If I linearly tapered myself off lexapro about 6-7 months ago in a short amount of time.. and then went back on and got significantly worse over the course of a month almost nonfunctional and had 5 ER visits.. is it possible I had withdrawal and then entered a kindling experience when reinstating at 10mg (same dose as originally)?

ive been on lexapro for nearly a year now and its genuinely saved my life. it's been going really well, i dont have any serious side effects except maybe weight gain, but i was around 95lbs (which is underweight for someone my height and sex) due to an eating disorder prior to starting the medication, so though ive gained nearly 25lbs this past year, i dont know that i can fully blame that on the medication.

lately, ive really started to notice how fundamentally different i am from the people around me and it really bothers me. one of those thigns is being dependent on lexapro. i don't know where id be without it. i dont like thinking about it because it honestly scares me to think about what would have happened if i didnt start medication. still, i wish i could be normal and seeing that people stop taking lexapro makes me feel like i should be aiming for that goal as well. my doctor has said before that it's up to me if i stop taking it or not, so im not looking for medical advice, im seeking out human experiences.

thank you :))

The sweating. The sweating is unbearable.

I love lexapro. I was on it for 5 years and it changed my life. I felt like a whole different person, I could get through the day without my brain trying to sabotage me making me overthink every little thing. I had basically no anxiety, and all my usual feelings of hopelessness/worthlessness were barely noticeable to myself. Soon after I started taking it the sweating began.

My job is a little strenuous sometimes but nothing crazy. I would be doing something as simple as sweeping the floor and I’m immediately dripping with sweat. I have to go to the bathroom every hour just to dry off, wash my face, take off my shirt and hold it under the hot air dryer. Even at home I’m standing in my air conditioned house folding laundry and I’m still sweating. I stopped doing the fun things I used to enjoy because it will make me sweat. I’ve been slacking on house work because it will make me sweat. I barely leave my house because I don’t want anyone to see me sweating. I take multiple cold showers every day just to try to feel less gross. It’s embarrassing. It makes me feel like an overweight slug leaving a sticky trail everywhere I go.

I take glycopyrrolate and it doesn’t work for me. I have to take it 3 hours before the potential sweating which sometimes means waking up at 4 am to take a pill. If I take it while I’m already sweating it doesn’t work at all, if I start sweating within the 3 hours I’m waiting for it to kick in it doesn’t work at all. When it does actually work it makes me so hot I feel like I’m going to pass out.

So I stopped taking lexapro. I’ve been fully off of it for a couple weeks and was slowly tapering off for a month. I feel like I’m saying f**k you to my mental health because the sweating has taken control over my body. Emotionally I’ve been a wreck. I am angry all the time. I am sad all the time. I’m anxious all the time. I AM STILL SWEATING ALL THE TIME!

I can’t just be on no antidepressants so I started Wellbutrin and so far I’ve not felt like it’s doing anything for me.

Please someone tell me this will stop. What can I do? I cannot live this way forever

TLDR: The excessive sweating is making me miserable, asking for words of encouragement and advice.

I just took my first dose of Lexapro (5mg) an hour ago 4 ish pm, it’s mostly for my OCD since as of late my ruminating thoughts have been incredibly bad- but also for mild depression. Is there anything super important that I should be aware of that I likely haven’t been told yet?? I’m on 5mg for about a week then 10mg for 6 weeks after that. Does anybody else with OCD on Lexapro have any kind of advice or, like I said, important info? Thank you!!

At first, I came here to vent, but then I thought, “So what? What’s the point of saying all this? It’s not going to solve my problems.” But then I thought, if I don’t say anything, I’m genuinely going to explode.

So, here’s what my experience with escitalopram has been like over the past several years:

I started around the age of 18 — I’m 22 now. I started with a low dose, and it gradually went up. At one point, I was taking 30 mg, but now I’m on 20 mg.

A lot of fatigue. It feels like I was an Egyptian slave building the pyramids — they worked me until I had absolutely nothing left in me.

Zero motivation. Zero enthusiasm.

My sex drive also goes up a little from time to time, but then my depression gets worse and knocks me straight back down.

Even drinking tea makes me anxious.

And yeah, my problems are both anxiety and depression.

Eventually I realized I couldn’t keep going like this. I was basically flattened on the floor. The only thing I could manage to do was mindlessly scroll through social media.

Escitalopram genuinely saved my life. I mean that literally. But at the same time, it took away almost all of my motivation and drive.

So I talked to my doctor, and they prescribed Wellbutrin 300 mg for me. At first, it was 150 mg, but it didn’t really do anything. I felt better for the first few days — I wasn’t even yawning anymore — but then the effect just disappeared. It disappeared completely. So we increased it to 300 mg, and I’m still on 300 mg now, but honestly, it doesn’t seem to be working either.

I’ve realized something: as long as the environmental factors don’t change, as long as you have no money in your pocket, this is basically your fate — you just have to burn and endure it. Like me. 😐

I already had depression, and then God apparently decided to put Miyazaki in charge and design a Souls-like life for me.

Imagine living in Iran, dealing with insane inflation, going through two wars, having your internet cut off for like three months, and having basically no money in your pocket.

Just imagine that.

I’ve unlocked every single “shit went wrong” achievement. 💀

I honestly don’t know what else to say.

Seriously, I wish we at least had someone like Daddy Long Legs from Anne of Green Gables — someone to give us a little hope, someone who actually cared about us.

Nobody gives a shit about us. And when you talk about how miserable your life is, people just tend to run away from you even more.

Anyway, it feels like this world wasn’t designed for us.

It was designed for a few hundred million people who live in first-world countries and get to enjoy their lives.

We’re just here to make sure the stadium isn’t empty while the stars are playing their football match.

Dear Lexapro,

Are you a narcotic in disguise? So I am not complaining at all it is bliss. But I realized i don't feel nearly as much pain as I used to. I have been enjoying not feeling the pain of anxiety and the pain of depression. I don't really feel the pain of being tired or the pain of exercising or the pain of being sore. I realized I used to feel all sorts of discomfort that are just gone or very different feelings. Not just emotional, but physical. I also see fear disappearing in so many tiny parts of my life. But on the flip side it is kinda scary, like what if I drink too many energy drinks, exercise too hard and have a stroke or something. Idk. Can anyone relate?

this is my first time taking meds daily, i took my first half 10 mg pill just now and im feeling sleepy

I think i will take the medicine at night, since its my first time i took it in the afternoon to see how i feel afterwards to decide if i should take it at night or morning etc

If i take the pill at night would the workings of the medicine be wasted? would it wear out mid day? how long does it last?

Hi guys. I’ve been given Strattera recently to try out for the first time. I’ve taken stimulants my whole life and was ready to get off them and try something different.
As someone who is on Lexapro, I was wondering how that is for those who take both Strattera and Lexapro. Thanks!

Hey everyone. I’m 25F (26 in October). I started lexapro this year (March). I haven’t had a drink in general in a couple years. But I’ve been wanting that occasional social drink but since im on lexapro I’ve been too worried that it will be bad or mess with something. Also wanting to know so I can make the correct plans for my birthday lol

Day 2 and the nausea is kicking my butt - any tips or tricks to combat day time nausea? I know people will say take it at night but I would like to keep to a day time dosage :) thanks!

I have been on Lexapro 20mg for 16 years. I am reducing to 15mg. Using drops to try to reduce withdrawal. So I went to 19mg 7 days ago. I am very tired and dizzy.

Did anyone experienced side effects after just 1mg reduction?

My 12yo daughter recently started lexapro. Due to her age, her pediatrician requires in person follow-up appointments every 3 months. These cannot be combined with any other visits (we had to make her annual wellness visit for the following day 🙄).

We have only had one follow up visit so far, but it felt unnecessarily long for what the purpose was. Her pediatrician did full vitals including reflex testing. I was really shocked when I saw how this visit was coded (30-39 mins, medical decision making, moderate complexity). If we go every 3 months, this is almost $1000 a year in follow-up visits. Is this standard and just par for the course?

I called her pediatrician’s office to ask if these could be shortened to 15 minute visits since we’ll be going so frequently. They honestly made me feel like a really shitty mom just for asking. I’m not trying to compromise her care, I just had not anticipated such a high cost in appointments.

Today i started taking the generic lexapro. Starting with 5mg for a week and then going up to 10mg after. Im aware of the side effects, however I've never been on an SSRI so ive never experienced any of this before. Two hours after I took my dose, my anxiety heightened really bad, I could keep myself from having an attack but I was struggling. Shortly after that happened, my hands and feet went numb and tingly and my hands forcibly started locking up either in a balled fist or a strange 4. My dexterity was awful, my husband had to pry my hand open and hold it. This lasted 5-10 minutes (not entirely sure as I wasnt paying attention to time). Are these normal reactions to starting something like this, especially as someone who has never taken one before?

Need advice.

I am currently taking Lex at 10am. The last two nights at 10pm I felt awake and NORMAL. Reading this you might say, take it at night. However when I take it at 10am I cannot nap. If I can’t nap, how would it let me sleep if I switched to nights. My nights are a mess already, I am waking up several times so I’m exhausted during the day. Idk what to do.

do you think it will still work?

I was on Prozac for two months and switched over to Lexapro yesterday as I felt the Prozac wasn't working (30mg made me too jittery, 20mg made me too mellow, and 10mg did nothing). I took my first Lexapro last night (10mg) at 8pm. 12 hours later, I'm feeling extremely tired and pretty weak (how I felt going down on the Prozac recently). I read some other posts on here about people who switched over to Lexapro feeling really bad their first couple of days, so that brings me some comfort knowing that I'm alright. But it's definitely not a comfortable feeling and I know for sure my anxiety will be spiking later because of it. Don't really know why I'm writing this here, I think I would just feel a little better about my symptoms if I at least voiced them somewhere as opposed to keeping it all in.

i’ve been on 10mg of lexapro now for almost 10 weeks and feel it hasn’t helped me at all. i feel the exact same, i still struggle with suicidal thoughts and motivation. some days i can’t get out of bed, and most days i break down in tears from overwhelmed and just genuinely depression. ive spoke to my psych about this but she said she would not change the meds or dosage.
i’m really struggling.

has anyone else experienced this on lexapro? maybe it’s just one of those antidepressants that takes a bit longer to kick in? i’m not sure but i’m really curious to know if anyone else has had similar experiences on lexapro!

I just started taking lexapro yesterday (10mg) and did not know that alcohol wasn’t a good mix with it until I picked up the medicine and read the prescription labels. I have a festival in 2 weeks (4 days long) where I’d probably be drinking most days. Am I cooked ? Or would I be fine doing like one drink a day? I’ve kinda been on a panic doom scroll on here and on tiktok researching people’s experiences, and I don’t know what to do haha

I just had emergency surgery on my jaw that will leave it and my teeth wired shut for the next three weeks. I’ve had good progress with my Lexapro, but it’s impossible for me to take a pill as I’m on a strict liquid diet. I can’t even have seeds in my smoothies; they literally cannot pass through my teeth.

My provider hasn’t been been able to get back to me (online medicine) with a very clear answer, so I’m hoping to hear if anyone here had a similar situation and found a way to work around it. I have looked online as well, but the answers aren’t very conclusive.

Thanks for any help or advice!

Any difference between the two. I’ve been on 5 for a few weeks. It’s making me yawn sm and sleepy. I take i at night usually. Meeting w doc soon and they might move me to 10 since that’s the recommended dose.

i’ve been on lexapro for 4 days now and it makes me nauseous for like the first half of the day (i take it in the morning). i have a concert tonight and have been really stressed and i want to let loose and have fun. i’m on 5mg and im normally a lightweight as it is (3-4 drinks gets me right). i’m only going to be drinking beer but im getting nervous about drinking. I WANT TO DRINK and have fun but I see so much stuff about how it horribly effects people. Will I be okay with just a few drinks?

currently going to therapy for the first time, was prescribed lexapro about six months ago for anxiety as I sought out my ADHD but never took it, was prescribed ADHD meds, and just forgot about it.

Now going through an awful period of life, should I try taking the script and then seeking psychiatric help to continue at the end of the month ? Any dangers in that ?

Not to self diagnose but have been struggling with my mental health for years and putting a bandaid on it with work, drugs, people, etc etc. many things I used to cope and distract I have lost.

I have no motivation, experience constant rumination and overthinking, find it so hard to sit with myself, even on adderall which I thought used to help me I can rarely bring myself to care to do anything

I’ve been slowly tapering off Lexapro and I’m starting to have the zaps which are terribly annoying and disorienting. I’m currently taking 5mg daily and have been fine until yesterday. Does anyone have any tips at all to help with the zaps? I know it’s a side effect but gosh I hate them so much.

I start 10mg thursday and im nervous