Migraine Frequency After Starting Lexapro
I have had migraines for many years. I finally found a neurologist who prescribed Vyepti. After I started 300mg Vyepti, there was about a dramatic 50%-75% reduction in my migraines. Until I started Lexapro about a year ago. All of a sudden, my migraine frequency increased way beyond their baseline before starting Vyepti ... they tripled as compared to being on Vyepti without Lexapro.
People told me I had "broken through" the Vyepti. Well, in January, I decided to taper off Lexapro. Even in the first few weeks there was improvement and I haven't even had one in about a month now. I think it's still too soon to draw a definitive conclusion - maybe at least another 1-4 months till I'm totally convinced. But it sure seems like the Lexapro was the culprit.
Has anyone else encountered this. Are there any SSRIs or SNRIs that don't tend to increase migraine frequency? I sure felt better when I was on Lexapro and would like to try to find another antidepressant. But given the choice, I'll stay off one if it makes this much difference.
Hi! That's a frustrating situation to be in. Having migraine is a little like being your own detective sometimes.
Everyone is different when it comes to what triggers their migraines and what treatments they respond to, so keep that in mind as you're exploring what to do next. Many people here in the community have shared they take an SSRI or SNRI, so I have hope that you might be able to find something that's a better fit.Some antidepressants are even used as part of a migraine treatment regimen. Check this out:
https://migraine.com/migraine-treatment/antidepressants-for-migraine-headaches
Good luck. I know how much an antidepressant can make a difference! -Melissa, team member
What you say is true. However, there may be some out there who are frustrated with various migraine solutions/medications because they haven't been very effective. All I am saying is that there could be other causative factors at play that may not have occurred to them. An antidepressant is a known possible antagonist. It may NOT be for any particular given person. But it MAY be. I believe I also saw somewhere that birth control pills can potentially exacerbate migraines.
For me, it appears likely that Lexapro was the culprit. I just had my Vyepti infusion. For the 84 day period since the last one, I had only 7 migraines as compared to 17 migraine the 84-day period prior. And 5 of them were during the period when I was tapering down on the Lexapro when it was still in my body. I'm going to go for one more 84-day period and see how that goes before I say for certain.
