Furious George Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 I just recently started taking this med (about 5 weeks) and the last 4 or 5 days I have been jaw clenching and flexing my tongue. By the end of the day my teeth are sore and my tongue is dead tired from pushing against my lower front teeth so much. Besides the sore mouth, the drug is working well for me. It was prescribed for its anti-obsessional and anti-depressive properties. Is this anything to worry about? I have a psychiatric visit scheduled in the next 2 weeks, should I just wait until then? I was actually feeling pretty good today so I don't really want to have to quit it. I was quite sociable ( for me anyway) and talked to 2 strangers today. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dedoubt Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 When I was taking citalopram, I had horrible jaw clenching, tooth grinding and tongue chewing. I had it the whole two months I was on it (stopped due to mania). You ought to call your pdoc since it started after you were past the initial SEs period. Either he will see you sooner or at the least reassure you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furious George Posted May 8, 2012 Author Share Posted May 8, 2012 Meh. All the drugs that seem beneficial to me end up causing annoying side effects. I'll ride it out until my next appointment and then take it from there. Thanks for the response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 I found Escitalopram pretty potent, Citalopram didn't do too much for me but Escitalopram gave me this skin crawly mania and my gdoc yanked me right off it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rae-Rae Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 I've had the same side effect. I'm getting close to 2 months on it and I think it's subsided a little. I'm taking lorazepam for when it happens and I'm finding I need it less lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discomposed Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 I'd never really thought about it before, but looking back yes it does seem my nighttime teeth grinding (bruxism) coincides with the times I've been on Cipralex. The product monograph (pdf) lists it as a less common side effect that occurred during clinical trials. I don't think I'd stop taking it however, given ripping yourself off it can be more immediately dangerous than jaw clenching or teeth grinding. If you can hold out until your pdoc appt, give it a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
water Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 What dosage you are taking? When I started Lexapro I was so nervous about the side effects I went up to my current 20 mg very very slow and the side effects subsided eventually. I do clench my jaw at night, have TMJ, etc., but this started before I started Lexapro. When I stopped drinking coffee last year my bruxisum improved considerably. Any increase in stress or tension also adds to any nighttime clenching. My jaw is the only place on my body I can massage myself pretty well but you could try finding a massuese who speicializes in TMJ. If you can bear the side effects and the med is working well so far, I would wait at least 3 months before deciding to quit. Lexapro was an extremely hard med for me to adjust to but it totally filled in all the corners and holes and bits of places bupropion didn't find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furious George Posted May 8, 2012 Author Share Posted May 8, 2012 I'm really happy with the way escitolopram has worked for me thus far. Hopefully it is just a temporary problem from having just gone up to a 20mg dose. I am afraid that if I stop it now that I may miss out on a breakthrough drug for me. Thanks to all who responded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furious George Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 Just thought I'd post an answer to what was causing the jaw clenching. My psychiatrist lowered my Risperdal by 1mg and the problem went away. I'm not sure if it was caused by the Escitolopram and the Risperdal together, fortunately it is now gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
water Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 that's great!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Stewart Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 I had similar issues on Cipralex/Lexapro. A daily jaw stretching regimin helped keep everything relaxed reasonably well. Eventually switch to generic citalopram for financial reasons. No such side effect on the regular citalo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirazh Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Glad you found your answer, yeah maybe the Risperidol was agitating this rather common SE of Cipralex. I had quite pronounced jaw clenching on it m'self, it did ease up somewhat, and thanks to experince in past years of stim abuse I seem to good with stopping myself from doing it - obviously doesn't help me while asleep. But I do remember reading about it being a rather common SE. It was worse for me than any clenching I get with methylphenidate, because I did it in a different way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
water Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 It's really hard to give your shoulders a deep tissue massage but oine lucky thing about jaw pain is the ease of self massage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
water Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 I do clench my jaw at night, have TMJ, etc., but this started before I started Lexapro. When I stopped drinking coffee last year my bruxisum improved considerably. Any increase in stress or tension also adds to any nighttime clenching. My jaw is the only place on my body I can massage myself pretty well but you could try finding a massuese who speicializes in TMJ. Two and half years later, my Lexapro jaw clenching side effect is much better. Unfortunately I still have TMJ, but not because of lex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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