I hope a great weekend was had and your football team won! (if you watch football) My Vikes won last night so I stayed up late, didn’t get much sleep which means I’m a tired, happy girl today. :)

It’s been awhile since I talked about my experience with Lexapro and depression so I figured it was about time for an update.

Lexapro Update

A few months ago I tried stopping Lexapro. I did so by slowly reducing my dosage over time and everything was fine… until about 10 days after I stopped taking it. There was a noticeable difference and I knew I needed to get back on it.

I was originally prescribed 20 mg which seems to be a pretty standard dose. My husband was laid off in August so we don’t currently have health insurance. For this reason I decided to take half doses each day (so 10 mg once per day). Since I still had almost 3 months worth of 20 mg pills, I wanted to make them last until we might have insurance again – crossing fingers my husband gets called back late this year or early next year.

Surprisingly, the 10 mg has been working out really, really well. I’m relieved that I don’t feel like I need the full 20 mg dose. The pills aren’t super easy to cut in half but we make it work.

I’ve noticed I’ve been feeling really tired for the past few weeks. I come home from work, nap (or feel like napping), sleep all night and still struggle to wake up around 6 am. There has been a lot going on with getting kids ready for school too, along with all the painting we’ve been doing, but it’s worth noting. I suppose a mom helping care for four children and three dogs might be exhausted!

Current Depression Status

I thought it might be a good idea if I do updates on my depression and anxiety journey. I think it’ll help others who are struggling with the same issues and it’s a nice way for me to keep a record of how I feel.

I’m feeling pretty good these days. I’m eating pretty well but I am struggling with sticking with a regular workout schedule. I manage to do at least two workouts per week but I’d like to up that to at least four. What I’m doing now doesn’t really put a dent in the weight I’ve gained from the Lexapro. *sad face*

Current Anxiety Status

Anxiety seems to come and go. I haven’t needed to take Ativan very often at all. I was prescribed one bottle of 30 pills + one refill. I’m currently on the refill and have about 20 pills left. That’s not too bad considering I started taking them very early this year.

I have like 5 bottles of hydroxyzine left… those are huge 50 mg pills that I now use for falling asleep if I need it. I tend to feel a lot of anxiety at night so this comes in handy and I don’t need to make much use of the Ativan. I mainly save Ativan for public outings with large crowds. Gross.

I guess that’s all for now. I hope you have a great week! :)

Past mental health related updates:

xo Mindi