# The Lexapro Diaries (or "How long will I stay on this crap until I give up")



## infinite loop

So, I finally caved in and decided to start taking Lexapro (10mg).

Note: I didn't intend to give daily progress (or lack thereof) updates, but I've decided to do it that way. I feel like it's good for me to have a kind of record of how it's affecting me, plus an added bonus is that it may give others a sort of heads-up about what to potentially expect if they decide to try it.

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*Day 1*: Exhausted. Nauseated. That was about it.

*Day 2*: About the same. Nausea wasn't nearly as bad, but the exhaustion was awful. Depersonalization seemed worse, which I expected since I was so tired (it's always worse when I'm tired).

*Day 3*: Not as much nausea, but still really tired. I noticed that I would have brief moments of happiness. Nothing like euphoria or hypomania, just kinda happy for a second. Also had little spikes of anxiety off and on. DP/DR still a little worse.

*Day 4*: Horribly tired.

*Day 5*: Remember that nausea I mentioned? Much worse. The tiredness comes in waves, then drops off. I noticed that when those weird "DP/DR moments" hit, I don't get quite as anxious about them and dwell on them. It may be because I'm too tired to care, or maybe it's the Lexapro.

*Day 6 & 7*: No changes (expected). Just riding out side effects.

*Day 8*: Horrible DP/DR. Feel totally out of it and exhausted.

*Day 9*: May be the placebo effect, but my mood seems a little better. I've actually felt like doing some things I haven't done in a while. Still a lot of fatigue and sleepiness.

*Day 10*: Sleeping much better; almost too well. Vivid, weird dreams. Side effects are still the same, but I'm used to them. The depression seems to be a little less strong and draining, but I'm still getting spikes of anxiety where I worry about my usual thing(s).

One additional thing - my appetite has been ridiculous, and by that I mean, I actually have one now. I haven't gained any weight at all (actually lost 2 lbs), but I've been eating a lot more.

*Day 11*: Thought I'd be brave and venture out into the world and see if I was able to cope with the anxiety and dp/dr. Maybe not such a good idea. Horrible brain fog which led to more anxiety. Fatigue and sleepiness so badly I felt like I was sleepwalking through everything.

*Day 12 - 14*: I've noticed that my mood has improved somewhat. I don't feel quite as depressed as I was before, and my anxiety about some things is a lot more manageable. I still have the same worries, but i don't seem to dwell on them quite as much. The dp/dr is still there along with the brain fog. Everyone says it could take up to 2 months for it to fully work, so I'm holding out hope that it will get rid of both of those.

*Day 15*: Had a panic attack about something stupid, but I was able to let it go a little more easily than I normally would. Any improvement is better than none, right?

As far as DP/DR goes, I've noticed something odd. While it's still there (I still feel like I'm in a dreamlike state), the existential thoughts about my surroundings and myself aren't nearly as fierce as they were before. Typically when I'm talking to someone face to face, the more I look at their face the more I start dwelling on "why their face looks that way" and things of that nature. The thoughts are still kind of there, but I almost don't care, and the panic I would generally get from it is significantly weaker.

My appetite has leveled off also. I was waking up hungry and ready to eat, and eating small meals several times a day, but that's worn off.

*Day 16 - 22*: Seems like the side effects are almost completely gone, except I still have the fatigue during the day. Totally mild and tolerable. My mood seems to have leveled (honeymoon period is over, I guess) and overall I'm not noticing a huge difference. Pretty exciting update, huh?

_____

So I'm skipping ahead a bit, but I've just finished my first month on 10mg. At first it seemed like it had real potential to help, but after the 3rd week or so, some of my anxiety started creeping back up. I talked to my doctor and she decided to up my dose from 10mg to 20mg, which I have just started today (Sept 23). I suppose I'll update that progress too for anyone who's interested.


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## infinite loop

selig said:


> *Putting aside a huge medication debate people tend to get into in these threads*, in my experience it has taken at least a good month for the side effects to taper off and any changes to take place. Celexa gave me persistent headaches for weeks.


That's what I'm hoping to avoid lol. I just kind of wanted to start this thread so that if I'm one of the lucky ones that's able to get relief from medication, maybe it'll keep others encouraged to keep trying different things that might help (not that everyone here hasn't already tried nearly everything).

Honestly, these are the mildest side effects I've had from any AD. I definitely tolerate these side effects, so long as they don't get worse or new "fun" ones don't show up.


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## infinite loop

I decided this time, regardless of how awful the side effects were, I was willing to try anything and tough it out. Any relief is better than none.

Thanks man!


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## sunshinita

You should wait at least a month for it to kick in and for the side effects to fade away. I don't know about SSRIs but SNRIs take a month.


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## morgenstrn

Hey. These side effects are normal for SSRI's, they take a couple of weeks to fade out.
And don't expect to get better in 5 days - it takes a couple of months to start seeing results, so don't be too rushed.
I hope the Lexapro will be as successful to you as it is to me! I'm going on 4 months of it (10mg) and dissociation, panic attacks and depression are gone..I guess I got lucky. If you have any questions about it I'm here!
Good vibes


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## infinite loop

morgenstrn said:


> Hey. These side effects are normal for SSRI's, they take a couple of weeks to fade out.
> And don't expect to get better in 5 days - it takes a couple of months to start seeing results, so don't be too rushed.
> I hope the Lexapro will be as successful to you as it is to me! I'm going on 4 months of it (10mg) and dissociation, panic attacks and depression are gone..I guess I got lucky. If you have any questions about it I'm here!
> Good vibes


Thank you so much! Your post made me really hopeful that it'll work, and god knows we all need hope. I'm glad you're doing better, and I sincerely hope that it stays that way for you.


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## googleeyes

I was on lexapro for 4 years with varying doses. I believe it was this medication in conjunction with healthy living that knocked my dp out completely. It took 6 weeks for the meds to take effect and months for it to allow the dp to disappear.

Reap the benefits from lexapro helping lessen the anxiety but make sure you continue to work as hard as ever.


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## tease11982

so at 3 months I shouldn't give up on Lexapro and start working on myself more you think. My depression seems a bit better and anxiety hasn't done much for my dp though. was thinking of switching but now I don't know.


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## infinite loop

tease11982 said:


> so at 3 months I shouldn't give up on Lexapro and start working on myself more you think. My depression seems a bit better and anxiety hasn't done much for my dp though. was thinking of switching but now I don't know.


I would definitely talk to your doc about it. It may just take a while for the symptoms to go away, or maybe you need a little higher dose.


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## Swansea

What day and how's the lexapro going now? Infinite Loop? Thinking about trying it myself


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## infinite loop

Swansea said:


> What day and how's the lexapro going now? Infinite Loop? Thinking about trying it myself


Sorry, I kinda skipped updating for a day or two. I'll update now


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## tease11982

infinite loop said:


> I would definitely talk to your doc about it. It may just take a while for the symptoms to go away, or maybe you need a little higher dose.


was already up'd to 20mg about 8 weeks ago so maybe I just have give it time and work my therapist to make dp go away. ive had dp for going on 4 years though and this is my first with medication.



infinite loop said:


> I would definitely talk to your doc about it. It may just take a while for the symptoms to go away, or maybe you need a little higher dose.


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## infinite loop

Same here actually. I've been going through this for 4 years and this is the first time I've taken an AD to try to treat my anxiety. I'm really hoping it helps, or at least makes a dent in the dp/dr.


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## Lostwanderer

Hey- I've been taking Lexapro for almost a year now and its definitely one of the better SSRI's I've tried for anxiety and DP.

For me it definitely worked to alleviate my symptoms of anxiety and DP.

One problem I had was it made me tired, and it was hard to be motivated to do a lot of things so I eventually lowered my dose. Now it doesn't help my anxiety as much unfortunately. that's just me though.


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## infinite loop

Lostwanderer said:


> Hey- I've been taking Lexapro for almost a year now and its definitely one of the better SSRI's I've tried for anxiety and DP.
> 
> For me it definitely worked to alleviate my symptoms of anxiety and DP.
> 
> One problem I had was it made me tired, and it was hard to be motivated to do a lot of things so I eventually lowered my dose. Now it doesn't help my anxiety as much unfortunately. that's just me though.


This is probably a stupid question, but did you try taking it at night?

I'm glad it worked for you, and hope you can get it sorted out so it'll work for you again. What dose are you on now?


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## tease11982

making dr appt for next week ive given this med long enough at therapeutic dose and my depression stills lingering. think l want to try pristiq and see if that's betterfor me. I pray it will.


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## tease11982

[quote name="morgenstrn" post="302873" timestamp="1378070787"]Hey. These side effects are normal for SSRI's, they take a couple of weeks to fade out.
And don't expect to get better in 5 days - it takes a couple of months to start seeing results, so don't be too rushed.
I hope the Lexapro will be as successful to you as it is to me! I'm going on 4 months of it (10mg) and dissociation, panic attacks and depression are gone..I guess I got lucky. If you have any questions about it I'm here!
Good vibes[/quote

hey I sent u a message hope u get it would like to ask some questions. thanks


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## Lostwanderer

infinite loop said:


> This is probably a stupid question, but did you try taking it at night?
> 
> I'm glad it worked for you, and hope you can get it sorted out so it'll work for you again. What dose are you on now?


Hey- yeah, I tried taking it at night, and almost all times of the day- I couldn't sleep, but I was still tired whenever I took it. I'm taking 10 mg now. I might raise it again because I'm taking Wllbutrin now which gives me energy to cancel out the drowsiness.


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## sputnik

Lostwanderer said:


> Hey- yeah, I tried taking it at night, and almost all times of the day- I couldn't sleep, but I was still tired whenever I took it. I'm taking 10 mg now. I might raise it again because I'm taking Wllbutrin now which gives me energy to cancel out the drowsiness.


Hi! this is an interesting read. Always glad to see people having their DP/DR symptoms dissapear.

@Lostwanderer: how much Wellbutrin are you taking on top of the Lexapro?


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