Starting Lexapro

[marpmartin]

I’ve started 10 mg of Lexapro because several life changes (death of parent, work changes, empty nest, etc) have really thrown me for an emotional loop. I tried Zoloft for 6 weeks but never felt “right” on it. I’ve been taking Lexapro for a week and a half. The side effects are not as bad as with the Zoloft. I am also doing talk therapy and trying to exercise. My biggest complaint is that I take the Lexapro in the morning but find I wake up at about 5:00 am no matter what time I go to sleep. I then have a hard time getting back to sleep. When should the inability to sleep well get better? Thanks and I look forward meeting others with similar anxiety issues.

[diggininit]

I don't know why people hit "like" when someone is asking a question. Gosh they do it on Facebook too. Anyway, If I remember correctly, I took Lexapro about 10 years ago, but only for one week. I honestly can't remember why I stopped it. Maybe side effects. I've been on Mirtazapine now for over 20 years after trying numerous meds. The Mirtazapine stopped working for some reason, so my dr upped it from 30 mg to 45 mg. Still didn't work. I told her about taking Lexapro years ago and maybe I should try it again because I couldn't remember why I discontinued it. She prescribed 10 mg, but said for the first week only take 5 mg and then bump up to 10 mg the second week. I actually cut the 10 mg into 1/2 then 1/4 and took only 1/4 just to see. 1/4 of 10 would be 2.5 mg. Glad I did that because even on 2.5 mg which is nowhere near a therapeutic dose, not even close, I had the worst anxiety, worse than the last 2 years. I thought it would never get out of my system. It has a very long half life and I don't even want to try to calculate how long it took for just 2.5 mg to be out of my system. Thank God I had some clonazepam on hand. I have never done any good on SSRI's. Mirtazapine is a totally different molecule structure than any SSRI's SNRI's etc. So, you've only been taking it for a week and 1/2. You never indicated what time you go to bed? Maybe if this continues, you can try to take 7.5 mg for a week, see if that changes your early morning 5:00 am, if that works, then in a couple of weeks bump back up? Maybe 2.5 less would help, but I would let your doctor know and see if they have any recommendations. Sometimes a small reduction helps. I've read that some people initially are prescribed a high dose of whatever, meaning their doctors do not even try to titrate up, they just put them on a "regular" dose and they have to suffer the side affects for weeks. Those same people after 2-3 weeks of being on that dose, will call their doctors and they will reduce the dose , then it is tolerable. Some people do better with lower doses, some with higher doses. It all depends on your chemistry. You haven't been on it that long to really take effect, so knocking it down just 2.5 mg for a few days, you an try to see what if any changes that makes. Or since you've already been on 10 mg for now almost 2 weeks, you might continue that for another week just to see. You may even adjust what time you go to bed? I would talk to your doctor though and just tell them that it is ridiculous having to wake up at 5 am.

[marpmartin in reply to diggininit]

Thanks so much for the long reply and information. I think I will continue until the 2 week point and I need to reduce I will try then. Thanks again for the information and your personal experience. I was on Paxil with no problems so I think SSRIs should work for me if I give it time.

[diggininit in reply to marpmartin]

Good luck!