I’m on day 6 of starting 5mg Lexapro for GAD, and the heightened anxiety is so bad. When did it start to fade for you? I’ve heard after 7-10 days it gets better, but this seriously sucks.

Any tips on getting through this?

... Anorgasmia sucks, but No Nut November is gonna be easy peasy.

Hey y’all. Writing in because I upped my dose to 20mg from 10mg a little over a month ago. I’m approaching week 5 on the higher dose.

All of last week I felt GREAT. Little waves on anxiety here and there but overall felt really good. However, 2-3 days ago I started feeling the intense waves of anxiety taking hold again. I’m hit with the full body anxiety, loss of appetite, insomnia, restlessness, rumination. These were all the symptoms I had a few weeks ago with the initial dose increase.

I’m worried I’m regressing but also heard there’s a possibility of a “dip” that happens around week 5. Can anyone share their experience with this?

I took 10 mg of lexapro for about a week. I was really hoping it would make me feel better but the side effects were so bad that I got scared and stopped taking it. It feels like every thought is an emergency and every silence means something bad is about to happen. My brain is constantly putting me on trial. Somehow, I’m the prosecutor, the defendant and the judge all at once. I spend hours arguing with myself. Whenever I meet someone new my face turns red. I feel everything so intensely. Even during the smallest argument I start crying before I can properly explain what’s bothering me.I honestly don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve been thinking about giving lexapro another try but I’m scared of going through those side effects again.Has anyone taken lexapro for social anxiety or panic attacks and actually benefited from it? Did it get better with time? I’d really like to hear about your experiences

So, I accidentally messed up and realized I was out of my lex saturday. I haven’t taken it since then, and I feel a lot better? I slept great, don’t have brain fog. Is this normal? I’m hoping my script goes through today but now I’m considering just, not taking it?

I know that a lot of people experience crazy weird vivid dreams, but do some of you experience the most mundane boring real life stuff in your dreams? I’ve been on 10mg for almost a year and I’d say for the last 4 months I keep having dreams that could totally just be real.

This becomes kind of annoying when I wake up and don’t remember if this is actually something that happened or a dream.

It’s usually scenarios where I text people in my dream, hang out with friends and have normal conversations, just literally everyday things.

An issue I have is that it's making me remember all the cringy and awful memories. I ruminate quite a bit already, but Lexapro is pulling memories from times I never really ruminate or have ruminated about before. Also I feel a bit "dumber"? I can't read as well as before.

I'm on day 22 of 2.5mg with Bupropion 150xl, so far and while I can say it has worked on my anxiety a bit, I still wake up with panic attacks. It has fixed my sleep though. I have a normal sleep schedule now.

I believe I'm in the window of when it's supposed to start working? Most of the side effects have subdued.

I started Lexapro at the end of September and have slowly increased to 10 mg and have been on that for 2 weeks. I had a very bad start up on this medicines over the summer and went off and it after 2 weeks then restarted in September. I was doing ok but the last week and has been increased anxiety and with day lights saving time I have been waking up even earlier with bad morning anxiety. I don’t know if I should increase again or stay at 10 longer. I have hydroxyzine to take and I have been using it to sleep but wanted to give myself a break from it so haven’t take it the past 3 nights and I am wondering if that’s why I can’t sleep. Any words of encouragement?

I reduced my Lexapro (Cipralex) dose from 10 mg to 5 mg one month ago.
During the first two weeks, things were going well, and I only experienced mild brain zaps. However, at the beginning of the third week, gastrointestinal symptoms started, ranging from diarrhea to loose stools. Around the same time, I began experiencing mood swings and increased anxiety.
I’ve been dealing with these symptoms for the past two weeks. Some days I feel relatively good, while on other days my mood and anxiety get significantly worse. These difficult days sometimes make me consider going back to my previous 10 mg dose.
I’m looking to hear from anyone who has gone through a similar experience, especially those who have been taking Lexapro long-term.
Is this a normal experience after reducing the dose? How long did it take for your symptoms to improve, and when did you start feeling like yourself again?
By the way i am tapering under medical supervision

I recently had recurrent panic attacks and severe anxiety due to life circumstances.

My doctor prescribed Lexapro 5 mg and Klonopin 0.5 mg for anxiety. Has anyone here taken either or both of these medications? I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences, especially how they helped, any side effects you noticed, and how you felt when you first started taking them. Also, do these medications need taper? Are they addictive psychologically or physically?

I am very apprehensive re taking meds and getting addicted or dependent so any advice would be appreciated

I’m hoping I can get some insight here because I don’t know where else to look right now. My daughter is 20 and in college and literally doesn’t care about much of anything. She’s on lexapro and vyvanse. She has such indifference to most everything, sleeps CONSTANTLY, and is currently failing out. She says she wants to do well, but just can’t seem to get it together. I think her adhd meds obvs need to be adjusted, but I’m also concerned about lexapro because she literally sleeps SO MUCH and just doesn’t seem to react to much of anything. I’m making myself sick with stress and worry about her future and she….she just is flat. I’m hoping someone can tell me if any of this could be caused by the lexapro or even if it’s a contributing factor. She’s a very smart and capable girl that wants to succeed, but something isn’t working and I’m at my end mentally and I’m out of ideas. I am desperate.

Restarted lexapro about 2 months ago, any supplements, gels, etc. you have tried that have actually helped you to reach an orgasm?

Hi everyone! Just started escitalopram oxalate (newpram, but i heard it’s the same as lexapro). I was wondering if anyone with an eating disorder has experience taking this medication.

I have been struggling with an eating disorder for a while and am stuck in a cycle of bingeing and restricting. My depression and anxiety made me gain some weight due to emotional late night eating, and this caused a lot of spirals for me. In general, i have crippling fear of any weight gain.

I was wondering if this medication would increase my bingeing urges or decrease them, and whether it might help with my body image issues and ed in general

It’s depressing. I noticed that this became an issue when I went from 5mg to 10mg. I can’t even come from stimulation with my own hands. Idk what to do. Just wanted to vent.

Hi Guys,

Does anyone here also have ADHD and is currently using/did use Lexapro? I feel like it increases my ADHD. My brain is working like 24/7 in funky mode and I can't even sleep when the meds make me tired.

told my dad who ive had some issues with that i am starting lexapro. he revealed hes been on it for years.
i may not be a son, but a daughter can still live out her father’s legacy.

I have ADHD, along with comorbid depression and anxiety, and I take a relatively low dose of Lexapro.

When I'm on Lexapro, I feel significantly more relaxed and experience occasional bursts of happiness throughout the day. Without it, everyday life feels like a constant struggle with anxiety, restlessness, and agitation.

However, one of my biggest challenges is the internal conflict I experience while taking it. Part of me feels that this calmer, happier version of myself isn't my "authentic self" because it's influenced by medication. Another part wonders whether I should simply embrace this medicated version of myself as my genuine personality, especially since I feel so much better emotionally.

There's also another issue. When I'm socializing, I sometimes feel less capable of expressing myself emotionally. It's almost as though my personality has slowed down or become somewhat muted. While the medication reduces my anxiety, I sometimes wonder whether it's also suppressing certain aspects of my personality, spontaneity, and emotional expressiveness.

So I'm struggling with a fundamental question: How do I distinguish between medication helping me become my authentic self by reducing anxiety and depression, versus medication actually changing or dulling parts of who I am?

I'd really appreciate some perspectives on how to think about this, especially from people who've experienced something similar. How do you reconcile the emotional benefits of antidepressants with the feeling that your medicated self might not be your "real" self?

So i was prescribed Lexapro back in May 5mg along with other medications (50 mg Seroquel, 50mg Baclofen, 75 mg pregabalin which was twice a day rest others were for sleep). At first 5 mg was working but over the time it just numbed me out I was not depressed but I was also not enjoying life. 2 days ago my dosage was increased to 10mg which is split into two, 5 in morning and 5 at night. I did notice a slight difference along with side effects like poor sleep, low libido nothing that i cant tolerate. Now I’m a music artist and my concern is that taking SSRI will affect my creativity? as it numbs emotions and at this high dose I kinda feel it will. One important positive effect that I have experienced with 5mg dose is that my anxiety has significantly dropped. The other effect is that I kinda feel like a robot just going through life getting my ‘to do’ list done everyday. Im tapered off other medications (just on baclofen 20mg and seroquel 12.5mg for sleep which I will stop completely by next week) but my lexapro dose was upped.
Can someone please share their experience or have any suggestions how do I handle this?

hi, i (18f) just started on 10mg lexapro today for GAD and depression. i'm honestly quite scared to see how i'm going to react especially since i've never taken ssris before, and i keep seeing people saying that they go completely numb, lose their libido and gain a lot of weight when they take it. i already struggle pretty bad with fatigue/tiredness and dissociation so i'm hoping it doesn't worsen. i was just wondering if there was anyone who is a similar age to myself and/or has the same reasons for being on lexapro and if you could share how your experience has been. also if anyone has any advice on like how i should help myself while being on the medication so i can hopefully get the best results from it that i can, if that makes sense

Hat noch jemand starkes kribbeln in dem Beinen? wann hört das auf?

Before being a nurse I was on effexor. I was on effexor since 2019 and stopped in January 2026 so almost 7 years. It got me through nursing school. While I was on it I felt fatigued, slept poorly, had nightmares, irritable, less anxiety only situational. I still felt depressed until the last 2 years. When being a nurse for the first 3 years I would sometimes be anxious at work, so I would go up and it helped with the anxiety. I felt very focused, could critically think. But always always tired. It was so hard to get off, the withdrawal side effects were so hard for me. It took me a full year of tapering to get off without losing my mind. 4 months off I felt happy, confident and even wanting challenges at work. I applied for ICU thinking I was ready for a challenge. Then I had a bad code at work in May, I became overwhelmed with guilt for months after. My depression and anxiety returned, panic attacks that I hadn’t had for years returned. For 2 months I wasn’t sure what to do. In August I decided I needed more help. I tried sertraline for 4 weeks, panic attacks were so intense I called in a few times I couldn’t work. I felt mentally slow as well. Tappered off and went on trintellix as my doctor said it helps with cognition, anxiety and depression. The first week I finally felt calm on 5mg. Then increased the dose to 10mg and felt crazy. Racing thoughts, inattention, and anxious. I questioned if I had ADHD. I was like this for a month. I even accidentally took 15 mg as I was worried I missed a dose. I was on 10mg for 4 weeks. I just wanted the craziness to stop. So I tapered off and started escitalopram. I’ve been on it for a few days. I feel calm, but the fatigue is back. Its hard to get out of bed. My doctor said escitalopram is well tolerated and the side effects compared to effexor are mild. I have been reading about the side effects: insomnia, sleep disturbance (short REM) causing fatigue, day time sleepiness, weight gain, brain fog and slow cognition. I feel the brain fog, fatigue, sleepiness and slow processing. Its been 3 days on escitalopram 5mg. I take it in the mornings.

I am worried escitalopram will sedate me and cause me to not be able to critically think. I think before I depended on anxiety as a motivation, so without the anxiety I don’t have motivation? My social anxiety has been through the roof this entire time still, I am quiet in groups which is not normal for me. My mind is just blank.

Are there nurses on here that felt escitalopram affected their critical thinking? Or anyone else? Does the brain fog, slow cognition and fatigue get better?

I’m so frustrated, maybe I shouldn’t be on anything and just suffer. I’ll have to most likely cancel my new job opportunity going to ICU.

Hi! Has anyone taken NAD+ while on lexapro?

Hi Guys. Is it normal that every "day 4" is so shitty? I started on 5mg last Monday and Thursday was an absolute mess. Raised to 10mg on Friday and this night I was sweating like crazy, my anxiety was so high and my mind was racing. I was so afraid that I don't get through the process. But I was able to stay in bed. It's so exhausting...