I take 10 mg of fluoxetine generic for prozac. There are some contraindications but my neuro wrote the prescription after being called by the pharmacy and questioned about it. It hasn't caused a problem.

Escitalopram Oxalate is generic for Lexapro.
Venlafaxine is generic for Effexsor.
Other generic SSRI Antidepressants:
Citalopram
Paroxetine
Sertraline

Thank you both for the information. I picked up some samples of Lexapro from the doctors office today. Enough for a month. I tried to talk to her office assistant and explain that we do need generic because of the cost and type of insurance we have. I took the book of drug formulary that they use. to them and she acted like she was glad to get it. Hopefully it will work out but I will make a list of the drugs you have mentioned. As always DS members ( angels ) came through. If we have a problem we just let everyone know and help comes riding up on a white horse. LOL
Blessings to you both. XOXO pat

Firelady, I understand completely what you are going thru right now. My only advice is to call Humana and check this out for yourself, as my husband has had Humana as his Medicare drug coverage for 2 yrs and he takes Effexor (and they cover for it).

Amantadine

Thanks to all of you for your information and support. The doctor finally realized that we had to have a generic drug. She has prescribed Celexa ( generic- citaloplam) for him. We will start him on that tomorrow. I hope that it works. Thanks again. XOXO pat

Hi Firelady,
Just so happens that I am going through the same thing. Dr. prescribed Lexapro and my insurance won't pay for it either.They did ,however , send me the names of two other drugs to see if they were alright with my Dr. They are: Sertraline and
Citalopram Hydrobromide, both are generic
These are both generics and believe me, you want to get one of them if you can. On month of Lexapro cost us $89.00.
Hope this is some help.
Joanee

Good morning ! Thanks again to all of you that answered my post.
I actually went to the druggist and asked for a comparable drug for Lexapro. She gave me a list of 3 drugs that would work. I talked to the doctors office on Friday and she called in a prescription for Citaloplam. Generic for Celexa. We have hit the "donut hole" but they will pay for this because it is a generic. He started it last night and hopefully we will see results in a few weeks. Sending BIG THANKS to all of you. XOXO pat

Mom and Carl are both taking Celexa..seems to work for mom, not so much for Carl...good luck!

Oh, finally, my area of expertise! :-)

My psychiatrist explained it this way to me: when drugs reach the end of their copyright or whatever the correct term is, a generic can become available. THEN, the original drug company of the brand name drug will TWEAK the original recipe so they can re-copyright it. So, Lexapro is a TWEAKING of Celexa, created when Celexa's copyright ran out. Sometimes the drug companies will come out with a sustained release formula or something.

I THINK there are generics of all these drugs. Surely there's a generic of Celexa (or they wouldn't have created Lexapro). I get the generic of Paxil. Effexor has been around a long time, so I would THINK there's a generic but I don't know.

Expertise continued:
I have used Lexapro, Effexor, and Paxil (and Prozac many years ago) for anxiety. All of these worked for me in some way or another. Effexor and Paxil both must be tapered up and down very carefully; never stop taking without doctor advice.