# rapid heartbeat and high blood pressure after taking escitalopram for first day



## forexworld12 (Jul 30, 2012)

i am diagonised with GAD and SAD and my doctor prescribed me with escitalopram 10mg a day , 5 mg in the morning 5mg in the evening. Today i took escitalopram in the evening and after an hour or so my heartbeat rose to 110-115 and pressure to 140/100. I really don't have any heart related problem but yes in the past on occasion i have rapid heart beat and blood and i felt more anxious and nervous today after taking it for the first


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## forexworld12 (Jul 30, 2012)

so is this common side effect after taking it for the first time? Will it adjust and go away? Why did i feel more anxious after taking it for the first time?


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## imrj (Jan 20, 2009)

common....heck it gave me panic attacks when I first started taking it....takes a couple weeks to settle in.....


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

Be real cafeful caffeine and nicotine increase serotonin as well and have light maoi actitivy they can make these symptoms worst in combination with escitalopram. Some of this is the inital start up anxiety escitalopram can cause low bloodpressure and heart rate after it kicks in. Becareful with alcohol and the substances above don't exceed 2 drinks or less alcohol and escitalopram can causes restlessness. I had these same effects it does work well give it time. How long have youve been taking it for?. You can try taking 5mg for a week then increase too 10mg that might make it easier.


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## forexworld12 (Jul 30, 2012)

thank u guys and got anxiety. I took escitalopram5 mg today for the first time at 3.30 pm here. Then after an hour i started feeling more anxious and all this high blood pressure and rapid heart beat happened. Then at 8.30 pm i went to smoke flavoured hukka which contains lots of nicotene my heartbeat rose more to around 123 bp and pressure at 154/100 but this always happens not so xtreme but heartbeat and pressure always rise after i smoke flavoured hukkah i am still feeling anxious


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## Inshallah (May 11, 2011)

A lot of times, in anxious individuals such as us especially, knowing we have taken a drug causes us to feel all kinds of unpleasant sensations. This is basically what a placebo response entails.

I'm not saying that is what you are experiencing or to which degree but either way, don't (try to) sweat it. You won't drop dead or anything so just try to relax


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## forexworld12 (Jul 30, 2012)

Inshallah said:


> A lot of times, in anxious individuals such as us especially, knowing we have taken a drug causes us to feel all kinds of unpleasant sensations. This is basically what a placebo response entails.
> 
> I'm not saying that is what you are experiencing or to which degree but either way, don't (try to) sweat it. You won't drop dead or anything so just try to relax


man I can tolerate the feeling with escitalopram but I hell no with quetiapine fumarate


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## forexworld12 (Jul 30, 2012)

Hey thankx. but is it normal to feel more anxious after taking escitalopram 4 the first time? if yes how many days before effects kick in?


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## Inshallah (May 11, 2011)

forexworld12 said:


> Hey thankx. but is it normal to feel more anxious after taking escitalopram 4 the first time? if yes how many days before effects kick in?


Increased anxiety on start up is normal yes. Couple that with the fact that you are probably a bit nervous for having put a drug into your system and you'll have what you had. It's 100% normal and to be expected.


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## forexworld12 (Jul 30, 2012)

thanks for letting me know that but escitalopram was very much tolerable when compared to quetiapine fumarate.


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## Inshallah (May 11, 2011)

forexworld12 said:


> thanks for letting me know that but escitalopram was very much tolerable when compared to quetiapine fumarate.


I had the same reaction to quetiapine as you had (just read it). It's one of those nasty drugs imo.


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## forexworld12 (Jul 30, 2012)

Inshallah said:


> I had the same reaction to quetiapine as you had (just read it). It's one of those nasty drugs imo.


wow good to know that i am not the only one lol so did you use it any longer, did the side effect subside? did it work?


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## Inshallah (May 11, 2011)

I took it for about a month. The feeling weird never went away. Did it help? I don't think so, not noticeable at least. I think it shouldn't be given for anything other than psychosis. You were prescribed it for insomnia?


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## forexworld12 (Jul 30, 2012)

yes i was prescribed for insomnia but it made it to so worse with the that i am not going to take it anymore lol. its better to deal with insomnia rather than this combo side effect packages


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## forexworld12 (Jul 30, 2012)

Before I even consulted I psychatrist I used to take lorel 2 mg at nigh occasionally which was recommended by a friend of mine , no side effects it just made me go to sleep!!


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## forexworld12 (Jul 30, 2012)

imrj said:


> common....heck it gave me panic attacks when I first started taking it....takes a couple weeks to settle in.....


are you still taking it?


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

forexworld12 said:


> Hey thankx. but is it normal to feel more anxious after taking escitalopram 4 the first time? if yes how many days before effects kick in?


I always felt escitalopram working after the first day. usually after 2 weeks on 10mg you can feel it kick in. If you take take 5mg for the first week then bump it up too 10mg then the transition easier. Taking the pill at noon help with sleeping. I never tried 5mg in the morning then 5mg at noon maybe easier. If i took it later in the evening it messed with sleep.


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## forexworld12 (Jul 30, 2012)

GotAnxiety said:


> I always felt escitalopram working after the first day. usually after 2 weeks on 10mg you can feel it kick in. If you take take 5mg for the first week then bump it up too 10mg then the transition easier. Taking the pill at noon help with sleeping. I never tried 5mg in the morning then 5mg at noon maybe easier. If i took it later in the evening it messed with sleep.


so are you still on it? if yes how does it work with SAD and GAD9if you have any of them)


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

forexworld12 said:


> so are you still on it? if yes how does it work with SAD and GAD9if you have any of them)


Im not currently on it but it did help i made some pretty radical change well on it.


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## forexworld12 (Jul 30, 2012)

i am glad it worked for u. Its been 3 days and it doesn't help with my gad. I still think that every pain in my body is a sign of a very big diesease i still wake up at nights and check my door locks so that the robbers wont break in and kill me .lo i know its crazy but just to much worried about everthing and espically if some one is planning to harm or kill me. It did just help a very little little bit with social anxiety though


GotAnxiety said:


> Im not currently on it but it did help i made some pretty radical change well on it.


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## forexworld12 (Jul 30, 2012)

and whats this anxiety where if you go to meet your best friends at a place and as you approch the place or the destination you become more and more anxious and nervous but it subsides when u meet them and they say hii and start talking. And another one is when u bst frnds start making fun of you or telling a funny incident about you to other people or when u have an argument with ur bst frnds your herat becomes heavy and filled with anxiousness and you legs and hands starts to shake i eel like a coward at this time


GotAnxiety said:


> Im not currently on it but it did help i made some pretty radical change well on it.


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## metamorphosis (Dec 18, 2008)

Setraline, caused the shaky, nervous, increased heart rate, wanting to crawl out of my skin sensations. When I initially took it. Didn't really surprise me as it is usually one of the more stimulating SSRI's.

Lexapro has a favorable side effect profile for most. But we are all wired differently. I didn't read all of the posts but I hope you can try to reduce it down to 5mg for the time being. Which even at that dose can be therapeutic. I use lexapro and it has really helped my co-morbid depression with practically no side effects. Are you on any other medications that you just started? Do you usually have high blood pressure or pulse rate?
I usually don't like to advocate polypharmacy to others in the name of adding a med to counteract the side effects of another. But perhaps a beta blocker like propranolol can be of help . Hopefully, just as a stop gap move until your body adjusts to lexapro or you finally have to drop it.


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