redoctober

I tried it for about a week or so...and it didn't do anything for me. I have no ideas what my serotonin/norepinephrine levels are.

Million dollar question....Lexapro helped my HR tremendously (too much, actually), but the GI side-effects were unbearable. Prozac had less side-effects for me, but did nothing for the HR and gave me palpitations, chest pain, etc. Really wish I could find something effective that didn't have such nasty side-effects.

I was only taking 5mg...as anything more made me feel awful. I'm pretty sensitive to meds, though. Still considering dumping it, although I'm taking a hiatus until I get rid of this bug.

So....last night I discover that I'm running a fever of 102. Not sure what it is, but probably explains why I'm feeling so incredibly crappy. My HR is definitely way up...not sure if fever can cause this or not. At least I feel a little better knowing that Prozac isn't entirely to blame.

Question for everyone...I've been taking a low dose of Prozac for 4 weeks, and the past week has been horrible -- hot/cold flashes, alternating sweating/chills, joint/muscle pain, HR way up, GI upset, exercise fatigue...you name it. Honestly, the first 2 weeks were okay, but recently it has been just awful...so I'm wondering if this is simply how my body responds to Prozac now that it has built-up in my system.

Is 4 weeks enough time to gauge how well it works? On Lexapro...my resting HR might be 50's/60's. On Prozac...it's more like 70's/80's. I've asked my Dr. about it...he wants me to continue for another week, but I'm not so sure. I think it may be time to bail.

Thoughts?

I've had this forever...it's called anisocoria. My ophthalmologist discovered this years ago...told me to review old pictures with red-eye to see how long I've had it. Surprise -- found some pictures that showed that I've had this since I was a kid. From what I understand...it's just an ANS thing...nothing huge to worry about. If you really want to get it checked out...find a good neuro-opthalmologist.

Honestly I think it's best to not use the HR as a measuring device of how well you're improving. My symptoms have improved steadily but my HR has only mildly changed and certainly doesn't reflect the degree of improvement.

I actually think a HR monitor helps me...I can feel fine one moment, but can get suddenly out of breath and fatigued without even realizing it if my HR is sustained above 160-170bpm. So, the HR monitor allows me to keep my HR in check...so as to keep it in a target range. Using this approach has allowed me to ramp-up my distance & time without getting overly fatigued too early in my run.

Jangle:

I've been jogging a lot as well...5-6 mi. in about 40 minutes. It definitely does help. I felt horrible yesterday, but still went out and ran 4mi.

How is your HR recovery after jogging? Mine stays elevated for a bit...90/100bpm, then gradually settles down. My peak HR is around 180 when jogging, but I try to keep it between 140-150. I think this has been key to increasing my stamina.

It does. I found several studies while I was researching over the weekend. Apparently the more available serotonin stimulates your body to produce aldosterone. And sometimes folks who are on SSRIs or SNRIs can get false negatives for things like Addison's because it in essence covers it up. I'll see if I can find the studies I was looking at and post them.

Thanks...really good info. Perhaps that explains why I had wicked dry skin when I tapered off Lexapro. I could go running for 50min and barely break a sweat. Trialing prozac...it does make me dizzy if I don't take a 1/8 tablet of Florinef...hopefully that will go away in time (at least my stomach is okay and I can sleep).

I figure Effexor gives me a "three fer" in my control of my NMH -- (1) increased serotonin = help with vessels not being so "vagally"; (2) increased norepinephrine = increased sympathetic activity = increased vasoconstriction; and (3) increased serotonin makes your body naturally produce more aldosterone = more volume (and less florinef to accomplish that).

Really? Increased serotonin upregulates aldosterone? Is that true?

I tried Lexapro...it helped the HR tremendously, but was very harsh on my stomach and I could barely sleep (even after taking it in the morning). Trying Fluoxetine now.

I mix my own gatorade...using about half strength in a 32oz bottle (so it is not as sweet). I also mix a large combo of Emergen-C and Alka-Seltzer Gold (Na, K) first-thing in the morning, which helps quite a bit. Alka-Seltzer Gold is great stuff, but hard to find (CVS typically carries it).

Yep...part of the package (at least for me). My vision can be great one moment, crappy the next. Exercise and acceptance of these quirky/transient symptoms has helped me the most.

Greetings all:

I've determined that I simply don't tolerate Lexapro very well...horrible GI problems, brain-fog, and insomnia. I've tried various doses over the course of the year, and the side-effects never go away for me. But it does seem to help with the high HR a little bit.

To that end...does anyone have any alternative suggestions that I might ask my Dr. about? Note: Zoloft is awful for me as well...so don't go there.

Thanks in advance!

Mine used to be really high...130's just getting out of bed. Now, mine can be in the 50's just standing around, maybe 70's/80's walking around. I have no idea what "normal" is, either.

I've had this forever...it's called anisocoria. Go look at some old pictures that have red-eye...you might be surprised to find that you've had it for some time and never noticed it. I was able to trace mine back to kid pictures. Just another indicator of the ANS not working on all cylinders.

So, perhaps that explains why I always feel better right after I exercise...it gets the blood moving around. Ironically, all this exercise may be worsening the problem...my resting HR is really good now (50's), and I don't get the spikes upon rising in the morning like I used to. But, I'm now dizzy all the time now that my HR is lower.

Any remedies that could help this? A micro-dose of Florinef seems to help a bit...as does Licorice tea. But I'd love to hear from others that have found remedies to this issue.

To answer potluck's Q above...my lying HR this evening was 51bpm using my sports heart-rate monitor. Upon standing, it jumps up to 90bpm within 10 seconds, then settles back down to 60bpm. My standing bp was 134/83 this evening, yet the brain fog and off-balance feeling persists.

So frustrating...I can run 5+ miles and feel like this all in the same day.

I'm hoping someone can explain this to me. Lately, my tachycardia is all but gone...rising vitals in the morning are typically 120/80 with a HR around 70 after hopping out of bed. Walking around HR is in the 80/90's...and vigorous exercise (5 mi run) it tops out around 160/170. Normally, I'd be thrilled considering where I was a year ago...but I'm just as dizzy as ever despite normal vitals. I increased Lexapro a few weeks back (to 5mg)...so that could be part of it, but I'm so frustrated that my HR is down yet I still feel like crap. I've stopped the BB...and started to taper Klonopin (almost feel worse on it)...but I just can't figure out why I feel like crap when it appears that the tachy stuff is gone. I still take a micro-dose of Florinef (1/8 tab)...as I feel better on it for some reason. Oddly, my HR in the morning is lower and I'm colder if I'm not taking Florinef.

Anyone have any thoughts or ideas? Is this just faulty ANS stuff?

I can believe it...I no longer take Atenolol...since my HR would dip into the 40's for no good reason. Not sure how and why that happened...but it did. I exercise my butt off...so perhaps that might explain some of it. But I no longer need that med (for now, at least).

I would be careful just stopping the Klonopin cold-turkey...better to taper down to be safe, even though you've only been on it for 3 weeks. As for sleep, I've had pretty good luck with Calms Forte...which you can find at CVS, Walgreens, etc. Regarding Magnesium....I take Jarrow Magnesium Optimizer, which contains Magnesium Citrate. Not sure how much it helps, but I have MVP and Mg is anecdotally good for heart health and MVP (from what I've read).

Hope that helps...I can certainly sympathize with what you're going through right now. Don't give up...and focus on a few things here and there to see how you react. If you change too many things at once (Lex, K, etc.)...you won't really know cause/effect.

All the best...keep us posted.

Question for all you Lexapro experts...did anyone experience bradycardia upon increasing the dose? Lexapro definitely boosted my BP...but I would get very low HR's in the evenings (45-50bpm). I only tried going up to 7.5mg and stayed there for about a week.

I think the link is wrong...try this one: http://george-eby-re...-depression.pdf

I will say that Lexapro at any dose gives my stomach/GI issues. I've tried 2.5, 5, 7.5mg...all of which make me feel ill no matter how long I'm on it (to be fair, I never gave 7.5mg more than 2 weeks as I couldn't stand it anymore).

Thanks, SH...that was very inspirational. I'm going through quite a hard stretch right now...more stress than I know what to do with...and I truly do think that a large part of "healing" is simply getting one's head straight. Relinquishing what you can't control to a higher power, and focusing on those things that you can control. And focus on things that make you happy and relaxed, rather than worried and tense. Easier said than done, of course...but I'm convinced that it's part of the equation for many of us.

Thanks for sharing...I'm going to bookmark this one to read again when times are tough.