Re: 10mg Cipralex
Hiya and welcome.
Your previous Beta blockers only work on the symptoms of anxiety and panic. This can be effective with panic attacks since in clinical "panic attacks" (as opposed to "attacks of panic") the fear/panic arises from the symptoms of the attack and so spirals out of control. BUT as you say there is no reason they should help your underlying anxiety.
Escitalopram (ie. Cipralex) is an SSRI antidepressant which actually makes specific claims to help certain anxiety disorders. In my mind this makes it a more proven choice than many of the SSRIs. I've had it and it helped me a bit with my GAD and removed the secondary depression that I had.
I think its relatively unusual to take Esc' at night. Most people seem to take it in the morning. (Unusually I had 10mg morning & night - which is completely off spec). I think its good advice to take it after food as that protects the stomache a bit and may increase the amount of medication usefully absorbed.
The side effects you describe are pretty normal for initial dosing. It does take 2-4 weeks to settle in, sometimes longer so I understand your concern with your exams. The counterargument is that exams is a common time for anxiety to be worse so you may benefit from the meds anyway.
If you stop the pills again you will get some withdrawal symptoms even after such a short exposure. Last time I did the maths it looked like its about 5-7 days (mathematically) for the minimum level of this med to stabilise in the body. So its about the same time to get free of it chemically speaking.
I suspect Esc' is more helpful with light to moderate GAD - I have severe. If you try the GAD-7 test at patient.co.uk what kind of score do you get? This can also be useful in accessing any improvement. (Eg. Esc' got be from 20/21 down to 17/21 at best!).
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Kevin, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, UK
Probably GAD & Phobias. Anxiety and renewed Depression medicated (Venlafaxine). Trying to improve.