Voluntary? Redundancy? What's happened?

Oh no definitely voluntary. They wouldn't let me go part time and after the year I've had I didn't want to risk another breakdown so I've given it up. Can't wait to be relieved of the stress for a while! Thanks for asking! xx

PRT Good luck with everything.

When I first stopped working I slept for a week!!

I hope you enjoy it as much as you can.

If I may give some unsolicited advice?

Find a reason to go out once a day.

Join a hobby club or a gym or something so you don't lose the habit of socialising!!

How long until freedom day?

Zen Hugs

Jen

Yeah I'm definitely going to join the gym....if I can afford it that is! Two weeks and a day left I think!!!! Hurrah!!
Thanks Jen!

Hello. I just started taking Lexapro yesterday. This isn't my first time on it. I took it for about 6 mos. in 2002, then about a yr and a half in starting in late '03. I would take it with clonazapam .5mg prn. I was put back on it early this year but i took one pill and woke up with a buzzing feeling that i stopped it that day. Well... about 5 months ago i had to quit my job because my boss was being terrible to me. Now i'm not sure if it was my boss or the combo of my boss and myself slowly sinking into a depression. On my last month at work, i had no interest in anything, i would have to push myslef to shower, put on makeup etc., and i would sometimes just sit at my desk and cry. Right after i quit work i felt GREAT for about 2 months or so. Then in late May/early June i began feeling tired all the time, i wanted to sleep, i saw no sense in dressing up (wasn't going anywhere), started getting separation anxiety from my daughter while she was away at school (would literally count the hours till she got home - which now that i think back, that slowly started in May '08), and i was sick all the time. I would have slight panic attacks from time to time (i felt like i couldn't breathe, something stuck in my throat, similar to an asthma attack) but would take my clonazapam and it would all feel better. Three weeks ago, i got ill with terrible allergies/virus and was in and out of the doctor/ER (thought i had the swine flu but didn't - still i wasn't convinced). I began taking my clonazapam on an almost daily basis. I would take .25 mg to .75mg just about every day. However two weeks of doing that, i began to have panic attacks every single day. Then the nausea, not hungry feeling, diarrhea, weakness, tired, wanting to cry, unable to breathe feelings came on full force. I ended up going to the ER again and was given an injection of Ativan and some ibueprofen(sp?). It calmed me down a little bit (still had the chest tightness) and was told to see my doctor. I wasn't able to get in for 3 days and when i finally did she prescribed me Lexapro 10mg (at my request since that is the only thing i've ever taken) and Clonazapam .25mg (but just enough to help while the Lexapro starts working). Took my first pill yesterday and i felt awful - never felt this way before on it. I had a bad panic attack that lasted for about 4 hours and then i slept off and on from about 8pm to 3am. At around 3am i had to take some clonazapam to chill me out because i woke up with full on jitters. It didn't help much at all. I got sleepy about 30 mins later but i just kept nodding my head and dozing until i fully got up at 9am today. It is now almost 3 hours later and although i still have the chest tightness (like indigestion) the jitters are slowly subsiding. However its almost time for my next Lexapro dose and i am terrified. Anyway, sorry this is so long but i feel that i just have to share it with someone. I'm hoping all this goes away very soon. I start a new job on Monday and i am terrified i'm gonna freak out on my first day. If anyone has any suggestions on how to cope or how long it takes for Lexapro to work, i welcome any feedback. Thanks.

HI HollyBee,

Sorry about your boss and your job, that's horrible when something like that happens.
It can unfortunately take between 6-8 weeks for the lexapro to fully work and for all the side effects to settle down, but the major ones should go away after a few days. It may be tricky for you starting a new job in the midst of all this so take care of yourself.

PRT xx