Diarrhea from Lexapro / Escitalopram

[F_RN_Dx_at_39]

I was prescribed Lexapro for work performance anxiety and social (reconnecting with loved ones I fallen out of touch with) anxiety. The work anxiety has gotten so bad that I was waking up multiple times at night with work anxiety related dreams. I was told to take my dose at night. The next morning I woke up and it felt like a weight had been taken off of my shoulders. I was shocked and so pleased at the immediate results. After two weeks my prescriber increased the dose to 20 mg. It worked wonderful at 10 and 20 mg to control my anxiety and mild depression.

12 days after starting the Lexapro I developed diarrhea and had to stay home from work. I also lost my ability to orgasm. I've now been on medical leave for 6 weeks because of the diarrhea. I've seen many doctors and had several tests. On my own I did an internet search for 'diarrhea and Lexapro' and learned that they are linked. I brought this up to my new psychiatrist who apologized for not catching it. I learned that up to 20% of people can develop diarrhea with this drug class because of an issue with the serotonin causing the diarrhea. He says it can take up to 2 weeks for the diarrhea to resolve after stopping it. I had already decreased the dose to 10 mg after one month because of the sexual dysfunction. He had me reduce the dose to 5 mg for 3 to 5 days and then stop. He recommends I don't replace it with anything for at least a month so that my body can normalize. He says that this basically eliminates that drug class and that my other options to treat the anxiety are much more addictive.

I also have newly diagnosed ADHD and have struggled to find the right medication for that. I have tried many typical ADHD meds. I recently started Armodafinal and I think it is helping without causing side effects, but I've been off work for so long, because of the diarrhea, it's hard to tell how effective it is.

I would love to hear from anyone who has had a similar experience of having SSRIs be effective for treatment but not being able to tolerate their side effects, and what they then tried and found effective.

Times are hard for everyone, and I would love to get my anxiety back in check.

Thank you.

[Ginger7]

I've been on Lexapro for over 10 years and I never had any diarrhea or problems with orgasms. It made a big difference for me and really helped with my anxiety. For the first few years of being on it, it made me drowsy so I always took it before bed. But since I've been on it for so long it doesn't make me drowsy anymore. I'm sorry that you had such a bad reaction to it! ☹️

[F_RN_Dx_at_39 in reply to Ginger7]

Me too. It worked great for the anxiety. Apparently diarrhea can affect up to 20% of the people who try it.

[Mariakelly]

I'm having the same trouble with Escitalopram. Even a low dose of 5mg for a week or 10 days brought on diarrhoea. And yes, I had the same good experience at the start - within a couple of hours of taking it, it was like the rain stopping and the sun beginning to shine. I was very disappointed though with that side effect-more afraid though I was damaging my physical health. Eventually I stopped taking it.

[F_RN_Dx_at_39 in reply to Mariakelly]

Have you tried anything new since that has worked? That was a great way to describe it. I'm sorry and I hope you find something that works better to replace it.

[Mariakelly in reply to F_RN_Dx_at_39]

No, I didn't try anything else. To be honest I didn't bother going back to the doctor about it. I'm managing away ok without anything for the time being anyway.