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Both are second-generation SSRIs, both exhibit minimal drug interactions via Cytochrome P450, both are the most prescribed SSRIs and are considered first line antidepressants. Who's been taking both and what were your experiences? (How did they compare to each other?). I am looking forward to read your experiences... Which one did you like more?

I have mild reflux, something like GERD or LERD, for the past six months or so. Mostly no pain, just really bad smells at the back of my throat and occasional vomit burp. It recently (past couple months) started giving me vague gut pain and bloating after meals, so I saw a dr, got scoped, and was diagnosed with reflux. No erosion/ulceration was seen though, just stomach juices bubbling up my esophagus a little. So, I got some prescription strength probiotics and started putting chia seeds in my drinks. (The goo really soothes all that mess.) My reflux was more or less under control with just that, until I finally decided to go to a psychiatrist for my (years long untreated) depression. Now, after a week at 5 mg escitalopram and 25ish mg (I'm trying to quarter 100 mg pills, it's not so accurate) lamotrigine in the AM, my stomach is MAD. Putting anything in my stomach makes it bloated and painful. And the past couple days it's even worse. Last night, probably two hours after eating I had a wicked vomit burp. Like the food in my stomach wasn't moving down AT ALL. This morning I even woke up bloated. I have a long history of gut unhappiness, but it's usually my bowels/large intestine and this stomach pain shit is really making it hard for me to do anything. Like, I'm so bloated I'm scared if I get up and move around I'm going to vomit. (But I don't have nausea, weirdly enough.) And I think all this clenching my stomach against the bloating and pain is making my asthma worse. Is this a start up side effect that will go away? Anyone know of anything besides PPIs that can help it? I think the problem is that my digestive tract just isn't moving, not that I have too much acid, and besides PPIs give me wicked diarrhea. When I had a big cup of coffee with breakfast yesterday morning, my big hearty breakfast didn't cause me any problems at all. Coffee usually makes my digestive track tweak the fuck out and puts me on the toilet, I think in this case it brought my gut back to normal speed. But I can't do that with dinner. My doctor actually wants me on 10 mg escitalopram already and I'm scared to go up because I don't want this to get worse. Also I have medication phobia and want to stay at the lowest doses possible for everything. But I really want to give the meds a chance to work.....

Hi everybody! Will try to sum up shortly the nature of my problem: - Jun'17. Big family tragedy. Got nervous, could barely sleep at night (3-4 hours daily max.), lost appetite. Used simple herbs-based anti-axiety pills to calm myself. No big impact. - Jul'17. Nervousness continues, sleepless nights, poor appetite. Added other more potent natural pills (as I live in Germany - Neurexam). Took Stillnox (aka Zolpidem) as sleeping aid. To no avail. To calm down took 1 single pill of Laif 900 (Saint John's Wort, SJW). My anxiety paradoxically increased even further. maybe because I drank juices (which is not advisable with SJW). As my nervousness continued went to doctor, who prescribed escitalopram 10 mg per day (in the morning). To be on the safe side, took half of the pill (i.e. 5 mg), immediately felt unwell (sweating, heart palpitations, giddiness). Took char coal to wash the pill out. As I did not know what an antidepressant is (thought it to be a sort of anti-anxiety / sleeping pill), took 2.5 mg before sleep for the next 2-3 days. My agitation got worse. In retrospect I think that I provoked a mild serotonin syndrome, given that I took escitalopram soon after taking SJW. My body was shaking, trembling, I was not able to control my hands. Neede even to call sick from work. Got strange suicidal thought which I had never had in my life. Did not know this state was provoked by pills. I somehow foolishly decided that because of my insomnia and malnutrition, my brain started to die off. Dropped escitalopram. Got electric splashes in my head. Panicked. Did not know it was a side effect of escitalopram withdrawal. Was afraid that my brain was harmed beyond repair and decided to commit suicide by jumping from the balcony. My relative held me tight, but I somehow managed to drop him on the floor and get loose. Panicked that I harmed my relative. I called ambulance but they came not alone but with ... police (apparently neighbors called them as I shouted a lot). Was not able to understan what was going on, tried to jump off the balcony in the presence of doctors / cops. Was hospitalized in the ward involuntarily. - Aug'17. Spent 14 days in the ward on 4 mg risperidone (aka risperdal) daily in pill form + tranquilizer (lorazepam). After this "treatment" did not feel well. No thoughts, no emotions, personality erased. Dropped risperidone cold turkey. Was not able to sleep for a week. Went to private psychiatrist. He reinstated risperidone at 1 mg ( I went from 1 mg daily to 0 within 1 month) + gave lerivone (mianserin) 15 mg as antidepressant for sleep. Have been on various doses of mianserin (from 15 mg up to 45 mg and then progressively down to 0) from September to December (i.e. 3 months). Dropped the last 5 mg cold turkey. Since Dec'17 - drug free. Though my initially poor thinking / no thoughts etc has dramatically improved (thanks God), I still suffer from a symptom which first appeared somewhere in mid November: genital numbness, loss of sexual interest, decrease in libido. I found out it is PSSD. My questions are as follows, to which I would kindly ask to help me: 1. Why is this impotence? What is the more likely culprit: risperidone or mianserin. I ask as I have read that SSRI / SNRI are the most likely culprits of PSSD, whereas mianserin is actually used to treat it (with varying success though). 2. How can it be cured? 3. Has anyone experienced reduced eyesight (increased myopia) on antipsychotics / antidepressants and will the issue resolve itself? Thank you very much in advance for your kind help !!!!

I am on two antidepressants, and lorazepam prn (1 to 3mg) I still am nervous in a few social settings, especially if I am put on the spot, or if I feel put on the spot- not hard to do to me really. I get social anxiety which is quelled by lorazepam. I have a panic disorder that is now somewhat controlled, but I take lorazepam for certain situations (haircuts- I've had a panic attack during a haircut). I have essential tremor, of the upper body. I sleep better, and cry an awful lot less now that I take antidepressant medication. I find taking the lorazepam calms me when needed but can create mood swings when I take it sporadically. It's like my depression and anxiety rebounds after it clears my system. I feel okay, but not totally okay. Can I fix that, or is this as good as it gets?

Starting Lexapro tonight after 4 weeks of severe anxiety and panic. Currently stable on Lamictal and Depakote ER as mood stabilizers, Intuniv for attention and focus, and low-dose Seroquel for sleep (Seroquel has never helped my anxiety, just my mood). Tried increasing Depakote and Seroquel to no avail. Tried scheduled Klonopin around the clock, which certainly took the edge off but not by much. I'm basically writing to find out if anyone in the boards has experience with SSRIs in paired with mood stabilizers and a Dx of Bipolar type 2. I'm starting at 5 mg for four days and then increasing (and staying) at 10 mg. It has, in the past, helped the severe anxiety and panic attacks I used to get back in my early 20's (I'm 26 now). Any input is appreciated!

Hello everyone, Thank you in advance if you read this. I just registered because my friend suggested I get some guidance and she's smarter than I'll ever be, haha. This is my first time taking an antidepressant. I had a bit of a rough past so I guess that makes me predisposed to depression. I guess as a result I'm a super anxious person but I try to act normal enough. Anyway, my life took a bad turn recently with a lot happening so I became really depressed. I never had mania. I just felt sad, gloomy, depressed and anxious 24/7, even doing fun things. I just "dealt" with it for a long time and periodically tried to figure a solution out on my own, but then it became overwhelming. I started at 5mg on Lexapro and I felt good for the first week and a half, then it went away entirely and I felt depressed again. Then they put me on 10mg and I had a lot of side effects, but I still felt depressed. I gave it 8 weeks to see if it would help but it didn't make the depression go away. Then the doctor upped me to 20mg and I've been on that for two or three weeks. A few of the side effects I've had are: I get nauseous a lot. A LOT. For an hour or two after taking it the front of my brain under my forehead will feel "tight" and hurt in more of a general way. I felt that way all the time after I started on it but now it's only right after taking the pill. I have anorgasmia unless I'm being manic. The mania started a few days after I began taking the 20mg. I never had mania before and it's kind of scary having it now but fun at the same time? I can immediately recognize when I'm being manic because I'll feel invincible, and there will be this extreme feeling or euphoria in my chest (almost like I've had 3 energy drinks and a coffee in one sitting). I run around doing all sorts of stuff like cleaning, making plans, wanting to spend money, buying stuff, going out, etc. I'm usually very frugal and I don't buy things unless I've thought about it for at least a few days, but recently I've had these really intense desires to buy just "stuff" and I've spent a lot of money. I almost bought a Groupon for like $300 for cosmetic surgery at 4am just a day or two ago! I'm trying to save my money for a big purchase so that's very uncharacteristic of me. I'm also extremely irritable while I'm being manic and am quick to lose my patience. I'll also be super optimistic about everything, and talk fast, and call everybody I know to chat a lot, and post a lot of things on Facebook. I feel very impulsive with what I say, too. Insomnia. I've been up until anywhere from 5am to 8am every night If I lay in bed with the lights off I will simply lie there for hours without sleeping just thinking about "stuff". After the mania wears off I feel even more depressed than ever. I feel gloomy and oddly enough the world seems more grey-ish and gloom and doom. I get mad about everyone and everything. I have no patience for anybody. That sort-of came to a head when I lost my mind at my coworker. She's been making me mad for a while now, but today I called her the c-word and said some nasty things to her in response to a sarcastic thing she said in IM. Then I told my boss I quit my job, but I need my job for the big purchase I plan to make. So that's okay now I guess because I un-quit, but I'm yo-yo-ing with this mania/depression thing. I was thinking that I might need a different anti-depressant since this one doesn't really work for me at lower doses, but makes me manic at this high dose. My suicidal thoughts have almost completely gone away ever since I started taking Lexapro so I've been pleased with that. misc info: Both my father and my brother are paranoid schizophrenic but I don't display any of those symptoms, I was recently diagnosed with PCOS and I'm planning to go on either Metformin or Spironolactone, I take the birth control pill Marlissa, I have problems with my kidneys /urinary tract and so did my mother. My doctor told me that I'm vitamin D deficient so I take vitamin D when I remember, and sporadically I'll remember to take my multi-vitamin. I take Xanax sometimes when I'm having a panic attack or am too anxious but I don't like taking it too often. Thanks for reading. I tried to be concise but that seems like a lot of text.

I've just twigged that my new Pdoc (whom I've only had the one session with so far) would like to eventually switch me onto high (40mg) dosages of Lexapro (Escitalopram) as she has had the best results with this med at high doses for her patients with anxiety issues. (I'm on 20mg Prozac (fluoxetine) atm. However, in the past (a few years ago now), I've tried Cipramil (Citalopram) at very low doses & was extremely sick for a month even after I stopped taking it, and switched to another AD (I did all of this under medical advice/supervision). So, now I've realised this, I'm not that keen at all on trying Escitalopram as I really can't afford to be that sick again, not now I have a 7yo son to look after and get to school and events etc. Plus it scares me to be that sick I told my new pdoc about my previous medications and reactions to them and even wrote it all out for her, so am hoping that when I see her next (in about a month) that we can talk about trying another medication if she feels the need for a med change as I'm very reluctant to try it. I just didn't twig at the time. It reminds me of the whole Effexor (Venlafaxine) XR & Pristiq (Desvenlafaxine) chemical similarity, both of which I've been on. Sorry for the ramble, my questions are: Has anyone not tolerated Cipramil but tolerated Lexapro? (or vice versa) Is my new Pdoc perhaps a little too optimistic in expecting me to try the "chemical cousin" of Cipramil at high doses and to not be sick considering my past reactions? (I know, YMMV ) As usual, am not asking for any information that I can get through my shrink or a GP, just looking for people's personal experiences and ideas