Updated in new post: Stress and starting a new med for anxiety...

[happi duck]

Life is very stressful right now.  My sister died at the end of May...shock and grief.  Clearing out her *packed* apartment and locating the items in her will falls to me...sweat, grime, exhaustion, and frustration.  Being afraid of dying young like *both* my sisters? Constant.

After waiting months for the appointment my dd(24) with anxiety finally has a prescription for Lexapro.  This is her first med ever.  How do they expect us anxious people to take a new med without *more* anxiety?  Dd felt fine with the idea until the time came to take her first dose.  She ended up having a panic attack.  I'm feeling unsettled about her starting because I have so much stress right now I'm afraid I'll miss something.

When death and fear of making mistakes are a huge part of one's anxiety how do you start meds?

We're not anti-medication people but we do weigh our options.  She felt settled about it at her appointment but the scary side effects weren't mentioned.

Please be nice to me.  My life is very hard right now.

[Twigs]

Many hugs to you, happy duck.

[Selkie]

Hugs, happi duck. I'm so, so sorry about all you've had to deal with lately.

I've had lifelong anxiety but have never taken medication for it, so I can't give any advice. I hope others will chime in with some helpful recommendations for you.

[Pawz4me]

Many medicines, including ones most of us take w/o second thought, have potentially scary side effects. Ever looked at the ones for aspirin? It's also sometimes helpful to compare the side effects of a drug to those reported by people taking a placebo (this can be found if you look up the manufacturer data sheet for a drug). It's not unusual for those on the placebo to report a higher incidence of the same side effect than those taking the actual drug. I'm not saying by any means that potential adverse side effects should be ignored or discounted. Not at all. But I do think sometimes people don't have much perspective when considering them. I've been on Lexapro twice with wonderful results. I had no negative side effects. Both times I went on it were due to extremely stressful life events. And DS19 has been on Prozac for several years with only good results. {{{{{ }}}}}

[klmama]

((Hugs))  Happi duck, if your dd is ever concerned with the scary side effects associated with a med, she should call her doctor or pharmacist to discuss.  Sometimes side effects only affect people with some other condition (which she probably doesn't have), but the paper may not mention that.  Also, a doctor once told me they have to list side effects that occur during animal testing, even if they don't affect people, and the side effect list may not clarify that.  Your dd won't know until she asks. 

 

[hepatica]

My DD17 went on Lexapro two years ago for anxiety and panic attacks. She too was dealing with some very stressful circumstances. I was worried about side effects and very anxious about her taking it, but it has worked wonders for her. She did not experience any noticeable side effects. She is now tapering off the medication and feels much better able to deal with her stresses and anxiety. I know this is just our one experience, but I hope it helps. 

[bethben]

I was pretty anxious about starting a anti-anxiety drug and made my dh stay up with me a while so that he could watch over me.  I've also had a teenage homeschooled neighbor (her parents both worked) come over to my home when she started new medications.  She was just scared and needed someone she trusted to watch her to make sure if she needed help she could get it.  Just watch for allergic side effects that are listed on the drug sheet.  If you don't see those right away, she should be fine.  I think what your daughter is experiencing is quite normal.  

[hgreenm]

I take a low dose (5mg) for anxiety and would also be happy to talk privately if you need more information and/or reassurances.  I work with medications as my day job.

[MaeFlowers]

Often times drs will give an antianxiety med along with an antidepressant so that you can ease into the new med more easily. It will also help combat any anxiety that might be caused by the antidepressant in the beginning since that is often a wonderful side effect. It is usually only done for a few weeks but can be really helpful.

I get the same way with new meds and this really helps me. It might be worth talking to her doc about.

[AimeeM]

You may want to ask the doctor about a more immediate anti-anxiety medication (xanax, ativan) to be taken while first starting the Lexapro. While overall our experience with these types of meds has been positive, the side effects in the first few weeks were nothing short of scary and emergency immediate-action anxiety medication made it possible to continue on with SSRI until the side effects had diminished. It can be especially hard, ime, for a young person experiencing scary symptoms already -- only to have the medication initially make things seem much worse instead of better, even if they logically know that it's normal for the body to take time to get used to the medication. 

[catz]

I was on Lexapro for a couple ears for depression and anxiety.  It was very helpful to getting back on track and dealing with these things in a positive way.  I’ve been off for like 10+ years.   I agree with having something like Ativan if break through panic attacks are crippling her from moving forward.   

As another angle, being constantly anxious is really hard on a body too.   That is not without its own set of long term risks and life should be enjoyed.   

[Tap]

One thing to remember about taking a new medication....if you have side effects that make you uncomfortable, you can stop taking it.  It can be a few days after starting it, a month or two years later.  There are no elective medications that your have to stay on if you have negative side effects from it. You won't get the benefits of the med, but you don't have to stay on it!  Some meds you can stop cold turkey, and a few you need to taper off, but you can always be in control of making that decision. Quite often the side effects are minor enough, that the benefits outweigh them to the point that small side effects becomes a non-issue. 

Think of it like test driving a car.  If you start a test drive and you don't like the car, you just drive back to the car dealer. You don't have to commit to buying the car just because you test drove it.  Taking a new medicine, is like test driving it. You try it, maybe adjust a few things like dose and time of day, and either find it agreeable or stop it. No life long commitment, just a test drive. 

[happi duck]

You have all been so helpful.  I am bumping this with more questions.

Dd started the Lexapro just over a week ago.  What I have noticed:  She has been having daily headaches which is new.  She is yawning a *lot*.  She is having *way* more panic attacks that involve feeling terrified, frequency and degree of terror are new.  She does not seem herself in general.

I'm concerned and we're going to try and get more information tomorrow.

My spidey senses are telling me something is wrong but i am in a vulnerable place right now and struggling to trust myself.  Dr. Hive, does this sound like nothing?

Again, please be nice to me.  My life has been difficult lately.

 

[happi duck]

5 minutes ago, StellaM said:

Happi, I wouldn't hesitate to go back to the doctor's and ask about these symptoms.

Lexapro does not work for some people - one of my dd's can't tolerate it. There are other meds. 

If all she was experiencing was a slight headache and maybe the yawning I'd be OK with waiting a few weeks. But worsening panic attacks, more frequent headaches? It might not be the med, but it might be. So definitely worth checking out, and I fully encourage you to do that with dd.

 

Thanks, I was hoping you'd respond.  Dd purposely has not been reading side effect lists and I've been silently observing.  The terror in the panic attacks is especially concerning to me.  Her anxiety is more often racing thoughts and overthinking "what if?"  She isn't normally the out-of-the-blue type of panic.

Thanks for the encouragement!

[Erica in OR]

1 hour ago, happi duck said:

The terror in the panic attacks is especially concerning to me.  Her anxiety is more often racing thoughts and overthinking "what if?"  She isn't normally the out-of-the-blue type of panic.

 

I had some similar experiences that went away after an adjustment period (a couple weeks?) when I first went on Lexapro. Waking bolt upright during the night, with an awful feeling that something wasn't right, either a specific thought "I feel like I heard someone choking upstairs," which I then felt compelled to go check, or just generalized.This was even with starting at a very low dose (5 mg) and stepping it up gradually. Like your daughter, this was not my usual type of anxiety. I continued with the medication and it did go away after that adjustment period.

I do agree with a previous poster that I wouldn't hesitate to bring up these symptoms with the doctor.

Erica in OR

[Pawz4me]

Yawning is a common Lexapro side effect. For me it went away with time and it really only happened when I was pretty relaxed/tired anyway. Both times I was on it I was slightly headachey for awhile, but that too went away with time. I think, but don't know for sure, that it may have something to do with brain chemicals sorting themselves out (I had awful "brain zaps" before starting it the first time--the Lexapro headache was a vast improvement to those). I think you're right to talk about what she's experiencing with her doctor, but I don't know if a week is a long enough trial. Hopefully the doc will be helpful. 

[happi duck]

I always appreciate updates so thought I'd give one.

The doctor did take her off the Lexapro.  She prescribed an as needed medication instead and dd will follow up with her in person.

Thank you for helping us Hive!

[ktgrok]

On 6/28/2018 at 11:51 PM, happi duck said:

You have all been so helpful.  I am bumping this with more questions.

Dd started the Lexapro just over a week ago.  What I have noticed:  She has been having daily headaches which is new.  She is yawning a *lot*.  She is having *way* more panic attacks that involve feeling terrified, frequency and degree of terror are new.  She does not seem herself in general.

I'm concerned and we're going to try and get more information tomorrow.

My spidey senses are telling me something is wrong but i am in a vulnerable place right now and struggling to trust myself.  Dr. Hive, does this sound like nothing?

Again, please be nice to me.  My life has been difficult lately.

 

Definitely discuss with the doctor, but if it helps I had some of those same side effects the first week or so I took my ADHD medication. Headache, mostly in the front of the head, yawning a lot, etc. (no panic though). My theory was that my brain had been starved of certain neurotransmitters and now was all of a sudden getting them, and so was kind of worn out with all the work it was doing now that it had the chemicals it needed. Not sure that makes any sense? Both the yawning and the headaches went away.