Lexapro for social anxiety disorder - Mental Health Message Board

wiski · 02-27-2003, 12:14 PM

I just got a script for Lexapro to help deal with my anxiety, stress and most of all social anxiety disorder. My dr. said different people have different variations of the s.a.d. so it may or may not work the best for me. Paxil was great for my social phobia, but I couldn't handle the side effects. I'm just wondering if anyone has had luck with the Lexapro for social disorders?

hannie5 · 05-02-2003, 11:09 PM

Just wondering about Lexapro. Does this cause weight gain, and is it used for borderline personality disorder and generalized anxiety? I've been using 150 mg of Welbutrin with 112.5 mg of Effexor. I lost weight that I gained from Effexor but the Welbutrin seems to make me jumpy and irritable - not good if I'm being treated for anxiety and borderline.

tealoh · 07-11-2003, 08:58 AM

ok....i was on paxil for s.a.d. for about 6 years it was working very well, but i was sleeping way too much and was starting to feel like maybe i could find a better, newer drug....i went on lexapro...the first few weeks were good because i wasn't tired , and i thought all would be well...but NO....the lexapro did NOTHING for my anxiety...I became EXTREMELY paranoid, anxious and combative, after a few months my friends did not want to be around me....finally someone had the guts to ask me what the heck was going on...(i really didn't realize how bad i was getting) anyway i'm back on paxil......feel better already...it's only been 2 days....zzzzzz

dizzy62 · 07-15-2003, 09:17 PM

I've been on Prozac for 12 years. (Along with Xnax .05 mg prn). I was wanting to wean myself off of this medication (prozac) since I was on it for so long and didn't think I needed it anymore. Well, I tried to do it on my own and went from 40 mg, to 30 mg to 20 mg and now I went to 10 mg. **ALL WITHIN A 30 DAY PERIOD**** I didn't tell my doctor and thought I could do it on my own by experimenting. I even went as far as going every other day. Boy, what a BIG mistake! Especially the days I skipped without taking anything! I went through major withdrawals and wouldn't advise ANYONE to ever take it upon yourself to wean yourself off without a doctors supervision. I finally called my physican and he about lost it when I told him what I was doing. I had been taking the prozac 20 for 12 years and recently began taking 40 mg the very next day without gradually working my way into it. I experienced an extreme desire to sleep all day. I couldn't read or concentrate either. I didn't want to have any conversations with anyone, I just wanted to be left alone.
Well, now my Doctor has prescribed (today), 25 mg of Paxil CR. I start taking it tomorrow and have been instructed to quit taking the prozac all together and only to take xnax as needed. They would like for me to eventually quit taking the xnax because they told me that Paxil CR would help with the panic attacks.
(In place of my xnax).
I'm a little leary of switching my medications and really want to eventually quit taking med's all together. My doctor seems to think that I should remain on med's due to my past history along with family history. Maybe he's right, but I just hate to think about all the negative side effects!
Sorry for rambling, I just thought I'd throw my situation out there and would like to know if anyone else out there has switched from Prozac to Paxil.
Thanks in advance for your upcoming responses!