r/lexapro

Last night I woke up with multiple anxiety attacks… it scared me. Why on day 10 it felt like day 1 of lexapro 5mg.

Hi all

I am about 8 weeks into taking lexapro and feeling great - I was prescribed to manage with a demanding job and the stress that came with it, not for overwhelming or chronic anxiety.

I haven’t had a drink in a while now, and have a function creeping up which I would enjoy to have a few drinks - what is everyone’s experiences?

I don’t want to go out and get hammered, but I have been told the medication can speed the process up?

TIA

Overall improved. I wish I wasn’t on medication. How long do people usually stay on Lexapro? How do you know when you’re ready to get off? I feel like I want to get off it but don’t want to go back to feeling like shit. 

I need to work on my anxiety. Still get some physical symptoms, but not as much. Red face. Sweating.

Don’t feel so depressed. I have more motivation and energy. Social situations have become easier. 

I still have some stomach side effects. Kind of annoying but not the end of the world. Maybe a little foggy at times but not so bad either. 

In general, more clear, less bullshit. I feel better about myself. Exercising more, making better eating choices. Starting to remember who I am again.

Yes y'all it works. Not too long ago I was thinking about how my life was going to end but after 6 weeks of lexapro (20mg as a first timer user) I can finally say that it has been starting to work and I feel like a brand new person! I have been able to enjoy almost everything in my life that I couldn't for the past couple years because of my depression and anxiety. It is like I never even had it (feels like my anxiety/depression is 15% as strong of what it was before I took these meds). For those who are struggling with the symptoms, I promise you it is 1000% worth it. Please feel free to reach out to me if you need someone to talk to about the process!

Hi everyone
I have been off and on Escitalopram “Lexapro” 10mg 3 times now in the last 3.5 years (currently off it) but I am thinking to go back on as I have developed a chronic pain condition and am having a real hard time sleeping as well as having a very negative mindset most days.

My question is, am I doing long term damage to my brain/seratonin receptors by coming on and eventually back off this drug for a 4th time?? just to help me get through this chronic pain, since I have come off and back on it 3 times in just a few short years, I worry that I’ll do irreversible damage to my brain when I want to come off again when this is all over

Thank you

Hello, I have been on lexapro for three months. I went on it for depression but all I’ve noticed is less anxiety. This is great except I still feel like shit. By that I mean, still empty, just a different kind of empty. Does this improve later on or should I get off of it? I understand meds can’t do it all but honestly I might actually like before the meds better.

I’ve been talked to because my manager noticed every time he asks me how I’m doing I always say ok or good. Like dude I’m literally neutral. I don’t know why people take it personally

Hey lexa friends ! Hope ur day is as smooth and awesome as it gets . I started Lexapro end of 2025 my doc told me about it and i sat on it for a loooong time because having an anxiety medication was giving me anxiety lmao . So i started off by 2.5 mg for like 12 weeks then went to 5 mg for another 12 weeks it was really tough but then it all settled down i didn’t have ruminating thoughts or any physical signs of anxiety anymore , i react to things normally i would say no emotion sticks with me longer than it should . I still cry in movies and get angry and happy and all of the range of emotions and its easier for me to stick to routines . The side effects are hitting me hard though no sex drive what so ever and what is food ? I just eat when its infront of me but i will never think or “feel like” eating anything
i know deep down that 5 mg is a starting dose . Its not giving me the actual effect that i should be getting . But im scared to go to 10 because i dont want to intensify the side effects . And i know going back from 10 is much harder than from 5 . Has anyone here started and stayed on 5 mg ? What do you advise me to do ? Is being on 10 really that much different from 10 ? Help a mommy out please lol

any advice helps, i'm hoping that looking back at this post settles any potential future anxiety or worrying about dropping lexapro.

i started taking lexapro for panic attacks, which i now realize are situational. it made my baseline anxiety levels significantly higher past the first few weeks and made me depressed. I got intrusive thoughts about dying in various ways which i will not get into here.

After a series of especially depressing days, I told my psychiatrist that i either wanted to completely wane off the medication or switch to another SSRI. He suggested i just stop taking the medication and said there wasn't much need to taper off since i haven't been on the medication for long.

I haven't taken lexapro for 24hrs. in the past month, the longest i've been without a new dose is ≈29hrs. what withdrawal symptoms should I expect and for how long are they likely to be present?

Needing encouragement from this great community. I was on lexapro for about 8 years and felt great on it. Never had any side effects when I started it or increased doses (went as high as 20mg). I thought I felt good enough to where I didn’t need the lexapro anymore so I slowly tapered off. I lasted about a month completely off of it then the anxiety came back. I ended up going back on and now I’m on day 12 of 2.5 mg and the side effects have been horrible. Anxiety, depression, adrenaline dumps that make my heart race and hands and feet feel cold and sweaty. No appetite. Hardly been sleeping at all. Does anyone have experience getting back on lexapro after getting off of it for a while? Feeling so discouraged. Thanks for reading.

I’m sure there’s a lot of discussion boards about this, but I didn’t see anything about my situation in particular. I’ve been on lexapro for a few weeks now and whenever I drink, even if it’s just one or two drinks, I feel severe depression and anxiety the next day. I’m wondering if this happens to others? I know it’s normal to feel down the next day because alcohol is a depressant and messes up your body but it feels intensified since starting lexapro.

lol sorry for the weird post but I am so curious, I have changed a few things like cutting out vaping and starting lexapro and my boobs have gotten so much bigger I am stunned. I just wondered if this could be caused by lexapro or if anyone else has had the same thing?

I am 26 and have always had smaller boobs and I know hormones make boobs fluctuate but I have gone from a b/c cup to a DD.

Hey, I’m on day 9 of 5mg, and honestly not much has happened for side effects other than insomnia, nausea, depression. But that goes off and on. But today I felt an increase of anxiety, how is it on day 9 I’m still getting side effects 😩😩😩 I want this process to go quicker I hate having a good day and then a bad day the next. I’ve felt no relief for my anxiety yet none at all.

I've been on 5mg Lexapro for a little over 3 years now, and it's changed my life. I've done so many things I could never have even dreamed of without it. The side effects aren't my favorite, but I've been willing to tough them out until lately. Last year, I added on Welbutrin to help with libido and sleepiness, which definitely helped with the sleepiness! But now I'm really struggling with my weight. I gained 15lbs (more than 10% my body weight) in the first year, and I've been climbing steadily since. Recently I've been really watching CICO, working out, avoiding snacking and binge eating, etc. I was losing weight slowly. Then my mom visited this weekend. We walked 10k steps a day and I didn't eat a ton or anything crazy. Stepped on the scale the other day and I had gained back all my progress over 2.5 weeks in 4 days. I'm fed up and this inability to get back to a healthy weight is starting to affect my mental health and self image more consistently. I made an appointment with my doctor to discuss switching to a different SSRI, or maybe just staying on my Welbutrin only, but I talked to my friend who has tried several different SSRIs, and she said she hasn't been able to lose weight on any of them. So, before my doctor's appointment in 3 weeks, is it reasonable to find an SSRI that doesn't keep me in the overweight range? Should I just resign myself to getting fatter and fatter if I want to continue to live the rich life Lexapro has given me? Could Welbutrin alone keep my anxiety at bay? I don't know what to do.

helloo, I’ve just taken my first (evening)dose of 5mg after being on Paroxetine/paxil for 8 days. I’m convinced the side effects can’t be half as bad compared to what I’ve just experienced on Paroxetine but time will tell…

just wondering if anyone else has recently started and wants to keep in touch so they have someone to go through it with?:)

I’m taking it for anxiety/panic disorder, 25F in the uk. I am currently signed off of work because the side effects from Paroxetine ruined me

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Ich würde euch gerne fragen ob es bei euch während der Einnahme auch Aufs und Abs gab. Nehme es seit September mit 15 mg gegen Zwangsgedanken und Angststörung und es ging mir bis vor 2 Wochen wirklich gut. Jetzt habe ich wieder vermehrt Angst und Zwangsgedanken bedingt durch Stress ist das normal ? Meine Psychiaterin ist diese Woche nicht da würde mich sehr über eure Erfahrungen freuen

Hi all. So I’ll try to be brief here. I’m only 38 but have been suspected I’ve started perimenopause already (my mom started early). I’ve already had lifelong anxiety, and peri has ramped it up times a thousand because of the hormones.

This is a compounding problem because I already have anxiety + horrible health anxiety (Random itch? Must be a spider bite, gonna get infected, have to go to the ER etc etc etc). My health anxiety is bad. I have also developed GERD, which is also bad. I have regurgitative reflux.

Anyway, my PCP prescribed me this, 5mg. I really respect and like her has a doctor and I don’t think she’s a quack or anything. I’ve just been yo-yo-ing through depressive episodes recently and with everything on top of that, she thinks that lessening my stress/anxiety will help disappear a lot of my symptoms. She thinks lowering my anxiety will help my GERD and the emotional turmoil of perimenopause plus my underlying stuff.

Unfortunately because I have anxiety (lol) I can’t bring myself to start this. (Fear of side effects + health anxiety). My question is, has anyone had these problems (like peri/GERD) and had antidepressants help?

Hi everyone. I’ve been taking Lexapro for about 6 months now. My doctor put me on 10mg of Lexapro back in November 2025 and I’ve been on it daily until recently. My dad had just passed away and I was having really severe panic attacks and general anxiety throughout the day. The panic attacks have mostly went away now and when I’m on the Lexapro (usually take it every morning since I didn’t like how I felt waking up after taking it at night) I feel so much more confident. But this is where my concerns start lol.

I noticed that sometimes when I would drive, it felt like I was zoned out, like on autopilot. Which was fine, I thought that I was just more confident plus it was on routes I take everyday. But 2 weeks ago I got into a really stupid accident that was totally my fault. I turned in the parking lot without checking my blindspots and hit someone’s car (thankfully nobody was hurt). I don’t even know if I can blame it on the Lexapro I’m really starting to second guess myself. I’m generally a safe and cautious person in general but on the Lexapro I feel so foggy.

I’ve stopped the Lexapro cold turkey for now until I can get a chance to see my GP again, hopefully soon. I think I’m actually worse when driving of it, my anxiety makes me so on edge it makes driving miserable.

Just wanted to find out if anyone else has dealt with this brain fog or carelessness on Lexapro. I’ve mostly seen positive things about peoples driving anxiety getting better with Lexapro.

tldr: I feel zoned out when driving on Lexapro, is this normal? Any experience with this?