My lexapro has started to not work as well. Is there a good medication to help augment it?

[sevreed]

I don’t want to totally switch if I don’t have to. That always sucks. Plus I just started going to a psychiatrist and he has but me on Ativan twice a day and I don’t want to be on that for any long period of time because of the addiction issues. I told him and he doesn’t think it will be a problem because I have not had any addiction issues in the past. That’s BS. Anyway, I am switching psychiatrist and I will see her Tuesday so I was going to ask if there is another medication that is not addictive that I can use with my Lexapro. Anyone know of any that has helped them?

[brokenlight]

I don’t have advice on which medication is best to pair with Lexapro for anxiety... but I’m glad you’re seeing someone new. It’s great to get more than one opinion.

In my own personal experience, Ativan was prescribed to me as an “as needed” medication due to possible dependency/addiction issues. And recently my doctor told me of a study that showed that long term, regular Ativan use could result in early dementia.

I’m currently on my last bottle and won’t refill the prescription again.

Instead I’m trying a medication called Hydroxyzine. It’s also as needed but not as strong. I think it helps a little but I’m still feeling it out.

CBD continues to work really well for me.

I hope this information doesn’t add stress to your life.

I’m just trying to be helpful.

Good luck on your journey & thank you for being here.

[sevreed in reply to brokenlight]

Thanks broken light. I was just in the hospital about a month ago and Hydroxyzine is what they gave people instead of Benzos for panic attacks. It is non habit forming too. It doesn’t have as much impact but it does work. I had been taking 20 mg of Lexapro for eight years and it worked great. It “pooped” out on me at the end of January. The doctor raised it to 30mg then 40mg, which is what I needed to get me out of my last bad bout with Anxiety. It still wasn’t really kicking in then I started losing almost all of my sleep. My mind and body crashed and I had to go to the hospital to get back on my feet. They gave me seroquel to get me sleeping again and the Hydroxyzine for panic attacks as needed. First week out of the hospital I was doing pretty good then I had my first psychiatrist appointment and he took me off the seroquel and put me on .5 Ativan twice a day. One week of that and I was losing sleep and the anxiety came back. He upped the Ativan to 1 mg twice a day and I started feeling better. One month later and the Ativan is already starting not to work plus it’s addicting and I will have to wean myself off of it with the new doctors help. Hopefully, the can help me find the right medications to get me back to being myself.

[brokenlight]

Wishing you the best! ✨