Started Lexapro for Anxiety and Need positive stories/support!

Hello everyone,

I've been lurking around this message board for a while, and have decided to make a post of my own to receive some support.

I've been experiencing severe anxiety since starting Lexapro two weeks ago. I was on 5 mg for a week, and then 10 mg for a week. I know it takes a while for the medicine to kick in, but my doctor has recommended that I increase the dosage to 15 mg for my 3rd week due to my anxiety being very severe.

Here's the thing: I actually had been on Lexapro for about five years, and it saved my life. Finally, earlier this year, I decided to wean off of it as I felt that I had learned enough coping skills, tended to my mental health, and felt that after five years of being on the medicine I could try to live without it. The taper was gradual (I was on 20 mg, and reduced dosage by 5 mg every 6 weeks) and all went well until I went from 5mg to 0 mg. The doctor told me to take 5 mg every other day for a week, and then stop. Then all hell brose loose. The anxiety and depression kicked back in full force and, after a month (July was hell), I decided to go back on the Lexapro.

Now I know that it's only been two weeks, but this anxiety is destroying me! It's so hard to be patient when the morning anxiety is at an all time high, the rumination about whether or not I will ever feel normal again repeats itself over and over in my mind, and constant worrying about any start up anxiety when I increase the dose.

Part of me tells me that I will be fine, and that the medication will work again (as it did three times before), but another part of me feels that this anxiety is making me suffer relentlessly.

Morning anxiety is usually high, and I've noticed that it usually wears off in the late afternoon, early evening. But then it returns usually at around 4-5 am. I try to go back to sleep, and I get an anxious feeling in my chest and then my mind starts racing with different thoughts/images that I am unable to fall asleep.

Anyways, I guess I wanted to see if anyone out there had any experience on weaning off the medication, and then coming back on it shortly after stopping it. My doctor told me that even though I was off the medication for a month, it can still take several weeks for the effects to kick in.

Any support/positive words/encouragement would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you so much in advance.

-A worried soul

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