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GAD and anxiety as only side effect

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naiara92070
naiara92070

Hello. Writing from Spain. I have been diagnosed with GAD and started with generic escitalopram a month and 10 days ago. I started with 5 mg for about 3 weeks and I noticed that my anxiety was lessen in just some days, but not enough, so on Feb. 11 I started with 10 mg. dose. I started to feel the same anxiety as before starting escitalopram 5 mg. I just feel the same anxiety as if I wasn't taking any med 😦 No more side effects, luckily, but when I started with 5 mg I didn't noticed any side effect, just feel less anxiety, and now it is like if I wasn't taking any SSRI and my anxiety is back...

How long does it take to come back to normal?

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • alexandria133
    alexandria133 naiara92070

    Edited

    I'm not a doctor or in the medical field, just on the same medication, and have talked a lot with my psychiatrist about my medication.

    My advice to you:

    1. You can go back down to the 5mg dose and give it more time to work. They can take up to 8 weeks to have full effect. If you were doing well on 5mg, give it a chance. They are not a miracle cure. You still will feel anxiety from time to time. The medication is there to lessen it while you use other forms of therapy to deal with the GAD.
    2. Speak with the prescribing doctor, or (if you're not already) a psychiatrist. They're the experts. This may not be the right medication for you, and there are plenty more to try if you want.

    Remember: they are not a cure-all, and you must be patient and very active in your recovery. Best wishes.

  • LinzS
    LinzS naiara92070

    Edited

    Hi there. I've been on 10mg lexapro for 8 months, in my own experience and from what I've read of many others experiences is that you need to give a dose 6 to 8 weeks to fully get into your system. Some people even take along as 12 weeks.

    It seems like you have 2 options, either go back down to 5mg and stick at it for a good 8 weeks and then review whether you're feeling 100% and if not consider upping to 10mg but again stick it out (bear in mind going up and back down in a short space of time could aggravate your symptoms temporarily). Or you stick at 10mg for a good 8 weeks (often with every increase and decrease of a dose symptoms become aggravated before they begin to improve) and then see how you are. I at one point tried to move up from 10mg to 15mg, as you said I was better but not 100%, and after 4 weeks I began to steadily decline. I held out the 12 weeks but the dose was too strong for me. I dropped back to 10mg. Whatever you decide to do you should stick at it for a good 8 weeks. Hope this helps!! you will get there 😃

    • naiara92070
      naiara92070 LinzS

      Posted

      Thank you LinzS for your answer. May you please explain what do you mean when you say that "the dose was too strong for me"? How were you feeling?

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