Hello everybody. I've recently began my first semester of college and was doing great for a while. Going into college I was an extremely motivated, 4.0 / 33 ACT student who loved to learn. However, my college is a couple of hours from home and my relationship with my girlfriend has now gone "long-distance" as we are attending different schools. About half way through the semester, I began having panic attacks. This was strange because I've always had a little bit of anxiety but it never interfered with my daily life. After the first panic attack, I had multiple panic attacks daily for 3 consecutive days.The panic attacks involved not knowing where I was / familiar people and situations feeling unfamiliar to me. My doctor prescribed lexapro in order to stabilize me. The first week I took 5mg daily in the morning and have taken 10mg daily for the past 14 days (21 days total on the medicine). My anxiety has gone away but I have had headaches every waking moment of my life. I also find it hard to concentrate/remember simple things. I can have a conversation with somebody but not even be thinking about the conversation. I cannot focus on anything. I feel like a zombie/robot or as if my body is on autopilot while my brain is simply dormant. The Lexapro has taken my anxiety away but it has also taken away any other possible emotion I could feel. I am 19 years old, 6 foot 155 lbs. with a high metabolism. Since starting the medicine, I've been forcing myself to eat more (despite the decreased appetite) but have still lost 10 lbs. (I'm around 145 lbs. now). I used to stay up until midnight and wake up at 7 or 8 every day, but now I can rarely stay up later than 8pm. Many nights I sleep 12 hours and wake up still feeling tired. Recently I've begun to fall asleep by 8, wake up at 1 am and fall back asleep at three then reawaken at 7. I just do not feel like my normal self. I have no interest in anything and feel no motivation. I would rather deal with my anxiety and still feel all the other emotions (my life consisted mostly of joy) I used to feel. Now I feel as if the Lexapro has damaged my brain. I'm afraid that even when I wean off of the Lexapro I will never have my motivation/focus/feeling ever again. I feel completely "numb" (both emotionally and sometimes physically in my neck or arms) to everything and I hate it. I'm afraid I will fall out of love with my girlfriend because I cannot enjoy the time that I do get to spend with her. Has anybody else experienced this numbing feeling and will it go away after I am off the medicine? I have a month long winter break coming up at the end of the semester and want to use it to get off the medicine and feel back to my normal self, but I am afraid that the Lexapro has changed the way my brain works permanently.