[Axlejames]

If the doc has prescribed 10mg as the dose you need to be on, then I would personally give it a couple of weeks before moving up a dose, but that said, if the side effects aren't so bad by day 7, then I would go right ahead and bump up to 10mg.

 

I can't believe you drove 600 miles. That has slayed me! With all that you have had on... I'm speechless. That's the veteran in you brother - you get the job done.

 

So proud of you.

 

I've got to do a similar journey in a fortnight and I am bricking it.

My  doc seems to think since i ve been on 50 mg of Zoloft it would equal 10mg of Lexapro. I didnt think of it like that I did soldier on yesterday for sure it was a hard day I was anxious going into the cave and then with the new med etc.. 

[invalidusername]

No, your doctor is wrong.

 

50mg Zoloft is initial therapeutic dose. Max dose being 200mg.

 

5mg Lexapro is therapeutic dose and 20mg max.

 

So 50mg Zoloft is equivalent to 5mg Lexapro.