LexaPro making you xtra sleepy?

[SUEzie]

For the past 2 days, my Lexa-Pro has been making me extra groggy, even sleepy. It always has, but never THIS much. I suddenly feel like I am in walking sleep state, most of the time. It's very strange.

I take a high dose, but 2 days ago, I was fine - and I've been fine at this dose, for over 2 weeks - which is most of the time I've been taking this dosage. I've been taking Lexa-Pro for 10-1/2 months, total.

It's becoming a pain, because I am starting to be afraid to drive anywhere - so far, I haven't fallen asleep at the wheel or anything, but am afraid it could happen. Plus, it is interfering with my ability to pay attention to even little things, due to grogginess.

Has anyone else experienced this? I know the obvious answer is to call my P-doc (and I will.) I am just wondering if this happened to any other Lexa-Pro takers out there...or if it might be a symptom of something else?

I feel slightly more awake when sitting (vs. standing) -but not by much, if that maybe means anything. I've been getting plenty of sleep - so sleep deprivation isn't the reason.

I have to be somewhere tonight, at an event where I have to be AWAKE, and am concerned I will look like an idiot, and maybe fall asleep. Any suggestions?

I have a hair appointment (kind of scared to drive there, but have to go.) I will be back later, to see if anybody has any ideas what this could be.

I'll be bummed of this means I need to stop taking it, because there are so few ADs that seem to work for me. I have no idea what this new side effect means. Maybe it's not the Lexa-Pro, but it's the only reason I can think of that this may be happening.

Thanks for any thoughts,

- Susan

[Sage]

I couldn't take it because it did exactly the same thing to me. It was like someone flipped a switch after I took it and I had to lay down and go to sleep. Very debilitating.

[confused]

All my meds, including lexapro, give me fatigue so I take them at night. It is peculiar that it suddenly came on. I started drinking coffee again to combat the grogginess in the morning. You might want to get a physical just to make sure there isn't anything else wrong. The tiredness really bothers me, but I am pretty stable mentally.

[Corvid]

Yes, I think it's doing it to me, too. It's hard to tell because I also have sleep apnea issues, so I'm usually sleepy during the day, but the Lexapro seems to be making it worse. Especially when my pdoc raised me from 10 mg to 20 mg/day. I wasn't really affected by the sleepies at 10 mg., but when I went up to 20 mg., all I had the energy to do all day was lay in bed or stare at walls.

It was like my brain went blank, too. You know the usual "background chatter" of random thoughts you have in your brain, things like what's for dinner, gotta remember to buy milk, gee that new store looks expensive, etc.? Well, those all went almost silent for me at 20 mg. I actually amuse myself by sitting for long periods of time "listening" to my brain. It is like staring at a blank movie screen, then one thought will blip past. Then blank. Wait several seconds. Now another thought.

At 20 mg., I also noticed some short (as in really short) term memory problems. Yesterday I was at the doc's scheduling an appointment. The secretary said, "Next Thursday at 9:30." I looked at my calendar, saw Thursday, went to write down the time but had to ask her to repeat what time she'd just said two seconds earlier because I'd already forgotten. Same thing today at the store. Another mom and I were swapping phone numbers for play dates. I had to ask her three times what the name of her younger son was because every time I'd go to write it down, I'd completely blank out. I felt like an idiot. She just gave me a funny look. Maybe she was wondering whether she really wants her kid playing with mine if I'm such a space cadet!

Last week I was struggling for almost 30 seconds trying to remember what three minus one was. Honestly! I kept trying and trying to remember 3-1=??? but finally had to resort to counting on my fingers. Literally on my fingers. Even then I struggled to figure out what to do with my fingers to make them give me the correct answer. I know I'm not stupid at math: in high school I got A's both semesters I took AP calculus as an independent study! Now I can't subtract one from three.

I know the sleepies, the low energy, the cognitive difficulties are also depression-related, but the Lexapro at 20 mg. does seem to make these symptoms worse.

[celestia]

I'm on 20 mgs, and have never experienced this. I wondered about your blood pressure when you said you feel better sitting v standing. Could it be low? It seems odd, that you would develop increased sensitivity to Lexapro after almost a year, but I guess anything can happen.

[SUEzie]

Thanks for all of the feedback, people. I appreciate it. I am going to start taking it at night (good suggestion) - I'd been taking it in the morning. Maybe that will help.

I see my P-doc on Monday, and I'll ask him then - because a few more days of this, is about as much as I can stand. Maybe I will also see my GP, just to see if it could be anything else, too.

I have been having memory problems, too - not related to depression, IMO. I am starting to forget the names of simple things: Like the name of the store I pass every day in my car. I was trying to tell someone about it, and could not for the life of me, remember the name of the store.

I know its name, and it bugs me when that happens. That symptom is becoming more frequent, as well. I hope it isn't "early onset" Alzheimer's. But that doesn't run in my family, so I doubt it. But maybe -

Anyway, thanks for the comments. It's nice to know I am not alone with this extreme grogginess, although I wish it wasn't like that for any of us...

I wish you well,

- Susan

[Crazymrdada]

Yes, I think it's doing it to me, too. It's hard to tell because I also have sleep apnea issues, so I'm usually sleepy during the day, but the Lexapro seems to be making it worse. Especially when my pdoc raised me from 10 mg to 20 mg/day. I wasn't really affected by the sleepies at 10 mg., but when I went up to 20 mg., all I had the energy to do all day was lay in bed or stare at walls.

It was like my brain went blank, too. You know the usual "background chatter" of random thoughts you have in your brain, things like what's for dinner, gotta remember to buy milk, gee that new store looks expensive, etc.? Well, those all went almost silent for me at 20 mg. I actually amuse myself by sitting for long periods of time "listening" to my brain. It is like staring at a blank movie screen, then one thought will blip past. Then blank. Wait several seconds. Now another thought.

At 20 mg., I also noticed some short (as in really short) term memory problems. Yesterday I was at the doc's scheduling an appointment. The secretary said, "Next Thursday at 9:30." I looked at my calendar, saw Thursday, went to write down the time but had to ask her to repeat what time she'd just said two seconds earlier because I'd already forgotten. Same thing today at the store. Another mom and I were swapping phone numbers for play dates. I had to ask her three times what the name of her younger son was because every time I'd go to write it down, I'd completely blank out. I felt like an idiot. She just gave me a funny look. Maybe she was wondering whether she really wants her kid playing with mine if I'm such a space cadet!

Last week I was struggling for almost 30 seconds trying to remember what three minus one was. Honestly! I kept trying and trying to remember 3-1=??? but finally had to resort to counting on my fingers. Literally on my fingers. Even then I struggled to figure out what to do with my fingers to make them give me the correct answer. I know I'm not stupid at math: in high school I got A's both semesters I took AP calculus as an independent study! Now I can't subtract one from three.

I know the sleepies, the low energy, the cognitive difficulties are also depression-related, but the Lexapro at 20 mg. does seem to make these symptoms worse.

Yeah, me too. Lexapro made me feel like part of my brain was inaccessible, like there was a steel door that I didn't have the keys to. None of the other ADs I've taken had this effect. Once I stopped taking the Lexapro, it took a while for me to get that door to open.

[Guest abluegirl]

Hey there

It does that to me too

I take 40 mg a day and man

when i got to sleep i can sleep forever .... 10, 11,12 13 hours

it never seems like enough

I deal with it by trying to keep a regular sleep schedule

make sure i get at least 8 hours per night

I force myself out of bed at the alarm

take the meds at night

and have a couple cups of coffee in the morning to get me going

i find i am usually okay once i have been up and moving for a couple hours

just the first couple hours im a mess

i take the bus to work ..so need to worry if i nod off for a bit

i just find it a little ironic ...have been a horrible insomniac for like the last 10 years

and now since lexapro i sleep and sleep and sleep ...its actually kind of nice for a change

[lily_]

I've been on Lexapro for only a month (5mg the first two weeks, and have been at 10mg for two weeks) and have been feeling *great* the entire way. Excpet for today, I woke up feeling absolutely groggy and numb in the head. I slept fine last night, haven't had any wine or anything, nothing changed, or what.

I hope it's not the medication, because I can hardly function today and I still have six hours in my day remaining.