Another Question About Meds

I just started taking meds for my anxiety. It got to the point where I was afraid that an attack would happen at any moment.

First, the doc gave me Ativan. That helped take the edge off, but knocked me out, though after a few days I was getting used to working through the sleepiness. I had another appointment today and he decided to switch me to Lexapro. This drug seems to have made it impossible for me to concentrate. Does anyone have experience with it? Will that feeling of being completely unable to think wear off? I have a big paper coming up and I'm scared that I won't be able to get it done.

Any insight would be great. Thanks all!

Hi Cali. Are you still taking Ativan too? Are you having trouble concentrating because you're on edge and easily distracted, or are you in a brain fog that makes it hard to think?

I'm on Lexapro (20mg) right now and it's working well for me. I used to take Celexa and it helped a lot with anxiety and panic attacks, but it gave me a feeling of lethargy and I felt brain-foggy a lot. I'm finding Lexapro doesn't have that negative side effect for me. It takes a while to get adjusted to it, though. The first few weeks on any SSRI can be unpleasant while your body gets adjusted to it. I felt sick for the first week I was on Lexapro, but then the side effects went away. It took me another 2 weeks to feel the positive effects. I have found that I'm doing so well on it now, I'm not taking any Clonazepam (similar to Ativan) for my panic. I haven't had an attack in weeks.

So, if you're still taking Ativan, that in combination with Lexapro might be causing your inability to concentrate. Or, if you have recently stopped taking Ativan, you could be having some temporary withdrawal effects. Or, it could just be that you're still getting adjusted to the Lexapro.

I take my Lexapro at night before bed.That way, any side effects it's likely to cause happen at night while I'm sleeping. Are you taking yours in the morning? Since it's something that stays in your system all the time and doesn't have an effect that wears off after a few hours (like Ativan), it doesn't matter what time you take it. Some people take it in the morning because they find it hard to sleep if they take it before bed, but it doesn't affect my sleep at all. I like taking it at night. Maybe you could talk to your doc about taking it at night instead. If you're still having this side effect after you've been on it for about 3 weeks, talk to your doctor about it. These meds all work differently for different people so there might be something that will work better for you.

I hope you start feeling better soon. Keep us posted.

Hi Cali.

I actually just came off of Lexapro yesterday. The side effects were very tolerable for me. They definitely wore off after about a week and a half. I was kind of shaky, had some stomach trouble, and headaches-- but like I said-- it all disappeared.

My pdoc put me on it in addition to my mood stabilizer b/c I had gone into a pretty bad depression. However, I didn't go on the Lex until about the 6th week of my depression, so by the time I went on it, the depression had naturally lifted a few days later.

I called my pdoc yesterday because I was running out, and wanted to know if he still thought I should be on it. My anxiety used to be manifested through severe panic attacks, but that is not the case anymore. Now it manifests itself through obsessive, mostly catastrophic thoughts and visualizations. (Much more fun, I can assure you, lol). It seemed as if the thoughts and visualizations had been getting more intense lately along with some other hypomanic-like symptoms. So my pdoc said that since I'm out of the depression anyway, to just cut the Lex-- it's not helping my anxiety anyway.

Incidentally, I have been doing the med thing while in school also. I've gone through many times where my meds (or my depression and anxiety symptoms) make it near impossible to get my schoolwork done. Just keep at it. I hope you are feeling better.

Thanks for all of the good info. I'm really scared that this is giong to be too much during school. I have a huge project due in a week and a half. It does feel nice not to be worried about panic attacks for the time being though.

I think I'll ask about taking the Lexapro at night. That sounds like a great idea. I am just in a fog all day. People keep asking me what's wrong. What's wrong is I can't think beyond what's happening this very instant... great for meditation, but hard when trying to write a paper. Maybe I'll find a trick to making this work to my advantage... seems like you might have found a way.