"difficult personal situations caused my ativan usage to creep up to 3-4x/day. when i started being perimenopause, i was also suffering with terrible depression, which i have never had before. my gyn prescribed lexapro, and i&#039;ve always been against taking an ssri because of the side effects and feeling like i could just &quot;work through&quot; the anxiety, but the depression was debilitating. i forced myself to take the first pill, and the next day, i realized i wasn&#039;t under a cloud of stress anymore. it worked well for about 3 weeks, and then i was irritable and the anxiety was back. i just started on 20mg and feel optimistic. only minor side effects: headache, some nausea the first few days, insomnia. i&#039;ve lost weight, which is a plus!"