I just got a script for general anxiety disorder. Is anyone else on it?
I read all about it, but I'm wondering how it is in personal experience. I get nearly debilitating panic attacks, and I hope it will help.
I just got a script for general anxiety disorder. Is anyone else on it?
I read all about it, but I'm wondering how it is in personal experience. I get nearly debilitating panic attacks, and I hope it will help.
Hey I just got off taking Lexapro , its also consitered a antidepressent. it helped me alot , My husband takes it too. I had no side affects or anything like that , and i could see a difference , after about a week of taking it . I was takin 10 mgs , my husband takes 20mgs . I think it will help you, it did me .... I was on it for about a year. And recently I talked to my Dr about getting off of it . Hope this helps
The best advice I can offer is to start by breaking the pills in half and taking a half a day for a week before going up to the full dosage. If you start out taking the whole thing you will feel like shit and won't want to continue taking it. It really helps for your body to adjust to the drug and then take it up. I've been on all sorts of antidepressants and this holds true for every one of them.
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Yes I'm on 20mg, started off on 10mg. I had no side effects. Never stop taking it cold turkey withdrawl sucks ass...terrible brain zaps, insomnia, constant vomiting, no appeatite, vertigo, and I cried at the drop of a hat...
I am interested in this drug as well, so if you could update Lola I'd really be interested in reading that.
ewww, nasty side effects for dropping off, I don't plan to do that. I was told to take 1/2 (10mgs) the first week. I guess that's pretty standard. I've never heard of this before, I'm glad others have! I just didn't want something majorly adictive, like xanax....





I took it for a while and I didn't like it. It wasn't one major thing, it was a bunch of little things added together that made me not feel right when I was on it. I think my problem was from mixing it with all kinds of other psych drugs though.



I know Tart had 2 threads about Lexapro. One from when she started and one from her reaction to the medicine. Oh..... actually the links are at the bottom of this page.





I'm starting them tonight, I just got them today. Lola have you seen crazymeds.org? Fucking awesome sight written by people who actually have firsthand experience with these types of drugs and a bunch of others. It kinda enlightened me on what to expect since the doc told me nothing.
Is this something to take on a full stomach or it doesn't matter? Usually I get one of those papers that tell side effects and such but I didn't get any today.
Women of color:
Shake your ass and preserve your heritage.
Bang those fucking drums.
Do it for the present and future generations.
Have fun and stick it to the man at the same time. (bad-dominicana)



It doesn't need to be tooken on a full stomach![]()
my doc said with breakfast, food cuts out nausea![]()
I started taking Lexapro 6 days ago. I found that I have to take it with food or right before I go to sleep as it upsets my stomach. Also I get upset stomach if I drink Green Tea, something that never happened before.
I've been on Lexapro for almost 2 years. It has helped me immensely with depression, but I have seen little change with my social anxiety. Well... maybe that's not true. I'm still a hermit but I'm happy to be a hermit these days. I used to worry so much about being antisocial. So I guess it didn't make me more social, it just made me less worried about it; the "anxiety" part of social anxiety disorder was taken care of. I still have plain old social disorder.
However, quitting Lexapro has proved impossible. I cannot function. I feel like I'm going through heroin withdrawl or something... seriously, it's like that scene in Trainspotting where he's sweating it out in bed. But it doesn't stop in a few days. So while it's not addictive, per se, it is more of a lifestyle drug. I will probably be on this drug for the forseeable future, or until I can come up with a comprehensive (probably medically-assisted) way to quit. I would NOT recommend taking Lexapro for short-term therapy, as it takes a while to be fully effective (like most, if not all, SSRIs) and the withdrawl is dreadful.
Do not take this to mean that you SHOULDN'T take it. I am very happy that I was put on Lexapro, as it brought about HUGE improvements in my mood, outlook, and general disposition. I do not have breakthrough depression on it, like I did on Prozac, and I have been able to decrease my dosage (I'm on 10mg a day, down from 20) rather than increase it. I feel consistently uncrazy and lucid, but still emotionally round and complex (other drugs made me feel flat and spacey and unresponsive). It is a very effective drug, that unfortunately comes with the medium-high price of it being hard to quit.
PM me if you want to talk more about this. Or we can discuss it over coffee in the post-homework future![]()
3 words: sexual side effects. It happens to women too.
Fuck that.
"Have you ever been to American wedding? Where is the vodka, where's marinated herring?" - GB
"And do the cats give a shit? No, they do not. Why? Because they're cats."-from The Onion
Originally Posted by Mia M
Hydra ...from me to you. I went through heroin withdrawls years ago and also paxil ( ssri ) withdrawls, I'd rather redo the heroin one than paxil ...shit was that bad.
FUCK THAT>
I didnt have any sexual side effects , or any side effects at all at that. My stomach didnt get up set if I ate with it or not... and it wasnt a big deal for me to stop taking them , though I didnt stop cold turkey. I guess everyones different. (I was only on them for maybe alittle more then a year and I was only on 10mg)
Wow, I really appreciate you sharing this. When I was trying to quit and I was lying on my friend's couch and just, like, twitching... everyone was like, Oh, stop being a baby, this is psychosomatic, have a drink you'll be fine, sleep it off you'll be fine, etc... and I was like, No, really guys, this is the gravest physical sensation I have ever experienced, and I don't think I can do ANYTHING. I wasn't even sure at first that that's what was going on because it seemed impossible. I thought I was pregnant (nope) sick (I primarily suspected malaria... nope) crazy (hahaha, nope) and then I thought to look up withdrawl symptoms. So finally I just took more pills and the symptoms vanished within hours.
I think about my future sometimes re: Lexapro. I try not to because it scares me, because, I don't know... is it possible/ safe/ healthy/ advisable to be on medication forever? On one hand I acknowledge that I probably should be medicated for the duration of my life, because I suffer from crippling depression that returns within weeks of ceasing treatment (why I tried to go off Lexapro in the first place, don't ask. I sometimes think I can handle my own problems. Then my mother reminds me of all the times she's bailed me out of psych wards etc.) but on the other hand, I don't know... it seems so alien, so unnatural to be as dependent as I am.
-But- I should reiterate that I cannot complain about the drug itself when I am on it, which is what makes the whole experience/ concept bearable. (I don't have terrible sexual side effects BTW. I have some mild ones, but it's nothing compared to past SSRIs.) It has helped and continues to help and I'm thankful, anyway, for its existence, even if I'm not exactly stoked that it's enslaved me.
if you have xanax take xanax to curb the withdrawls, seriously. and ambien to sleep at night.
it sucks but I so feel you. I was in bed for 2 weeks from paxil.





huh, I didn't go through the same thing coming off of it -- not at all, thank god.
Lola, I found Lexapro really helpful for anxiety. But as is clear here, everyone reacts to meds in their own special way and unfortunately you won't know until you've been taking it for a while. I really hope it helps you, though, because it's a huuuuuuge relief. I feel much like TOTH -- like, thank god for the drugs, and fuck, am I going to be on drugs for the rest of my life? sigh.
When I tapered off Lexapro after having taken it for 4 years, it was not bad at all. Initially, I had a headache. After that, nothing.
Lexapro helped me with anxiety. It was good. I had been at the point of applying for disability because panic attacks were taking over my life. The drug helped numb the negative feelings enough so that I could walk outside without fear.





Ok, the drunk had to ask...what about drinking?
Can I have 2 shots? I take it early in the morning and the drinks won't be around until 10/11pm. Will I be ok?
When do the side effects start? I've been yawning- that's it. I'm on10mg, today is the 4th day.
Women of color:
Shake your ass and preserve your heritage.
Bang those fucking drums.
Do it for the present and future generations.
Have fun and stick it to the man at the same time. (bad-dominicana)
Oh i need to add, when I went off of my SSRI ..I just quit. yah 20 mgs for months and I just quit.
I wasn't supervised on it and was given it ( the paxil NOT the lexapro ) because I worked in a brothel and was going through horrible home withdrawl so they doped me up.
At any rate, I decided I didnt' want it anymore and went off of it. I did NOT taper. So my withdrawls were bad because I did it wrong.
The lexapro I took for 11 days, and didn't withdrawl but it wasn't in my system long enough.
Its all about how you get on shit and how you go off of it. seriously.
And i'd like to say I think everyone has GAD ..honest to god. Some though it's worse than others.
I think most of us lack proper coping skills, or the TIME to cope with shit. We live such odd schedules, and lifestyles that we dont really have proper healing time. etc
Example
we go through breakups and still have to go back into work, where we deal with less than "nice" men..shit like that eats people up after awhile. So we just pile more stuff on top of the already existing stuff...
eventually it all gets to be a mountain of shit and we have to sort through it, the thought of it sends most of us into panic attacks.
I know with me it did.
I wish everyone the best when it comes to getting to feeling better. seriously.
No matter how you gotta do it.





Lola was just making a thread. Lola did not smoke pot, and does not smoke pot. 3x in my entire life! for shizz!
But I do drink. Not tooo often, but when I do I get downright drunk! oopsies! I'll try to cut down a tad.
Thanks, I think it will help. Positive thinking like that is already making a difference.
Exactly. I know at this point I need it, I can't function without some help, and I can't not deal with the problem any longer. But will this be a lifetime thing? i dunno.
I'm totally worried about that..... actually, my teacher! lol. Said that it's a major side effect. But that the benefits outweigh the negatives.
See, I'm sort of worried... b/c I'm somewhat more prone to addiction. I had a lifestyle addiction to x. Like, my body didn't need it, but my self... my mind?... needed it to function. Obviously this isn't x.... but it is a lifestyle drug. However, I'll deal with that when the time comes. After how bad things got, I'm fine with being on something for my anxiety.
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