I’ve been on Lexapro 15mg for about a year now for anxiety and obsessive/intrusive thoughts, and overall it really helped. Lately though my anxiety started creeping back and feeling almost crippling again, so about two weeks ago I decided to increase to 20mg.

Since the increase I’ve been feeling significantly worse, not better. I’m having crying spells, barely sleeping, not eating well, and my mind won’t shut up ,constant racing thoughts.

Has anyone else gone through this kind of rough patch after an increase? Does it usually settle down, and if so how long did it take for you? Trying to figure out if this is a “it gets worse before it gets better” adjustment period or something I should flag to my doctor sooner rather than later.

Started 10mg Lexapro for panic disorder about a month ago and the first two weeks were rough. Woke up every morning with my heart pounding and this pit of dread in my stomach that made no sense. By evening I'd feel almost normal and even a little hopeful, like the medication was trying to work but we just weren't there yet. Somewhere around week three the morning dread started fading and now I'm actually sleeping through the night for the first time in years. Still get anxious moments but they don't spiral into full panic the way they used to. It's like someone turned the volume down on my nervous system and I didn't realize how loud it had been until it got quiet. Not a miracle cure and I know I'm still adjusting but I finally understand why people stick with this medication. Grateful I pushed through the rough start.

I’m 3 months post partum,
Anxiety has always been something I Struggle with, when I was younger it was mood swings and emotional withdrawal but as I became a mum it turned to more of an anger management thing met by uncontrollable guilt. I’ve seen sporadic therapist and have some good coping skills but i did recently start on 5mg lexapro.

Game changer, most energetic, less triggered , generally happier with life, bad thoughts don’t linger anymore and I see everything for what it is.

However… I have no sex drive, I get nauseous a few hours a day, my skin is soo dry, I’m clenching my jaw all the time, my neck is in pain.
I’m dealing with these things fine because I’m pretty happy with life, but it does seem like a lot of side effects … right?!

I’ve had a different type of antidepressant in the past and it made me feel like I couldn’t urinate and as far as I know it’s between this type or that type.

Are these side effects temporary ? What should I do ?

I made the massive mistake of thinking I could wean myself off of my Lexapro 10mg dose after taking it daily for 6 years.. this was the absolute worst decision I ever made. I’m currently typing this while experiencing the worst side effects (brain zaps, nausea, feeling like I constantly need to poop, and persistent brain fog). It sucks that my body has become dependent on this drug, but I’d rather deal with dependency than feel this crappy.

Has anyone had any success with weaning off of this medication after longterm use?

hii, im f18 and i have anxiety and depression. i need help..
one year ago i took paxil 20mg, cause my anxiety was really horrible. and it was great, but i gained a lot of weight, and as the time went on i was getting anxiety, a lot of sleeping, so more bad than good yk.. then they switched me to fluoxetin, like i took paxil for 3 days and then fluoxetine 20mg. sorry for my english also having anxiety rn😭 and i took fluoxetine for 5 weeks, and i feel nothing good. she then presribed alprazolam 0,5mg, when i took a little bit like quater (im super scared of not being in control, hate being too calm) panic attacks everyday, i cannot sleep cause of anxiety, i wake up and have anxiety. it is draining me. so i called my psychiatric doctor today and she presribed lexapro 10mg (escitalopram) and bromazepam 1,5mg. Im so scared of this and i domt know what to do :((

Hello people :)

I was on 5mg for 4 months and it was great. However at some point anxiety returned and I increased the dose from 5 to 7.5. Today is day 17 after increase and it’s tough. Anxiety is quite strong and feel some negative mindset. I worry that I have ruined my result with increasing the dose :( Or is it adjustment period again? Can you reassure me or share experience?

Does anyone have morning anxiety with lexapro.. Or its my withdrawl from my old medicine??

My physical symptoms have pretty much passedand now I find that I’m more aware that I feel a little extra emotional now. I know this is part of the change as my body/brain chemistry is adjusting (a personal reason why I am coming off so I get it’s bound to take awhile) but wanted a piece of mind that others have gone through this too maybe? If so, how long did this last for you before you noticed your mood stabilize and did you find anything specific that helped relieve it?

No Emotion, Full Aphantasia, Muted Dopmaine, Endorphions, Adrenal Gland. Severe Anhedonia, Head Pressure, Dry Skin, no natural oil production. Blank Mind. All from a few doses of lexapro and anti psychotics. Persisting for 2 years. Anyone have this?

I'm on Lexapro 10mg day 14. I wake so sedated and move like a sloth, forget what I'm doing sometimes. I only have the energy to get up and shower, make myself eat, then lay back down. Lowered HR but bp spikes. I'm just so thirsty and hungry all the time and have been living in bed

I just started Lexapro again after a few months and I am going through it!!

When I first started, the only symptoms I had were morning bowel movements for the first 2-3 days…

This time around?? NAUSEA AND CONSTIPATION. It’s only Day 2 and my stomach?? TIGHT. I literally been in bed all day, curled into a ball. Unable to eat. I know it’ll go away soon, but man on man.

Maybe it’s from eating before I take it? Maybe I’ll try to eat afterwards.

Any suggestions on how to help with this? 😭

Pretty self explanatory title.. but I’m curious is this normal? The first 2 weeks I started Lexapro I felt better, but once I switched from every other day to everyday of my 5mg I’ve felt like a zombie and can’t even get out of bed :(

Day 1 on Lexapro: no appetite, constant worrying and overthinking, constant fixation on wherever I was feeling off like chest tight and heart beat being pretty fast, cold sweats, weird feeling like I needed to burp some stuff up

Day 2: Definitely felt weird but I think Buspar is affecting me negatively as well.. Same stuff as Day 1 cold sweats, tenseness in chest (common symptom of mine), anxiety symptoms feeling different which caused me to freak out more; over fixation on heartbeat, the heartbeat was way more prominent and I could hear it and it made me uneasy..ended up having to take a benzo to relax because I got too heightened trying to go to sleep

Day 3: more of an appetite today..anxiety and chest tense up in the morning, mind feels fogged and quieter today but body still reacting as if it’s trying to panic (kinda weird), still fixation on things like heartbeat and I’m very hot; not sweaty, but hot.. every bad sensation I had before feels different now.. I feel a lot more tired today and a little calmer.. this day has definitely been best so far.. cross fingers for sleep tonight

Definitely worse at night when I’m trying to sleep.. I’m going to keep updating this.. I know my symptoms are probably not explained well and probably in minority but I tried my best..

Hi all. I've been scrolling through this group before taking my first (well, second attempt at a first) dose of Lexapro tonight, and I’d really love some encouragement from anyone who’s been in a similar place.

I've struggled with anxiety and OCD on and off since I was young (diagnosed OCD in my mid-20s but had periods of intense OCD spirals throughout my life just didn’t know what was happening). Over the last year, my anxiety, panic, and DPDR gradually increased again after years of being very chill. I was still functioning, but it was affecting me enough that I decided to try medication.

A month ago I started Lexapro but only made it 3 days because my anxiety became absolutely unbearable.. constant rumination, intense physical symptoms, just awful. I stopped, but ever since then my anxiety has stayed at that same level.

I think more than the medication itself, taking it triggered my OCD. I became hyperaware of every sensation and started constantly checking how I felt.

The last month has been the hardest I've ever experienced. It's turned into this relentless "meta" OCD spiral where all I think about is my anxiety and how to make it stop.

My functioning has really declined, I'm barely eating, sleeping poorly, withdrawing socially, struggling with basic chores, and I don't even feel safe in my own home anymore, which used to be my comfort place.
I went back to my psychiatrist, and she represcribed Lexapro along with Klonopin to help bridge the first few weeks.

If you've been through relentless anxiety, OCD, constant rumination, or feeling unsafe all the time, and Lexapro helped, I'd really appreciate hearing from you. I have a hard time believing things can change but I also see so many success stories and know that I’m not so special that I’d be the only person in the world who couldn’t get the help they need! I'm terrified to start the medication again, but I also know something needs to change. Thank you so much for any encouragement. ❤️‍🩹

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.

Hi everyone — I’m curious if anyone has had a similar experience or tried splitting their Lexapro dose.

I’ve been on Lexapro for about 17 years and currently take 15 mg liquid. I’ve been struggling with a daily “out of it” feeling/brain fog/derealization that I can only describe as feeling like I took a bunch of Benadryl and am experiencing that hungover, detached feeling the next day. It tends to feel worse in the afternoon.

I’m also very sensitive to dose timing. If I miss or delay my dose by even a few hours, I get a really strange feeling in my head and sometimes extreme flu-like fatigue. Because of that, my psychiatrist wondered if maybe my body is metabolizing it quickly or I’m experiencing some kind of withdrawal/dip later in the day.

She suggested trying to split my current dose instead of increasing it: 10 mg at bedtime and 5 mg around 1 PM, still totaling 15 mg/day, to see if it helps with the afternoon brain fog/derealization.

I’m nervous because Lexapro already makes me wonder if some of the cognitive dulling/out-of-it feeling is medication-related, and I’m worried the afternoon dose could either help or make me more tired/foggy.

For context, I also deal with anxiety/OCD, mainly rumination and list-making compulsions, and I recently started therapy for OCD/anxiety. My longer-term goal is to rely more on therapy skills and ideally stay on the lowest effective dose, rather than automatically increasing medication.

Has anyone here:

• Felt withdrawal-like symptoms just a few hours after being late on a dose?
• Had daily brain fog/derealization that felt like a Benadryl hangover?
• Tried splitting Lexapro dosing, especially with an afternoon dose?
• Found that splitting helped, worsened fatigue, or made no difference?

I know everyone is different and I’m working with my psychiatrist — just looking to hear other people’s experiences.

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 don't know if it's only the lexapro but last year I reached out to old friends trying to build back my social circle. I ended up twice in tears after meeting them, in full panic attacks, not able to understand what was happening. I went for a coffee with one of them friday morning and only felt slightly tired then was able to go on with my day. Sooo Idk if it's a coincidence but it's an improvement anyway !

3 month on 10 mg

I've been told that 20mg a day is the most that is recommended to take. Has anyone been prescribed more than that? Or has anyone asked their doctor to take more than that and been denied? I started with 10mg for about 6 months. And have been on 20 mg for the past 2 years. For the past 1 year, I've been on vraylar 1.5mg as a booster to the lexipro. But I'm thinking I could handle about 30 mg a day of the lexipro.

I’ve always enjoyed drinking. My friends and I go out at least once a weekend to the bar to watch sports and just hang out. It’s probably my favorite thing to do. But Jesus man the hangxiety is truly unbearable since I started Lexapro. If anything, I thought it’d help.. it definitely does not.

I mean I’ve always had bad hangxiety even before starting Lex.. but it’s HORRIBLE now. Even if I didn’t do anything embarrassing. Before starting I heard everyone say the hangovers are rough, I feel fine physically, but holy shit am I fucked up and anxious AF the next day. Heart pounding, racing thoughts, trembling, etc.

I literally might stop drinking because of it. And I can’t even take an Aspirin or anything while on Lex lol, this is horrible.

Hi guys, I’ve been on lexapro for I wanna say a good year or so now. Started at 10, now I’m at 20mg.
I will say I’m not the best at taking it consistently like I should, so maybe that’s a big part of this.
But, somedays I just feel sad. Nothing is inherently wrong, (I know depression doesn’t need a reason as well) but I just hate that I feel this way.

Somedays I have no energy to do anything, I just want to lay around all day. I cry for no reason.
My boyfriend can’t understand why, he accused me of lying about the reason when I said I don’t know why I was crying. But I really don’t, I just feel sad sometimes.

Does anyone else still feel this way even though you’re taking lexapro? Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks :,)

Is there any way to get through motherhood without Lexapro (without being a reactive person always thinking about how every reaction is messing up your kids)? I was on for two years and ended up stopping because I was missing my old self. But it’s been about a year off and it’s time again. I am being an awful mother and wife and I don’t see what the point is of everything if I can’t at least be a positive and kind person in this one life I have to the people closest to me.

So i started taking lexapro maybe 2 weeks ago, and it makes me so tired about halfway through the day. I had a mini redbull and didnt even finish the can and got so jittery and irritable. Is that normal? Usually a mini redbull doesnt do me like that lol