Stress Center Peer Support

I have been suffering from anxiety for many years. I think I was a teenager when I actually started having "panic attacks." It has developed into more of a general anxiety now. I suffer with this daily. I feel like I am on a roller coaster most of the time. I used to start feeling like this for a couple of weeks and then it would kind of go away for a while. Lately I can't seem to get myself out of it. It has gotten worse and now it seems like I have more "symptoms then I ever had.
I finally agreed (after being against it for many years) to take lexapro. I started on 5 mg for 3 weeks. In the very beginning I felt a little worse then I started feeling kind of good after a week & a half. I felt a little happier, more energy, a little more like myself but still pretty anxious. Then after a little while of taking the 5 mg I starded feeling a bit down. About 2 wks ago went up to 10 mg as my doctor had prescribed. Again at first, felt pretty bad then I felt a little better. Now I am experiencing all kinds of things. The best way to describe it is diconnected. I still feel pretty anxious and cannot stop thinking ALL the time. I find it very difficult to concentrate and when people talk to me I find I am not really paying attention. I feel like I am unable to focus on things and obtain information. I have been feeling pretty down and not very happy a lot of times. I also feel nervous a lot still too. Can anyone give me any advice or their opinion on whether all these things are normal & if they will pass with time??? How long should it take for the medicine to actually start working where I should notice a difference? I increased my dose about 2 weeks ago. ANY INFO WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED:)

Hello missaustin, I have been on 10mg of Lexapro for almost 4mos now. At first I was convienced that it was not working, because for about the first couple of weeks it was like body symptoms from the anxiety mixed with the side effects all at once. It passed, and it got a little easier from then on. I used to be soo bad that I would not go anywhere by myself, and I felt sick all the time, I thought that I was dying of some horrible disease. I am now always going places, I went from being off work for 2mos, to been back at work since March. I have noticed a big change, but it didtake some time. On the down side of it, I still am dealing with some body symptoms, but there no where near as bad as they used to be, some body symptoms I used to have have vanished completely. As far as my thoughts, and my mind racing, I don't think it has changed much at all, so I'm with you on that. I try to use the skills in the program as far as the positive thinking replacement, but it's still hard. I've been thinking of asking for an increase in my antidepressant, but don't know yet. Don't get me wrong, the medication has helped I do totally believe, but I do still have racing thoughts, and the body symptoms still exsist. So, in your situation give it at least a month, before you try to decide that it's not working for you. Good luck!!

Hi,


I was on lexapro as well. I started at 10 mg and then the doctor put me on 20 because I was still getting racing thought. Finally I decided I wanted off as I felt it did make me worse. I felt very disconnected from myself and almost like I was in a haze. I know that when you get the thoughts you are supposed to let them exist and then do something else to take your mind off them. When I was on the lexapro I felt like the thoughts were right there and I knew what they were but I couldnt even focus on them for a second to let them be there. They just were constant. This might sound confusing but to be honest thats how I felt when I was on them. Confused.

However, Please remember that everyone reacts differnt to meds. I had a friend who loved lexapro and it really helped her. You need to make sure you give it a chance to be fully effective. SOmetimes it can take a few months to do what its supposed to do.

my medication took 5 months to really start working well. i went from crisis (housebound, psych ward, 24/7 anxiety) to being really well. i'm working again, driving, doing whatever i want, feeling great, being healthy, etc. working the program has helped a lot as has being really persistant in finding people who believe in me in the mental health system. i've invested alot in my recovery and advocated for myself.

but even at month 3, i was still a mess. i just held on to the belief that it was going to take time to heal but that no matter what, the paxil was going to help. and it did.

amazingly so.

any advice i can give you is to go up really slowly. i can barely tolerate a 2.5 mg increase (lexipro and paxil have similar, not the same dosing measures but you get the idea.) my doctor understood and supported my decision to cut my 10 mg tablets into fourths. its been since october and i'm just now at 40 mg.

i found that doing it this way helped the symptoms i had everytime i increased my paxil which included feeling disconnected, dialated pupils, insomnia, short term increased anxiety and depression, and all the fun stuff that those side effects include.

you'll get thru it. just be patient. its hard when you're tired of feeling like crap but you can do this. you can. recovery is a journey and you are in the middle of it. its not a one way street and its not an means to an end. it is the ups and downs of being alive. but you are on your way...just give it some more time and write down your symptoms. see if there are ways you can do extra self-care during this time.

can you get someone to help with your housework? can you deligate your work load out to others temporarily? can you invest in some wellness tools? f(or me, i use lavender oil at night on a kleenex under my pillow case and bought a relaxation cd. i also bought some comfortable pants with elastic in the waist so that i can breath better.) i also increase my self care when i'm having symptoms. i make sure that i spend an hour doing something i love a day, i found a great massage therapist that only charges 40 an hour, i make sure to shower daily, all those things. i have a list of what works well for me to take care of myself, people who i've educated on what i'm going thru that i can call on for help and support, and i make sure to cataglog my symptoms, mood, sleep patterns, appitiate, etc.

i would say that you are doing every thing right, that adjusting to meds takes time. your brain heals from the inside out. your primal brain takes time to heal and the last things to heal will be the racing thoughts, the disconnectedness, the concentrating, etc. but it will heal. keep the faith.

just remember that you are the expert on you. you know when you're well and when you're not. don't be scared to ask for what you need. if you feel you're going up too fast, slow down. don't let anyone pressure you into doing something you don't want to do. ask for what you want and keep knocking down doors till you get it. i've known people who have been seriously ill with psychotic disorders who have beaten down community mental health doors and gotten the care they deserved and demanded. so it can be done.

do what feels right to you. if you trust your doctor, then demand to be apart of the team that is going to make you better. you have that right.

good luck honey.

Thanks for all the WONDERFUL advice. I know this is not easy for any of us & thank God we have each other (people who truly understand what we are going through). I made an appt for next week to follow up with my doctor. (as they informed me to do after a month of being on lexapro) I will be patient with the med and give it some more time to see if it will work over time. I hate feeling out of it and disconnected though. That is not me. But hopefully in time that will go away. I don't understand how my anxiety got so bad. I was doing graet with it and all of a sudden BAM it all came back and now the constant racing thoughts drive me crazy. I feel nervous all the time and I can't stand being like this. Well, I certainly appreciate everyone taking their time to write. Anything helps at this point. I just wish that my decision to take medicine would have better results but I guess patience is the key. Time will tell if this is the right medicine for me. BTW...does anyone know if it is normal to have a pressure in the back of my head from these types of medicines?? I normally get headaches pretty regularly but it's more like a pressure in the back of my head daily. Thanks again everyone!!

I too had anxiety off and on for years. It would come and then it would leave for months, just to come back, my last bouy I couldnt get myslef through it, so I started Lexapro and it has worked so well for me. It took me about 3 months to get the full benefits of it, but I did start seeing positive small relief at about 2 weeks, it takes time to all adjust. I can honestly say I have been anxiety free for over a year now, no more racing thoughts, no more bad PMS, and things just dont bother me, I am a much more positive person now thanks to the Lex.

I have just started Lexapro a week ago. I am already feeling much better but still have some anxiety. I had previously taken Lexapro for a year and half when my husband deployed to Iraq. I just could not handle all the stress of it and started having panic attacks. I took 5 mg a day and felt great after a few weeks.

Now my husband is in Iraq again and the anxiety resurfaced after being off Lexapro for a year. I just recently started taking it last Friday. I still only take 5 mg a day. I am curious, because I can not remember if headaches and the shakey feeling are normal side effects. In the morning my anxiety is the worst. I wake up shakey and anxious but it seems to go away in an hour or so. I take the Lexapro at night before bed. It puts me to sleep.

Does anyone remember having the headaches and shakes when starting their Lexapro? The docotr gave me Xanax also to help with the initial effects until the Lexapro works but I am so carefully about taking it. I do not want to get dependent on it, as I have two small children to take care of while he is gone. However, it does help when I take it. I only have to take .25mg to calm down. The headaches are my biggest concern. It seems like the only thing that is working is excedrin and I am not sure taking this is okay with the xanax and lexapro. Can anyone give advise on this.

Thanks for the support.

MT