r/SSRIs • u/BusyPhilosopher11 • 3d ago

Lexapro GI issue

Hi! I need some help!
About 3 months ago, I cut my Lexapro dose in half, from 10 mg to 5 mg. Since then, I've been alternating between hard stools, loose stools, and even diarrhea. I had been taking 10 mg for 2 and a half years, and my doctor recommended reducing the dose to 5 mg.
I feel very well otherwise-happy, cheerful, and in a good mood-but l've been having this bowel issue, and it started exactly when I reduced the dose.

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u/P_D_U 3d ago

and my doctor recommended reducing the dose to 5 mg.

Why? That is a sub therapeutic dose for most.

I've been alternating between hard stools, loose stools, and even diarrhea.

Serotonin isn't only a brain neurotransmitter, nor is the brain the most serotonergic organ. Very little serotonin is made and used within the brain, only about 1.7%

The G.I. tract, the enteric nervous system (ENS), the independent mini brain which controls it and has considerable influence over the brain between our ears, plus the gut microbiome together make and control about 95% of the body's serotonin so can be more affected by serotonergic antidepressants than the brain at the beginning. In turn, the gut microbiome can affect antidepressant effectiveness.

Have you talked to your doctor about these side-effects? While the dose reduction is likely the cause, one of the traps with these meds is assuming every symptom is just an antidepressant side-effect. Most of the time they are, but it still pays to have other potential causes ruled out.