lexapro?

hi, brief history : anorexia w/ overexercise. serious anxiety w/ panic disorder (phobia stuff), some OCD, self harm and 1 suicide attempt.

happily things arent as stark as that anymore but things have been very very tricky on the anxiety side recently. has made recovery and my journey back into the real world very difficult.

just yesterday my doc suggested that we give lexapro a bash. i have to say i was really heartened by her help yesterday. i am however really really really worried about weight gain and slugishness with starting this. im only gonna start on 5mg... maybe even 2.5.

i love being med free, i feel a sharpness in my head like a crisp winter morning. when i feel good i feel really good. but i suppose lately the sharpness has been hurting more than these fantastic highs!

does anyone have any experience on lexapro. im really nervous to try it. sorry to be a dim wit with the question, but i feel the food aspect has finally begun to settle and i dont want to upset it. also, is weight gain with these due to increased appetite? and therefore should my weight maintain regardless if i just stick to my meal plan?

I started taking it 3 months ago.  Same reasons as you - major anxiety, obsessive tendencies, etc.  I can't even tell you how much quieter it is in my head now.  I still do compulsive things, but more because they are bad habits (which I'm working on).  Not doing them doesn't cause nearly as much anxiety as it used to.  It hasn't caused any weight gain whatsoever.  In fact, initially my appetite diminished for a few weeks.  I don't feel fuzzy either.  I should mention that I took Paxil a few years back and it was not even half as effective.  The best part about taking medicine prescribed by a doctor is that if it doesn't work, or if you don't like it, you can stop, switch to something else, or tweak the dosage (under the supervision of the doctor)!  Remember that it isn't premanent.  If you don't like it, you don't have to keep taking it!  With that in mind, I'd say give it a shot. 

i have been on lexapro for a few years, i used to work a very high stress job, it did not cause me to gain weight at all.... but, i am now trying to wean off of it, and i'm finding it hard because i stopped cold turkey for a few days a few times and i experienced very bad dizzy symptoms... so i would advise you start in small dosage (my doc immediately put me on 10mg and then raised to 20mg)

Medicine fixes "abnormal" things that keep you from being yourself.  If your brain chemistry is "sick" with hormones out of wack, something like lexapro can reestablish that at normal levels to think for yourself. 

Rather than thinking of it as "relying on meds" think of it as curing something that's keeping you from being able to think for yourself!

I was in much the same situation as you when I started taking Lexapro. Self harm, Anorexia, anxiety, and depression, and pretty severe OCD. Once I started taking Lexapro, ironically, I got enough energy to really "devote" myself to Anorexia...still, I don't regret taking it, It's probably the only reason I'm alive today.

Right now I take 40 mg of Lexapro, but it started helping me as soon as I took 10 mg. I am a little skeptical about how helpful 2.5 mg of Lexapro would be. Then again, I'm not a doctor.

Word of caution: whatever you do, do not just stop taking your meds. You will go crazy. Taper them off if you must, and ALWAYS keep your doctor in the loop about what you're doing. Good luck!

P.S check out this website! I think it's super helpful! http://www.crazymeds.us/

I feel like i have been on and off every one of these meds the last 10 years, since i was 16,  i have been off regular meds for about a year,  but i developed anorexia like 2 years ago and none of the meds helped me with that,  right now i nibble on some zanex to sleep at night, but i am the placebo queen if i think it helps i will convince myself!!

but as for lexapro,  and my dad is a psychatrist, it is his drug he prescribes the most for these disorders because they should have the fewest side affects, weight gain and sexual stuff, 

really i wish you good luck with it,