Has anyone tried the generic escitalopram (Lexapro) now available?

I appreciate your response. I don't have insurance so it costs me $40 more for Lexapro over the generic. Well worth the extra money. I have been on Lex for over 5 years. Changing to the generic I developed anxiety and bad headaches. Almost like withdrawal. The headaches have gone away and I am back on regular Lexapro. There is obviously a difference between these two even though the base drug escitalopram is the same. My doctor seems to think that it may have something to do with how they are processed. Since the generic has only been out for a little over a month, we will have to wait and see what others experience.

I was on Lexapro for 2 yrs and stopped taking it because I felt wonderful!!! After about a year or so without it I changed jobs and found myself starting to have panic attacks again. My doctor prescribed "escitalopram" and it almost killed me. Sweating, heart racing, no sleep or appetite. They say there is no difference in the generics and name brands but I beg to differ. Lexapro works wonders and I can't wait to get it back.

The generic lexapro escitalopram has been out for only about a month and a half now. I went through withdrawals changing from the brand name to the generic. I'm back on lexapro and feel great again. I've been on it for over 5 years and I think I will stay on it the rest of my life. I went off of it for over a year and it was just about the worst year of my life. On lex I feel normal. No depression or anxiety. This runs in my family unfortunately. However, having been a nurse and in denial that I ever needed it, I was absolutely amazed at how great it made me feel. Yes, sexual orgasms are far and few between. However, my husband would rather live with a happy rational individual rather than a bitchy sex addict. Hey, at 62 desire and affection will have to suffice. The alternative -depression is just not acceptable. Thanks for your response

I also have had the sexual side effects and am taking Wellbutrin to help offset that and it does help some for me but not completely but my partner and I are so much happier on it than off of it so we deal with it as best we can. Good luck to you.

I have been back on the brand name Lexapro for about 3 weeks now and feel much better. The headaches are gone. Yes. They were really bad. Felt like a sharp pain toward the front part of my brain. The pain would go away for a couple of hours after taking Tylenol or Asprin, but then come right back. It was a constant pain deep within my head. Figured the cause was do to the generic type of escitalopram. After a couple of days off the generic and back on the Lexapro, they totally went a way. Please inform your M.D. of this because the pharmaceutical companies manufacturing the generic need to be aware of a potential problem with the new generic escitalopram.
Thanks for your response.

I switched to the generic a week and a half ago when I went to pick up my prescription. I was assured it was the exact same thing. I started wondering why I was getting so much more depressed and tired. And I got the same extremely dry eyes side effect that I had when I had been on celexa before pdoc switched me to lexapro. I am on a diuretic for bp as well, and with celexa my eyes would feel like there was shampoo in them sometimes, especially when driving and a/c was on, I could hardly stand it. But it was 90% better with lexapro and definately tolerable, and my depression and anxiety improved substantially. Now I'm depressed, anxious and I'm having the same dry eye misery. Sure hope I can get my doc to approve insurance payment of lexapro.

I've been back on Lexapro for over 6 months now. My insurance company charged me $138 for 3 months at a time. This last time I ordered a refill, they charged me $300 for 3 months! Holy crap! I'm going to be broke soon! I pay it off just in time to get the next prescription. I told them I couldn't take the generic and it made me very sick. I guess I'm going to pay for it. What choice do I have?

Contact the drug manufacturing company directly Forrest Labs and explain the financial hardship.They will work something out for you.

What you are feeling is the same as the rest of us it sounds like. I wouldn't call what I was experiencing withdrawals, but rather the medicine simply not working the same way as Lexapro. I was on the generic over a week and I was getting worse each day. I've never had feelings of anger and I was angry to the point of wanting to ram my head thru a wall. It was the strangest feeling. I almost felt like I needed to be out of my body and it was scary! Dr put me back on Lexapro brand name and I'm back to normal. Hopefully insurance will cover the name brand or I'm going to be broke! It is dangerous for them to mess with these medicines I think, for us that rely on them to lead normal lives.

OMG! I have been on the generic Lexapro, Escitalopram since it became available through Kaiser, my insurance, since the beginning of 2013, I am ready to call it in! The least of my problems are the continual headaches. I am severely depessed, overly anxious, totally isolated (because of horrible feelings of self doubt and self hate). I am having really bad chest pains: I've never had them before until this generic. They are bad enough that the Doc prescribed Nitroglycerin. But the worst of all is anger I am feeling. Unexplainable anger I have never felt before.

Hopefully enough people get on these websites and complain and the manufacturer does something about this. I think it has to do with the 'fillers'. I don't think it's a 'clean' medication like lexapro. This generic stuff dries out your eyes, and just plain doesn't work the same. It scares me that they can make something like this that totally messes with people. Depression is hard enough to treat the way it is, then, you're doing good and they throw something like this at you, with no apologies, no warnings, nothing. And the pharmacists and some docs have the audacity to just tell you 'it's the same.'

I couldn't find anything on the internet about the generic back in March. So I went ahead and posted the first inquiry to see if anyone else was having the terrible headaches like I was. I thought I was going out of my mind. Having been a nurse myself I know that not all generics work as well or the same as some brand names. Many times although the base chemicals are the same, they are processed differently and that can may a big difference. I have written to Mylan laboratories and warned them about possible problems taking the new generic for Lexapro which is their form of "escitalopram."
It's awful that insurance companies dictate what you must use in order to keep their costs down. Yes. They are playing with the well-being of individuals for corporate profit. Thanks to everyone for all of your responses. Please write to the pharmaceutical company that made your generic Lexapro and let them be aware of your experience.

Thank you for your post. I am so sorry to read this though. I have been experiencing the same problems. Depression so bad, can't stop crying. Nagging suicidal thoughts... I have to take a leave from work on account of this and increased confusion/clouded thinking. I agree with you about the dangers of this generic lexapro. I think the FDA needs further investigation of it.

Did you go back to name brand? I did about a week ago - and while I have noticed an overalll difference.. I'm still not back to where I was when I was on name brand.

Yes, I did and it made a difference. Took awhile but am sleeping again, still have hot flashes and I am past the change, but can sleep again. There is hope! I wish doctor's or pharmacists would tell you these things when they change your prescription.

Celexa is the 1st cousin so to speak to lexapro. You just don't know until you try it. In my personal experience with celexa: I had no sex drive, severe fatigue all day long. Lexapro has been a very good friend of mine. Just not the generic form of it. Best wishes.

Did your headache go away by switching from generic to actual lexapro or by stopping ssri altoghether?