Lexapro anyone?
#124636 - 11/22/04 11:27 AM
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anyone IBS-D and taking lexapro (anti anxiety)? Please tell me your experience(s) with it. thanks
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I have been on 10mg for a month and see a definite improvement in my anxiety which in turn helps my ibs symptoms. By following Heather's diet and taking Lexapro, I am doing better.
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There have been tons of previous posts on this. Hit the search button at the top of the page (beside where it says message boards).
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Formerly HanSolo. IBS, OCD, Bipolar, PTSD times 3.
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I'm not on it but Casey (Atomic Rose) is and seems to be having great results. As far as I know she is an IBS-D.
Do a search for her name or anti-depressants in general and you'll find TONS of info.
Btw, I'm an IBS-D and am taking Celexa and it has helped loads.
Good luck. 
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My doc said i had ibs. He first put me on bentyl. This stuff worked great as far as my stomach goes. I could eat anything and not have a problem with going to teh bathroom. Only thing, my mouth was so dry that i could barely swallow and it caused tightness in my prostate. Felt uncomfortable. SO he then took me off that, did the upper and lower, said it was gastritis/ibs. He felt it was my anxiety effecting my stomach. I would get upset stomachs when i would get nervous and anxious. For years i have been dealing with this. He put me on 5mg a day of lexapro. I started taking it and first thing i saw was the sexual side effect. It gave me a resistance when i was about to ejaculate and a tightened feeling in my scrotum all day. I felt as if i was in a fog and not normal. It made me feel a bit more care free and in return a bit more social. I am very talkative normally, but this just made me not care lol. It helped my ibs where it calmed me down so i would not have a problem needing a bathroom. But i wasn't into the way it made me feel. Maybe cause it was new in my system and i didn't give it a chance. I stopped taking it after about 5 days. Didn't want to deal with the sexual side effects. I am not on librax which seems to calm my stomach down a bit, but not like bentyl. One thing i have noticed and changed is my diet. I am now eating all organic foods, no fast food, pizza, etc. and my stomach is 90 % better. I feel much better. I suggest eating organic foods. I am tempted to go back on the lexapro, but hate the side effects. A friend of mine suggested cymbalta instead. Lexapro works for ibs because of the brain receptors. Lexapro and a few other drugs calm them down and control the stomach spasms. I don't have the ibs where i am constipated, I was going too much and anxiety was really making it worse. I'd love to hear a few responses. Thanks
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Well, I wasn't going to reply to this because I'm an A, not a D, but I always had more problems with D than C anyway, so I'll put in my 2 cents.
I love Lexapro, and they'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands if they ever want me to stop taking it. The initial side effects were a little unpleasant, but those went away within 2 weeks. I felt better mentally after only a few days on it, and my IBS symptoms improved dramatically shortly after the side effects went away. I had a lot of problems with nausea and lack of appetite, and of course some anxiety problems (panic attacks, mostly) - all of that is a thing of the past. It hasn't been a "cure", I still have attacks, but they're few and far between, and usually hormone-related (not anxiety-related like they used to be).
Hope that helps a bit!
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ATOMIC ROSE TOOK EVERYTHING RIGHT OUT OF MY MOUTH (EXCEPT) I HAVE NOT TRIED THE LEXAPRO, IS IT REALLY THAT GOOD??
BAD CAT
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For everyone who finds lexapro helpful for their IBS, does it help for the pain, the cramping and spasms? 
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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Nope...
#125480 - 11/26/04 11:03 AM
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atomic rose
Reged: 06/01/04
Posts: 7013
Loc: Maine (IBS-A stable since July '05!)
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I haven't found it's done anything for the pain/cramping specifically... I just have fewer attacks over all. Also, for me, one of the problems I had that was contributing to attacks and keeping me from getting stable is that I just wasn't eating enough, because I was afraid to eat - obviously, being an anti-anxiety drug, Lexapro helped greatly with that, and that affected my IBS symptoms positively.
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Lex & Celexa
#125500 - 11/26/04 01:06 PM
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Pezz
Reged: 10/06/03
Posts: 10
Loc: NYC
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i'm IBS-D and i was put on lexapro a year ago....it helped my anxiety pretty quickly and took me out of panic-attack mode. as for the IBS it helped moderately. if i can keep my anxiety down i can keep the IBS symptoms down...typically 
i'm now on Celexa b/c according to my doc the Lexapro has a shortish shelf life...it tends to taper off after one has been on it awhile...not in every case but i was definitely one of them. i've only been on Celexa 3 days and it takes longer to kick in than Lex so i'm not sure about it yet.
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in what ways did celexa and lexapro help the ibs..I was on lexapro and recently went off it and my symtoms got worse.. is there a correlation?
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Celexa
#125569 - 11/26/04 07:32 PM
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I've been on Celexa for several months now and it's helped me tremendously! It took a good 3 weeks to fully kick in though. It helps my IBS SO much and I'm glad my doc prescribed it to me.
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Re: Celexa
#125572 - 11/26/04 07:38 PM
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Augie
Reged: 10/27/04
Posts: 5807
Loc: Illinois
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Does Celexa help with the pain?
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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It has helped me yes. I think it helps in that it somehow prevents attacks so that there's no pain or other IBS symptoms. I do still have IBS symptoms but instead of every day or so, it's only once a week which is manageable.
But that's just my situation, everyone's different.
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Re: Celexa
#125663 - 11/27/04 11:53 AM
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Pezz
Reged: 10/06/03
Posts: 10
Loc: NYC
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thats good to hear sara...i'm hoping the celexa works better than the lexapro did. i feel so many of my symptoms are anxiety related -- if i could just control that i'd be fine most of the time.
i can be strung out and sick early in the mornings before my commute to work and feel like i'm gonna die....then get to work half an hour later and actually have a COFFEE b/c i'm fine. i'd say thats mostly anxiety related imho :P
i was curious about the time it'd take to kick in...thanks for the input.
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