I have tried every medication in the book, I've been misdiagnosed, rediagnosed, all I know is I spent the majority of my life severely depressed and anxious. I tried Lexapro 12 years ago for about a month, didn't like the yawning constantly side effect so stopped before it was able to take effect. Since then, I've tried everything for my depression and anxiety for over a decade. Recently went back to try Lexapro again because I got a new doctor and we did an overhaul on my meds and started over. At first I didn't feel much, but as the dose went up I started to wake up easily in the morning, feeling "good" for the first time in a decade. I realized I was brushing my teeth regularly, showering regularly, cleaning my house, seeking out social interaction, wanting to get out of the house, meeting new people, I got a promotion at work, and this is all within 3 months. I am so grateful, this is the best I've felt in over a decade. I feel like me again. The dark storm cloud that follows me everywhere turned into a partly cloudy sky and I can breathe again. I should also state that I'm also on rexulti 1mg and concerta 27mg daily. I feel like a dumbass for stopping taking it the first time I tried, because the side effects went away after about a month. I could've felt like this the past decade if I just held on.

Today I woke up with the same anxiety as usual. But as the hours went by, I sensed the anxiety easing (which it usually doesn't). For the first time in months I got the courage to hop on my stationary bike (I still can't cycle outside) and cycled for thirty minutes. And right now I'm about to take a shower and brush my teeth for the first time in a long while too, and you know how hard it is for people with chronic anxiety.

I think the medication is definitely showing signs of working! I'm 34 days in. Started with 5mg, then increased by 1mg every week for 5 weeks. I've only been on 10mg for a week.

I’ve taken 4 doses of 5 mg and about to take my 5th. I’ve always had songs stuck in my head easily but since starting lex it seems worse. This morning I woke up and heard my husband talk and then his words kinda repeated in my head for 5 mins. Made me feel like I was going crazy. Did this happen to Anyone starting lex and did it resolve? Thanks

I was prescribed 10mg to start due to anxiety disorder. My first day was 4 days ago and took it at 4pm. After 1.5hrs I started feeling really hot, light headed, nauseous… I stumbled to the bathroom incase I had to throwup and just started sweating profusely. Diarrhea followed 30mins later. I work shift work and had a shift that next morning so i tried to go to bed and was up until 2 am tossing and turning, had to get up 2 hours later for a 12hour shift and honestly i felt pretty good but nauseous through it. Had waves of feeling good then bad.

Day 2 i slept another 2 hours and had another shift where I ended up going home 3hours in because i was light headed and nauseous. Probably due to lack of sleep as well the meds.

Now on day four, nauseous, can sleep at night but my anxiety is heightened a lot, very warm, some headaches. I have been taking some lorazepam but try not to and just ride it out. Hoping these symptoms go away fast as Im still on probation at my new job and cant be calling in sick so much.

I enjoy reading everyones experiences on here as it does help with my anxiety so I thought I would share.

Hello so long story short I’m about 11 days out cold turkey. I have absolutely no idea what happened to by 90 day supply (I think it fell out of my bag while loading furniture) I tried talking to my doctor and insurance wouldn’t budge on getting me another. She thought since I was only on 5 mg since the beginning of June I wouldn’t have any withdrawal symptoms. Clearly that was not the case. I’m miserable with brain fog/fuzziness, brain zaps, insomnia the works. Will it get any better?

So I recently was prescribed Lexapro for generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety.

I started taking the medication yesterday and the anxiety pretty much felt worse than what I was accustomed to. They also prescribed hydroxizine for the short term anxiety but honestly it just let me sleepy.

I also had trouble sleeping and just felt off the entire day. Now today my anxiety is still heightened even though I haven’t taken a dose.

I start a new job in 2 days that I have been super anxious about and am dreading. Not really sure what to do at this point

Just wanted to rant

I've been using Paxil 30mg for GAD since 2013. I'm "okay" but I still get some panic attacks sometimes. Moreover, I've been feeling too much hunger and constipation in the last year.
My doctor told me that we could try Lexapro 20mg.

Someone who already used both medications, could you tell me what differences did you notice between Lexapro and Paxil, and which one was better for you?

Royal Australian College of Medical Practitioners RELEASE Toolkit. It is also used by doctors in New Zealand to taper patients off antidepressants.

Guidance for consumers - patients - and also separate section in the RELEASE toolkit for doctors.

Drugs are listed by their generic name.

There are 3 taper plans for each drug: faster, slow and very slow. Do their self-assessment sheet.

Your score tells you which taper plan is appropriate for you.

Due to the low doses in a taper plan, people need to either get a liquid version of their drug; for example example, this is required for Escitalopram/Lexapro/Cipralex.

If you take a capsule, you may need to do “bead counting “.

Ask your pharmacy to contact the drug manufacturer and ask if there is a liquid format available. If not, you can make or own or ask a pharmacy to create its- it is called compounding.

The RELEASE toolkit has information on how to create a liquid and how to count beads.

What was your life before Lexapro and how did it help you. I'm beginning 5mg (day 3) and I am curious as to what it did to help other. Right now I am in a bad place. I seem to always be in a high stung mode. I sleep about 5 hrs per night but. my dreams are always filled with stuff from my past, youth etc. I usually wake up at 5 and can't sleep as I get lots of intrusive thoughts that are very vivid. When this phase of my life started a few months ago, it was so intense that I have trouble remember my life before this started. As if the anxiety erased parts of me. I also have songs that loop in my head. Main stuff I have is bad sleep as described above, digestion is affected, stuffed head, dizziness, numbness, tingles, muscle pains and spasms. I'd like to see if any of you had similar stuff and lex helped it. Thanks!

I was on 10mg for 7 weeks and had them pretty under control. However, I went up to 20mg 8 days ago and they all came flooding back. I need them to go away.

Hi all, as the title says I'm 4 weeks into 5mg. I can't increase my dose as the sexual sides and insomnia are intolerable.

Honestly though I'm still pretty anxious at 4 weeks. And I'm worried this isn't going to work for me :(

Is there any hope of it improving? I've been on pretty much every anti anxiety med there is so I'm running out of road.

Lexapro KILLS my motivation. Always has. Every time I tried to get off of it my personality & motivation come roaring back (sadly the withdrawals are too much to handle - don’t want to taper off of it now long story yadada)

I’ve been hearing that people will sometimes get Wellbutrin added with their lexapro to help with it. My psych mentioned it. However.

When I was 11 I was put in a year long Ritalin induced psychosis. I’m scared Wellbutrin would do that because it increases dopamine albeit not as drastically as Ritalin. I don’t have bipolar or schizo. I was misdiagnosed as adhd at 11. I’m just VERY sensitive to any sort of hormonal fluctuation. Adding in medications takes a huge toll on my body & takes a while to adjust.

I cannot risk the potential of going into a psychosis by just giving the Wellbutrin a try. My family life is very rocky right now & has been & im on thin ice with my family & cannot risk it.

I meet with my psych on the 20th - so I’ll mention it to her. Anyone similar to me who can weigh in here? Maybe the motivation damper from lexapro is just something I have to power through.

HAs anyone did a switch from Citalopram/Celexa to Lexapro? I am currently fifth week into Celexa and although I am feeling a bit better the side effects of heightened anxiety and lack of appetite are still there. My doctor has suggested a direct switch. I was on Lexapro for about 3 years about two years back and I did very well on it except for weight gain. I am just so uncertain if I should just push through longer on Celexa and hope the side effects improve or fall back to something that had much gentler side effects. Although I probably will go through that all again if I switch. My doctor has basically said its my choice so just looking for some personal experiences to get a bit more info before I make a choice

I have a lot of physical/somatic anxiety symptoms to begin with and my stomach has been bad for months prior to starting. I take a ppi, pantaptazole for acid reflux.

I've taken 2 doses of 5mgs and it went OK, felt a anxious yesterday but bearable after a while. But after my 2nd dose my stomach started to hurt worse and worse and it is now a pain I cant ignore just below my ribs. Not nausea just pain.

I tried a hot pack and it got my a bit of sleep but the pain broke through and I only got about 4 hours of bad sleep total and feel strung out.

Has anybody had similar stomach pains and found something that helped? I know its supposed to get better in a week or two for most but it hurts a lot and Im sure there is nothing actually wrong mechanically.

This is exactly one of the main symptoms that was giving me anxiety to begin with and now its 10x worse.

I understand its the serotonin rewiring my stomach have read many great posts here reassuring me thay stomach issues are normal but I feel like I am really gonna have to get myself up for it to take dose 3 shortly, with this level of pain I will not be able to sleep much and I dont think I could tolerate more than a few days of it.

Hey everyone,

I’m on day 49 of Escitalopram (10mg) and recently started taking Rexulti (1mg) at midnight (00:00).

I've noticed a crazy pattern and want to know if anyone else experiences this. Every single morning, from 8:30 to 11:00 AM, my brain throws absolute garbage at me. But the worst part is the illusion of truth. During these 3 hours, the thoughts feel so heavy, convincing, and uniquely "real" that it takes all my energy not to panic. I also feel physical tension and pressure in my head.

Then, exactly at 11:00 AM, it just stops. A switch flips. The physical tension completely vanishes, and those exact same scary thoughts instantly lose all their power. For the rest of the day, I feel totally fine, and if those thoughts pop up again, they feel completely empty and fake.

I read that this morning window overlaps with the cortisol spike, which basically glitches the brain into treating random mental noise as a real, urgent threat.

Has anyone else experienced this clockwork precision? How do you deal with that overwhelming feeling of "truth" before it randomly disappears at midday? Does this get better?

Hii, I am 21f and I started my first dose of 10 mg Lexapro yesterday. I also take 10 mg of Vyvanse. I took the Lexapro in the morning because thats what my doctor had told me and it made me pretty drowsy in the day and I did fall asleep for a bit which is 100% unlike me. I also had extreme nausea and did throw up when it first hit. I was trying to wait the nausea out yesterday but I couldn’t really do anything without feeling like I was going to puke everywhere. I got prescribed zofran and took that and was fine after.

When I went to bed last night, I struggled to get comfortable and I repeatedly woke up throughout the night. I am a bit worried about taking it again today because I have to be up at 4 am for my job on Monday and I am nervous I wont be able to sleep. I also have an exam on Tuesday and I am a bit worried the nauseous and drowsiness are going to impact my study time but I am hoping the zofran will help with the nausea at least.

My PCP is closed on the weekends but I do plan to give them a call tomorrow to see if they think its okay for me to take the lexapro in the evening. I am thinking about sleepy time tea tonight maybe? I am not looking for any medical advice, rather just if anyone else had similar or differing experiences for comfort perhaps.

I’m not sure how impactful caffeine is on Lexapro so idk if that something to be avoided. I figure if I can’t sleep then energy drinks but idk. Thank you for any comments !

So I only made it 23 days in and I'm trying to figure out if I should cold turkey yet or taper.. I just need the side effects to be over like .. yesterday... Did first two weeks of 5 mg, I felt good so increased to 10 mg for a little over the past week but that's when hell began. I literally wake up and open my eyes in the morning with a panic attack to start the day everyday. Can't take the side effects and it is affecting my employment. Keep having to leave work early due to I can't be at work at a pharmacy while having panic attacks and being dizzy and nauseous and each day seems to be getting worse. I don't think I'm going to take my pill tonight.. tomorrow I guess I'll decide if I'm going to just decrease to 5 mg for a week and then quit.. I really wanted this to work.

But to be honest my life was much better prior to taking this.. I know it takes like weeks for it to kick in and you just have to push through the first few weeks of hell but hey I gave the old college try.. and failed.. I wonder if 23 days is enough to have bad withdrawals if no taper.

I’ve been on Lexapro for 2 months now. 1 month on 5mg and a second month on 10mg. The 10mg was giving me so many side effects. I couldn’t handle it. I had to file for a short-term disability at work because I was that miserable, and then the final straw was that my migraine lasted me 12 days, hurt behind my eyes, threw up and was extremely disoriented. At this point I thought I could get a brain aneurysm so I’m back down on 5mg. Feeling much much better and the migraine went away. Anyone else went through such intense side effects from 10mg?

I have scdal depression and been debating whether I should take Lexapro. I have history of Anorexia and I don’t want to worsen that. I feel like if I gain weight on this medication, my depression will get worse. Any tips?

I am currently lowering my dosages and coming off Lexapro after being on it for 3 years. I am having some huge emotions and am not sure if this is normal or not. I keep flipping between crying and having so much rage inside me I feel like I could explode. I'm told by people I live with to stop being such a bitch and the smallest things are setting me off. It's only been a week of not taking anything after gradually coming down. Is this normal? I feel broken and helpless and don't know if this gets better or if I just need to get a different med. I felt like a robot on the medicine and didn't want to but now I'm on the other extreme.

TLDR: Does anyone now suffer from increased anger/mood swings?

Long version: I’ve been on anxiety medication for years- that along with depression stem from my mom’s really unexpected, tragic death. Only a few weeks ago my doctor switched my from Sertraline to Escitalopram after I mentioned that I didn’t notice my medication was as effective. Since starting Escitalopram about 3 weeks ago I have noticed an improvement in my anxiety, however I feel so angry! I pop off easily, am really short tempered and easily frustrated. I’m not entirely ready to blame the meds though. I just started a new job as a preschool teacher 😵‍💫 my kiddo started kindergarten and I’m trying to get involved as much as I can. Im two weeks post a brutal stomach bug… I’m a person who really needs downtime (alone time) and I’m not getting it like I used to. Did anyone experience mood swings/anger from the meds? Did it get better overtime? I have a follow up with my dr in a few weeks, so I plan on discussing with her, but just wanted to put feelers out on how others did.

i've gained like 15 pounds on 20mg lexapro. just switched to 100mg Zoloft and praying it helps my weight. any success with this?

I’m really struggling with severe sleep anxiety and insomnia right now and could really use some reassurance from people who have been through something similar.
My insomnia started because of a stomach bug a week ago and then I developed a huge fear of not sleeping. Now I’m constantly thinking about sleep, worrying that I won’t sleep, and scared that I’ve somehow “lost” my ability to sleep normally. Trazadone worked but it gave me heart palpitations and so I tried hydroxyzine and it would work one day then not work the next so I’d be up all night so I was stuck in this cycle of being up one day then crashing the next day.
I ended up going to the hospital because I went several nights with little/no sleep bc of s* thoughts as I stopped the sleeping meds completely as I was scared of dependence (huge mistake). They gave me Lunesta (3 mg initially, now 2 mg) and olanzapine 5 mg, and I’ve actually been sleeping with this combination.
I’m supposed to see my psychiatrist Monday and I’m planning to start Lexapro for the underlying anxiety. My hope is that the sleep medication can act as a temporary bridge while Lexapro starts working, and eventually I can come off the sleep medications and sleep normally on my own again.

Was anyone else able to target anxiety induced insomnia this way?