Hello all,
I am hoping someone can shed some light on my somewhat “unique” situation. I’m a 38yo male and live in NJ- USA. I’ve had bowel issues for quite some time-the primary constipation.
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About 3 years ago, a Dr. suggested an antidepressant, so I started Lexapro. I didn’t “love” how I felt mentally and experimented throughout the time, but always resorted back to Lexapro.
During this quarantine things exasperated so, I used the downtime to experiment.
I discovered, though Lexapro does help my constipation, it certainly does nothing for my mood or cramping and bloating. I’m not sure if the Lexapro is causing/worsening the cramps and bloating (since I’ve always had them) or if the symptoms are just part of my pre-existing problem and Lexapro is not helping or worsening them- it’s just not enough to control it all.
I recently experimented with Prozac first 20mg and then 10mg (20 was too much for me). I discovered the Prozac helps my mood (a lot) and it controls the cramping bloating, etc. the downfall is that it worsens my constipation, even when I take laxatives, I find myself constipated.
My standard regimen for years has been to take a laxative at night so that in the morning I go to the bathroom. Taking it at night also helps avoid side effects during the day- I often end up waking up throughout the night to go to the bathroom which I have grown accustomed to. Furthermore I’ve always taken my Lexapro in the morning along with my daily vitamins etc.
Since they both have pros and cons I don’t know what to do.
My thought was to reduce the Lexapro from 10mg to 5 and take it with my laxative before bed (since it helps my regularity and does cause some drowsiness) and then take 5mg of Prozac in the AM since it helps with my mood and TREMENDOUSLY helps control my GI issues. I have not tried it yet as I’m afraid to over-do it.
I am awaiting a call back from my doctor but I figured I’d get some other opinions in the meantime.
Any thoughts are much appreciated as I’m pretty desperate for answers at this point.
Albert