Started lexapro tonight

Hi

When starting a new medication it is the norm to experience side effects including the ones you have listed above but these should pass after a couple of weeks and if they don't go back and speak with your doctor.

Lexapro a good medication IMO and works well on anxiety especially GAD and also helps with depression. It is classed as an SSRI and is one of the stronger medication and is very activating so IMO it is best to take it first thing in the morning as it may cause sleep problems if taken at night.

I hope it works well for you keep us posted.

Hibee

Hello!

I just started Lexapro (10mg) a few days ago. I took my first dose around 8pm, as I picked it up from my pharmacist in the evening and wanted to start it in my system as soon as possible. I went to sleep around 9pm and woke up around 12 feeling pretty nauseated as well. Not really any motion sickness feelings but a bit sick to my stomach which went away after about an hour or so. Since taking it at night for the past few days I have been waking up numerous times throughout the night - not sure if I can attribute this to the medicine or to other heightened stressors in my life recently. Either way, I decided I would slowly switch to taking it in the mornings. I know a side effect is drowsiness but I wanted to test out another time since I believed it to possibly be affecting my sleep.

By slowly switching, I mean I took it at 4pm yesterday (rather than 8pm), am taking it at 12pm today, and 8 am tomorrow. I didn't go to my doctor for advice on this, I'm just using my best judgement. Since we had the same symptoms from taking at night, I'd suggest that if it continues to try changing the time you take it as well, just to see (as long as it doesn't make you drowsy, of course).

Taking it at 4pm did not make me tired any sooner than I normally would be tired, for what it's worth. And I didn't experience any nausea at all. But as you know, everyone is affected differently.

Also, starting these types of medications can be tough - talk to your doctor about maybe getting something to take alongside the Lexapro while it builds up in your system to help combat the side effects. Most people I've noticed take benzos for this purpose - my doctor does not prefer to prescribe benzos and rather prescribed me an antihistamine called Vistaril. I reached out to the community here and did some online research and found it to be just a stronger version of benadryl, that can help anxiety, nausea, etc. I am picking up my prescription today so I will see how well it actually works, but I am told it is a decent alternative to benzodiazepines as it does not have the addictive properties.

I hope no matter which route you take your side effects are alleviated quickly and that this medication works for you - I have tried a few different SSRI's with little success and have heard many, many good things about Lexapro. Best of luck. :)

Post Edited (britoh) : 1/14/2016 7:09:45 AM (GMT-7)