A friend of mine recently went on Lexapro, the antidepressant.  I’m curious about what this drug is going to do to him.  The number one page on Google is, of course, the Lexapro site.  Looks like whoever made it is SEO savvy.  Observe the title:

Lexapro (Escitalopram Oxalate) - Treatment for Depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder ………………………… Lexipro, Lexepro, wwwLexapro, Lexaprocom

Not the misspellings of Lexapro.  They even accomodated for people typing the url into a search box.  (They forgot “Lehksaprho” of course).   Then I notice some sneakiness in the main body of the page.  It looks like they are requied to put “IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION” at the top of the page, but get this:  the information is encoded as an image.  So it won’t show up in descriptions gathered by search engines or harvested in any other sort of automatic manner.  Well, well, Mr. Lexapro (or is it Dr.?), I thin I just may convert those images to search-engine-readable text right… now:

Depression is a serious condition that can lead to suicidal thoughts and behavior.  Antidepressants increased the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior (2% to 4%) in short-term studies of 9 antidepressant drugs in children and adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) and other psychiatric disorders.   Patients started on therapy should be observed closely for clinical worsening, suicidality (a new word for me - ed.), or unusual changes in behavior, especially at the beginning of therapy or at the time of dose changes.  Theis risk may persist until significant remission occurs.  Families and caregivers be advised of the need for close observation and communication with the prescriber.  Lexapro is not approved for use in pediatric patients.

Lexxapro is contraindicated (def) in patients taking nonoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), pimozide (see DRUG INTERACTIONS - Pimozide and Celexa), or in patients with hypersensitivity to escitaiopram oxalate.  As with other SSRIs, caution is indicated in the coadministration of tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) with Lexapro.  As with other psychotropic drugs that interfere with serotonin reuptake, patients should be cautioned regarding the risk of bleeding associated with the concomitant (def) use of Lexapro with NSAIDs, aspirin, or other drugs that affect coagulation.  The most common adverse events with Lexapro versus placebo (approximately 5% or greater and approximately 2xplacebo) were nausea, insomnia, ejaculation disorder, somnolence, increased sweating, fatigue, decreased libido, and anorgasmia.

Pardon the typos.

But what is Lexapro? How does it work.  From drugs.com:

Lexapro is in a class of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Lexapro affects chemicals in the brain that may become unbalanced and cause depression.

So I guess the moral is that since my friend will soon be upping his does, I should keep an eye on him.