Headache, nausea, diarrhea, dry mouth, increased sweating, feeling nervous, restless, fatigue, or having trouble sleeping (insomnia). These will often improve over the first week or two as you continue to take the medication.
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. If the starting dose of Lexapro is too high, these side effects may be even worse.
In fact, you may even feel worse initially. When you start taking Lexapro, you may find that your anxiety symptoms get worse before getting better. You may experience increased jitteriness and an increase in your anxiety for the first two weeks on Lexapro treatment.
Can you feel the effects of Lexapro immediately? 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.
Headache, nausea, diarrhea, dry mouth, increased sweating, feeling nervous, restless, fatigue, or having trouble sleeping (insomnia). These will often improve over the first week or two as you continue to take the medication.
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.
Share on Pinterest Doctors advise against drinking alcohol while taking Lexapro. Doctors usually do not recommend drinking alcohol while taking Lexapro or any other antidepressant. This guidance is because alcohol can make depression worse and can counteract the benefits of a person taking antidepressants.
Do not use escitalopram with buspirone (Buspar®), fentanyl (Abstral®, Duragesic®), lithium (Eskalith®, Lithobid®), tryptophan, St. John's wort, amphetamines, or some pain or migraine medicines (eg, rizatriptan, sumatriptan, tramadol, Frova®, Imitrex®, Maxalt®, Relpax®, Ultram®, Zomig®).
You can take escitalopram at any time of day, as long as you stick to the same time every day. If you have trouble sleeping, it's best to take it in the morning.
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.
Doctors believe that it helps stabilize mood and causes happiness and a sense of well-being. Doctors prescribe Lexapro to treat major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
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.
Lexapro weight gain can be a common side effect, but it doesn't impact everyone who takes this medication. Multiple studies conclude that SSRIs like Lexapro can result in weight gain. However, it varies from person to person depending on individual factors such as age, lifestyle habits, diet, and activity level.
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.
It can take an average of four weeks to adjust to taking Lexapro. All bodies react differently. You may notice the effects of Lexapro within a day, or it could take up to six weeks. Most patients report that initial side effects go away after two weeks.
No interactions were found between caffeine and Lexapro.
Caffeine and antidepressants can cause negative effects when combined, which can lead some people to stop taking their antidepressant medications. Ultimately, this can worsen their mental health, because they do not have the medication needed to cope with symptoms of depression.
If you miss a dose of this medicine, take it as soon as possible. However, if it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and go back to your regular dosing schedule. Do not double doses.
Although thought to be generally safe and with minimal drug-drug interactions, clinicians should be aware of the possibility of escitalopram-induced liver injury when initiating depressed patients on antidepressant treatment. This requires extra vigilance as most patients may remain asymptomatic.
Some doctors think it's OK to drink moderately if you take an SSRI like Lexapro. “Moderate drinking” means 2 drinks a day for men and 1 drink a day for women.
Brain fog is a common symptom for many patients, both when starting and stopping Lexapro. Much like Lexapro's therapeutic function, it is unknown how exactly this occurs. A 2014 study of escitalopram's mechanisms concluded that the drug not only “changes brain architecture” but can do so in just a matter of hours.
Yes, Lexapro can cause brain fog. Most people report experiencing brain fog when starting Lexapro. In fact, this is one of the most common side effects associated with the drug. Brain fog is most likely to occur in the early stages of treatment but can persist long-term for some people.
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.