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Lexapro for Major Depressive Disorder User Reviews (Page 3)

Reviews for Lexapro

Commonly mentioned side effects
  • Jux...
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • December 14, 2019

"I've been on Lexapro for 3 days at 10 mg. My doctor prescribed it for my depression and anxiety. Every single day I've taken this, I've had horrible symptoms ranging from blurry vision, headaches, drowsiness, dizziness, disorientation, nausea, confusion, panic attacks, tightness in the chest. My whole body would begin to burn, and my hands would tingle. I'd have a weird jerking in my legs. Just bad side effects that affected my job and personal relationships. My doctor said she'd see me again in 2 months, but I'm not taking this stuff anymore, and I plan to call her in the morning. This is horrible!"

1 / 10
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  • Anonymous
  • Taken for 1 to 2 years
  • August 10, 2021

"I started Lexapro after my divorce about a year ago. I was having major depression, anxiety, and panic attacks. After seeing a psychologist and therapist, they decided to start me on 10 mg of Lexapro. During the first month, I started having extreme dry mouth, but by month 2 that went away. I started seeing results after about a month or so. I was no longer having intrusive thoughts, my anxiety decreased substantially, and I was no longer having panic attacks. It also helped with depressive episodes. I was so nervous about starting a new medication, but honestly Lexapro saved my life. A year later, I am so much more stable and able to make clear decisions. My head isn't so foggy, and my emotions are in control. I am truly thankful."

10 / 10
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  • Hon...
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • August 27, 2019

"So I just started Lexapro 10 mg 10 days ago. I still feel down and depressed, so Dr. upped it to 20 mg. I've been on that for 2 days, and anxiety and crying are intense, praying I will get better once my body adjusts to the new dosage. Anyone else feel this way with a dosage change?"

7 / 10
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Frequently asked questions

  • Shu...
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • December 16, 2017

"My husband is a retired veteran from the Army. He has PTSD, depression, and anxiety. I introduced my husband to Lexapro, which I have taken over the years. I have seen a big change in my husband, and I am thankful. He has stated that I saved his life by introducing him to this medicine. Finally, my husband can enjoy life again. Lexapro is an amazing drug. Anyone out there who suffers from PTSD, anxiety, or depression, I highly suggest you give this medicine a try. Talk to your doctor. I, for one, can say it saved my husband's life."

10 / 10
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  • ora...
  • Taken for 1 to 6 months
  • June 7, 2017

"For posterity, I'm currently also taking Wellbutrin, Trazodone, and I'll be starting Vyvanse soon. Past SSRIs include Prozac and Zoloft; Prozac worked great but then pooped out, and Zoloft didn't do much of anything. My depression and anxiety have easily tripled over the past couple of years due to being sexually assaulted and the deaths of two very close friends. As a result, I get agitated extremely easily at work and feel extremely low and hopeless at home. I'm currently taking 20 mg Lexapro, and I believe I just felt it kick in? It's like a warm hug for the brain. I'm not feeling irritable, I'm fairly relaxed, and I'm excited for the rest of my day. I feel like it's only going to get better from here."

8 / 10
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  • Bet...
  • Taken for 5 to 10 years
  • October 22, 2014

"Was on Lexapro for over 5 years for depression. I could definitely notice a difference for the better. Was no longer suicidal and could work and function on a daily basis again. But still think I could have been happier than I was. The only side effect was loss of libido."

6 / 10
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  • Cor...
  • Taken for 1 to 6 months
  • October 17, 2017

"I was hospitalized back in June as a result of my depression and anxiety. Lexapro was the first medication they put me on, followed by hydroxyzine. The first thing I noticed was the minimal side effects. I didn't experience drowsiness or stomach pains or anything that I had expected to experience. Like all depression medication, Lexapro is one that needs to stay in your bloodstream for several weeks before you'll actually feel it working. It's not to say that it completely cured my depression, as there is no definitive 'cure' for depression, but half of my days were euphoric and the other half I was only feeling a bit down. That is a huge step up from feeling hopeless all the time. I would recommend it for both depression and anxiety."

9 / 10
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More FAQ

  • Hel...
  • Taken for 1 to 2 years
  • September 16, 2019

"I do not recommend this drug. I am tolerant to it - when I say that, what I mean is I can’t stop taking it - the withdrawal is so, so, so bad that my doctor has said, ‘you may have to be on this for life.’ The withdrawal is debilitating, aggression, irritability, volatile, unpredictable mood swings, uncontrollable crying, vomiting, etc. The drugs work fine and as described. But the come down is traumatic. And I felt worse coming down than before the meds. I have also gained about 11 kilos, 20 pounds approx in 1 year. Size 8 - 14. Flabby gut. I work out 6 days a week, don’t drink, don’t eat sugar, and I am bloated like a prednisone patient. Do not take this unless you are prepared to deal with ALL the horrible side effects. My only option is to go on another drug. Disgusting. I wish I had never started it in the first place. Absolutely disgusted by the doctors too, who ‘don’t really know why it’s making me gain weight, just try another one.’ Awful 0/10."

1 / 10
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  • Sha...
  • May 4, 2016

"After the death of my father, I was thrown into an extremely depressive state, and it only got worse as time went on. I was unable to get out of bed in the morning, go to school, and could not carry out my normal life due to the constant feelings of hopelessness, sadness, etc. I had lost interest in everything and everyone and also began self-harming. I've been on Lexapro (20 mg) for about four months, and it has helped me a large amount with my depression, but it makes me feel like a bit of a zombie. The side effects were not the best, but it has given me the energy and hope to get out of bed in the morning. Lexapro helped me an immense amount, and I would recommend that you try it."

8 / 10
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  • Tia...
  • Taken for 1 to 6 months
  • April 13, 2016

"I've been on many medications through the years, and this is the first one I've been on a medication that didn't make me drowsy and had side effects I could tolerate. Having Major Depressive Disorder, PTSD, and anxiety, but also having issues with psych medication side effects; I've been quite happy with this medication. It takes the edge off my negative moods and at times renders me ambivalent-which is better than before considering my PTSD anxiety was driving me to suicidal inclinations. However, if you aren't dealing with severe depression and anxiety, I'd suggest something less intense. Also, my Medicaid covered this medication, but many insurance companies won't, and the original price is naught to scoff at."

8 / 10
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  • Anonymous
  • Taken for 1 to 6 months
  • August 10, 2021

"I've been on 10 mg of Lexapro for 5 months now for MDD and GA. I woke up this morning feeling great, no bad headache, absolutely wonderful. Everyone says 6-8 weeks, for me, it was the anxiety it helped after that time frame. Depression took 'til today to lift and completely get out of the headache foggy state, so please give this med quite some time for full therapy. Soul hugs, Jill."

10 / 10
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  • Lin...
  • Taken for 1 to 2 years
  • October 18, 2019

"I’ve had good and bad experiences with Lexapro. I suffer from MDD and CPTSD, and starting the medication was good. It picked me up and made me feel human again. When I started Lexapro, I was also going through therapy. When I stopped therapy, I felt a decline in my mood again. Not where I started, but I was still having a hard time keeping up with my life. Currently, I still take it, and it’s good for most of the day. When I near the end of my day, I have a crash. I wish the Lexapro would last all day. I think it’s a good medication to pick you up, but I also recommend therapy to go hand in hand with your healing process."

7 / 10
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  • bel...
  • Taken for 1 to 6 months
  • April 30, 2020

"My first antidepressant I was prescribed, sex drive was at 0. I was on it for a month, and as the days went by, it got worse. I would say so far being on Lexapro caused one of my worst suicide attempts, and my self-harm was getting way worse. Immediately got taken off after I had my month checkup."

1 / 10
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  • Anonymous
  • Taken for 1 to 6 months
  • April 26, 2023

"I've been taking Lexapro for a little over 3 months. After the first month or so, I could see a huge difference with my depression and even my anxiety. For the last few weeks or so, my anxiety has been out of control, and my depression is back full force. I take my medication every night, pretty close to the same time. I don't know what to do. This is affecting my home life and work life. I have heard so many good things about Lexapro, but apparently, it isn't for me."

4 / 10
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  • Jam...
  • June 9, 2017

"My experience with Lexapro has been overall well. I suffer from severe depression ever since I smoked very potent strains of cannabis, which triggered me to get severely depressed and anxious. I didn't take Lexapro until about 6 months of it sitting in my drawer after manning up and growing the courage to take half of 10 mg for a week until the side effects subsided and raised it to 10 mg. I felt less anxious at first, then after 2 weeks, I raised it to 20 mg and felt less depressed, and that's what I'm currently on. I'm waiting till week 8 to see if it gets better to know if I should keep taking it."

10 / 10
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  • Dre...
  • March 24, 2016

"I'm on my 5th day taking Lexapro 10 mg, and the side effects have been horrible! The most I can put into my stomach is a breakfast essential shake in a whole day. I get heavy headaches, the back of my eyes hurt like hell. I wake up drenched in sweat, my whole body aches to the point where I can barely walk, I get very cold easily, and I sleep throughout the day. I was told the side effects will stop after a week, but will the loss of appetite stop too?"

1 / 10
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  • abi...
  • Taken for 6 months to 1 year
  • November 17, 2021

"I was prescribed Lexapro for anxiety and depression, also OCD. Side effects of terrible dry mouth, headaches. It did, however, help my insomnia. Months in, my anxiety had slightly subsided, and my depression was noticeably gone. But I wasn’t happy either, honestly, I felt numb. The doctor upped my dose to 20 mg about 4 to 5 months in. Again, awful dry mouth and headaches, and now nausea and heart palpitations. Terrible nausea and headaches, and I had crippling nihilism and suicidal thoughts worse than when I wasn’t being treated. My anxiety came back full swing. I slowly stopped taking it. The withdrawal is almost as bad as the side effects. I’ve been off of it for a week now, and the withdrawal sucks, but I’m glad I quit."

2 / 10
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  • Jca...
  • November 25, 2021

"Well. I was not able to sleep for 10 days. Benadryl, Advil PMs, and Seroquel did nothing for me. Insomnia, no sleep, restless to the point of exhaustion. Began to hear my brain sounding like white noise, more depressed and suicidal thoughts. In bed all day. Horrible experience. I had no libido, unable to have orgasm. Doing better after 10 days off this. Not worth it."

1 / 10
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  • Rlo...
  • Taken for 2 to 5 years
  • May 4, 2019

"On Lexapro 40 mg every day since 2017 for MDD and anxiety, and it works. With MDD, I used to have severe feelings of worthlessness and suicidal ideations. That’s lessened from 10 to 4. With GAD, I had severe, crippling anxiety to where I couldn’t be around lots of people and had insomnia from nonstop racing thoughts. Lessened from 10 to 5, no more crippling anxiety, but small daily bouts of being uncomfortable."

7 / 10
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  • you...
  • Taken for 2 to 5 years
  • September 9, 2020

"I had several major behavioral changes, including aggression, troubles regulating temperature, decreased appetite, weight loss, and severe withdrawals when decreasing dose and when multiple doses are missed."

3 / 10
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  • roo...
  • Taken for 1 to 6 months
  • March 14, 2024

"I've been on many antidepressants during the last 7 years, all SSRIs, SNRIs, and NDRI (Wellbutrin). So tomorrow will be the third time I will try Cipralex for my MDD. The last 2 times the benefits outweighed the negative side effects, I would say it made a difference for anxiety and also gave me some energy to get things done, things were not perfect, but overall I was feeling better. I was an anxious wreck all my teen years, Lexapro helped my GAD and SAD. For those who want to start this medication, all I can say, be brave enough and try it because it's a life-changer for many of us!"

8 / 10
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  • Lil...
  • Taken for 1 to 6 months
  • November 25, 2021

"I was prescribed Lexapro for severe long-term anxiety and depression. Even though it didn't work on my depression after 5 months of use, I wanted to leave it a positive review, since these drugs have the power to save people's lives. Initially, I experienced basically every side effect possible: nausea, loss of appetite, night sweats, bad vivid dreams, changes to taste, dizziness, short-term memory loss, inability to orgasm, blurred vision in the morning, heart palpitations, headaches, and extreme moments of anxiety to the point of throwing up, extreme depression to the point of having to sleep all day. But you know what - this list of side effects sounds horrible, but they are worth it if you start to feel even a little bit like yourself again. After about a month, the side effects decreased in severity, my anxiety was gone, but it still left me with the inability to orgasm and had no impact on my depression. I've now moved to Cymbalta (SNRI) and will review that in a few months."

8 / 10
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  • Jan...
  • Taken for 1 to 6 months
  • September 22, 2021

"Lexapro has definitely helped me. I don't dread or worry as much. I'm not a numb vessel coasting through life anymore. I actually enjoy my life - the good and the not-so-good! I'm on a low dose and take it once in the morning. No profound side effects EXCEPT I have trouble initiating an orgasm; however, I still feel pleasure during sex, so it's not the end of the world."

8 / 10
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  • Dan...
  • Taken for 6 months to 1 year
  • November 30, 2022

"I didn’t see side effects when I first started Lexapro. Once I started getting my dosage increased, I experienced nausea and disorientation. I tried up to 25 mg. This was too much for me. When it was too much medication, I had a constant headache, I was nauseous, eating less, and had suicidal ideations."

6 / 10
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  • Ema...
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • September 23, 2019

"This medicine made me so sick. I tried taking it in the morning, I got sick. I tried taking it at night, I got sick. I tried with and without food, and I kept getting sick. I was on 25 mg, and after a week, I couldn’t take it anymore. All it did was stress me out and made me feel weak."

2 / 10
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Reviews may be edited to correct grammar/spelling or remove inappropriate content. Reviews appearing to come from parties with a vested interest are not published. This information is not intended to endorse any medication and should not replace the expertise and judgment of healthcare professionals.

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