By 2 months: Most people notice a difference within 1 – 2 months. Mood and feeling motivated to engage in activities should be noticeably improved by this time. 2 months and beyond: Within 2 months, the majority of people start to see the full effects of Lexapro in their system.
Most people report feeling the effects of their Lexapro within 4 weeks. It can take some people as little as a day or as long as 6 weeks to feel the effects of their treatment. This is because different people notice the influence of medication at different times.
It may take a few weeks to start noticing a difference in your symptoms when taking Lexapro–usually 4-6 weeks. This is the case with many SSRIs and anxiety or depression medications, and the time it takes to be effective can be dependent on the person and set of conditions as well as the medication's own functioning.
Lexapro is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). SSRIs work by slowing the reabsorption of serotonin back into nerve cells to maintain higher serotonin levels in the brain. Serotonin is a chemical your body produces. Doctors believe that it helps stabilize mood and causes happiness and a sense of well-being.
It's important to recognize that you will not experience immediate relief from taking Lexapro. It can take anywhere from one to four weeks to feel better once you start taking this drug. You might notice improvements in your sleep, energy levels, and appetite within the first week or two.
Escitalopram should help you feel calm and relaxed. It could take some time for escitalopram to have its full effect. This effect should reduce your behaviour problem.
Improved mood: One of the most common indications that Lexapro is working is improved mood. Increased energy levels: Another sign that your body's adjusting well to Lexapro is increased energy levels throughout the day.
Some common side effects of escitalopram (Lexapro) include nausea, trouble sleeping, and drowsiness.
On antidepressant medication, it is possible that you might experience a sense of feeling numb and less like yourself. Though the symptoms of depression have decreased, there may be a sense that other emotional responses – laughing or crying, for example – are more difficult to experience.
Lexapro is the brand name for the drug escitalopram, which is prescribed to help treat depression and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). It's part of a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). They work by increasing the levels of serotonin in your brain.
Lexapro has an average rating of 8.2 out of 10 from a total of 515 reviews for the treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder. 78% of reviewers reported a positive experience, while 10% reported a negative experience.
Clinicians generally recommend staying on the medication for six to nine months before considering going off it. If you've had three or more recurrences of depression, make that at least two years.
Escitalopram may cause some teenagers and young adults to be agitated, irritable, or display other abnormal behaviors. It may also cause some people to have suicidal thoughts and tendencies or to become more depressed.
Most antidepressants boost mood and reduce depression symptoms by elevating serotonin levels in the brain. Although this is beneficial for someone who's depressed, for someone who does not have depression, taking antidepressant medication can cause serotonin to build up in the body, resulting in serotonin syndrome.
Common side effects of Lexapro include nausea, sexual side effects, and insomnia. For some people, these go away as your body gets used to the medication. More serious side effects of Lexapro are rare. These include suicidal thoughts or behaviors, abnormal bleeding, and serotonin syndrome.
Emotional blunting is also considered a potential side effect of antidepressants, in particular SSRI antidepressants, and has been reported in multiple case reports and clinical studies.
Role of serotonin
That said, if high serotonin acts on a certain part of the brain, such as the dorsal raphe nucleus, it can also induce sleep. This may explain why people either have insomnia or feel sleepy after taking an SSRI.
Antidepressants take so long to work because they inactivate not just individual serotonin transporters, but also the genes in our DNA that code for the transporter. The result over time is fewer serotonin transporters in the brain and more serotonin around to experience pleasant stimuli.
While some people may find that it keeps them up at night (and therefore that taking it in the morning is better for them), other people may experience sleepiness, which is another common side effect of Lexapro. If that is the case, it may be better to take the medication in the evening instead of the morning.
Each person will experience slightly different side effects, but the most common side effects are drowsiness, headache, insomnia, nausea, and vomiting. These effects may emerge during the first weeks of starting Lexapro.
Common side effects of escitalopram when you first start taking it include gastrointestinal issues, headache, dry mouth, and insomnia. These generally start to subside as your body begins to get used to the medicine. Talk with your doctor if you're concerned about any side effects you may be experiencing.
Sleep, energy, or appetite may show some improvement within the first 1-2 weeks. Improvement in these physical symptoms can be an important early signal that the medication is working. Depressed mood and lack of interest in activities may need up to 6-8 weeks to fully improve.
While the medication does not cure anxiety, it works best as part of comprehensive anxiety treatment. Lexapro can be effective at reducing the symptoms of anxiety, and it may be especially helpful for multiple types of anxiety disorder, including: Specific phobias (off-label)
You may experience increased jitteriness and an increase in your anxiety for the first two weeks on Lexapro treatment. Your doctor may prescribe another medication, such as a benzodiazepine, to take in conjunction with Lexapro for the first couple of weeks to help to counter this effect.