Lexapro versus the generic brand Citalopram

PS. Thanks for the welcome Karen. :)

Hi Carolanny,

Welcome to the depression forum. I am so glad that you joined us. I haven't taken celexa, but I have had diarrhea from zoloft. I couldn't tolerate it. But I was wondering why you haven't continued to try different meds. It took me many tries before I found what worked for me.

You would probably do best on a ssni. I take pristiq. It has antianxiety characteristics. As did effexor which I was on for many years. But I also take xanax for anxiety (which I am currently weaning myself off of).

I am really sorry to hear about your husband. I have a friend that we suspect has parkinsons. She is at the beginning stages. I hope not though. But she even suspects it as it runs in her family.

The best thing you could probably do for yourself is to try to relax and take each day as it comes. You are in a situation where you don't have control, and nobody can. I lost my first husband to lung cancer back in 2000. It was hard, but I did take it one day at a time, and I made it through. You will too.

Have you ever tried anything like effexor? It has a generic and it is a very good antidepressant. Lexapro I have heard is good too. I hope that you find something to help you. Keep trying. Remember your breathing. In through the nose and out through the mouth when you feel anxiety creeping up.

You can only do so much right now. You have no control how your husband acts at the nursing home. Try not to worry about it, they might have to give him some type of medication to calm him down. But this does not reflect on you in any way. Try to stay in the present. There are many, many things I could be worrying about right now, but I choose not to. You can choose not to worry about life. Relax and breathe... Live in the moment and I can't express enough to take life one simple day at a time. You will get through this and we will help you.

I hope that you feel better soon. I wrote about trying different meds, then I read you were interested in lexapro. I hope that it works for you. All you can do is try it. These medications work differently on different individuals, so not many have the same side effects or same progress. Remember it takes an antidepressant six to eight weeks to reach it's full potential. So we have to be patient where that is concerned, though you could start feeling better before that. Which is always wonderful..

Take care...

Hugs, Karen...

Hmmmmmm.......... Thank you...

You are right. Life is what you make of it. I do the best I can. I guess no household is perfect. There is always something. But we make the best of what we got. I am glad you see a psychologist. I do too. And a psychiatrist. Medications have helped me a lot. I am lucky. In life, it is always something. But it isn't the problem, but how we face it and react. You sound like you have learned what works for you. I think we all do in time. Some of us are lucky and get feeling better. I hope that you do too.

Take care, have a good day. I am sure you will get other people's input on how celexa worked for them.

I wish you well taking care of your husband. You sure do a lot and you are a good person. I hope that it goes easily. One day at a time is all we can do. That is enough...

Hugs, Karen

I just started the generic version and I find that it doesn't work as well. I'm a bit more emotional with the generic and feel blue a bit more often.

Thanks, Karen.

I am in the process of applying for the patient assistance program through Forest Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Lexapro. My doctor says they are good with their assistance.

www.forestpharm.com/pap or phone# 800.851.0758

Do you know if the manufacturer of the brand name is usually the maker of the generic as well?

Hope things get better, Beulah.

Sara

Hi all, I am so glad to find this thread. My story is very similar to many already here. I received my last refill two weeks ago and started experiencing anxiety and almost panic attacks less than a week from when I started the new refill. I just noticed that they refilled with generic escitalopram. Called dr and she said that in order to get back on original lexapro, I have to try two generics???

It would have been nice I'd they would have informed me that they were changing makers......although it is ultimately my fault for not checking the label immediately. Anyway, that's my $0.02. Feeling better already knowing that others have had same issue.
Deep breaths,
Phlah

Hi all,

I just spent the past hour or two reading all the posts on this thread. I too have used Lexapro for many years now, and it's worked well for me with hardly any side effects. I'm low income and have been on Forest Pharm.'s patient assistance program for about 6 years. Sad to say, they informed me last week that the order they just sent out would be their last for Lexapro. The drug is being dropped from their patient assistance list now that it's gone generic. I think what happens is the drug companies voluntarily agree to make their more expensive drugs available to low income customers in exchange for being granted favorable deals of extended patents and exclusivity. But once that period of exclusivity ends, they are no longer obligated to provide for those who can't afford the cost of their drug.

In this case it's especially unfair, since the generic form costs almost as much as the original product. True, the cost will eventually come down, but that could take months, or even years. What are we supposed to do in the mean time?
The old similar, but not really equivalent, product (citalopram) sounds like a very poor alternative due to the many side effects mentioned. The newer true generic (Escitalopram) is still not affordable for most people.

Does anyone have information about who is actually manufacturing the new generic version? If it's someone other than Forest, perhaps the new company will start a patient assistance program. But I wouldn't hold my breath for that!

I think Karen has the right idea. We need to take each day as it comes, while remembering to breathe!

Hi Karen,

Thanks for the welcome. If I find out anything else regarding patient assistance, I'll post it also. Your positivity and willingness to share is much appreciated! :o)

Hello,

If you are having a problem getting your Lexapro, have you tried to find a charitable pharmacy in your area. In my area, I use St Vincent De Paul, charitable pharmacy. There are also med discount places on line, such as www.NeedyMeds.
I take Lexapro myself and I would not trade it for the world, I started out with Zoloft until it became useless.



Good Luck, keep posting

Here's my theory: Brain chemistry is extremely sensitive and even though the active ingredient is the same in both the generic and brand name, the inactive ingredients may play a more active role in how brain chemistry is affected and how the medicine is absorbed.

I was in a happy relationship and was doing quite well in a new job until I switched to generic. Within one week I was in a very bad situation. Wasn't eating or sleeping, couldn't concentrate at all at work, felt completely alone, had constant intrusive thoughts and fears of being alone and wouldn't be able to properly take care of myself. This lead me to completely withdraw from everyone including my then girlfriend.

Long story short, I'm back on the generic and within two days I'm starting to feel better. I was never a believer that brand name medications were any different from generic until now. My advice, switch to brand immediately if you find yourself in a similar situation. Don't become a victim of your own brain chemistry, reclaim your life and change meds.

Hi-here is my experience-I was on Celexa/citalopram and my dose was all-of-a-sudden not approved because of a comparison study done by Lexapro that showed 80 mg of citalopram caused heart problems, i think...years later, after lowering my dose of citalopram and not having as much success as I previously had, my doc said that if I tried escitalopram, I could get the equivalant of my old dose of citalopram, as they were the same, chemically.

That was two months ago. Since I switched, my depression and anxiety have returned in a debilitating way that is similar to how I felt before I even started citalopram in the first place. I thought it had to do with life coincidences and stressors, but now, after having read this, I have hope again; I can't wait to get back on citalopram or Celexa.

I think what I've learned the most from reading all this is that generic drugs aren't the same as brand name and that citalopram isn't the same as escitalopram. Also, everybody's brain chemistry is different, and once we finally find something that works for us, we should stick to it. Good luck to everyone in their quest for balance:)

Post Edited (foxed) : 10/30/2012 5:43:12 PM (GMT-6)

Hello everyone,

I am new here in this forum. First time ever joining a forum, lol! I wanted some advice on Lexapro. I just started on it today at 10 mg for panic attacks and mild depression. I have tried other anti-depressants in the past such as Pritiq & Celexa, however I had to stop them after about two weeks because it would give me terrible side effects such as severe anxiety, panic attacks, stomach pain & insomnia. So I only took klonopin at 1 mg for the last three years but my depression just got worst after a miscarriage a couple of months back. I realized the klonopin would not help me with the depression. So can anyone tell me their experience with Lexapro at the beginning of treatment? I want to make sure it's different from Celexa & Pristiq.

Thank you.
Alexandra