Natural substitutes for Lexapro?

[shyboy]

Can anyone suggest some natural, over-the-counter subsitutes for Lexapro? I have searched & found a 1000 different thoughts. I currently take 10mg daily & was looking for a non-prescription alternative. Any suggestions?

[T-Bone]

Did you ask your doctor about this?. It is not safe to go off these medications and self medicate...Especially since they stay in your system for a while. For instance if you went off it and immediately started taking something like St. Jons Wort you could end up in the hospital emergency room...

[camaro of solar]

not sure why you were taking lexapro, but I was taking 20mg per day for generalized anxiety/social anxiety for about a year. One day I decided to stop taking it because, as odd as it sounds, i couldn't feel emotions aside from a pretty much neutral state. I didnt have too much of a side effect form going off it, but I do remember reading somewhere that you are not supposed to stop Lexapro cold turkey like I did, because people who are taking it for High/Very High anxiety and/or depression might get thoughts of suicide and such like that. I agree with the above that you should ask your doctor about a natural alternative.

[Schism]

Hard Liquor, Lots Of It!!!!!!!!!

[shyboy]

I was taking 10mgs only for about a month then tapered to 5mg for a month & now off per discussions with the doc. I was just looking for a general seratonin booster I could take for more of a daily supplement.

[Neuron]

I was taking 10mgs only for about a month then tapered to 5mg for a month & now off per discussions with the doc. I was just looking for a general seratonin booster I could take for more of a daily supplement.

L-Tryptophan, 5-HTP, etc.

[blitch01]

Can anyone suggest some natural, over-the-counter subsitutes for Lexapro? I have searched & found a 1000 different thoughts. I currently take 10mg daily & was looking for a non-prescription alternative. Any suggestions?

It is a synthetic chemical developed with potency in mind from the get go as are all prescription drugs.

I take Lexapro and Wellbutrin and can tell you my personal experience is that there is nothing as potent over the counter.

Also, what do you use it for? If for agression/anger then you might try something like valerian or kava to chil out. If you are using it for depression then you might try st. johns wort although it has never been shown to be efficacious for anthing more than very mild depression.

Lexapro has low side effects in most people, why don't you want to take it? If you are experiencing side effects you might consider an alternative like wellbutrin (for depression) which has basically zero side effects.

[blitch01]

I was taking 10mgs only for about a month then tapered to 5mg for a month & now off per discussions with the doc. I was just looking for a general seratonin booster I could take for more of a daily supplement.

I made my other post before seeing this one so it looks like you covered getting of it correctly. If you're okay off of it and looking for a supplement for seratonin then you definitely want 5-htp.