Lexapro/Klonopin users

barneyb · 12-25-2005, 05:38 PM

I'm taking 10 mg of Lexapro a day. I take it in the morning so that the effects are with me during the day. The problem is that I consistently wake up between 2 and 4 am feeling like an electrical current is running through me. It's jittery, kind of, but there's no anxiety involved. I'm trying not to take the klonopin because it makes me drunk and then exhausted, but I'm having to take about .25 mg just so I can settle and go back to sleep. I've been on this stuff for 20 days, so I would have thought I'd be adjusted by now. And I'm frequently (at least once a day) having problems with tremors in my right hand. You can see it shaking.

I haven't had a panic attack in a couple of weeks, but these other things are wearing me out and starting to scare me. Please somebody tell me they're normal effects of one or both of these drugs.

sleepydumpling · 12-26-2005, 11:36 AM

Dayna, I had exactly the same thing when I first started Lexapro. It drove me nuts - I would be able to get to sleep, but I couldn't stay that way. When I woke through the night it was like I was instantly AWAKE. No slow drifting into consciousness - it was like a light switch being turned on. And it took me about two hours to settle back into a relaxed mood to be able to sleep again - I was instantly hyper when I woke up.

I also had the jibberies I called them - shakes. Sometimes just my hands, sometimes deeper like shoulders.

As well as this, I had constant nausea (like waves of sickness - all day and night), no concentration at all, and my short term memory was all screwed up!

The good news is, after about a month or so all those symptoms faded away to pretty much nothing. I still get a bit weird with concentration and short term memory - but nothing that makes life unliveable - I just get a bit ditzy now and again. But I've settled right into the Lexapro and it's working very well for me (no more panic attacks and I feel like "me" again a lot more than I used to.) But it did take at least 4-6 weeks for it to settle into my system.

Do keep your doctor informed about any side-effects or symptoms you might be having though - they can help if anything becomes unbearable.

Hope this helps
Kath

barneyb · 12-27-2005, 12:44 AM

Thanks Kath. Sounds like my experiences are very similar to what you had. Fortunately, I don't have the nausea, but I just don't eat near as much as I used to. Maybe it's because I used food for comfort and I don't need to now, but I've lost 7.5 lbs since I started the Lexapro.

All of my side effects are far preferable to the panic attacks -- those were becoming debilitating. I'll take the shakes over absolute terror any day.

Thanks again. I feel better about what's going on, but I do plan to report these things to the dr. when I go to follow up.

sleepydumpling · 12-27-2005, 05:11 AM

No problemo Dayna, only too happy to help!

I wish it had suppressed my appetite - most of the time I've done really well, but Christmas has been a mass blow out!

Congrats on your weight loss - keep going girl!
Kath

annem84 · 12-27-2005, 04:46 PM

I take mine at night, even though I'm supposed to take it in the morning but found when I took it at 8 AM, I was nauseous throughout the whole darn day and I couldn't function at work very well so changed and am now taking it at 7:30 and can sleep through the discomforts.

luv4deliah · 01-11-2006, 05:51 PM

barneyb...one warning.....be careful with that klonopin. It can be very addictive. My mother got addicted to it a couple years back and then I myself became addicted last year when they prescribed it for my anxiety attacks. I had to learn to only use it when absolutely necessary.

With the Lexapro, give it time. Meds take a long time to regulate in our bodies. Also, what is your diagnosis? Are you bi-polar? Because anti-depressants can cause bi-polar sufferers to go into mania or have manic symptoms, it's important for your doctor to monitor your mood while on them. I have to take an anti-psychotic before bed which really helps me sleep and helps with anxiety. Plus it's not habit forming. Something you might want to talk to your doc about.

Good luck Cyster. Hope all works out.

Shana P

barneyb · 01-12-2006, 02:09 AM

I updated in another thread, but. . . I have a panic disorder, although the dr says I may be mildly bipolar. I have stopped taking the Lexapro after developing full body tremors, for lack of a better term. Also was having severe, unexplained bruising all over my legs. So now it's just the klonopin, but I'm way below the prescribed dose -- my scrip reads to take one (.5 mg) pill every 6 hours. I take half, sometimes a whole, once a day and not even every day -- weekdays are the worst. Thanks though, Shana -- addiction is something I worry about. Like I need more to worry about.

sleepydumpling · 01-12-2006, 02:27 AM

Maybe that's why I bruise so much??