u/UrFriendEddie2

My experience so far has been interesting because it feels like each medication is targeting a different “layer” of what I’m dealing with.

I’ve been on 20mg of Escitalopram (Lexapro) for a little over a year now, and it seems to calm the physical anxiety side for me:
less fear
less panic
less fight-or-flight feeling
less constant stress response

I’ve been taking 2.5mg-5mg of Buspirone (Buspar) for about 8-9 months, and that seems to help more with the mental side:
intrusive thoughts
overthinking
looping thoughts
hyperfocusing on symptoms

My main side effect overall has been mild constipation from Buspar. I actually slowly stopped taking it for a bit, but noticed some of my old symptoms creeping back in, so I recently restarted at a very low dose and am slowly titrating back up per my doctor.

Then there’s 100mg of Lamotrigine, which I’ve been on for about 1-2 months for what my doctor described as “mood spectrum.” That’s the one I still can’t fully “feel” yet. I don’t know if it’s working subtly in the background or if I just haven’t reached the point where it clicks yet.

Curious if anyone else had a similar experience with lamotrigine where the effects were harder to notice compared to anxiety meds.

My experience so far has been interesting because it feels like each medication is targeting a different “layer” of what I’m dealing with.

I’ve been on 20mg of Escitalopram (Lexapro) for a little over a year now, and it seems to calm the physical anxiety side for me:
less fear

less panic

less fight-or-flight feeling

less constant stress response

I’ve been taking 2.5mg-5mg of Buspirone (Buspar) for about 8-9 months, and that seems to help more with the mental side:

intrusive thoughts

overthinking

looping thoughts

hyperfocusing on symptoms

My main side effect overall has been mild constipation from Buspar. I actually slowly stopped taking it for a bit, but noticed some of my old symptoms creeping back in, so I recently restarted at a very low dose and am slowly titrating back up per my doctor.

Then there’s 100mg of Lamotrigine, which I’ve been on for about 1-2 months. That’s the one I still can’t fully “feel” yet. I don’t know if it’s working subtly in the background or if I just haven’t reached the point where it clicks yet.

My experience so far has been interesting because it feels like each medication is targeting a different “layer” of what I’m dealing with.

I’ve been on 20mg of Escitalopram (Lexapro) for a little over a year now, and it seems to calm the physical anxiety side for me:
less fear

less panic

less fight-or-flight feeling

less constant stress response

I’ve been taking 2.5mg-5mg of Buspirone (Buspar) for about 8-9 months, and that seems to help more with the mental side:

intrusive thoughts

overthinking

looping thoughts

hyperfocusing on symptoms

My main side effect overall has been mild constipation from Buspar. I actually slowly stopped taking it for a bit, but noticed some of my old symptoms creeping back in, so I recently restarted at a very low dose and am slowly titrating back up per my doctor.

Then there’s 100mg of Lamotrigine, which I’ve been on for about 1-2 months. That’s the one I still can’t fully “feel” yet. I don’t know if it’s working subtly in the background or if I just haven’t reached the point where it clicks yet.

My experience so far has been interesting because it feels like each medication is targeting a different “layer” of what I’m dealing with.

I’ve been on 20mg of Escitalopram (Lexapro) for a little over a year now, and it seems to calm the physical anxiety side for me:
less fear

less panic

less fight-or-flight feeling

less constant stress response

I’ve been taking 2.5mg-5mg of Buspirone (Buspar) for about 8-9 months, and that seems to help more with the mental side:
intrusive thoughts

overthinking

looping thoughts

hyperfocusing on symptoms

My main side effect overall has been mild constipation from Buspar. I actually slowly stopped taking it for a bit, but noticed some of my old symptoms creeping back in, so I recently restarted at a very low dose and am slowly titrating back up per my doctor.

Then there’s 100mg of Lamotrigine, which I’ve been on for about 1-2 months. That’s the one I still can’t fully “feel” yet. I don’t know if it’s working subtly in the background or if I just haven’t reached the point where it clicks yet.

My experience so far has been interesting because it feels like each medication is targeting a different “layer” of what I’m dealing with.

I’ve been on 20mg of Escitalopram (Lexapro) for a little over a year now, and it seems to calm the physical anxiety side for me:
less fear

less panic

less fight-or-flight feeling

less constant stress response

I’ve been taking 2.5mg-5mg of Buspirone (Buspar) for about 8-9 months, and that seems to help more with the mental side:
intrusive thoughts

overthinking

looping thoughts

hyperfocusing on symptoms

My main side effect overall has been mild constipation from Buspar. I actually slowly stopped taking it for a bit, but noticed some of my old symptoms creeping back in, so I recently restarted at a very low dose and am slowly titrating back up per my doctor.

Then there’s 100mg of Lamotrigine, which I’ve been on for about 1-2 months. That’s the one I still can’t fully “feel” yet. I don’t know if it’s working subtly in the background or if I just haven’t reached the point where it clicks yet.

Anyone else on Buspirone (Buspar) have really vivid or oddly weird dreams?

Ever since restarting it, my dreams have been super detailed, emotional, random, and just plain strange. Not necessarily nightmares, just intense and memorable.

Curious if this is common for others:
Did your dreams become more vivid on Buspar?
Did it eventually calm down?

Did anyone notice better sleep overall despite the weird dreams?

Trying to figure out if this is just my brain adjusting to the medication.

Just started taking Lamotrigine for “mood spectrum” and I honestly don’t know what I’m supposed to feel. I’m currently at 100mg.

Some days I think I notice subtle changes, other days I feel exactly the same. I think I expected some obvious shift, but maybe this medication works more quietly over time?

For those who’ve taken it:
What changes did you notice first?
How long did it take before you realized it was helping?

Did it help more with depression, anxiety, irritability, emotional swings, or something else?
Was there a point where it finally “clicked” for you?
Did anyone feel emotionally weird or off while adjusting?

Would really appreciate hearing real experiences because this process feels confusing when you don’t know what’s normal.

Hey everyone, I’m looking into starting yoga and wanted to see if anyone has recommendations for men in their mid-40s. My main goals are improving flexibility, mobility, overall wellbeing, and just feeling better physically day to day.

I’m especially interested in beginner-friendly programs, YouTube channels, apps, local classes, or styles of yoga that helped you ease into it without feeling overwhelmed. I also have some lower back history, so anything focused on mobility, core stability, and recovery would be appreciated.

Would love to hear what worked for you and any advice you wish you knew when starting out. Thanks!

had an L5/S1 disc herniation that was compressing my S1 nerve, and from what I was told, it was considered a pretty bad herniation. I went to 3 different surgeons and every single one of them recommended surgery.

I decided not to go that route.
I was determined to find a physical therapist that actually understood the body beyond just treating symptoms. After about a month of searching, I found Dr. Tony, and honestly, he has helped me tremendously.

My treatment started about a year ago. In the beginning, I was seeing him around twice a month, and now I usually go about once a month for maintenance and progression.

For me, the biggest focus has been core strengthening and correcting years of imbalance in my body. I realized over time how much damage I had done from poor posture, not standing correctly, bad lifting habits, not stretching, not exercising consistently, and just lacking overall strength and structure.

A lot of my pain and pressure came from instability and compensation patterns throughout my body. Strengthening my core and learning proper movement mechanics made a huge difference in relieving pressure on my spine and nerve.
Not saying surgery is wrong for everyone, but I wanted to share my experience because I know how hopeless things can feel when multiple surgeons tell you surgery is your only option. A year later, I’m in a much better place physically than I was before.

My experience with ED honestly seemed to start from anxiety and stress more than anything physical. During sexual activity, I noticed I couldn’t stay mentally present and would start overthinking everything. That made it hard to stay fully erect, which then created even more anxiety around sex.
I finally talked to my doctor about it and had my testosterone levels checked along with prostate screening, and everything came back normal. He prescribed me Cialis to try, and surprisingly it’s helped a lot.

What I noticed most is that it gives me more fullness even when flaccid, and things definitely hang lower. I also started getting strong morning wood again throughout the night, like hard as a rock, which I hadn’t experienced consistently in a while.
I usually take about 2.5mg twice a day for 3-4 days out of the week. So far I really haven’t experienced many side effects. The only thing I’ve noticed is a slight bit of acid reflux if I take 5mg on an empty stomach. Other than that, it’s honestly been great for me.

My doctor also asked if I had tried Viagra, but I’m not sure if I want to switch since Cialis seems to work well with my body. I like the more natural feeling and the longer-lasting effect.
I’m in my early 40s and was curious what others around my age are taking or what experiences you’ve had with different ED medications. Recommendations and experiences would definitely be appreciated.

I wanted to share my experience with Mondor’s disease because when I was going through it, there was not a lot of information out there, especially related to hernia surgery.

It all started when I developed an inguinal hernia and had open surgery to repair it. A couple weeks later, I noticed a painful cord-like vein running along the side of my penis/groin area. The pain was worse during erections and the whole thing honestly scared me. At first, my doctor had no idea what it was and had never seen it before.

After a lot of researching on my own, I came across Mondor’s disease. Most of the information I found talked about it happening in the chest/breast area, not the penis or groin, which made it even more confusing. From what I understood, it’s basically an inflamed or thrombosed superficial vein, almost like a small blood clot in the vein.

My surgeon ended up doing his own research too and told me it was extremely rare. He said his facility had only seen one other patient experience this after surgery.

For treatment, I used warm compresses every night for about 2-3 months and took ibuprofen to help with inflammation and pain. It definitely took time and patience, but eventually it went away completely.

Just wanted to share my story in case someone else is going through this and spiraling like I did. It was painful and stressful, but in my experience, it did heal over time.

Started at 25mg for 14 days, then 50mg for another 14. Now I’m 2 days out from moving up to 100mg.
Prescribed for “mood spectrum,” which I’m still trying to fully understand in my own day-to-day life. So far, I’ve noticed some shifts, but it’s not super clear yet what’s the medication vs. just normal ups and downs.
Curious how this timeline compares to others. When did things start to feel more consistent for you? And did the jump to 100mg make a noticeable difference or just feel like a continuation?
Appreciate any insight.

I’ve been taking LamoTRigine 50mg for almost 14 days. Makes me feel more emotional 😭 these rashes that others have experienced, are they rashes that come and go or do they stay for hours? Curious 🧐