I’ve had anxiety my whole life but always thought it was just who I am. Recently, it’s all just become unmanageable. I’ve been back to work for about 6 months after doing the stay-at-home mom thing for 6+ years, and my job is quite stressful. Add that to the normal every day stresses of life and a few family illnesses and issues that happened right around the same time, and basically it was the perfect storm of anxiety that made me realize I needed help.

I went to my doctor and was prescribed 5 mg Lexapro and 7.5 mg Buspar. She wanted me to start the Lexapro slowly as I was worried about potential side effects. I took half a tablet for a week and then started a full tablet daily. I’ve only been on it for 2 weeks now. She said to use the Buspar only as needed if I’m feeling particularly anxious (which is a little confusing since she prescribed it as taking it twice a day).

I know that SSRIs take time to work, and she told me it would be 5-6 weeks before I will feel the full effects, but even at only 2 weeks of use I’ve already noticed a significant improvement. I never realized how constant my worrying and obsessing was until I wasn’t doing it anymore. It’s a calmness and clarity I don’t think I’ve ever experienced in my life.

My only issue so far is that I’m finding that my anxiety and obsessive over-thinking seems to reappear overnight. If I wake up to use the bathroom, I often struggle to fall back to sleep because my mind will start racing again. I do take my medication in the morning if that matters. 

TL;DR - Lexapro (5 mg) has been helping tremendously, but I’m still struggling with anxiety and obsessive over-thinking overnight if I wake up.

Maybe a dose increase is in order? Should I consider taking the Buspar before bed to help? Obviously I’ll be talking with my doctor about it, but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this type of thing. Any insight is greatly appreciated.