Hotmess Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Has anyone used both? Notice any difference at all? Lexapro is EXPENSIVE and I am wondering if I should switch to the generic instead. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayEyes777 Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Okay,well, I can only tell you my own experience with it and what I was eventually told. When I was hospitalized back in May, I was given Lexapro - I remember telling the doctor not to give me a brand name if eventually I was going to be given generic. (I tend to be very sensitive to any switches like that - in the past, I was on Prozac Brand for years, until the insurance company stepped in and forced me to use the generic - had a bad experience). Anyway, the doctor in the hospital told me not to worry, that there WASN'T a generic for Lexapro. Okaayyy.... So ten days later, the outpatient doctor says there IS a generic for Lexapro and it's called Citalopram. And not to worry, I wouldn't feel a thing. WRONG! I went nuts. Couldn't sit still, thought I was going crazy with anxiety/akathesia, you name it. I was so nauseous, I could barely stand up straight. After 8-10 days on it, I finally convinced my doctor that I was going to end up back in the hospital if he didn't get me back on the Brand. Which he did. And yes, it's expensive. Right now, I'm just happy to be sane once again...... That's just MY experience - I have ALWAYS been sensitive with any med switches, so take what I say with a grain of salt. What I *did* learn about Lexapro was that Citalopram is actually a generic of Celexa which is supposedly a "dirtier" form of Lexapro. Not sure what the truth is anymore; all I know is that Brand Lexapro works for me and I'll stick with it until it either poops out or I run out of money and need to turn to a DIFFERENT generic form of an antidepressant (certainly not Citalopram!). If you have not had problems with generics in the past, I guess I would go ahead and give it a try. My background is I *have* had bad experiences with generics - as a matter of fact, I'm fairly particular about the manufacturer I use when I *do* use generics. Whatever you do, I wish you luck. Terri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotmess Posted August 10, 2010 Author Share Posted August 10, 2010 Okay,well, I can only tell you my own experience with it and what I was eventually told. When I was hospitalized back in May, I was given Lexapro - I remember telling the doctor not to give me a brand name if eventually I was going to be given generic. (I tend to be very sensitive to any switches like that - in the past, I was on Prozac Brand for years, until the insurance company stepped in and forced me to use the generic - had a bad experience). Anyway, the doctor in the hospital told me not to worry, that there WASN'T a generic for Lexapro. Okaayyy.... So ten days later, the outpatient doctor says there IS a generic for Lexapro and it's called Citalopram. And not to worry, I wouldn't feel a thing. WRONG! I went nuts. Couldn't sit still, thought I was going crazy with anxiety/akathesia, you name it. I was so nauseous, I could barely stand up straight. After 8-10 days on it, I finally convinced my doctor that I was going to end up back in the hospital if he didn't get me back on the Brand. Which he did. And yes, it's expensive. Right now, I'm just happy to be sane once again...... That's just MY experience - I have ALWAYS been sensitive with any med switches, so take what I say with a grain of salt. What I *did* learn about Lexapro was that Citalopram is actually a generic of Celexa which is supposedly a "dirtier" form of Lexapro. Not sure what the truth is anymore; all I know is that Brand Lexapro works for me and I'll stick with it until it either poops out or I run out of money and need to turn to a DIFFERENT generic form of an antidepressant (certainly not Citalopram!). If you have not had problems with generics in the past, I guess I would go ahead and give it a try. My background is I *have* had bad experiences with generics - as a matter of fact, I'm fairly particular about the manufacturer I use when I *do* use generics. Whatever you do, I wish you luck. Terri Thank you so much for sharing. I'm so sorry you had that experience. I actually saw my pdoc yesterday and asked him about this and he said to stick with brand when it comes to lexapro. He said it's different. He tried to explain it but it was a lot of science that I couldn't explain properly here but he said to stick with brand if I can afford to. He does have me on generics for Welbutrin and Lamictal however, and feels that those generics are just fine. So brand Lexapro it is!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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