lexa-amateur mistake
July 8, 2012 1:46 PM Subscribe
I accidentally took 40mg of lexapro, having not taken any for three months. Is there anything I should do/expect in the over the next few days?
This may be difficult to believe, but I took two 20mg lexapro tablets completely by accident last night. I was previously on 20mg/day, but had stopped taking it about three months ago, so this is the first time it's been in my system for a little while.
I keep my medications together, and groggily mistook the lexapro bottle for my prescribed sleep medication. I only realized I'd made an error after I'd swallowed the pills. I felt a little funny last night, but fell asleep before too long.
I woke up feeling headache-y and confused. I've spent today feeling unusually weepy and strung-out (I decided to write this after realizing that I'd spent the past half-hour looking at photos of puppies and crying). Besides the heavy emotions and a little confusion, I feel generally OK.
My plan is just to wait it out and hope everything returns to normal. I am not planning to go back on lexapro anytime soon, and I'm not on any other SSRI. The only medication I am on right now is zolpidem.
I have an appt to see my psychiatrist on Tuesday. My inclination is just to wait until then to let him know what happened. Should I contact him sooner?
What can I expect from this very brief re-exposure to lexapro? Is it possible to experience withdrawal from such a temporary encounter with the drug?
Thank you all. I'll just sit here refreshing this page and quietly crying into my tea.
This may be difficult to believe, but I took two 20mg lexapro tablets completely by accident last night. I was previously on 20mg/day, but had stopped taking it about three months ago, so this is the first time it's been in my system for a little while.
I keep my medications together, and groggily mistook the lexapro bottle for my prescribed sleep medication. I only realized I'd made an error after I'd swallowed the pills. I felt a little funny last night, but fell asleep before too long.
I woke up feeling headache-y and confused. I've spent today feeling unusually weepy and strung-out (I decided to write this after realizing that I'd spent the past half-hour looking at photos of puppies and crying). Besides the heavy emotions and a little confusion, I feel generally OK.
My plan is just to wait it out and hope everything returns to normal. I am not planning to go back on lexapro anytime soon, and I'm not on any other SSRI. The only medication I am on right now is zolpidem.
I have an appt to see my psychiatrist on Tuesday. My inclination is just to wait until then to let him know what happened. Should I contact him sooner?
What can I expect from this very brief re-exposure to lexapro? Is it possible to experience withdrawal from such a temporary encounter with the drug?
Thank you all. I'll just sit here refreshing this page and quietly crying into my tea.
Best answer: THIS IS NOT AN APPROPRIATE PLACE FOR YOUR QUESTION, NO ONE HERE CAN TRULY ANSWER IT IN GOOD FAITH, PLEASE IGNORE ALL ADVICE THAT IS NOT POINTING YOU TO RESOURCES THAT CAN IN FACT HELP YOU.
From your question we do not have anything like a full patient history, have very little idea of what is up with you, and cannot directly help you ourselves from the internet.
If you are in the United States, on the bottle should be a number for the pharmacist that prescribed the medication to you, please call it, they will have a good idea of whether an emergency call to your prescribing physician is appropriate. If you do not get a response please call this number (1-800-222-1222), it will connect you to the poison control hotline for your state. They will know what resources to connect you with, if you need any, to ensure that you end up alright.
Having a friend hang out with you for the evening would also not be a bad idea.
If you begin to have suicidal thoughts or idealizations there is absolutely no fucking shame whatsoever in calling 911 and letting the helpful operator know whats up with you, that sort of thing is one of the primary things they are there for. Please hang in there and take care of yourself, everything will be alright again soon enough.
posted by Blasdelb at 2:15 PM on July 8, 2012 [11 favorites]
From your question we do not have anything like a full patient history, have very little idea of what is up with you, and cannot directly help you ourselves from the internet.
If you are in the United States, on the bottle should be a number for the pharmacist that prescribed the medication to you, please call it, they will have a good idea of whether an emergency call to your prescribing physician is appropriate. If you do not get a response please call this number (1-800-222-1222), it will connect you to the poison control hotline for your state. They will know what resources to connect you with, if you need any, to ensure that you end up alright.
Having a friend hang out with you for the evening would also not be a bad idea.
If you begin to have suicidal thoughts or idealizations there is absolutely no fucking shame whatsoever in calling 911 and letting the helpful operator know whats up with you, that sort of thing is one of the primary things they are there for. Please hang in there and take care of yourself, everything will be alright again soon enough.
posted by Blasdelb at 2:15 PM on July 8, 2012 [11 favorites]
It depends on your body.
I've restarted 40mg of Celexa after 1+ months... Ive never had any issues.
I'm guessing maybe a headache for a few hours?
posted by KogeLiz at 2:17 PM on July 8, 2012
I've restarted 40mg of Celexa after 1+ months... Ive never had any issues.
I'm guessing maybe a headache for a few hours?
posted by KogeLiz at 2:17 PM on July 8, 2012
I agree you should call your pharmacist right away. After looking around on the web it appears that it's very hard to OD on. That doesn't mean it won't affect your mood, though - and you could have other drugs in your system that will interact badly with it.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 2:19 PM on July 8, 2012
posted by The Light Fantastic at 2:19 PM on July 8, 2012
Best answer: Calling your psychiatrist isn't going to hurt anything, right? I would go ahead and call because you deserve peace of mind. Think of it this way--only good can come from calling your psychiatrist or pharmacist in that they will either tell you that nothing will happen or they will tell you what to expect and how to handle it. Win-win.
You might get a faster answer if you call the pharmacy, given that it's a weekend.
Hang in there. Can you have a friend come and sit with you for awhile, just so you're not alone and feeling this way?
posted by corey flood at 2:26 PM on July 8, 2012
You might get a faster answer if you call the pharmacy, given that it's a weekend.
Hang in there. Can you have a friend come and sit with you for awhile, just so you're not alone and feeling this way?
posted by corey flood at 2:26 PM on July 8, 2012
call your pharmacist, and call your psychiatrist, not necessarily in that order
posted by facetious at 2:26 PM on July 8, 2012
posted by facetious at 2:26 PM on July 8, 2012
Best answer: I will go out on a limb--nothing will happen and this is most likely not a significant problem unless you have had adverse reactions to lexapro in the past--which apparently you have not. You can look up possible drug interactions but by the time you get this sorted out any problem will most likely have resolved itself. While I am not qualified to give this advice I did run a very large emergency psychiatric service and this can of thing happens all the time. It might temporarily interfere with the uptake of other medications you are taking or you might experience some of the initial side effects of taking an SSRI. There is certainly nothing wrong with calling a pharmacist for reassurance. I trust any adverse experience will pass by the time you read this. This link should be reassuring to you and might explain the symptoms you had this AM--remember this link is referring to concomitant use of Lexapro and Zolpidem. Any interaction is moderate and will resolve itself once the lexapro has metabolized.
posted by rmhsinc at 2:36 PM on July 8, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by rmhsinc at 2:36 PM on July 8, 2012 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Call the pharmacist. And make sure this can't happen again! Keeping expired or no longer used medications around is dangerous for this very reason.
posted by Sidhedevil at 2:46 PM on July 8, 2012
posted by Sidhedevil at 2:46 PM on July 8, 2012
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone, for your help! I called the pharmacy, and they've assured me that I should be fine and back to normal within a few days. I'll put a call into my psychiatrist tomorrow. This was advice that probably should have been obvious to me, but was not--so I am most grateful!
posted by scarylarry at 4:34 PM on July 8, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by scarylarry at 4:34 PM on July 8, 2012 [3 favorites]
Thanks for the update, I'm glad you're doing ok!
posted by Blasdelb at 5:01 PM on July 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Blasdelb at 5:01 PM on July 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
You might feel nauseous after being off it for awhile and then going on it again.
posted by cass at 10:03 AM on July 9, 2012
posted by cass at 10:03 AM on July 9, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by newg at 1:51 PM on July 8, 2012 [3 favorites]