New Cipralex user

[Graeme]

So after attempting to yet again solve my problems on my own i finally took the plunge and asked the doctor for something to help me with the "general mood/funk" that i seem to have fallen into over the last year.

I have had 2 black out episodes that have been attributed to anxiety attacks in the last 5 years.

Since my early teens i have been more comfortable alone than in a group, by my late 20's i had learned the important lessons of: smoking, alcohol and recreation drugs.

So i figured that by the time i hit 32 i should be all smooth sailing from then on, I guess i was wrong.

I turned 39 last month and have been battling some form of depression/anxiety/insomnia for the batter part of 2011. The real tipping point for me was when i no longer cared about my job, I am a self confessed workaholic and coming to terms with the fact that i no longer cared about the one thing that i believed to be the most important part of my life was a real "flag raiser" for me.

I have been given a prescription of 5mg (half a tab) of Cipralex and today is day 7.

Side effects that might or might not be related to the medication:
-jaw clenching
-restlessness
-feeling "numb" not caring about things
-"clamping type" head ache
-ability to lay in bed for log periods of time with no motivation to get up

I have asked my GP for a referral to a Pdoc but where i live has limited resources available.

I tried the counselor path earlier this year but the discussion of "chi" and "grounding" myself caused me to cancel any further appointments.

So for now i will take it day at a time, and tomorrow is a Monday!

[paul m]

Hello Graeme and welcome. In regards to cipralex everybodies reactions is different to a medication. In general it takes 4-6 weeks for cipralex to become effective as an antidepressant(A/D's) once a maintance dose is worked up to. For cipralex this is usually 10-20 mg, but not always.

For side effect information sometimes your pharmacist is the best person to ask for information. A) they are free, B) they will most often talk to you on the phone and C) they are much better educated about various medications work then what most doctors are. D) they often have answers on how to best deal with various side effects.

Some of the side effects that you describe are potentially worrisome and you should talk to at least your pharmacist.

For any individual the chance of an A/D working is about 50%. Sometimes all we get are side effects and no cure from a given A/D. That's the bad news, the good news is that there are lots of different ones to try and if one doesn't work for you or the side effects are just too bad ask your doctor for a different type. Good Luck and Take Care. paul m

[AJ]

Welcome to the forums Graeme.

[Lizzy]

Welcome Graeme. I have been on Cipralex for a little while. I get very sleepy too.

[Kaight]

Hi Graeme. Welcome to the forum. I look forward to reading more of your posts!

Kaight

[astronaut]

Hi Graeme,

welcome to the forum.

I haven't been on Cipralex but I think that Paul had some sound advice when he suggested that you talk to your pharmacist. I
second him on that one.

I understand the councillor thing too. Sometimes it takes a while to find a good fit--someone who you can see eye-to-eye with and
communicate with on a similar level.

I have also been a work-a-holic from time to time. This is often broken up by depressions though. It truly is a terrible feeling to stop
caring about your work and losing the motivation to do it. Right now, don't worry about the work (or worry about not worrying about the work), just take care of yourself.

astronaut

[uni]

Hello and welcome Graeme!

[Darrensgirl]

Wondering how the Cipralex is treating you. I am on the full dose of 20mg. I have been taking it for ummm well over a year (i have no concept of time). It worked quite well once I got adjusted to it and it worked pretty well...now all this time into it, it doesn't seems to be working at all. But i forget to take it sometimes...and I don't take it the same time each day...everyone is different. I have read it does wonders for people. Stick with it..it might be just what you need.

[uni]

Hello Darrensgirl, thanks for posting, and welcome to the forum.

[AJ]

Welcome to the forum Darrensgirl.

[paul m]

Hello Darrensgirl and welcome. In regards to your cipralex no longer working there may be many reasons for that. At the end I have provided a link to the Mayo clinic that talks about this problem. A common problem with cipralex and other medications from a class of medication called SSRI's (and this is going to sound silly) is a problem called SSRI poop out. It means that the medication just quites working for no known cause. This happens to a lot of people.

One thing that can sometimes (and I stress sometimes, not all of the time) can cause this problem is not taking the medication on a regular basis. Missing here or there is not thought to harm you, but regularly missing a dose is thought to contribute to the problem. However opinions and articles vary on this part.

Sometimes switching to another medication in the same class can help without the problems of withdrawel. Take Care. paul m

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/antidepressants/AN01312

[Graeme]

Well thanks for all the attention guys, It is probably the best medicine for me. By that i mean the ability to communicate with others that are dealing with similar issues without being worried that i will be "judged".

After 7 days of the Cipralex i had a very bad reaction, the jury is still out as to if this was the meds or a psychosomatic response to my self education about the new medication i was taking.

The end result was that after my "worst day at work in 5 years" i stopped taking the Cipralex. I phoned the GP and notified him, also talked to my pharmacist and a mental health counsellor.

Now two weeks later i have had my first consult with a Pdoc and was lucky enough to get my consellor to sit in as well. The good news is that i had a initial diagnosis to wrap my head around, for some reason it was really important that i knew what i was suffering from.

So after being saddled with "Depression and Anxiety" as a diagnosis i was sent home with 2 new prescriptions to try out: Effexor XL 75mg - 150 mg and Serquel 25 mg

So i now get to do some research on these two new pills...

The road to recovery is also going to be assisted with counseling and homework/telephone coaching program.

So now i guess i get so see whats behind door number 2 in the family of ssri's.

[paul m]

Hello Graeme. Both those meds have a lot of info on them and not all good. Seroquel especially gets a lot of bad press, but much of that refers to the larger doses(although the writers often forget to mention that). Seroquel is an antipyschotic and in large doses can have some really bad side affects that we should be aware of(200-400 mg is a large dose) .

In smaller doses it does not have much of an antipyschotic property but can still be really sedating with the effects carrying over to the next day. Many docs use it in place of sleeping pills as it does not have the addictive properties of a sleeping pill. If you do find it too sedating the next day, the 25 mg pill can be cut in half without adverse affect. You might want to tell your doc if you decide to try that. If I was starting on this med, I would try it on a night where I didn't have to go to work the next day.

Good Luck with them. Take Care. paul m

[sdwbl]

Graeme,
I hope this combo works for you. I have had some experience with it.
It can be pointless to share that with you, as everyones' reaction to drugs is different.
That being said, I have a couple of recommendations/"heads-up" I could share. The Effexor kind of helped on it's own until I went up to 150 mg. I got really anxious then kind of lost it. Then I got prescribed zoloft, which I've heard is similar, as far that it can calm you down-similar side-effects: feeling really tired and getting really fat really fast. So I would recommend that you really try and make healthy food choices, as well as exercise. As for the Effexor, I went off of it cold turkey which apparently can be really dangerous. I did ok because I went to accupunture a few times a week for quite a while, maybe 5 weeks? So careful if you go off.

[A.E.V.]

effexor is known for bad withdrawal symptoms... but no med should be stopped cold turkey! believe me, I've made that experience (as I'm sure others here have) and found themselves to get very ill.