Restarting Lexapro

Hi all. I'm new to the board. Long history short, 18 years ago my father passed away at my wedding reception which started me on a road of anxiety and depression. It was quite a few years before I was properly diagnosed with clinical depression and started taking 10mg of Lexapro. Along with my doctor, I decided to stop using it back in January and tapered off by first taking 5mg/day and then 5mg every other day. It seemed to work and I was feeling fine until about a week ago. The depression seemed to return.

Without speaking to my doctor, I decided to start using the Lexapro again since I still had some left. I started by taking 5mg every day which did not seem to be helping. I then bumped up to 10mg/day and am still having problems. I have some side effects that I did not experience in my first round. The depression is still here and I am having trouble sleeping. I have also developed anxiety.

Luckily, I have 4 great sisters, 2 of whom have experienced the depression that I do and I can call them any time.

I guess my question is should I just stop taking the Lexapro again or should I speak with my doctor and tell her I started and what the side effects are? Thanks all.

Thanks Karen. I will speak to the doctor. I just thought it odd to have side effects that I did not have the first time and was wondering if anyone else has experienced this.