I started taking Lexapro five years ago, and it was life-changing. Everything had been going so well…until it wasn’t. Had my Lexapro stopped working?

Lexapro Stopped Working
How It Started

If you haven’t already, check out Part 1: How Lexapro Changed My Life.

I had been in what I can only define as “a funk” for a few months.

It started slowly and I didn’t even recognize it immediately. I chalked it up to recovering from the personal stylist job I had just left.

I took time to decompress. Lots of movies and reading and baking. And I kept saying “next week I’ll work on the blog!” Something was off, but I just couldn’t figure out what.

When nearly two months passed and things were getting worse rather than better, I knew something was very wrong.

The telltale signs of my old anxiety had surfaced. The stomach aches, racing heart, wanting to sleep all the time, having little to no motivation – the feeling that everything feels a little less possible.

That’s when I realized that my Lexapro had stopped working and my full-blown anxiety was back. Let me tell you, that’s a scary freaking prospect.

I suffered for most of my life with debilitating anxiety. And for the last five years I had felt like an entirely different better person. The idea of going back to my old self was impossible. In fact, the panic set in and made things even worse.

After some research, these articles were helpful to figuring out what was going on with me.

Why Aren’t My Antidepressants Working?

What To Do When Lexapro Stops Working?

Lexapro Stopped Working
Increasing My Dosage

I think that anxiety is even worse after you once thought you were cured. How could I be back there AGAIN? There was a new fear that maybe I’d never be able to escape it again. Maybe I was now immune to treatment. Maybe I’d never find something that would make me feel normal. And of course all the original fears of medication surfaced – what about side effects of trying a new medication? Anxiety begets anxiety.

The other thing people don’t often talk about surrounding anxiety – there is so much shame in it. Yes, shame. It doesn’t seem fair that something uncontrollable can cause so much shame, but it does.

It took me a good while before I was able to see my psychiatrist. She decided to increase my Lexapro dosage from 10 to 15mg. It is usually 3-4 weeks before effects are noticed.

After three weeks without any noticeable difference, we increased my dose to 20mg (double what I had taken for five years). A few weeks later, I was finally starting to feel better. I practically sang to the heavens.

Lexapro Stopped Working
What’s Next

A lot of people had reached out during that time wondering why I hadn’t been blogging or posting on Instagram. Sadly, I had lost almost all of my desire to do anything.

But one really good thing that came out of this was my desire to go back to a minimalist closet. I wear the same pieces over and over anyway! And I still firmly believe in the philosophy of Fewer Better Things.

So I slowly started working on the blog again, in a way I felt good about. I stopped putting so much pressure on myself to be perfect or post all the time, and that’s made a huge difference.

And I promise to continue sharing my journey with battling anxiety. I never expected to be back there, but I’m certainly not the first to go through this, and I know it can be helpful knowing that.

Read my latest post on anxiety – Why Do I Have Anxiety All The Time : Part 3. I answer some of the questions I’ve received!

x Tammy

Related Articles:
How Lexapro Changed My Life: Part 1
Why Do I Have Anxiety All The Time : Part 3
Midlife Crisis in Women – Is this Me? Is this You?
Why Am I So Hard On Myself?
The Relationship of Clothes and Mood
Fears and Facts About Antidepressants
Lexapro – Uses, Side Effects, and More