Hi! I just wanted to share my experience with mental health meds and see if anyone can relate. I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), panic attacks, and insomnia last August 2025, and I’m still on meds. For anxiety, I was prescribed escitalopram 15mg, and honestly, it worked wonders at first, but recently, I feel like it’s not as effective anymore. I might need to adjust the dosage, but I’ll talk to my psychiatrist about it first.

For my panic attacks, they gave me Alprazolam (a benzodiazepine), which has been a lifesaver when I’m extremely overwhelmed. It’s for as-needed use, so I take it if I feel a panic attack coming on. For insomnia, they initially gave me quetiapine (half a tablet), and it helped me sleep, but the sedation effect lingers too long, making me really sleepy during the day, which is super annoying since I have school. Sometimes I even end up sleeping almost 24 hours on weekends. It turned my insomnia into hypersomnia really quickly. So, I stopped taking it to avoid that daytime sleepiness and went back to dealing with my insomnia.

Then, in November 2024, my doctor switched me to diphenhydramine. It seems effective, but I get stomach pain and almost diarrhea-like symptoms every time I wake up.

Just wanted to rant a little and see if anyone else has experienced something similar. It’s really tough juggling all these side effects while trying to manage everything. If anyone can relate, I’d love to hear how you’re handling it!