"i&#039;m an 18 year old female who used to take lexapro for anxiety/depression (20 mg) but went off of it for a couple years. recently and for the first time i had a severe panic attack which landed me in the hospital, this happened two nights in a row. the doctor diagnosed me with panic disorder and anxiety and prescribed me 10 mg of lexapro daily and 5 mg of xanax to take as needed. i took 10 mg of lexapro the first morning but upped the dosage to 20 mg the following day. i&#039;m on day 5 now and although the side effects (dizziness, loss of appetite, stomachache, lack of sex drive) i have noticed a significant improvement in my anxiety. i am only on day 5 so of course it&#039;ll take some time to fully see the effects."