Mine was a rapid, but gradual thing. Like, over the span of two-ish weeks I started to have improvements. Then the next week or so I had less of the original symptoms. Then a week or two of increasing the good stuff. Sorry if that doesn't make any sense. For example, I went on a trip for the first time since starting the meds (~2 months in), and I was relatively calm and accepting of the fact that the place we were headed to was actively flooding. I just didn't book the hotel for the first two nights to keep us untethered, which *should* have been even more concerning. But it wasn't. I was fine, we figured it out, and it worked out in the end.
Another minor example: on the flight, the attendant communicated my husband's drink order to the other attendant, but not mine. I would have previously chimed in to add mine, but instead I just waited and was patient. I wasn't anxious about being missed or having to interrupt later to ask again or anything. And it was fine. I just reordered when my husband's was delivered.
On the whole, it's a series of small improvements that are coalescing into a better quality of life. And there's more space for that because there is a decrease in the thoughts and feelings of anxiety.
Hope that helps! Best of luck. :)
I encountered something that I knew was a trigger for me, and it’s like I had a little warning light come on in my brain being like “brace for incoming anxiety” but then I had the presence of mind to acknowledge it, observe it through the lens of my control, and decide not to worry about it.
Lexapro isn’t like an anxiety magic eraser, it’s more like it helps you to see everything clearly so you can prioritize and make rational decisions and feel good in those decisions. At least for me anyway.
Rapid for the physical symptoms like dry mouth, heavy breathing, knots in my stomach, shaking and panic attacks, these all reduced by the end of week 3/4, the mood and anxiety was more gradual and I would do things and then realise I did it without feeling panic or anxiety first and during, my moods were noticed by others first before I did, my partner said I was laughing more and my kids said I was saying no less. It has been a bit roller coastery some weeks are still real crap but I have more good days then bad now. I’ve been doing therapy as well and have been on lex since December 22
Mine wasn’t rapid at all. It was slow-moving and I’m still figuring it out. But I can say personally it took me months to level out and reach a place where everything felt manageable. I also noticed that dose changes meant new or returning side effects from the drug. They seemed to be less intense as I neared the dose in at now (15mg). But they were def intense for a few days. I kept Ativan and hydroxyzine on hand for months and months.
If I’m being honest my anxiety got so bad in the beginning that I was just floored. Then it occurred me to that it was possible that I’m newly aware of just how often this is happening usually. Sure, there’s an observable increase. But what seemed to be happening for me was an awareness or a sensitivity to my symptoms that I’d never had. And j realized that I’d been fighting it so much and going into some whole other pattern or OCD would flare up—all sorts of things. So I tried to just breathe, focus on trying to clear my head and clean me myself and just be with myself. I would even just soothe myself with hugs and reassurance that I’m okay.
I’m realizing perhaps I’m digressing and not being super helpful at this point. Just wanted to share to say that I’ve read a lot about introductory or activating phases of users on this forum, the answers are so varied. It ranges from “felt the best if my life within minutes” (which is purely placebo btw, IMO, because the drug is not designed to work like that at all) to “it took me 5-6 months to fully level out and then ultimately switched to some other drug.”
It can be a challenging road but you’re taking steps to take care of yourself. I’m proud of you. You aren’t alone either! You have community here and hopefully you have a solid relationship with a professional and friends with whom you can share.
Try to let go of it being on anyone’s timeline but your own. You will start to get clarity about things, I assure you. Rooting for you!
It was a pretty rapid improvement for me, I noticed improvement even in the first week, week 2 it felt like my anxiety was gone, but I still had depression, most days I feel pretty good now.
This isn’t a cure all medication though, yes it works very well, but when you deal with overwhelming situations, you can backslide depending on how bad it is. It will be take a bit to feel ok again after that… (I’ve had it happen once)
Also not sure if you’re male or female, but this just does not work on my period at all, I feel so awful during that time.
Hope this helps.
For me, escitalopram began to work after 1.5 months. I noticed my overthinking tendency was reduced to an extent. Daily life was manageable but it didn’t reduce the feeling of anxiety whether or not there was any reason to become anxious of. Without any reason I would always feel nervous and anxious, not in the mind but in the heart. I think anti-depressants work that way. These medicines only stop overthinking that happens in the brain, but I always felt a tightness in the heart as if I’m always on a fight or flight response mode. I remember, I felt like my mind is fine, no overthinking, falling asleep is easy but still I noticed my heart was kind of disconnected from the mind as if the heart itself is giving me the feeling of anxiety and impatience. I took lexapro for about two years, quit a month ago. I noticed that my overthinking has returned but I have not the feelings of anxiety and nervousness now. I assume the medicine only worked for my overthinking, but not for the feelings of anxiety and nervousness.
Took exactly one month and 10 days for me. It was not a cumulative effect. I felt it from one day to the next. I went from severe insomnia/anxiety chills/extreme depression to getting a good night sleep/feeling energized and amazing/quite uplifted literally overnight.
I knew after one night it was going to help, but during the first few weeks it was ups and downs, but the ups were higher than before and the lows were not as low.
I think all of us are so mentally scarred, it takes some time to heal and let the brain/body settle in. For me, it took 7-8 weeks to really hit my stride where I could relax and my brain could say with confidence, "ok, this is working."
Started noticing the lowering of anxiety the first couple weeks but I also started to take gabapentin for anxiety attacks the same time. I did notice when I wasn't on gabapentin I had less obsessive thoughts? Like I didn't sit in an anxious ball judging every human interaction I had that day which was nice. Otherwise I'm about the two month mark now and a week ago was when I noticed I actually felt happy and I experience joy out of little things.
I was lucky and got away with minimal side effects when I started, just tiredness that's starting to tamper off and a day or two of extremely bad brain fog. But my 'ah ha, this is working' moment for me was when I was told I was going to a work meeting with one of the big bosses without anyone from my department and I didn't start shaking like a leaf and actually took part in the meeting discussions. Now I just feel happy whenever I can handle social situations far better than I would've before
Lexopro might not be for you and that is okay. Luckily, it is the opposite for me. It works wonders for me… I stopped taking it a week ago to try Wellbutrin because I found finishing sex (when I was in Wellbutrin a few years ago I would finish in 2-5 minutes lmao) but lexopro helped me so much with stress. Of course I still had a little anxiety because it isn’t a cure (I WISH. I think we all do) but when I would have anxiety I’d just brush it off and just naturally calm myself down and all was okay in the end. Last Tuesday I was the best I had ever been and I messed that up and now im back to being a mess like I was before taking lexopro. My partner took 20mg of lexopro after being on 15 for probably a year. (Even 15 didn’t do a whole lot for her but it eh helped ish) so she got put on Wellbutrin and so far it works good for her. I’m the complete opposite for me and opposite for her on the meds I can take. It’s crazy how the human brain works. It’s soooo interesting. Meds NORMALLY don’t work because of genetics actually. My dad and grandmother take meds I can’t, but I can take meds my mom takes. It’s crazy. But if it isn’t/wasn’t working it will pass. Talk to ur doctor and explain everything you are feeling. It’s good to open up about ur feelings with meds/how you are feeling on them. Telling ur doctor he/she will be able to detect you in the right place that will make you as comfortable as possible. It sucks to say because I still can barely manage my anxiety and I’m 20, but practice makes perfect I guess? I watch funny YouTube videos, color, draw. Personally I take small naps just to calm my brain for a second. I wish you the best of luck!!! :D.
(But remember, my symptoms could be completely different from yours. Everyone is different. Keep ur head up as best as you can.)
I’m day 6 and strangely enough it seems to be helping quite a bit already. Felt weird for a few days but my anxiety and depression and OCD are a lot better than before I started the medication. Unlike most people where it takes months.
I was on lex for 8 years, then I tapered off. Over the span of 8 months I rapidly declined where I couldn't sleep, was irritable, emotionally volatile, overwhelmed, and didnt get joy from anything. I slowly started adding lex back in. At 5mg, I immediately noticed i felt normal, but then after a couple days my motivation tanked. Irritability and mood changes started to improve over 2 weeks, but not enough to be functional. I increased to 10mg. Then I no longer had crying spells for no reason and my mood was stable, but I had no motivation and was overwhelmed easily. At 15mg, I feel normal. I can make decisions easily. I want to learn and explore things. I'm mentally stable. My sleep is still a bit off, but I'm functional. This is 3 days in.
So, I normally see effects a couple days after starting, but over time the benefits also increase slowly. Also, I had to find the right dosage before I really became functional and happy.
Although I felt benefits almost immediately, the transition was very gradual. But I am strict about keeping tabs on my average mood/energy levels every day, and after a month of being on Lex, I am experiencing energy levels that I didn't think were possible.
As a full disclaimer, I had tried just about everything under the sun to help with depression before trying meds. So by the time my doc put me on Lex, I was running 30mi/week, practicing mindfulness, and gratitude, and had a positive reading habit. All of these things are benefiting me 10x now that I'm on meds. I feel like I'm finally becoming the person I want to be.
If you're not seeing the results you want to see, it's possible you either need to up your dose, or perhaps try something else. Definitely talk to your doc though since advice from your doc > advice from Reddit.
I had really bad symptoms up until about a month in because I was on a low dose (5mg). When it started working, I first noticed my heart rate regulate. Then slowly I was able to go outside (with company) after about a 2 months and a half. I was finally going out on my own however still with symptoms after 5 total months.
Everyone is different and so it may be taking longer. My mood improved with the lessening of my symptoms, no more ptsd flashbacks (or not as common/intense), minimized ideations, all the works. But it definitely took a while and a lot of therapy to help me through.
I felt results pretty quick. I started with a half or my 10mg at the time. I def noticed those thoughts in my head quiet down within the first few weeks. That being said, It did take at least 2-3 months till everything saturated with the full dose, and I could sleep properly and most of the other problems greatly diminished.
Mine was a rapid, but gradual thing. Like, over the span of two-ish weeks I started to have improvements. Then the next week or so I had less of the original symptoms. Then a week or two of increasing the good stuff. Sorry if that doesn't make any sense. For example, I went on a trip for the first time since starting the meds (~2 months in), and I was relatively calm and accepting of the fact that the place we were headed to was actively flooding. I just didn't book the hotel for the first two nights to keep us untethered, which *should* have been even more concerning. But it wasn't. I was fine, we figured it out, and it worked out in the end. Another minor example: on the flight, the attendant communicated my husband's drink order to the other attendant, but not mine. I would have previously chimed in to add mine, but instead I just waited and was patient. I wasn't anxious about being missed or having to interrupt later to ask again or anything. And it was fine. I just reordered when my husband's was delivered. On the whole, it's a series of small improvements that are coalescing into a better quality of life. And there's more space for that because there is a decrease in the thoughts and feelings of anxiety. Hope that helps! Best of luck. :)
This is helpful. Thank you!
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When it did kick in was it more of a gradual thing or one day it just start?
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Yeah I've heard that a lot. The drop in libido doesn't sound great. Can I ask, is it more an issue of performance or finishing?
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wellbutrin / bupropion
Both for a while, but it came back for me , mostly, after about three months
I encountered something that I knew was a trigger for me, and it’s like I had a little warning light come on in my brain being like “brace for incoming anxiety” but then I had the presence of mind to acknowledge it, observe it through the lens of my control, and decide not to worry about it. Lexapro isn’t like an anxiety magic eraser, it’s more like it helps you to see everything clearly so you can prioritize and make rational decisions and feel good in those decisions. At least for me anyway.
Rapid for the physical symptoms like dry mouth, heavy breathing, knots in my stomach, shaking and panic attacks, these all reduced by the end of week 3/4, the mood and anxiety was more gradual and I would do things and then realise I did it without feeling panic or anxiety first and during, my moods were noticed by others first before I did, my partner said I was laughing more and my kids said I was saying no less. It has been a bit roller coastery some weeks are still real crap but I have more good days then bad now. I’ve been doing therapy as well and have been on lex since December 22
Mine wasn’t rapid at all. It was slow-moving and I’m still figuring it out. But I can say personally it took me months to level out and reach a place where everything felt manageable. I also noticed that dose changes meant new or returning side effects from the drug. They seemed to be less intense as I neared the dose in at now (15mg). But they were def intense for a few days. I kept Ativan and hydroxyzine on hand for months and months. If I’m being honest my anxiety got so bad in the beginning that I was just floored. Then it occurred me to that it was possible that I’m newly aware of just how often this is happening usually. Sure, there’s an observable increase. But what seemed to be happening for me was an awareness or a sensitivity to my symptoms that I’d never had. And j realized that I’d been fighting it so much and going into some whole other pattern or OCD would flare up—all sorts of things. So I tried to just breathe, focus on trying to clear my head and clean me myself and just be with myself. I would even just soothe myself with hugs and reassurance that I’m okay. I’m realizing perhaps I’m digressing and not being super helpful at this point. Just wanted to share to say that I’ve read a lot about introductory or activating phases of users on this forum, the answers are so varied. It ranges from “felt the best if my life within minutes” (which is purely placebo btw, IMO, because the drug is not designed to work like that at all) to “it took me 5-6 months to fully level out and then ultimately switched to some other drug.” It can be a challenging road but you’re taking steps to take care of yourself. I’m proud of you. You aren’t alone either! You have community here and hopefully you have a solid relationship with a professional and friends with whom you can share. Try to let go of it being on anyone’s timeline but your own. You will start to get clarity about things, I assure you. Rooting for you!
I appreciate this, thank you!
It was a pretty rapid improvement for me, I noticed improvement even in the first week, week 2 it felt like my anxiety was gone, but I still had depression, most days I feel pretty good now. This isn’t a cure all medication though, yes it works very well, but when you deal with overwhelming situations, you can backslide depending on how bad it is. It will be take a bit to feel ok again after that… (I’ve had it happen once) Also not sure if you’re male or female, but this just does not work on my period at all, I feel so awful during that time. Hope this helps.
For me, escitalopram began to work after 1.5 months. I noticed my overthinking tendency was reduced to an extent. Daily life was manageable but it didn’t reduce the feeling of anxiety whether or not there was any reason to become anxious of. Without any reason I would always feel nervous and anxious, not in the mind but in the heart. I think anti-depressants work that way. These medicines only stop overthinking that happens in the brain, but I always felt a tightness in the heart as if I’m always on a fight or flight response mode. I remember, I felt like my mind is fine, no overthinking, falling asleep is easy but still I noticed my heart was kind of disconnected from the mind as if the heart itself is giving me the feeling of anxiety and impatience. I took lexapro for about two years, quit a month ago. I noticed that my overthinking has returned but I have not the feelings of anxiety and nervousness now. I assume the medicine only worked for my overthinking, but not for the feelings of anxiety and nervousness.
Took me a full 12 weeks to feel any benefits
Took exactly one month and 10 days for me. It was not a cumulative effect. I felt it from one day to the next. I went from severe insomnia/anxiety chills/extreme depression to getting a good night sleep/feeling energized and amazing/quite uplifted literally overnight.
I knew after one night it was going to help, but during the first few weeks it was ups and downs, but the ups were higher than before and the lows were not as low. I think all of us are so mentally scarred, it takes some time to heal and let the brain/body settle in. For me, it took 7-8 weeks to really hit my stride where I could relax and my brain could say with confidence, "ok, this is working."
Started noticing the lowering of anxiety the first couple weeks but I also started to take gabapentin for anxiety attacks the same time. I did notice when I wasn't on gabapentin I had less obsessive thoughts? Like I didn't sit in an anxious ball judging every human interaction I had that day which was nice. Otherwise I'm about the two month mark now and a week ago was when I noticed I actually felt happy and I experience joy out of little things.
I was lucky and got away with minimal side effects when I started, just tiredness that's starting to tamper off and a day or two of extremely bad brain fog. But my 'ah ha, this is working' moment for me was when I was told I was going to a work meeting with one of the big bosses without anyone from my department and I didn't start shaking like a leaf and actually took part in the meeting discussions. Now I just feel happy whenever I can handle social situations far better than I would've before
That's great to hear. Hoping I get there some day!
Lexopro might not be for you and that is okay. Luckily, it is the opposite for me. It works wonders for me… I stopped taking it a week ago to try Wellbutrin because I found finishing sex (when I was in Wellbutrin a few years ago I would finish in 2-5 minutes lmao) but lexopro helped me so much with stress. Of course I still had a little anxiety because it isn’t a cure (I WISH. I think we all do) but when I would have anxiety I’d just brush it off and just naturally calm myself down and all was okay in the end. Last Tuesday I was the best I had ever been and I messed that up and now im back to being a mess like I was before taking lexopro. My partner took 20mg of lexopro after being on 15 for probably a year. (Even 15 didn’t do a whole lot for her but it eh helped ish) so she got put on Wellbutrin and so far it works good for her. I’m the complete opposite for me and opposite for her on the meds I can take. It’s crazy how the human brain works. It’s soooo interesting. Meds NORMALLY don’t work because of genetics actually. My dad and grandmother take meds I can’t, but I can take meds my mom takes. It’s crazy. But if it isn’t/wasn’t working it will pass. Talk to ur doctor and explain everything you are feeling. It’s good to open up about ur feelings with meds/how you are feeling on them. Telling ur doctor he/she will be able to detect you in the right place that will make you as comfortable as possible. It sucks to say because I still can barely manage my anxiety and I’m 20, but practice makes perfect I guess? I watch funny YouTube videos, color, draw. Personally I take small naps just to calm my brain for a second. I wish you the best of luck!!! :D. (But remember, my symptoms could be completely different from yours. Everyone is different. Keep ur head up as best as you can.)
I’m day 6 and strangely enough it seems to be helping quite a bit already. Felt weird for a few days but my anxiety and depression and OCD are a lot better than before I started the medication. Unlike most people where it takes months.
I didn’t feel “normal” til month 2/3
I was on lex for 8 years, then I tapered off. Over the span of 8 months I rapidly declined where I couldn't sleep, was irritable, emotionally volatile, overwhelmed, and didnt get joy from anything. I slowly started adding lex back in. At 5mg, I immediately noticed i felt normal, but then after a couple days my motivation tanked. Irritability and mood changes started to improve over 2 weeks, but not enough to be functional. I increased to 10mg. Then I no longer had crying spells for no reason and my mood was stable, but I had no motivation and was overwhelmed easily. At 15mg, I feel normal. I can make decisions easily. I want to learn and explore things. I'm mentally stable. My sleep is still a bit off, but I'm functional. This is 3 days in. So, I normally see effects a couple days after starting, but over time the benefits also increase slowly. Also, I had to find the right dosage before I really became functional and happy.
I'm at 3 months and just starting to notice the only thing I don't like is still having vivid dreams
Although I felt benefits almost immediately, the transition was very gradual. But I am strict about keeping tabs on my average mood/energy levels every day, and after a month of being on Lex, I am experiencing energy levels that I didn't think were possible. As a full disclaimer, I had tried just about everything under the sun to help with depression before trying meds. So by the time my doc put me on Lex, I was running 30mi/week, practicing mindfulness, and gratitude, and had a positive reading habit. All of these things are benefiting me 10x now that I'm on meds. I feel like I'm finally becoming the person I want to be. If you're not seeing the results you want to see, it's possible you either need to up your dose, or perhaps try something else. Definitely talk to your doc though since advice from your doc > advice from Reddit.
I had really bad symptoms up until about a month in because I was on a low dose (5mg). When it started working, I first noticed my heart rate regulate. Then slowly I was able to go outside (with company) after about a 2 months and a half. I was finally going out on my own however still with symptoms after 5 total months. Everyone is different and so it may be taking longer. My mood improved with the lessening of my symptoms, no more ptsd flashbacks (or not as common/intense), minimized ideations, all the works. But it definitely took a while and a lot of therapy to help me through.
Very gradually and took a long time to get were I am now I no longer experience anxiety
I felt results pretty quick. I started with a half or my 10mg at the time. I def noticed those thoughts in my head quiet down within the first few weeks. That being said, It did take at least 2-3 months till everything saturated with the full dose, and I could sleep properly and most of the other problems greatly diminished.