Hello and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice. Lexapro can cause insomnia in some, in others it can cause more sleepiness, but in most it doesn t cause either. Most of these side effects will diminish after 2 weeks. Once it starts to work for you, you may find that you are more relaxed overall, and that will allow you to sleep better at night. If initially you are having insomnia from it, then halve or even quarter the dose for a week or two until your body gets used to it, and then gradually go up on it as tolerated. This will delay the time until you get benefit from it, but can make the process more tolerable. If even then you find it is causing sleep problems, or if you are afraid of these potential problems, there are other medications that are more likely to cause somnolence. In the SSRI family (which Lexapro is one of), Paxil is more sedating. Or, to treat insomnia, trazadone can be used. It s an older antidepressant which is used sometimes specifically for sleep. If you do choose to try the Lexapro, taking it in the morning instead of before bed can help with decreasing the risk of insomnia too. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.