Augusto99:
He may have been on other drugs as well, but bizarre side effects are clearly associated with
Lexapro alone.
All the SSRIs are dangerous. A steady drip of studies have challenged the "serotonin did it" hypothesis. A 2003 mouse experiment suggested that SSRIs work by inducing the birth and growth of new brain neurons, not by monkeying with serotonin. In March, a review of decades of research concluded that something other than "changes in chemical balance might underlie depression." And as the authors of the review noted, although ads for SSRIs say they correct a chemical imbalance, "there is no such thing as a scientifically correct 'balance' of serotonin."
There is little doubt that the SSRIs do what their name says, keeping more serotonin in the brain's synapses. But the fact that SSRIs act on the serotonin system does not mean that clinical depression results from a shortage of serotonin. No more so, anyway, than the fact that steroid creams help rashes means that rashes are caused by a steroid shortage.
A clue to how SSRIs do work comes from how long they take to have any effect. They rarely make a dent in depression before three weeks, and sometimes take eight weeks to kick in. But they affect serotonin levels right away. If depression doesn't lift despite that serotonin hit, the drugs must be doing something else; it's the something else that eases depression. The best evidence so far is that the something else is neurogenesis -- the birth of new neurons.
Some 19 million people in the U.S. suffer from depression in any given year. For many, SSRIs help little, if at all. To do better, we have to get the science right.
I believe it would be best to stop now. No need to taper after one week of use.
Best of luck!
Miles