Would using an antidepressant (such as 10 mg Lexapro) for a month be long enough to cause significant long-term side effects if you off it? Would this have a significant impact on your brain?
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The Sun
ANSWERS: 4
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I am not familiar with Lexapro, but with most anti depressants, you need to ease off of them. The reason is they usually stimulate your brain to release more chemicals (such as seratonin). When your brain stops receiving that stimulation, the chemical levels drop, and you can become much more depressed than before, and often suicidal. Your symptoms wouldn't vary greatly from somebody who quits a serious illegal drug suddenly, aside from the fact that your symptoms would be less severe. Also, if you are still depressed and looking for a way to help the depression, try taking St. Johns wort. It works in about the same way as most anti-depressants, but its natural and doesn't have quite so many side effects. Talk to your doctor about it if you want to look into it though, because I know it effects blood pressure slightly. There are also a number of other herbs, vitamins, and enzymes that can greatly help with depression. I've been on St. Johns Wort for about a week and half, and its the first time that I haven't been depressed a little bit in a quite a while. I hope this answer helps you ^^
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Lexapro can cause withdrawal symptoms, even after just a month. My daughter was on it for a while, and when her depression ended (it was actually a symptom of a more serious disease, Addison's), she had to wean herself off to prevent the irregular heartbeat she experienced when stopping suddenly.
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If you have a pecker, it might make it go to sleep on you which is no fun at all.
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Long term? No. However, stopping an anti-depressant suddenly can make a person spin emotionally, and can cause suicidal thoughts and tendencies. If you want to stop taking it because of ill side-effects or some other problem, that's understandable, but do it with the supervision and advice of your doctor, never suddenly.
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