Hi all. Today begins Week#5 for me on the Lexapro. I have to say that I feel less anxiety and less of that "zoned-out" feeling from the first three weeks. But my mood is still very, very low. Still feel "stuck" in that joyless hole of depression, with low motivation to do much of anything. Before the depression hit me a few months ago, I was really productive and energetic. So my frustration is boiling at times.

As I wait and wonder if the medicine will fully kick in, I just saw a new study (released today) in Canada that is encouraging. Researchers (in collaboration with the drugmaker) found that Lexapro is as effective in a "real-world" setting for major depressive disorder as it has been shown to be in clinical trials. Some 647 patients enrolled in the trial, and 71% completed the 6 months of treatment. Of those, 78% responded very well to the med. I'll post the full story in the Depression&Meds section of the forum.

Regards, and hope to hear from others.

hi everyone,im new to this so bear with me.i too have been on citalopram for the last 5 months,i recently decided to come of them as i felt better in myself,big mistake,the withdrawls i have suffered are just awful.i have the brain zaps like most have you have described,irritability,crying,having really weird thoughts,headaches,feeling sick,not been able to sleep.need i go on.what a complete knitemare.i wish i had thought things through more.is there anyone else out there who was on this medication and has come out the other end?i would like to hear of your story.

Hi RachelLouise-
Sorry to hear about your suffering. Those are all classic symptoms of withdrawal for almost all SSRIs, and they typically go away once your brain readjusts. Are you speaking to your doctor about it? Have you been weaning slowly off the medicine rather than quitting cold turkey? I suggest doing a search here using the terms LEXAPRO WITHDRAWAL and you are likely to turn up threads from people that could be very helpful.
Nobody here can speak for you or your needs (obviously), but I would be worried about my relapsing into depression if I quit the medicine after only 5 months. It sounds like the medicine was working, as you were feeling better, yes?

Actually, if you look higher up in this section of the forum - under Important Topics -- you'll see an active thread called "Lexapro (Escitalopram) ® Abrupt Discontinuation." Hope that also helps you!

Hi all, newbie to the forum as well as this med. My name's Roger, nice to meet you all.

Anyway, today actually happens to be my very first day taking it. I was prescribed 20 mg per day and took my first dose this morning. I know it's probably all placebo at this point, but I feel slightly better and less anxious than usual.

Hi Roger, and welcome! Glad you're feeling better after one dose. It may be placebo/psychological, but that's a very important thing, too. It can feel great and empowering (and a relief) to finally take that step to getting better. Keep us posted. And Happy Thanksgiving, if you celebrate.

Hi,
I'm new and started on Lexapro a week ago. Yesterday was the first relatively good day I've had in a while but this morning I woke up anxious again. I feel more anxious on lexapro than I did before I started. Is this normal? Monday and Tuesday were really rough. I felt so depressed and like there was no end to the feelings of depression. How long before I start feeling better?

Hi SKIGIRL:
Yes, the unfortunate thing about SSRIs is that you feel worse before you feel better. It's basically your body/brain adjusting and balancing to this medicine, which takes a little time. The start-up side effects of Lexapro often include increased anxiety and lack of concentration, etc., but these feelings start to wear off after 2-3 weeks. If you search through the archives here you will see a lot of info about it, including a few threads I started myself when I was freaking out a bit after 2 weeks on the medicine. I'm now 4.5 weeks on Lexapro, and starting to see improvement -- but it's certainly not linear. Good days and bad days. As it takes 4-6 weeks (typically) for the full effects of the medicine to be felt, I'm hanging in there. Hope you hang in there, too, even though it can be pure hell during those first 2 weeks.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to post my update on Lexapro. I have been on it for about 3 months now and I have to say it is an AWESOME drug! I took effexor in the past for a short period after my mother died and I have taken Zolft twice for postpartum depression. Lexapro has been the best antidepressant by far. I have no major side effects at all. The only thing I have to complain about is a little bit of tiredness, oh....... and the fact that is costs $50 a month because there is no generic. Effexor and Zoloft totally wiped out my sex drive but the Lexapro seems to make my drive stronger. (Or it could be the fact that I am at my prime at the age of 34, who knows.) Also another thing is that it took for-freaking-ever for it to work. I was on it for 2 months before I felt 100% better! I felt euphoric after taking it for a week but then I got depressed again then felt better at the 2 months mark. Oh, I am on 10mg. Hope this helps!

Leesaw--

Thanks so VERY much for posting your POSITIVE experience here! It's so valuable. Thank you for taking the time to do so!!

I'll be starting my 6th week on 10 mg of Lex tomorrow and it's been a LONG, SLOW (and frustrating!) haul. I too felt good things initially, have been in that depression dip that you speak of and now am beginning to feel a bit more change again. Nothing euphoric yet, but noticeable good. My dad started home hospice care 4 months ago today (he's still with us) and I'm heavily involved in his caretaking. It's taking a while for my brain to get used to the idea of getting "unstuck" in this low period I'm enduring. I'm determined to wait it out to the 8 week mark! Posts like this are very assuring... Thank you again.

Best,
HopefulOne

Hi all, I'm still a n00b round here but I really appreciate this thread - it's really reassuring to see everyone else's experiences! I've been taking Cipralex for three weeks now, for anxiety and depression, and I've found the whole time to be really uneven - the first week I was all over the place, couldn't sleep, felt really anxious for a couple of days; then I had several days where I felt really quite happy; then I was down again, then had a couple of good days, then yesterday I was horribly anxious again, then today I've felt much better again! There's no real pattern to it at all, and I've had all kinds of weird feelings too - like some mornings I feel completely out of it for several hours - I function at the time, but when I look back it's like remembering one of those dreams where you can't keep your eyes open! And sometimes - like now, in fact - I feel sort of itchy inside, like a sort of restlessness inside my chest, and my eyes feel odd too - sometimes sort of dry, and sometimes like they're somehow not properly connected to my brain. It's very strange - I just keep hoping these are still side effects, and they'll pass...

Sorry, just wanted to get that out there - writing things down often helps me keep them in proportion! I was interested to read elsewhere that other people seem to say their mood lifts but they still feel anxious, which is definitely what I've been feeling like. But getting physical side effects is not much fun for someone who suffers with a lot of health anxiety, which is my major problem. ^^' Sometimes I can't tell what's caused by the anxiety, what's caused by the drug, and what might be something scary and wrong...

This post has been edited by Elyndys: Dec 4 2007, 08:15 PM

Hi Elyndys-
Wow, you really articulated this perfectly. In fact, it sound just like my first 3 weeks on the med! I tended to fluctuate between high anxiety or 'zoning out' for hours (either at my desk or just endlessly walking the streets). At that point, the extra anxiety led me to see the PDoc, who had me up the dosage a little (to 15mg). Whether that was smart in retrospect, I'll never know, since it appeared to restart the clock on those same side effects.

I think we probably have to resign ourselves to a total inability to separate the medicine-related anxiety from the medicine-unrelated anxiety during those terrible start-up weeks. Easier said than done, of course!

Anyway, it DOES level out, so hang in there. And keep posting about how you are feeling. It'll help you -- and it'll help us all!
Best regards.

This post has been edited by MichaelBlue: Dec 4 2007, 08:29 PM