Just prescribed Lexapro.......

[AnxietyNewbie]

Hello all!!



I am brand new to taking any medications for depression/anxiety so you will have to bear with me. I just got prescribed Lexapro (well escitalopram) 10mg and my Dr wants me to take half for 7 days and then move up to the 10mg. My concern is a few things......Is there a time of day that works best to take it? My depression comes from weight gain due to being on prednisone for so long due to Ashtma and sinus surgeries Im mostly just suffering from a lot of anxiety (3 daughters ages 10, 12 and 14, my job etc....etc) I also get bad panic attacks while driving in traffic and at night when I wake up. This leads me to my next question does lexapro help with anxiety and being able to sleep through the night? Has any anyone experienced weight gain/loss with it?



Im sure I'll think of more questions but this is it for now :)



Thanks in advance!!

[Dynhamik]

It's kind of a toss up. My psychiatrist said, "For some it will cause drowziness and for others not." So you might take it in the morning or the night. It's up to you. You may also have some really weird vivid dreams the first few days of taking it. My sleep was really messed up the first couple days. I'm on 10mg right now, and I wish I could say it was working but not so much honestly.

Good luck to you. :)

[crussellii]

I was on Lexapro for over 10 years for anxiety attacks. Took me 40mg but worked great. No weight gain, sleep issues etc. My only issue was it caused delayed ejaculation. So I've recently switched to Viibryd. But Lexapro changed my life. I used to get horrible anxiety attacks.

[AnxietyNewbie]

Thank you both for the quick responses!

[thisdude]

AnxietyNewbie, whatever you do, don't base your decision on whether or not to take the medication based on other people's experiences. I was recently prescribed Lexapro for workplace anxiety and I didn't take it for over a month due to the horrible things I read on these forums. Everybody reacts differently. I'm in my second week and I'm feeling great...very few side affects. I was tired for the first few days and still get a little nauseous, but that's to be expected. I haven't had any of the other side affects and am confident that I'm starting to feel like myself again.

[jessed03]

It's kind of a toss up. My psychiatrist said, "For some it will cause drowziness and for others not." So you might take it in the morning or the night. It's up to you. You may also have some really weird vivid dreams the first few days of taking it. My sleep was really messed up the first couple days. I'm on 10mg right now, and I wish I could say it was working but not so much honestly.

Good luck to you. :)

Yeah Lexapro and Celexa are strange like that. For me, they gave me a lot more energy. My workout levels increases, my motivated increased. My friend who was also taking it became a lazy a mess. Slept all the time, had no energy. She got off of it quickly.

I lost weight on both. Mainly cos of the reasons above. Weight gain does happen, but it's not that common. Weight loss is the more common of the two.

If you have no drowsiness from it, which you'll know soon after taking it, then take it around noon. That way you should avoid night anxiety, and you get to keep it in your system during the day.

It should help with your anxiety levels, and make managing certain phobias easier.

It may help you sleep, or it may not. For me both caused no change in sleep for better or worse.

Good luck!

[jessed03]

AnxietyNewbie, whatever you do, don't base your decision on whether or not to take the medication based on other people's experiences. I was recently prescribed Lexapro for workplace anxiety and I didn't take it for over a month due to the horrible things I read on these forums. Everybody reacts differently. I'm in my second week and I'm feeling great...very few side affects. I was tired for the first few days and still get a little nauseous, but that's to be expected. I haven't had any of the other side affects and am confident that I'm starting to feel like myself again.

And great first post! Very true.

[soManyProblems]

I recently increased from 2.5 mg per day to 5 mg per day of Lexapro and...

wow. much tired. very sleep. wow.

I slept 14 hours last night and 16 hours the night before. Prior to that, I was on 8 to 10 hours of sleep, usually closer to 8. I hope and suspect I will gain tolerance to the sedative effect.

[ndreamer]

I recently increased from 2.5 mg per day to 5 mg per day of Lexapro and...

wow. much tired. very sleep. wow.

I slept 14 hours last night and 16 hours the night before. Prior to that, I was on 8 to 10 hours of sleep, usually closer to 8. I hope and suspect I will gain tolerance to the sedative effect.

is that meant to be 25mg > 50mg ? when i first started with 25mg for the first 4 days i basically slept all day and night and had a fair few side effects going to 50mg i was starting to get use to it but i still sleep allot more then i use to.

[soManyProblems]

Nope, just 5 mg of Lexapro made me very sleepy for a few days. The drowsiness has now worn off completely, it only lasted about 3 days.

Also, 50 mg of Lexapro would be a rather high dose, and an unusual dose. Lexapro comes in 5, 10, and 20 mg tablets, and the FDA recommended maximum dose is 20 mg per day, although doctors are free to prescribe more. I have never heard of a psychiatrist prescribing more than 40 mg of Lexapro, which is like 80 mg of Celexa.