[throwaway202022]

I got on 10 mg escitalopram (Lexapro) in 2014 for social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and depression. I just tapered off these last few months.

Pros:

* Legitimate reductions to anxiety - no longer crippling most of the time.

* Made it harder to fall into depressive episodes. So, it did its job, I guess.

* Did not make me a blunted zombie or sterilize my brain.

Cons:

* Increased sleepiness: unable to wake up at "normal" hours without significant effort, frequent urge to take naps during the day. I slept a lot over the past 8 years, more than I would have liked to. My sleep schedule normalized as soon as I quit.

* Extremely hard to quit, even with a taper. You have to take it really, really, really slow. I developed severe appetite loss and nausea as a withdrawal symptom and ended up losing 13-14 lbs and became underweight. I've only just now got it under control.

[noman-land]

If you don't mind me asking, why did you decide to discontinue use? Do you feel like you're done needing it? Are you checking back in with your "natural" self to compare against the past 8 years? I assume the effects of the drug don't last after discontinuing use so your anxieties will theoretically return?

[throwaway202022]

I was tired (literally) of the side effects, and I simply felt that I didn't need it anymore. I'm a different person than I was when I started, and I know how to manage my anxiety and depression a lot better now.

> I assume the effects of the drug don't last after discontinuing use so your anxieties will theoretically return?

Yeah, in theory, my anxiety could get much worse sometime in the next few months. I've dealt with that before when I discontinued a different SSRI. If it happens though, I'll be much more prepared this time.