Comparing Ativan vs Lexapro

For Anxiety I have extreme anxiety, Ativan is fast working. Usually can feel it within 15 minutes, I do find that it's more of a crutch, a way to forget your problems instead of dealing with them. Don't drink alcohol with them. If I'm having an anxiety attack or a panic attack and it's been a week since I took one, they make me start to cry. I feel better afterwords, do these make anybody else cry?

For Anxiety I've been taking low dose Ativan for years. It worked well for my anxiety. Although it seems to wear off extremely fast. I actually split the pill in two, take a half before bed, and take the other half when I wake up at night. The only problem is after my old doctor retired, I found nobody would prescribe it. All the newer doctors would rather give out anti-depressant. I had to quit taking it cold turkey last month. Now I'm on an anti-depressant and some strong sleeping pills in order to get enough sleep. The results are inconsistent. Some nights I get only 3 or 4 hours, some nights I sleep 10 hours and still feel tired. I'm not sure if it's worth the trouble. Ativan was so cheap that it didn't matter I don't have insurance.

For Anxiety I have just started my round of Auro-Escitalopram and I am on day 5 of my 5mg half-tab before going on a full 10mg tablet. I take my medication at night time. The first 3 days were sort of rough; I felt different. I could not put my finger on why but I felt a bit sedated, a little odd and definitely felt “drugged”. I had a mild headache, some dizziness and I felt like I was going to faint. My appetite has diminished, my stomach was upset, I am also gassy and had some dry mouth. The first 3 nights I was also met with mild restlessness and it was hard for me to sleep longer than 5 hours. I woke up at 3AM and was peeing like crazy. With that being said, the side effects have subsided somewhat after day 5 and I am starting to notice that I can start to control my racing thoughts. I get tired at bed time like a normal human being and I can finally wake up in the morning without feeling like a zombie.

For Anxiety I have been taking this a few months. The 10mg worked well for anxiety and depression but eventually the 10mg wasn't enough so I was moved to 20 which helped for a bit but stopped and my energy was extremely low on the 10mg and 20mg. So we moved in a SNRI which helped a lot and just upped the dose of that. I do have to say lexapro works very good for anxiety. No other side effects besides being tired but some people don't get that.