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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Cairo on January 20, 2005, at 18:19:10
My daughter's psychiatrist told us today that Lexapro does not cause memory impairment. My daughter's short term memory problems got dramatically worse when she started 20mg Lexapro and got a little better when we decreased to 10mg, but it's worse than when she was not on Lexapro. Please forward any articles mentioning short term memory or any kind of memory impairment by SSRIs as I need to convince him. Thank you.
Cairo
Posted by johnsmith12345 on January 20, 2005, at 23:01:34
In reply to Citations needed - SSRIs causing memory impairment, posted by Cairo on January 20, 2005, at 18:19:10
I don't understand his rationale. She began taking the Lexapro and her memory problems immediately worsened. Your daughter's case is all the evidence that is needed to convince a reasonable person that for her specifically, at this point in time, Lexapro will cause memory impairment. Why he would need a study to confirm this, I have no idea.
I would ask you to find a new psychiatrist, but I fear that the new one might only be worse.
Posted by Cairo on January 21, 2005, at 11:18:34
In reply to Re: Citations needed - SSRIs causing memory impair, posted by johnsmith12345 on January 20, 2005, at 23:01:34
My husband, who is a physician, talked to him this morning again and asked if we could try switching her to another SSRI. The pdoc said we need to have neuropsych testing done first and said we should be thinking about schizophrenia. I think we've been labelled difficult parents (parents who think too much), but in my heart of hearts I know it's the Lexapro. He told us to up the Provigil dose, but won't consider the Lexapro causing the problem.
The whole schizophrenia thing started when we took her to see a specialist at U of PA who diagnosed her with ADD, dysthymia, social phobia, anxiety and only said we should just keep an eye out for schizophrenia as there is a family history of it, but she didn't think it looked like it to her. This doc talked to our local doc and I think the schizophrenia is stuck in his mind.
As we haven't yet found a decent pediatric pdoc, we're stuck with this one for the time being. I hope to convince him with the literature that memory issues CAN be caused by Lexapro and then maybe he'll consider a trial of another SSRI. She has only tried Celexa before but it made her way too tired and didn't do much for the social phobia. Lexapro does help some with SP, but it's not enough.
I'm tired of having to convince docs that some symptoms are real or can be attributed to meds. You don't know how many times I personally have been prescribed SSRIs for Fibromyalgia when I keep telling them that I cannot take SSRIs because they CAUSE muscle aches and other serotonin syndrome symptoms in me even at low doses. It's like everyone has to fit into their textbook description and can't react any differently.
If you have seen any studies that specifically mention memory issues with SSRIs, I would greatly appreciate the citation. Thank you.
Cairo
Posted by Ritch on January 21, 2005, at 12:05:11
In reply to Re: Citations needed - please!, posted by Cairo on January 21, 2005, at 11:18:34
> My husband, who is a physician, talked to him this morning again and asked if we could try switching her to another SSRI. The pdoc said we need to have neuropsych testing done first and said we should be thinking about schizophrenia. I think we've been labelled difficult parents (parents who think too much), but in my heart of hearts I know it's the Lexapro. He told us to up the Provigil dose, but won't consider the Lexapro causing the problem.
>
> The whole schizophrenia thing started when we took her to see a specialist at U of PA who diagnosed her with ADD, dysthymia, social phobia, anxiety and only said we should just keep an eye out for schizophrenia as there is a family history of it, but she didn't think it looked like it to her. This doc talked to our local doc and I think the schizophrenia is stuck in his mind.
>
> As we haven't yet found a decent pediatric pdoc, we're stuck with this one for the time being. I hope to convince him with the literature that memory issues CAN be caused by Lexapro and then maybe he'll consider a trial of another SSRI. She has only tried Celexa before but it made her way too tired and didn't do much for the social phobia. Lexapro does help some with SP, but it's not enough.
>
> I'm tired of having to convince docs that some symptoms are real or can be attributed to meds. You don't know how many times I personally have been prescribed SSRIs for Fibromyalgia when I keep telling them that I cannot take SSRIs because they CAUSE muscle aches and other serotonin syndrome symptoms in me even at low doses. It's like everyone has to fit into their textbook description and can't react any differently.
>
> If you have seen any studies that specifically mention memory issues with SSRIs, I would greatly appreciate the citation. Thank you.
>
>
> CairoHi, I was just checking into Minnie-Haha's post above and I think it has exactly what you are looking for:
http://www.mhsource.com/depconsult/
http://www.mhsource.com/depconsult/dec2004.jhtml?_requestid=500828Scroll down a tad and you will see the article.
Hope this helps!
Posted by johnsmith12345 on January 21, 2005, at 14:35:04
In reply to Re: Citations needed - please!, posted by Cairo on January 21, 2005, at 11:18:34
So he put her on Celexa first, then switched to Lexapro when that didn't work well enough? That seems strange, as Celexa and Lexapro are very similar medications. Many would argue that they are the exact same thing.
I could only find one citation that specifically reports an SSRI as causing memory impairment:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=7995797
Posted by Cairo on January 21, 2005, at 17:58:51
In reply to Re: Citations needed - please!, posted by johnsmith12345 on January 21, 2005, at 14:35:04
Ritch and JohnSmith12345,
Thank you a bunch! P-babblers are the best! I'm still upset over the pdoc's lack of knowledge and intransigence, but I'll have something to open his eyes with. "Experts" are not always experts.
On Sheldon Preskorn's website concerning SSRI side effects, memory impairments are listed as being due to muscarinic cholinergic receptors, but nothing is listed for any of the specific SSRIs. Any sites that show affinities for the muscarinic cholinergic receptors for SSRIs, especially Lexapro?
I've also got anecdotal comments from previous Psychobabble posts, but the Pdoc rolled his eyes when I mentioned that lots of people described on Pbabble memory impairments on SSRIs. I'm aware that several have mentioned Risperdal or Zofran to reduce SSRI induced memory impairment, but it seems logical to try another SSRI first before adding another drug to negate a side effect, no?
Thanks! You guys have made my day!
Cairo
Posted by CrazyCO on January 21, 2005, at 21:57:01
In reply to Re: Citations needed - please!, posted by johnsmith12345 on January 21, 2005, at 14:35:04
I suffered severe short term memory loss with Lexapro, and when I was at 40mg it was so bad that I couldn't complete a sentence without forgetting what I was saying. As soon as I stopped taking it, within just a few days my memory started coming back. I am currently on Cymbalta and haven't had any memory problems with it. Good Luck.
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