Advice on SSRI Side Effects (GI issues on Escitalopram)

Information about depression and other related health issues (includes medications).

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kevinskis
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2022 2:17 pm

Advice on SSRI Side Effects (GI issues on Escitalopram)

Postby kevinskis » Sat Feb 12, 2022 2:19 pm

I apologize for the long story, but if anyone with a similar experience could provide any insight it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

About 14 years ago I first started taking 20mg of Citalopram (generic Celexa) for anxiety/depression. It worked great for my anxiety/depression symptoms and my body tolerated it well for about a year until I started to experience GI (gastrointestinal) issues (constant stomach pain). I underwent an endoscopy which showed that I had redness and irritation in the antrum (bottom) of my stomach, but no ulcers or erosions. After ruling out gall bladder issues and more or less every other likely cause, I tapered off of the Citalopram and my GI issues completely went away.

After realizing that the cause of my GI issues was the Citalopram, I switched to 10mg of Escitalopram (generic Lexapro) since my doctor told me it was most similar to Citalopram. I had no GI issues at all for more than 10 years on the Escitalopram until about one year ago when the symptoms returned. Since it had been 10 years since I started the Escitalopram, it didn’t even occur to me that the Escitalopram could be the cause. After undergoing an endoscopy that showed I again had redness and irritation in the antrum (bottom) of my stomach, but no ulcers or erosions, I decided to taper off the Escitalopram and found that my gastrointestinal issues subsided. I am now back on the Escitalopram and am just trying to cope with the GI issues since Escitalopram has worked so well for my anxiety/depression.

I was wondering, has anyone else experienced GI issues on either Citalopram or Escitalopram? And if so, have you found any way to get the symptoms to subside?

Has anyone who had success Citalopram or Escitalopram in terms of anxiety/depression symptoms found any other SSRI that has worked as well?

Thanks again, and look forward to hearing from you!

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