@blueskies1530 Hi there. I’m postmenopausal too. I was on Lexapro for many years for anxiety, but in 2024 I started having heightened anxiety, intense waves of internal body heat, and panic attacks. At first, I thought the Lexapro was causing it, so I switched to another antidepressant. When the symptoms didn’t improve, I tried another one, but they still continued. While on the antidepressant, I eventually started HRT and stayed on it for about 8 months, but I was still dealing with anxiety, so I stopped it. My doctor then recommended that I slowly taper off the antidepressant completely to get back to my baseline and see whether I still needed medication. I did a very gradual taper for months and took my last dose on June 4th.
Since coming off the antidepressant, I’ve been extremely moody, irritable, impatient, emotional, anxious, jittery, and completely wiped out. I have very little energy to do anything. My doctor believes it’s withdrawal from the medication, but I keep second-guessing whether that’s really what’s causing all of this.
The plan was for me to restart HRT after stopping the antidepressant, but because these withdrawal symptoms have been lingering, my doctor recommended waiting until I feel better.

What antidepressant are you taking, and how long have you been on HRT? I completely understand what you mean about being patient in our 20s and how much harder things can feel in our 50s. 😞💜