reaction of taking lexapro with marijuana

At one point I was a frequent weed toker and had just gotten put on Lexapro. The drug made me feel f*****g awful, and the few times I did smoke while on it made it even worse. Lexapro was an awful drug for me, and the combination was hell. I would never recommend Lexapro to anyone. WELLBUTRIN for the win. Just saying...

I have smoked pot while on lexapro on a daily basis for 2-3months time slots, on and off for a couple of years. I didn't notice any bad side effects. Truth be told from my perspective, lexapro is a far more dangerous drug than marijuana.

I would love to be able to stop lexapro like I can stop pot. Ah that would be sweet.

I've been on Lex 10 mg for nearly a year now and consistently notice a change in the effectiveness of the pill after doing it. I have social anxiety disorder, which this pill normally has been fairly effective at treating; but, when I smoke, I get anxiety full blown for at least a week after. But maybe that's just me...

I know this thread is four years old, but something very strange and disturbing happened to me when I smoked marijuana while on Lexapro last night. I am being medicated for something between Seasonal Affective Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder. I recently raised my daily dosage to 20mg (per my doctor's recommendation), and have smoked twice since then. Clearly I am an unusual case with my reaction to the two drugs, because the first time I smoked, I experienced a powerful euphoria, apparently similar to that of MDMA. Unfortunately, the second time I smoked, I was thrust into an agonizing two-hour ordeal which some psychologists call the 'perinatal experience' (the accessing of traumatic memories as a fetus during the birthing process). During these two hours, I experienced the intense feelings of overwhelming anxiety, fear, guilt, despair, and physical pain characteristic of a "Hellish Near-Death-Experience." A Hellish NDE and the perinatal experience are considered similar because of the severe psychological, physical, and metaphysical agony that is symptomatic of both. I've spent some time looking around on the internet for other people undergoing the perinatal experience, but found that people have typically only experienced it in LSD psychotherapy sessions.
My symptoms ranged from acute physical pain all over my body, shaking, vomiting, the fear that I was going insane, utter hopelessness and failure, and that I was suffering in Hell for eternity. Scientists familiar with the perinatal experience say that it is ultimately a positive healing process for the patient to undergo, so I feel somewhat better looking back on it. I understand that I had a rare adverse reaction to the two drugs, and I'm not posting this to tell anyone what or what not to do. I just want the medical community to be aware of this because I know that there is a lot of research to be done on psychoactives.

You should be careful, I was on 10 mg lexapro for about 2 month, one day i decided to smoke marijuana with a friend and something unexpected occurred. After smoking i was conversing with my friend about all the good times we have had until out of nowhere i start to feel horrible, Eventually seconds after this feeling my vision turned completely black i fell on to my knees and fell on to my side and my head slamed on to the concrete! Immediately after hitting the concrete i began to have a seizure and stiffened and began to twitch.

 So be careful, this is true story

i take lexapro and smoke marijuana for about 5 years now. i personally have had more problems with alcohol and lexapro. the mix of marijuana and lexapro does not affect me any differently than just smoking or just taking lexapro (that i know of). i have noticed a blur in my vision sometimes when i smoke recently. but that is all. i would look into it on a personal level if you are that concerned because everyone is different, you can see this judging from the variety of responses on the same question. good luck, im sure your nephew will be just fine!

I think lexapro affects the heart in negative ways? I have found that MJ does the same.. I'm sure it depends on how healthy you are cardiovascularly as well as your levels of anxiety.

While not on lexapro and being a regular toker, I have high anxiety levels, especially in social settings. I agree with what some have said— that lexapro numbs your emotions. I started taking it again a few days ago and I am continuing my smoking. Right now, high as a kite and on my 4th day of 10mg, I am nothing but positive, but also very tired, hungry and not motivated to do anything. As far as I can tell, I feel better than I would otherwise.

dude you are full of it you have no idea what your talking about the brain is not made up of fat its made up of nerve tissue and thc does not "clog the synapses"

you cant stop cause weed is great

Lexapro is an anti depressant, often prescribed for people with Depression or Anxiety.  Lexapro is used to help the person function in society and to connect with the real world on a more even emotional level.  If the goal of treatment is to help deal with reality, taking any mind altering drug like Marijuana is counter productive.  This helps the person escape from reality, increases paranoia and actually can stifle or even cause a regression in progress. 

If you are asking if it will physically harm you to mix the two, probably not.  But if you want to make progress, the best approach is to stay off of all other non prescribed drugs, if you want to see improvement. 

I was just reading all these replies and thanks beacause I enjoy Mary Jane every day, I am 23 now and been smokeing pot since I was 12, i was always around older friends older cousins etc... I was very easily influenced do to telling myself it wont kill me so why not try Mary Jane never tried anything else thank god that "gateway" they call it makes me sick. Everyone has there own right to do what they want if you were to do Cocaine or X before weed mmmgateway? Its within us to do what we want to do. Anyways if I wasnt doing so much driving tomorrow I would of taken my first step to Lexapro i will start tomorrow night and see if this resolves my unfortunate disorder I cam across after my first heart break and first time on my own these ex of my was my all my best friend since kids cant believe she is gone even when i see her its not her i dont see here i see thru her like she past away I am over it but this disorder creeped up at about 21 and broke us I was mad at everything everyone not showing it but god it was alot to cope so I would smoke Mary Jane now instead of smokeing it I vaporize it, and thats the best way to consume weed vap it spend a few hundred on a good one and your golden.

Hey guys, gives me hope to see others with the same/similar issues here.

I have been taking Escitalopram on and off for ~5 years  (10mg-20mg), while smoking marijuana throughout the way. Currently, I am 3 months without Cipralex, here is my story:

Let's start from the beginning, tried marijuana when I was 13, only smoked more later in life. I was eventually prescribed Cipralex (form of Escitalopram) when I was ~18 because of my social anxiety, adhd, stress, depression, lack of motivation, lack of energy.

I just needed something to "fix" myself, because I didn't feel overall happiness.

With Cipralex, I worried less, was able to handle stress normally, felt more in control BUT at the same time, a bit numb and just felt more like "cruise control". I tried multiple times stopping, thinking it would be wise to stop and that I'm ready. But after each detox period (1-3 months), I felt like major sh*t. Just overly depressed, I feel as though I lack a chemical in my body that makes me ok. I can pretend to smile and laugh, but deep deep down, I felt like sh*t.

Above all that, I also feel dependent on marijuana. I smoked heavy with Cipralex, it felt very enjoyable while on both. Just focused on being happy while I was on both. It felt as though I was more addicted to marijuana while on Escitalopram. Whereas now (cold-turkey me), smoking marijuana makes me paranoid, panicky, unstable. I'm still smoking it but less, because it still makes me feel a bit better somehow.

Tomorrow, I'll be seeing my doctor again, hopefully going to get a small dose of Cipralex back in my system. Even though I feel less human on it, I feel like I have the desire to live and move forward (unlike now).

It isn't perfect though, I'm less of a nicer person when I'm on it apparently from my loved ones. But any direction is better than what I feel like currently.

I wonder if marijuana was the culprit that started all our depressive symptoms. Therefore, leading us to Lexapro and other antidepressants.

I wonder fundamentally, what mental disorder leads us to our similar paths. Are we bipolar? Schizophrenic? Are we messed up because of marijuana?

I wonder if we ll ever find an accurate answer for all this, since so many things are interrelated. I will try and check back here once in awhile, since we all share something similar.

Hope everyone stays strong and keeps everyone posted. -Ethan

 

Thats interesting b/c i used to take adderall in college and the only way the adderall comedown was bearable was by smoking marijuana.

Yes this is true, sadly, I experienced ecxactly the same.

Hi guys - I am 50 and have been using cannabis regularly for 35 years.  2 months ago I started 10mg Lexapro for anger management issues, and I assumed that as a result of starting the Lexapro I'd have less desire to use cannabis.  

As another person said above, the Lexapro actually allows me to use cannabis to better effect.   I feel the Lexapro reduces any possible unpleasant effects of THC (paranoia, anxiety, fogginess) while allowing the euphoria to shine through.   So if you want to continue smoking pot and you're new to Lexapro, I'd say it is a very nice combination.  It makes me more easygoing and sociable in a way that Lexapro or cannabis alone does not.    But if you're not an experienced pot smoker I would recommend caution.