# SSRI



## Dawna (Aug 30, 2007)

I am on Lexapro for anxiety and it is helping for that. But I was just told that SSRI anti-depressants which includes Lexapro can actually worsen IBS diarrhea. Has anyone had this experience? Or has it helped? I have recently been diagnosed with IBS so it is hard for me to tell what is causing the symptoms. I hate to get off the Lexapro because it has taken me awhile to get it in my system at the therapeutic level!


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## 18438 (Dec 14, 2006)

How long have you been on lexapro? And have you noticed the D being any worse since you started taking it?Generally SSRIs do have D as a side effect, but you have to keep in mind that the side effects for these meds GO AWAY generally between 2 and 4 weeks. Which means, chances are that if you experienced more D when yuo start taking it, it would most likely go away after a few weeks....Because you need to give your body time to get used to the med, I wouldnt recommend going off of it. Unless you experience severe side effects, I would always recommend waiting it out and seeing how you feel after the side effects go away.


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## Cherrie (Sep 1, 2006)

Hi Dawna,I'm ibs-d and on lexapro. To piggy bank on what Star said, sometimes it also depends on the person and the dosage. I'm on 5mg (half the normal dose) and it's been working pretty ok for me -- i.e., it doesn't make my ibs worse or better, and it does make my anxiety/depression issues go away. If it works for you, you might want to stick with it for the time period your dr recommended and even if you need to quit it, it should be done slowly under dr's supervision cos sudden withdrawal can cause problems.Cherrie


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## Screamer (Aug 16, 2005)

As far as SSRI's go I've been on both Effexor and Lexapro and while I had to go off them because I had bad side effects neither of them gave me D (which is bizarre because anything that can give people D usually gives it to me!). If it's working and your D hasn't gotten any worse stay on them. Everyone's body reacts differently.


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## 23470 (Apr 18, 2005)

My doc prescribed lexapro awhile back, told me to try it if other simpler things failed (hyosciamine etc). I took the first one at 11am yesterday, an hour later I had the worst D in 2 years (and that was stomach flu!). My body was entirely empty, let me tell you. I shant be trying it again, I'd rather live with grumbly stomach and soft BM's.


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## Cherrie (Sep 1, 2006)

poboyross,Sorrry this happened to you... It is true that lexapro does have this side effect of causing D. Some people may be more sensitive to it than others. I'm sorry it doesn't work for you. There's a lot of other anti-deps that have C as a side effect -- if you do need anti-deps, you might want to talk to your dr about giving you something like Cymbalta (sp?) or something so your BM may also improve together with your anxiety/depression symptoms.Cherrie


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## 18438 (Dec 14, 2006)

poboyrosslike i said up above, you have to give antids time for the side effects to wear off. Im on Paxil and the first few days I started it I had D aswell. The side effects do go away and you need to give the meds time to assimilate to your body (well vice versa). Please dont give up on them after 1 try.


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## Cherrie (Sep 1, 2006)

Poboyross ~You've just tried it once? Sorry I didn't realize that until I read Star's post. In that case Star's absolutely right Or if you just totally can't take the severity of your D after a few tries (some times that can happen, too), please know that it is NOT that you can't take any anti-deps -- there's still the other kind (SNRI) which does not cause D (but prone to give C) to consider, in case you do need to take some kind of anti-deps.Best of luck,Cherrie


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