Talk to a medical professional if you're seeking medical advice, and take everything you see here with a grain of salt.
That said, here are some tips from my perspective.
First of all, Lexapro is simply the S-enantiomer of citalopram, a cheap generic. In other words, citalopram is a mixture of Lexapro and an inactive drug. Lexapro is just the active portion, and is thought to have fewer side effects since the majority of adverse effects are thought to be due to the inactive enantiomer. In theory, citalopram will have the same efficacy as Lexapro.
I took citalopram for about half a year and it worked surprisingly well for me. I don't mean to say I'm "cured," but I seem to have gained some insight into how to deal with my anxiety. I'm convinced SSRIs can work for SOME people.
SSRIs have relatively few common side effects.