CIPRALEX (MEDICATION FOR MOM)

[ME & THE BOYS]

Hello everyone,

I will try and write you more later if I am not too tired when the boys go to bed.

I wanted you to know the Doctor (my new Dr. whom I am excited about), prescribed CIPRALEX for me. I am not happy that I feel I need to take these drugs (antidepressants). But, living how I do (the whole marriage thing) and all, has had me down for so long.

Anyhow, I have surrendered to medication, but wondered if any of you have taken this drug? Good/not so good stories in your experience taking this drug? I am trying to be positive and keep in mind, I do know medications react different with different people.

Any shared info would be very much appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[DDD]

I've only taken Lexapro and it has been very helpful and free of
side effects. Good luck. I think taking a medication for awhile during
extreme duress makes alot of sense. I hope yours is effective.
DDD

 

[totoro]

husband take (Lexapro) Cipralex he is at 20mg. It has been wonderful for him. He barely noticed a thing... his doctor increased it slowly and I noticed changes. No weight gain or bad side affects for husband. Just deals with the bad things better!!! Less depression.
Good luck, I take Zoloft and have had good luck with it also.

 

[wakeupcall]

:bravo: GOOD for you!!! At least you realized you needed some help and got it! I'm proud of you.....and you're joining the ranks of many of us who are mothers (and fathers) of difficult children!! I'm sure there isn't a one of us who wouldn't rather NOT be on medications just to cope, but we all do what we have to do. I hope it helps, but give it time!

Pamela

 

[Steely]

Yay! So glad you made this choice for yourself! I have been on 20mg for years, and it has helped a ton in my fight against the day to day stress! Good luck! :grin:

 

[ME & THE BOYS]

Thank you for your replies.

Does anyone know if cipralex is the same as lexapro?
Are they the same drug?

 

[fedup]

Here is a listing for sites explaining Lexapro:

http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=Lexapro&FORM=MSNH

It looks as if Cipralex is another name for Lexapro.

difficult child was on Lexpro for a couple of months. Of course, he was not copmliant in taking it regularly.

Hope this helps.

 

[loricbme]

I personally did not have good luck with Lexapro. It worked for a short time and then started to fade out on me. It also contributed to me gaining 45 pounds in a very short amount of time. My therapist told me that Lexapro stimulates sugar cravings. I changed to Wellbutrin and have lost 24 lbs.

 

[ME & THE BOYS]

Oh my Goodness,

I am getting alittle scared with the info I am receiving. But, I did ask for it.

Thank you for your replies and info/resource sights.

I forgot to mention that the Dr. also prescribed Ativan, which I think is also called Imovane to sleep at night. I get even more nervous taking two drugs and them mixing (adverse reactions,,,).

This is all so scary.

I am so tired from the lack of sleep. The depression has me waking up each and every night. Additionally, I am so tired of the depression (living with this depression this way).

Has anyone taken ativan, in addition to cipralex?

I just want to cry, I am crying. I am so angry and sad right now over what has happened in my life to have to take these medications. Damn, damn, damn my husband!

 

[loricbme]

I am so sorry. But I am glad to know you're taking steps to get yourself feeling better. It is a hard decision to make to take medications to help with depression, but that first day you notice a change in yourself and that you feel more like yourself, you will know it is so worth it. It will take a little bit to kick in. It's ok to cry. I'm thinking of you.

P.S.
DAMN, DAMN, DAMN YOUR HUSBAND!!!

 

[ME & THE BOYS]

THANK YOU for your replies and support. You have been a life support for me here.

You know, it is like, life is hard enough (stressful/tiring) with our difficult child's. Worrying about them, their futures. Caring for them is a job in itself.

I truly did not need the maritial pain of my husbands doing to add to the mix. I feel that he has destroyed me, I am so depressed.

o.k., I am getting off topic. I am sorry. I am really down tonight. I am feeling so sorry for my difficult child child (I always feel this way for him )and feeling sorry for myself also (at this time).

Please forgive me here.

 

[flutterbee]

No need to apologize, hon. It's why we're here. Lately, I've been asking for a lot more support than I am able to give, I feel. We all take turns. It's the way it works and we are all happy with the way it works. We're here for each other.

by the way, I LOVE my lexapro. It made me ME again. When they added my new medications for the other stuff, I made sure that the doctor's knew that I was not changing my lexapro and if that was going to be a problem they were going to have to find a way around it.

(((hugs)))

 

[ME & THE BOYS]

HELLO THERE,

THANK YOU FOR YOUR REPLY.

I HAVE BEEN READING SO MUCH ABOUT THIS DRUG, SO MUCH NEGATIVE, THAT I AM TRULY SCARED. MANY HAVE GAINED MOUNDS OF WEIGHT AND THEY ARE THEN DEPRESSED ABOUT THE WEIGHT GAIN.

HAVE YOU FOUND THIS (WEIGHT GAIN WITH THIS DRUG)?

THANK YOU.

 

[busywend]

My friend is on it and she has not gained weight. It made her 'her' again.

Look, you have been through the most hurtful experience by the hand of the man that was supposed to be there for you forever. Painful for sure. Worth destroying yourself - I think not. If this medication helps you to help yourself get through this - so be it. It certainly is better than becoming an alcoholic or a drug addict. Those side affects are much worse, huh? Try the medication, see what happens. If nothing else it gives you something else to think about - is this medication helping, being more aware of your reactions, actions, etc. Start looking out for yourself.

Nobody is guaranteed that the life they thought they would have will happen. I thought I would have been married with 5 kids by the time I was 30. At 38, still not married and had a hysterectomy 2 years ago. My life is not at all how I pictured it. Heck, none of us pictured it with a difficult child, right? I am not diminishing your pain, but you do need to realize that you are more important than he thinks you are. You deserve happiness. You are the only one that can make you happy. No man should be the source of your life happiness.

Are you in counseling yet?

 

[flutterbee]

I have put on weight, but I started putting on the weight before the lexapro. I have other medical conditions that contributed to that so I can't pinpoint a specific cause. Honestly, for me the weight gain is a small price to pay for having my emotional well being back. I'd rather be happy and a little heavy than miserable and thin. I did miserable and thin for far too many years.

 

[loricbme]

Me & the boys -

I had the weight gain. When I started taking it I lost a lot of motivation and was very tired the first week or so. I thought that was normal and accepted it. The weight gain was really hard for me because I was extremely well fit, very active. And yes, the weight gain added to my depression. If you have doubts about Lexapro, talk to you dr. and ask if there is something different you can try first. My dr. explained to me that there are families of drugs. Like lexapro and zoloft are in the same family. My sister takes zoloft and she has gained a lot of weight too. But she still takes it because she thinks it's helping her to "take the edge off". It's a big decision and there are a lot of options. If you have doubts, then go with your gut.

 

[ME & THE BOYS]

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR REPLIES AND FEEDBACK.

I FOUND OUT TODAY THAT THE DRUG IS CALLED "CIPRALEX" AND NOT LEXAPRO.

CIPRALEX IS RELATED TO CELEXA (NEW AND STRONGER, BUT APPARENTLY FEWER SIDE EFFECTS).

SO, I ASK AGAIN, ANYONE TAKE THE DRUG CIPRALEX?

I TOOK IT THIS AM FOR THE FIRST TIME. BALLED, BALLED, BALLED MY EYES OUT. IT COMES BACK TO MY HUSBAND.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR VALUED SUPPORT!

 

[smallworld]

FYI, Lexapro and Cipralex are both brands names for the generic medication Escitalopram. Lexapro is the name under which it is marketed in the United States. It must be Cipralex in Canada. Here is the description from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escitalopram_oxalate

Good luck with the medication. Hope you feel better soon.

 

[gcvmom]

My difficult child 1 has been taking Lexapro for about two months now for anxiety. It has helped him TREMENDOUSLY and made his medical procedure anxiety very manageable. It took about two or three weeks to take full effect. He has not complained of any negative side-effects.

I am on antidepressants for similar reasons to yours. Two difficult children and a husband who is not as involved as I need him to be, marital issues (we're in separate bedrooms these days), his own difficult child-ness, etc. I was in pretty bad shape mentally and was starting to have physical symptoms because of my depression.

I started out on Celexa, and it helped for a while. This drug also takes several weeks to take effect. I was on that for over a year, but was starting to break down again emotionally and our psychiatrist switched me to an older tricyclic drug and it has worked much better. I've been on that one about 8 years now. I fully intend to stay on it because my life is just as stressful now as it was when I first broke down. Plus, I've got a family history that predisposes me to being neurochemically-challenged. The way I see it, it's like needing glasses to see better. This medication helps me function better... my emotions are more stable and I'm able to cope with the many bumps that come along in life.

The only negative side-effect I've had is that it makes my heart beat a bit faster. Initially, I did have dry mouth and increased sweating, but that got better with time (and it was certainly better than feeling like life wasn't worth living). My emotional eating stopped, so I actually lost weight at first. It also helped with my premenstrual mood swings.

It really that your husband has abandoned you. It points to his selfishness and immaturity. Not what you need in your life at all. Not what your kids need either. {{{{Hugs!}}}}