The Road Back      

Lexapro Side Effects

“It has taken me a while to admit that Lexapro was the cause of my anxiety. It took me 3 years to realize this and since, my life has improved dramatically. I would take Lexapro only as needed. Per my doctor’s instructions. I am embarrassed to even say, I am also a registered nurse. I should have known better. I did know better. I have very painful arthritis, get an infusion for it every 6 months, a rod in my spine from injury, a metal cage around my hips, pins in my left shoulder. I am one of the walking wounded! I somehow still work 3-4 days a week and normally put in 12–14-hour days at the hospital.

On my days off I could never sit still and just relax. I had to have a project and would work on them at a frantic pace until I finished.

My husband and I would seem to get into an argument every 90 days. One thing I remember him always saying; “What are you doing?” I finally paused and asked myself, “What am I doing?”

When we would get into an argument, my husband would always ask me if I had taken a Lexapro. I would always say “no” because I had not taken one that day. He finally kept quizzing me about the Lexapro and asked, when was the last time I took one. I told him. “Three days ago.”

“And when was the last time you took the Lexapro before that?” I admitted, it was about a week earlier for 1 day.

I was prescribed Lexapro for depression. I did not have depression every day and if I did it was pretty mild. That is why my doctor told me to only take the Lexapro as needed. This all took some time to unravel. To think back about the last 3 years and how my life, my feelings had changed. I used to be able to enjoy a day at the beach and relax, watch a movie at home, go for a slow walk with my husband and enjoy our sex life. I reached a point, I’d rather get finished with sex as fast as possible so I could go outside and power wash the fence again, for the 3rd time in 4 months.

My blood pressure was higher than it had ever been, I had put on 30 pounds over the last 6 months and could not help but feel like I was going downhill, faster every month. I got the supplements your website recommends and took them exactly as you say. I also stopped taking Lexapro completely.

It has taken about 30 days for me to notice a change in myself, but my husband said he started seeing a change within a couple of weeks.

Being a registered nurse for 40 years, I should have known better. I somehow got lost in the Lexapro world. I am surprised my husband is still with me. I was irrational, impulsive, knew better than anyone, and because my doctor said “as needed” it was ok to take the Lexapro like that. On my job, it is not rare for me to question my doctor when they prescribe a medication at a certain dosage or how they want the patient to take the drug. Quite often, the doctor changes the prescription on my recommendation. I spend hours with the patient, while the doctor spends a few minutes. I spend 24/7 with me and should have known better.

My world has completely changed again. This time for the better. My husband and I just returned home from a 30-minute walk, holding hands and watching the sunset. Hope to make love tonight too!

I should mention, I was on the lowest dosage of Lexapro as well. I can’t imagine what I would have been like at a high dosage.

As most others have ended their story to you, I will do the same. Thank you! I have my life back again and I have fully recovered from Lexapro.” Cheryl in Iowa