Lexapro Works!!

I suffer from anxiety and depression. It wasn't until I found myself sitting at a traffic light and wincing from the overwhelming feeling of sadness. I was well aware that I came from a high anxiety family and was certain I inherited that from my mother. What I didn't realize was how depression had slowly creeped into my life. I had no reason to feel depressed. I have a good job and wonderful family. No real money problems just the usual bills yet I had an overwelming feeling of sadness. I schedule a physical and went to see my doctor. During the physical he asked if I had anything to complain about medical or otherwise. So I told about the feeling at the traffic light and all the rest. He offered me lexapro after questioning me about a family history. He explained the there is a genetic component to anxiety and depression that often is managed with lexapro and others. He felt that lexapro was safe and effective and prescribed 10mg a day but warned me that he believed that I would eventually need a 20mg a day dose. I am here to say that from the first week I started I began to feel relief. The anxiety was reduced and the sadness lifting. By week 4 I felt the sadness creeping back in and talked to my doctor on the phone. He called in the 20mg prescription and I began taking that. With the exception of some diareha at the very start I really had no other side effects. I slept better, felt better and behaved better to everyone in my life. I was amazed. I continued on 20mg for just about a year. I recently started reducing my dosage to see if the effects would continue. I am now down to 5 mg a day and all my symptoms have started to return. I could call withdraw symptoms but I think it's just the return of the symptoms. Yes it feels bad but I had them before. The only reason I would like to stop now is I seemed to have put on some weight. I'm really not sure that the medicine is what did it, after all I have been eating what I wanted for the last year. Not gorging myself, but enjoying all things I love to eat. I am dieting now as continue reducing the lexapro and if I get down to a manageable weight I will begin taking lexapro again. I'm am 54 years old and realized this drug helps. Oh by the way my doctor who has helped me tremendously died three months into the lexapro treatment....... He was 80. My he rest in peace.

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Hello, Michael! How are you doing? It's awesome that the medication worked so well for you.

As to the symptoms returning, you might be dealing with a bit of a rebound effect. You can experience withdrawal symptoms, rebound effects or both and the rebound effect can sometimes even be worse than the symptoms you started taking it to treat.

And many of these medications can cause weight gain, so it probably did play a role. However, rather than stopping it and letting your issues return, you may want to speak to your current doctor about trying something different, such as Prozac. It's also an SSRI that can be used to treat the same issues, but it doesn't usually cause weight gain. Its typical side effects may include nausea, dizziness, headache and dry mouth.

Are there any other questions or concerns?

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