What are the long term effects of taking Lexapro?

To date, there are no known problems associated with long term use of escitalopram. It is a safe and effective medication when used as directed.

How long can you be on Lexapro?

Lexapro Dosage

If you are experiencing your first episode of depression or anxiety, you may take Lexapro for a defined period—such as between six months and one year. For individuals with a chronic mental health condition, it may be necessary to take Lexapro for an extended period (over many years).

Can Lexapro cause permanent damage?

Lexapro has been widely used during pregnancy but has been linked to a number of birth defects. Some of these effects are severe, permanently debilitation or may cause death.

Can you take Lexapro for years?

Escitalopram is a commonly used antidepressant. Antidepressants are safe for short-term use. However, prolonged use can cause side effects with previously undetected clinical risks.

Can Lexapro cause health problems?

Lexapro may lead to impotence and ejaculation disorder. Celexa and Lexapro also carry risks for much more dangerous side effects. Serious side effects include abnormal bleeding, seizures and visual problems. The FDA requires the drugs' labels to include a black box warning for an increased risk of suicide.

Lexapro: long term side effects | Doctor explains!

Does Lexapro change your brain permanently?

Some research has suggested this type of drug aids in neuroplasticity. In other words, these drugs can affect how our minds organize and form synaptic connections. Other researchers believe this type of medication has no long-term effects on our brains once the individual stops using the drug.

Does your brain go back to normal after antidepressants?

"The fact that antidepressant withdrawal can be so prolonged suggests that the drug has changed the brain and that those changes are taking a very long time to return to normal and it may be the case that sometimes they don't go back to normal."

Do antidepressants shorten your life?

The analysis found that in the general population, those taking antidepressants had a 33 percent higher risk of dying prematurely than people who were not taking the drugs. Additionally, antidepressant users were 14 percent more likely to have an adverse cardiovascular event, such as a stroke or a heart attack.

Can you stay on antidepressants for life?

MYTH: Once on antidepressants, I'll be on them for life. FACT: Not true. A general rule clinicians often use is that a person should be treated with antidepressants at least one-and-a-half times as long as the duration of the depressive episode before they can begin to be weaned off.

What does Lexapro do to the brain?

It works by helping to restore the balance of a certain natural substance (serotonin) in the brain. Escitalopram belongs to a class of drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI). It may improve your energy level and feelings of well-being and decrease nervousness.

Is it hard to get off Lexapro?

If you've decided, with your doctor to come off your medication, the quitting process can be difficult. Common symptoms of withdrawal include dizziness, muscle tension, chills, crying, and brain fog.

What happens if you take antidepressants for years?

Those who had used antidepressants for >3 years reported more severe side effects, including “weight gain”, “addiction”, “feeling not like myself ”, “withdrawal symptoms”, and “suicidality”, than those who had been on antidepressants for ≤2 years.

Does Lexapro change your personality?

Fact: When taken correctly, antidepressants will not change your personality. They will help you feel like yourself again and return to your previous level of functioning.

Can Lexapro cause liver damage?

Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of drug-induced liver injury associated with escitalopram use, when initiating depressed patients on antidepressant treatment. This requires extra vigilance as most patients may remain asymptomatic.

Does Lexapro stop working over time?

When depression symptoms improve after starting an antidepressant, many people need to continue taking medication long term to prevent symptoms from returning. However, in some people, a particular antidepressant may simply stop working over time.

When should I stop taking Lexapro?

Clinicians generally recommend staying on the medication for six to nine months before considering going off antidepressants. If you've had three or more recurrences of depression, make that at least two years.

How do I get off Lexapro?

A person should never try to quit Lexapro without discussing this decision with their doctor and developing an action plan. In most cases, a doctor will recommend slowly reducing the dosage and possibly switching to an alternative SSRI medication to aid the tapering process.

Do antidepressants damage your brain?

We know that antipsychotics shrink the brain in a dose-dependent manner (4) and benzodiazepines, antidepressants and ADHD drugs also seem to cause permanent brain damage (5).

How do i taper off Lexapro?

Guidelines recommend short tapers, of between 2 weeks and 4 weeks, down to therapeutic minimum doses, or half-minimum doses, before complete cessation. Studies have shown that these tapers show minimal benefits over abrupt discontinuation, and are often not tolerated by patients.

Does Lexapro affect your heart?

In conclusion, these data demonstrate that escitalopram, like other SSRIs, has a statistically significant effect on heart rate and no clinically meaningful effect on ECG values, BP, with a placebo-level incidence of cardiac-associated adverse events.

Will Lexapro shorten my life?

Though these pills may help in the short-term, a new study finds they could portend a serious health crisis later on in life, when taken long-term. Seems those who take selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the most popular kind, have a 33% higher mortality rate.

Do antidepressants Make You Age Faster?

Surprising results among those taking antidepressants

Researchers believe this may be due to the tendency for antidepressants to relax the facial muscles, leading to more drooping than would otherwise be the case for a particular patient's chronological age.

Do antidepressants cause dementia?

Certain antidepressants and bladder medications are linked to increased risk of dementia, according to new University of East Anglia research funded by Alzheimer's Society and published today in the British Medical Journal.

Do antidepressants rewire the brain?

“It appears that SSRI antidepressants rewire areas of the brain that are important for thinking and feeling, as well as operating the autonomic nervous system,” said Koliatsos. Axons are long, filament-shaped extensions of neurons that, together with myelin, are the main constituents of nerves.

Do antidepressants affect intelligence?

Deletion carriers treated with SSRIs exhibited a lower IQ at baseline, but a progressive increase in IQ scores over time with respect to deletion carriers not treated with any medication(FSIQ: 0.53 vs −0.28 points per year; VIQ: 0.15 vs −0.75 points per year; PIQ: 0.89 vs −0.04 points per year; Fig.