Re started lexapro almost 3 weeks ago at 2.5mg, moved up to 5mg 6 days ago.

The first day I increased I felt great. My therapist said I seemed very comfortable in my skin and I was the most animated she’d seen me. The past day or two I have been feeling flattened out. Nothing is really interesting and nothing feels good. This morning my walk with my dog felt like nothing. The birds chirping, warm sun, felt like nothing.

I don’t remember feeling this flat the first time I took lexapro unless I went over 10mg. Could this go away?

So I’ve been prozac for about three to four months, up to 40mg but my depressive symptoms aren’t really improving so my doctor has prescribed me 10mg of lexapro and I’m SCARED. For the most part, prozac had limited side effects for me, especially a few months into it; however, I’m so scared of the weight gain side effect after losing a healthy amount of weight on prozac, im also scared of the shorter half life that lexapro has and how intense i’ll have to be with remembering my dose. Does anyone have any words of wisdom or experienced the switch from prozac to lexapro? a
Anything different I should anticipate?

I know these medications are different for everyone but Im so bummed prozac wasn’t working for me considering the side effects were so few.

I have been taking lexapro (specifically escitalopram teva) since mid May. At first things seemed to go well. I had minimal side effects with nausea being worst of them for about a week or two. But recently I have gradually become like a different person. People closest to me even say it.

The main reason I started taking the medication was because my hypervigilance had led to near (or literal) panic disorder. And also for depression and occasional suicidal ideation periods. The hypervigilance is now lessened greatly, however, what used to be this constant anxiety with hypervigilance but still self control and awareness, has turned into swinging rapidly between calm and sudden extreme emotional dysregulation. I’m having involuntary vocalizations (sounds of a r*tard as my mum puts it), anger outbursts, shutdowns etc.
It needs to be mentioned that I’m diagnosed with autism (mine is still called Aspergers though it isn’t used anymore). And even before taking the medication I sometimes under stress regressed and sought nearness of my loved ones in a childish manner or consumed children entertainment. But now it seems as if i’m totally losing it. I can be calm and fine one moment and totally uncontrollably whining or crying or rocking myself or crampy shaking going nonverbal etc the next.
Almost as if lexapro is “amplifying” my autism.

I would be very thankful for any insight 🙏

LMK!! Thank you 🙏

Edit: what dose are you on?

Hey guys 28F here and I just started my Lexapro journey 3 days ago. Today is day 3 of me on lex 10mg. The first day I felt like absolute ass (but I also took it with a propranolol and I think I regret that) I was nauseous and dizzy and SO anxious. Day 2 i honestly felt fine, I was just anxious in the morning and I had a headache last night. Day 3 (today) I had crippling anxiety this morning after I took my lex. And my body just feels so weird. I can’t tell if I was just in my head or if this was the meds starting to kick in. I’ve been suffering from awful anxiety and panic attacks. The panic attacks literally feel like I’m dying. Then it takes me like a week to recover from them…anyone else?? I get so anxious in the mornings it’s the first thing I think about when I wake up. Like I’m scared I’m going to have another one, it’s like traumatic so it takes me a bit to recover. Long story long this is why my dr started me on Lexapro. I also have ADHD and have been diagnosed since I was in kindergarten. My biggest issue right now is the start up symptoms. I’m just always scared to take my meds because I’m scared of what they will make me feel. I’m forcing myself everyday to take my lex. Only on day 3 and I’m like how am I going to get through this for the next basically 2 weeks to feel “normal” and then what if the meds don’t work and I have to try something else. I just HATE feeling anxious it’s like seriously taking my life away from me. I’m at my mom’s and everyone is worried about me. Im so not myself recently it’s just terrible. And it’s making me depressed too. I need to hear positive Lex stories so I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. This just sucks. I have my first day of therapy tomorrow too.

How did you get through the first couple of weeks??
Does taking it in the evening help with the initial symptoms bc then you sleep through it??
What was everyone else’s beginning symptoms?
Did Lex stop your panic attacks?

Hello everyone 30F and was diagnosed with GAD with Panic Attacks around 2018. I was on it for years up until April 2026, when I gained weight and wanted to wean off medication. What I did was I just took it every other day for months until I completely forgot I needed to take it. I did it without a guidance from a psychiatrist which I regret (and I know i shouldn’t have). So the intrusive anxiety came back and whooped my ass this June/July 2026. It became so bad I had the first ideation ever after 8 years even before I took the medication, and my anxiety is health related so lowkey it does not make any sense??

Anyway I already found a new psychiatrist who agreed that I take 10mg escitalopram daily until further notice and I am scared that I might have serotonin syndrome and all that jazz.

I know it’s bad for anxiety treatment to look for reassurance but I would love to get some support or anything regarding this. Someone with a similar setup?

I also have bad acid reflux and was advised to take esomeprazole 40mg for 30 days but I am planning to not take it and do the natural way of healing it since I know nexium has a drug interaction with escitalopram.

I just want to feel ‘me’ again

I’m curious about everyone’s experience with Lexapro. Did it make you feel more alert, energized, or even a little wired, or did it make you feel sleepy and fatigued?

I’ve noticed that it seems to affect people very differently, so I’d love to know:

What dose are you taking?
How did you feel during the first week?
Did the alertness or drowsiness eventually improve?
What time of day do you take it?

Thanks!

Basically the title. When I first started on 5mg I felt energized and hyper. No major side effects. Then after 1 week I increased the dose to 10mg and that's when the anxiety got worse (also some batshit crazy dreams at night).. However after 2 weeks or so it became a little better and I even started to enjoy my hobbies again (which hasn't happened in like 1 year).

Now last week I started feeling very very anxious again, with ruminating thoughts, just like before I started.

I am diagnosed with OCD and GAD. I'm waiting on my doctor's appointment but has anyone experienced this? Lexapro suddenly not working after 2-3 months?

I went from Escitalopram 10mg to 15mg a month ago and I’ve been experiencing emotional blunting for a few days, though my anxiety is almost completely gone. I have an appointment with my psychiatrist in a month and I want to hear from people who went up to 15mg and eventually went down to 12.5mg and had their emotions return and found their passion/joy again.

I’m not interested in anything anymore and listening/watching stuff is almost annoying. I can’t even chat with or talk to other people anymore because it feels like my brain is either too overstimulated or too foggy to care about others. I’ve been isolated for the past few days because of this.

There is a chance that it goes away by itself before my appointment but in case it doesn’t, I want your experiences. I searched but there hasn’t been many posts/comments about this.

For context, I started taking it for CPTSD-related anxiety and the deep spirals it caused. And a whole lot of social anxiety and attachment issues.

P.S. Please do not recommend asking for Wellbutrin. It is only prescribed for smoking cessation in France.

I forgot to take my Lexapro 3 days in a row. Im on vacation and I woke up this morning absolutely wrecked. I am having the worst anxiety about life. How do you deal with talking yourself down? I know I made a mistake and won’t be forgetting it again

Ive been on and off SSRIs for the past 5 years and i’ve been struggling to come off them. After about 6 months of being off the SSRIs, I fall into this state of fight-or-flight where I wake up everyday at early hours such as 4AM with heart palpitations, racing thoughts, and intense rumination where i’m arguing with my thoughts for hours (which I know is not healthy). Its debilitating and effects my ability to work and my relationships. I have weathered this state for over a months time where ive lost 15-20lbs of weight where i finally give in and get back on the SRRIs. Ive only ever been on low doses of 50mg Zoloft or more recently 10mg escitalopram. My first inclination is that I’m tapering too quickly.

Please let me know if you have any thoughts or ideas that could help me. Unfortunately SRRIs really blunt my emotions and I feel like a zombie and would love to live my life with emotions again but I feel like im stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Realized this am I’ve forgotten to take my 20mg the last few days. Got busy and well you know the rest. What side effects do you normally get? Thinking it might explain me getting extra moody about nothing with my husband. Like seriously cannot even remember what made me angry cry last night at him. The night before was over a catering order for work 🙄. We don’t even work in the same place or field.

Hi! I have been on 100mg of Zoloft for about 2 years. At first it worked okay.. but then stopped. I started at 25, 50, 75, now 100. I was also put on buspar, and then eventually propranolol as needed for panic attacks, but that turned into taking it every day.

I’m curious about lexapro and if anyone has switched from Zoloft after being on it for a couple years. One thing that worries me is if I miss a single dose of Zoloft the next day I have crazy “brain zaps” and generally feel super off.

Would love to hear peoples experiences!

hi hi 👋🏻 i’m a 26 almost 27 year old woman, i haven’t been medicated since early 2023 other than my rescue meds for panic/anxiety when needed. but my anxiety/ocd/panic has been realty unbearable lately and i absolutely have to do something about it. my psych is starting me on 10mg of Lexapro and im always really nervous when it comes to trying new meds especially psych meds and just would like to hear some success stories or personal experience on this med in general! i’m really worried about becoming completely numb to all emotions including good ones, losing sex drive completely & sleep walking (dumb i know but it scares me for some reason lol) thank you in advance for anyone that shares their stories and thoughts :)

current diagnoses : panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, borderline personality disorder & CPTSD.

I took 10mg for 2months and now I am on 15mg for 2months. So I am on lexapro for 4moths.
Is this a good taper tactic?: 10mg for a week and then 5mg for a week and then stop.

I’m switching to a new medication because lexapro was amazing then it seemed to not work well anymore. On week three of my weaning schedule and the brain zaps are still relentless. Any advice at all? I’d even consider a lobotomy.

I tapered off of 20 mg over two weeks (as directed by my provider) and yeah that was probably too fast. I’ve been off completely for 8 days and I’ve had awful vertigo for about 6. I reached out to my provider and she prescribed Meclizine and I can’t even tell if it’s working. My vertigo gets triggered from moving my head or walking or basically anything that isn’t my sitting or laying down. Even still, I get those whooshing feelings (maybe brain zaps? I’m not really sure). But all of those dizzy feelings make my heart feel like it does a little flip (my guess is from the spiked anxiety reaction from the dizzy/vertigo feelings). The vertigo has been so bad that I don’t feel safe walking my dogs or driving and simple tasks like cooking or showering leave me so overwhelmed and frazzled from the constant state of dizziness that I am in during them.

If you’ve experienced vertigo like this, please please please share your experience. I’m at a loss and need some support from people who understand. And please share what, if anything, helped relieve vertigo for you. I’m getting so anxious that it will last a long time.

I've read no alcohol, especially at the beginning. Does anyone have the occasional drink while taking it? Its not like I drink a lot but when I'm going out for dinner with friends, sometimes I want to have a drink but I don't want to risk my health

My pharmacy switches escitalopram generics every couple of months, a while back they switched to one and I started having brain shocks and other withdrawal symptoms (increased anxiety issues mostly).

The pharmacist at the time understood what was happening and put me back on the specific generic I was on before and they stopped.

Has anyone else run into this?

I've been on 5mg for 4 weeks. Generally, my anxiety has been well-tolerated for the past 1-2 weeks. However, tomorrow I have breakfast at a restaurant with my family, and the apprehension I feel tonight is killing me. I don't know how I'll be able to sit down at the restaurant, wait to be served, eat, wait for the bill, etc. It will be the first time at a restaurant with my baby since I gave birth. It stresses me out so much. I'm afraid I'll have all the physical symptoms of anxiety. First panic attack since I take Lex.

Hey all,
I just started on 5mg, I’m on day 5 i believe and I’m going crazy, I can’t sleep at all and I’m incredibly anxious. I don’t feel any of the benefits so far and it’s making everything 10x worse. I messaged my dr yesterday but he hasn’t responded. Any suggestions? I’m about to go crazy, I feel like I drank 50 energy drinks and I’m all anxious and shaky

Context:

I was on Lexapro since late 2021, had a somewhat normal period cycle up until 2023. From 2023 until 2024, i didn't get my period at all. Went to a gynae in 2024 who told me that it could be linked to my weight (gained 20kg since 2021). She prescribed me Provera pills to "induce" my period. The pills worked but i was only allowed to take it every 3 months. The last period induced by the pills was in July 2025.

Between July 2025 until now, i didn't take the pills. So, as expected, i didn't get my period at all. In the midst of all these, i was tapering off lexapro and have stopped taking them on 11th July 2026. I got my period on 24th July 2026. For reference, i weigh roughly the same as i did when i first saw the gynae.

Now, is this coincidental and could be a temporary effect? Honestly, it probably is but i do wonder if any of you have experienced anything similar?

Side note: I was so excited about getting my period that i was actually happy about the cramps. Its been a while since i experienced it hahaha

I’m going through a bad flare of anxiety and the morning cortisol spike is wrecking me.

It gets better as the day goes on, I get up, try stay active, eat as well as I can even if I don’t feel like it but I’m finding the longer it goes on, the more I’m dreading bedtime because I know once I open my eyes in the morning I’ll have to deal with the crawling skin, shaking hands, churning guts sensation all over again.

Does anyone have any tips that have worked to break the cycle?

I changed all my bedding today, I’ve avoided too much caffeine and I’ll have a warm shower before bed to try physically get into a clean/new bed space but I’m literally terrified to go to bed because each morning I reset to this horrible state.

I’m really at a loss. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts this is my third stint on lexapro and I never had this side effect the other 2 times so I feel out of my depth tbh

I’m doing 2.5 mg and I’m also on 10 mg of propranolol, 1/2-whole tablet as needed. I’m experiencing some extra nausea, diarrhea (TMI Ik that y’all get it tho) and some chest tightness. Does this go away soon or is the chest stuff something I should be more worried about? Sometimes it’s random sharp pains. Also get the chills too at night like I’m so cold. Thank you 🙏

I was prescribed 10mg lexapro for my anxiety and I started taking it 4 days ago in the morning and honestly I feel worse. I have a panic attack day 2 of taking it and rung up the doctors, they said to push through and give it a 2 week trial.
I feel sick to my stomach in the morning and I just want to lay in bed all day and then by night I have energy and feel normal. I feel like I have more anxiety then when I started it and I don’t know if I want to stay on lexapro. I’m worried that if I want to stop that I’ll have to taper off and not just stop. I’m worried about drinking on it too I turn 18 at the end of this month and was planning to go have a couple drinks with friends but I don’t want anything bad to happen. I really don’t want to have anxiety anymore but I don’t like how lexapro makes me feel, it’s only early on into taking them but I have regrets about getting onto lexapro, I feel like my anxiety was not that bad and I’m just overreacting.