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Comforting words needed
Hello! I am a 47 year old mom of 4 kids. When my last daughter was born I went on lexapro due to very upsetting insomnia, anxiety and depression postpartum. I had this issue of insomnia and anxiety before my first was born as well but thankfully I was ok for many years while my kids were little and was on no meds. I was prescribed lexapro after my last daughter born, rough startup but eventually It overall worked for 8 years at 10mg. I would still have flare ups of insomnia which I wasn’t crazy about occasionally still once or twice a month. I slowly weaned to 5 went off and had no issues other then some crying spells. 4 months have gone by. I went off because I didn’t want to be on meds longer and felt overall better and was hoping to loose some stuck weight. I did loose my dad in February and have a very stressful issue with my 16 year old behaviorally so perhaps wasn’t best decision.
2 weeks ago I started to spiral with depression and anxiety I was waking up at 5am often I think brought on by stress. Decided to go back on 5mg lexapro a week ago. My insomnia got much worse after trying to restart 5mg lexapro I wake up at 1:30 and can’t go back to bed. Freaked me out and stopped it. My new symptom is panic attacks which I didn’t have in the past where adrenaline rushes through my
Body multiple times a day. I am now trying tryptophan, theanine, valerian, and cbd and thc gummies is my next option.the last 3 nights I have slept 3- 4 hrs last night I popped a Xanax because woke up after one hr and couldn’t go back to bed. Not sure what
To do. I also am getting to premenopausal age so perhaps some of this factors in. I’m thinking this is a relapse and will need meds for life 😭
Has anyone restarted lexapro or there drugs and had a success story? Scared to go through side effects startup and have to switch meds. Anyone here on meds for life?
Thank you in advance 😊
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@pml
Thank you for your sweet message. My dad died at 85 and my mom and him were inseparable she is 82. My parents were both very firm in their faith and I do believe that got them through struggles in life.
I’m very sorry to hear that 🥲about your son. It’s a story I hear a lot. Unfortunately kids have their own free will. Must be very painful as a mom to go through that.
@ancl123 I am not sure prayers are going to help. At 74 I never thought I would have to deal with this.
Getting old is tough enough. I didn’t think I would have be worried about losing our Democracy.
@ancl123 I am not sure praying is enough to save democracy. Keep trying. It can’t hurt.
Good luck to you.
@david707 They all have sexual side effects. You are looking for something that doesn’t exist. It is the Achilles heal of all antidepressants.
Good luck.
Try Zoloft and Wellbutrin. You might even add Buspar. They work well for me and have been taking them for years.
What is going on in this country these days is something no antidepressant is going to be effective at combating.
Try reading Heather Cox Richardsons daily column. At least she can help make sense for what is keeping you up at night. There is no drug out there that works on anxiety regarding our countries erosion of democracy on a daily basis.
Good luck to you.
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1 ReactionFirst of all let me say I am so sorry for your struggles. I particularly relate to the insomnia as I have had sleep issues since my childhood (I’m 78) and it’s even worse after my husbands passing in Feb. I finally gave up on sleep medication as many of them caused balance issues and some even vision problems. I now take melatonin (10 mg) and find it helps me go back to sleep which is good as I wake up every 1-2 hours. A friend recommended I try valerian. I often wonder which comes first insomnia or depression. I might suggest you get tested for sleep apnea if you have not as it can cause numerous awakenings.
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1 Reaction@daveshaw ....Only knowing what I have read. Mirtazapine is the one that sets it apart from the others in that it has no sexual side effects because it works in a different way. Nothing has changed so far, but then halving the Effexor plus adding the lowest Mirtazapine amt is not a legit example of it's efficacy.
@david707 Good luck but myself and my son have tried every antidepressant and they all have sexual side effects.
SSRI’s have been a godsend to people suffering from depression but sexual side effects are still unfortunately an unfortunate side effect.
Good luck to you.
I could not take Lexapro, however Celera worked fine. Have you tried anything more calming.