I went to see a therapist with my wife last weekend to work out some issues that I have had for quite some time now. By the end of the session she had diagnosed me (to my disbelief) with a major anxiety disorder. I knew that I had some anxiety, but nothing to that degree. She told me that I should start taking an SSRI like Lexapro or Paxil. I chose Lexapro. I took it for the first time last night after dinner and everything was just fine. Then, this morning I woke up feeling depressed & a little anxious. This feeling has continued throughout the whole day & into tonight. Some moments I feel as though i'm having an attack & others i'm just feeling down & out. I never felt this way before I started taking the meds. The occasional anxious feeling, but never this close to an attack. Is this a normal thing when first taking Lexapro, or am I just having a bad reation to it??? Can someone please help? Thanks.

What mg. are you taking?

I don't remember feeling that way at all. I started out with the whole 10mg and only experienced nausea at first. I felt kind of hung over in the mornings for a while, but it would pass later after some coffee. I didn't feel depressed at all, I was depressed badly before that, and it helped tremendously with that and my anxiety. Give it some time, you should be feeling better within a week. If you don't, please touch base with your doctor.

This is normal, my first week of lexapro, I had to rush to ER because i thought I was dying, but it was really an attack. I am not on week 5 and feel the anxiety leaving me, I feel worlds better! Itll be hard at first, but that just means your body needs the meds and you are having initial side effects. Stick through it and Im sure you will have great results! Best of luck!

I'm taking 10mg. Thank you so much for your feedback, i'm just glad that there are other people out there who experienced similar side effects that I have. Today is day 2 & i'm feeling more anxious this morning than I did yesterday but not so depressed, if I start to have an attack is it OK to take a Xanax to take the edge off?

Halo,

I am about to wean off a low dose of Effexor and take Lexapro with it and then stay on the Lexapro. My PDoc told me to take Xanax up to 4 times a day if I need it so I say pop the Xanax if you need to. They are perfectly safe together and the Pdoc told me it would help with any anxiety and even withdrawal I might feel from going off the Effexor. He is a Psychopharmacologist and meds is all he deals with. So take the Xanax, it really might help. Good luck Halo and take care.


DF

Maybe you need to start at 5mg? That is what I did . Even on 5 that first week was rough to say the least.
Good News is I rode it out and boy am I glad I did.
I went to Dr. strickly for anxiety. I took several test and he told me I had moderate depression too! My test on Anxiety were through the roof and it turns out the stuff I was depressed about was caused by the way the anxiety made me feel. I too was in disbelief. Now when I compare the way I feel now to then I see I really was depressed and didn't even know it.
Hang in there things should start to look up for you in a week or so :wave:

I don't think it's the dosage that i'm taking that is really affecting me. I realized that I drink a lot of coffee & smoke a pack of cigarettes a day. So needless to say, I only had one cup of coffee this morning & i'm trying not to smoke as much as I usually do. I do feel a little better today, now that the day is finally going. Can't wait to get off of work & go home to relax though. I still have the anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach and running through my veins occasionally, but not feeling depressed. Thank God....I really do hope that by the end of the week I will start feeling better. Thank you all so much for all of your advice. I'm new to the whole BOARDS thing and i'm glad to feel so welcomed by you all. Thanks again & i'm sure you'll be hearing from me again. :D

the first time last night after dinner and everything was just fine. Then, this morning I woke up feeling depressed & a little anxious. This feeling has continued throughout the whole day & into tonight. Some moments I feel as though i'm having an attack & others i'm just feeling down & out. I never felt this way before I started taking the meds. The occasional anxious feeling, but never this close to an attack. Is this a normal thing when first taking Lexapro, or am I just having a bad reation to it??? Can someone please help? Thanks.

It's not the Lexapro, you haven't been on it long enough. Takes 3-4 weeks to even work, maybe longer......

Some people are hyper sensitive I felt it within an hour of taking my first dose!
I felt anxious and extreamly irritable. All my side effects passed in about two weeks.
I took my first dose and within half an hour had to rush my daughter to a ER facility and let me tell you I felt the Lexapro.

So if it's not the Lexapro, then what is it? I didn't feel like this before I started to take it?

So if it's not the Lexapro, then what is it? I didn't feel like this before I started to take it?
I would imagine it IS the lexapro. You could put a call in to your Dr. or talk to the nurse. I felt this way for a good week when I started it. We all react differently to these meds. What works for one may not for others and what causes side effects for one won't for others.
Is this your first SSRI? My Dr. had me start out on 5 mg and monitored me weekly. I didn't go up to ten for almost two weeks.

The thing is....the therapist doesn't prescribe meds, she just recommends them. She said to try Lexapro or Paxil. Turns out that my wife works for a Dr. & she mentioned to him that I needed some. He gave her some sample for me to take. He said give it 2 weeks & let him know how it's going, so that is my intention. I do feel a little better today. Have a constant tension in my head though, do you think that has to do with the Lexapro as well? P.S. this is my 1st SSRI.

It could be. I can't remember all my symptoms. I started April 22. I do know I had real bad anxiety for a good week and felt like death when I woke up in the mornings.
The first week I slept awful then like a rock now back to awful. Seems I did have some headaches that first week nothing real bad though.

i had such a severe increase in anxiety for the first 2-3 weeks i was on lexapro,i was almost hospitalized,but its not so bad anymore

it will take a little time for it to get in your system. you will start to feel the affects in a couple of weeks. remeber that your not alone. lots of people go through this. Im on paxil and it has really helped me. you can do it.

I was just wondering how those of you who started lexapro recently are doing now, my doc prescribed me a starter pack of zoloft to be taken 25 mg for a week then 50 mg for 2 weeks and after just a day I was unable to sleep and feeling more anxious than usual which is the whole reason I take the drug and she has just changed me to lexapro and am scared after reading so many side effect stories to start taking it. she told me to take 5 mg for a couple days then to move it up to 10 if the 5 mg is well tolerated, what u guys think?

I started Paxil a week ago and I'm having similar side effects. I've been feeling a little down and nervous, and very very tired with headaches and that "out of it feeling". Its taking a little bit of getting used to but my panic hasnt been as bad so its kinda nice at the same time.