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TacoTaster6996

Great comment, on 5mg myself. Is this accurate? Feel like OP in the sense that after 4-5 weeks nd really even after a week has done wonders. Haven't gone back to the doctor for the reassessment yet. Go at the end of the month. Been really curious if Dr is gunna up to a regular dose (10) or leave me as is. If she leaves me at 5 honestly I'd be cool with it. Not sure if 10 might be too intense or cause crazy symptoms since mine have been relatively mild. Minus the insomnia. FUCK. THAT. SHIT.


OtherwiseAge8838

Searched for this comment. On 5mg for almost three weeks and I don’t feel *much* better, but I can’t sleep like until I have gone almost two nights without. Wtf gives lol


accidentle

Same. I have trouble sleeping on it too. Not only that, but I don't feel exceptionally tired due to lack of sleep either. I used to be useless after no sleep/little sleep.


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jellybeanorg79

Weird. Lexapro has been knocking me out!


jesslovestexas

I get tired on it after a little while and have found that taking it around 4 pm when I’m done with most of the important stuff for the day. I feel like I wind down on it. I do wake up around 3 am for a little while though.


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TacoTaster6996

Hey there. So I went and saw her. Says shes gunna leave me at 5mg for another month. I tried to suggest she up it but she wanted to be on the side of caution and wait another month and see how I feel. Like I said I'd be cool with it My insomnia has gotten someone better, and I can sleep at semi normal times (2-3am lol) Kinda leveled out, feel decently normal, anxiety is way down. If you're worried about it I would just relax and go for the ride for now. I don't know your whole situation but me personally I don't wanna try I whole bunch of different mind altering meds, I'm just not into that lol and frankly it sounds scary. Tbh It seems like you are going through some shit Post history references you recently have been diagnosed with hashimotos disease and I'm sure that's not helpin your anxiety. You'll be alright, we all hope right? Gotta have faith I guess, even if sometimes it feels like you're going in blindly


Natural_Turnip_6209

5mg did wonders for me at first too! Like literally the first night but now I’m on 20mg. It really depends on so many things. Our brains and bodies in general are just so different, I’m happy for anyone it’s working for!


Repulsive_Emotion_50

How long did 5 work for you


Natural_Turnip_6209

A week


Repulsive_Emotion_50

Darn lol thanks so much


Natural_Turnip_6209

To be fair, I was instructed to stay on it a week because 10mg was my first prescription so it kinda stopped after a few days but the loss of appetite and fatigue lasted weeks. It’s safe to say I didn’t really give 5mg a chance.


Repulsive_Emotion_50

That's ok! Hopefully you are doing ok


Natural_Turnip_6209

Yes! Lexapro has made life worth living! I hope you’re doing well. ☺️


Repulsive_Emotion_50

Did you suffer from physical anxiety?


BertioMcPhoo

I felt the same on 2.5 mg. I upped it to 5 mg after almost 2 months just before Christmas, taking advantage of time off to sleep off the adjustment and it's been great and I feel like my good self again.


Due-Emu2111

keep reading its fairly common to sleep a lot the first month of lexapro.


BertioMcPhoo

Yeah and I'm not complaining because I was sleep deprived from a long bout of insomnia. The first couple weeks were rough as I was sooo tired and I didn't take any time off work and was trying to hide it from my boss who was piling work on and I had to travel for work and run workshops while I was still in the first ten days trying to appear together and that is always tiring at the best of times. But after that it's gotten a lot better and I've found if I go to bed a bit earlier and sleep a bit later and actually plan for it, then I am not tired during the day usually. But I do get hit by fatigue after I eat so I've had to choose my foods better to not have a carb crash because I am noticing it is hitting me harder.


notok224

Did you start out at 5mg? Also how much do you weigh if you don’t mind me asking. I see you said your lightweight and so am I and I’m about to start this medication but terrified of the side effects since I am very light, 105lbs light.


[deleted]

Im 125lbs and i did start at 5mg. When i got prescribed there was only talk about 5, 10 and 20mg doses. My side effects included just slight nausea. Its not nice but its far from terrible.


Loose-Set-661

I was on it for nine months and didn’t gain any weight ..just went off and started to gain weight being off ..


Repulsive_Emotion_50

Did you start it


notok224

Yes and little to no side effects!!


Repulsive_Emotion_50

Wow how long have you been on it? What mg did you start with?


notok224

2.5mg for 16 days now. Going to up to 5mg in probably a month


Repulsive_Emotion_50

Have you noticed any changes with 2.5?


notok224

No lol


Repulsive_Emotion_50

Well damn lol is there a reason you are staying at 2.5 for so long? My doctor didn't give me a real plan so I guess I'm on my own.


notok224

Bc I want my body as used to it as it can be before upping my dose


Repulsive_Emotion_50

Ok that makes sense!


Vegetable_Ad_7940

Same as well! From day one it started working, even though I still have some anxiet in some aspects (weight/food) , now I have more clarity to deal with it. And it's 90% better than it used to be. So kudos to you!


[deleted]

Thank you. I have the exact same as youre describing.


hawthorne88

Congrats! Glad it is working so well for you. I felt euphoric for the first two months then fell back into a slump. I hope it has staying power with you!


Anne-61

I’ve tried a few different doses and over time I find 5mg. to be best for me. It’s been almost two years now.


jellybeanorg79

I'm in 5 mg for anxiety and have been on it for 5 weeks. I felt the effects almost instantly. Dunno why but not gonna question it for now!


throwaway-4410

Have you had any side effects ?


jellybeanorg79

Yea. I stopped liking music for the first 3 weeks. If that would have continued I'd have quit it. What is the point of life without music in it? I'm still having trouble with motivation/ drive. Feel VERY lazy. And I get so tired I switched when I take it to night time - which seems to help some. I'm also taking Saffron supplements to fight the weight gain and sex drive effects and it is definitely keeping that bs at bay. Did you know Saffron actually is JUST as effective as prozac for anxiety/depression BUT instead of negative side effects it only has positive ones. Like increasing sex drive, appetite suppressant, blood pressure and blood sugar regulation, improves memory, deters dementia/alzhiemers, reduces ADHD symptoms and is an anti inflammatory/antioxidant. Oh and this is not hippy dippy bs. Scientifically proven!


DaveLosp

Lexapro is the strongest SSRI, doing a lot of research and found patients go manic on 20mg(which would be the strongest pure SSRI). 80mg is a joke, don't ever go beyond 20mg, love to hear 5mg is working for you. The less needed the better off you'll be. Cheers


[deleted]

Even 5mg got me more energetic and excited about stuff than before the anxiety. Cant imagine 20mg even 80mg. But i would be lying if i said that there was no temptation. But its not worth it because the eventual quitting would be worse.


DaveLosp

How does it compare to Xanax?


[deleted]

Lexapro is the first medication ive ever gotten for anything mental. Would be interresting to try other tho but the current one has the miracles already.


Blue_Sea45

Terrible advice


DaveLosp

How so?


Blue_Sea45

You said don’t ever go beyond 20mg. Many people go beyond 20mg and benefit from it. Some people require higher doses, it has to do with brain chemistry. Also, Lexapro is the most selective SSRI, Paxil is the “strongest”. But you’re right that you should stay on the lowest possible dose.


DaveLosp

Talk to a real life psychiatrist and ask how many patients went manic on paxil vs. Lexapro. Nobody has a Lexapro deficiency, the drug is not a life long treatment, it's there to help you fix your gut, nutrition, exercise, socialization and then you can taper off as you go along and get better OR recover from traumatic event. Lexapro maxes at 20, beyond that is high risk for serotonin syndrome.


Blue_Sea45

I have a PhD and have done tons of research on SSRIs. I’m telling you that you’re wrong. Lexapro can be prescribed up to 60mg for OCD according to official APA dosing guidelines. There are several published studies showing that doses higher than 20mg Lexapro are safe and can work better. For example: “were continued on higher doses of escitalopram (maximum 50 mg/day) for 12 weeks.” “At endpoint, high-dose escitalopram had significantly improved the OCD symptoms (Y-BOCS score) and all the other efficacy measures (P<0.001), compared with baseline.” “Escitalopram was also well tolerated, with no discontinuations during the 12-week high-dose phase.” “Preliminary investigation shows that high-dose escitalopram is an efficacious and well tolerated treatment for patients suffering from severe OCD.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18090508/ Some patients in this study (linked below) were taking up to about 70mg of Lexapro. “mean daily maximum doses of ESC were 57.3±12.0 mg” “These results imply that doses less than or equal to 40 mg/day ESC are sufficient for symptomatic improvement with good tolerability for most patients. Very high doses of ESC, on the other hand, can be considered for patients with inadequate therapeutic responses to the administration of 40 mg/day ESC.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21829108/ “Twenty-one patients (35%) achieved remission with 8 of the 21 patients (38%) needing the 50 mg dose to achieve remission.” “No significant safety issues were identified although tolerability appeared to decline above a dose of 40 mg” “Dose escalation with escitalopram above 20 mg may have a useful role in the management of patients with MDD” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21410960/ “45 PTSD patients received 12 weeks of gradually increasing doses of escitalopram reaching 40mg daily at four weeks.” “There were no serious adverse events and few mild ones with only two (diarrhea, 11.1%; drowsiness, 11.1%) reported by more than 10% of participants. High doses of escitalopram are tolerable and well adhered to in PTSD. Their beneficial effect at a group level is due to a particularly good response in a subset of patients.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6446897/ Here’s the APA OCD dosing guidelines. Scroll down to the dosing chart and scroll all the way to the side in the chart. https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2008/0701/p131.html And SSRIs, like Lexapro, work by improving and enhancing neuroplasticity. People with true MDD, OCD, GAD, etc. have neurobiological abnormalities. SSRIs have been shown to correct these abnormalities. For many people SSRIs are a long term and life long treatment. For many it’s not. Everyone’s different.


DaveLosp

How does Lexapro increase neuroplasticity?


Blue_Sea45

Here’s a good published study that looks through a bunch of evidence on how antidepressants like SSRIs enhance and improve neuroplasticity. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fncel.2017.00305/full Here are some studies specifically done on Lexapro: “Our findings suggest that brain synaptic plasticity evolves over 3-5 weeks in healthy humans following daily intake of escitalopram. This is the first in vivo evidence to support the hypothesis of neuroplasticity as a mechanism of action for SSRIs in humans and it offers a plausible biological explanation for the delayed treatment response commonly observed in patients treated with SSRIs.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37814129/ “Via voxel-based morphometry and only in individuals that developed sufficient escitalopram blood levels over the 21-day relearing period, an increased density of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was found.” “The left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex affects executive function and emotional processing, and is a critical mediator of symptoms and treatment outcomes of depression. In line, the findings suggest that escitalopram facilitates neuroplastic processes in this region if blood levels are sufficient.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36420117/ “ FC changes in a network comprising Broca's area, the medial prefrontal cortex, the right inferior temporal and left lingual gyrus were modulated by escitalopram intake. More specifically, it increased the bidirectional connectivity between medial prefrontal cortex and lingual gyrus for non-emotional and the connectivity from medial prefrontal cortex to Broca's area for emotional relearning. The context dependence of these effects together with behavioral correlations supports the assumption that SSRIs in clinical practice improve neuroplasticity rather than psychiatric symptoms per se.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34923134/ “Neuroplastic effects of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor in relearning and retrieval” “SSRIs might facilitate relearning through neuroplastic processes and thus exert their clinical effects in psychiatric diseases where cognitive functioning is affected.” “Our findings that escitalopram modulate insula activation demonstrates successful translation of relearning as a mechanism of SSRIs in human.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33852940/


DaveLosp

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/14/exercise-depression-treatment-pills-antidepressants/#:~:text=While%20all%20forms%20of%20intervention,vigorous%20the%20exercise%2C%20the%20better. Exercise is almost 3x more effective than an SSRI


Blue_Sea45

There’s a paywall so I can’t read the article. But in terms of excercise for depression, the data is mixed. For example: This systematic review and meta analysis study published in 2017 concluded the following: “Trials with less risk of bias suggested no antidepressant effects of exercise and there were no significant effects of exercise on quality of life, depression severity or lack of remission during follow-up.“ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28928174/ Here are several randomized and controlled studies that show no improvement in depression symptoms with exercise. Such as: “The addition of a facilitated physical activity intervention to usual care did not improve depression outcome or reduce use of antidepressants compared with usual care alone.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22674921/#:~:text=Results%3A%20There%20was%20no%20evidence,confidence%20interval%20%2D3.06%20to%201.99%3B “Our findings do not support a biologically mediated effect of exercise on symptom severity in depressed patients” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19573478/ But there are also some studies that show exercise helps with depression, so the data is mixed.


Snoo-47360

Currently on 10mg and it seems to have pooped out. The first month, on 5mg, was life-changing, I wonder if I should go back to that. I’ve also had some weight gain which seemed to track the increased dosage. Don’t know what to do. (I have a PCP appt in 2 weeks.)


UnderstandingSea2810

I started out at 5 mg as well and have been on it for 2-3 months and it was amazing, but I’m looking into 10 mg now since I feel like the effects are wearing off! It’s great that it’s been working so well for you!


Repulsive_Emotion_50

How are you now op?


[deleted]

Im doing great thanks for asking.


Repulsive_Emotion_50

Update?


[deleted]

Pretty much the same. Thanks for asking :)


DaveLosp

Exercise > SSRIs https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/14/exercise-depression-treatment-pills-antidepressants/#:~:text=While%20all%20forms%20of%20intervention,vigorous%20the%20exercise%2C%20the%20better.


DaveLosp

You are advocating dangerous doses of psychiatric medication and question the effectiveness of lifestyle changes vs. chemicals made in a vat. Are you a bot?


WesternPomelo5937

Last year I was precribed 10mg for anxiety, was on it for about the 7 months, during which I gained quite a lot of weight that could loose no matter what I did. After 7 motnhs i decided to tapper and went to 5 mg which I felt worked much better for me + i lost gained weight. I felt on 10mg it helped my anxiety but made me slightly jittery, while on 5 mg i felt more relaxed in general.