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Need to increase and I’m scared!

Posted , 7 users are following.

lauri1967
lauri1967

I am 25 days into my Lexapro journey and need some advice. I started at 5mg and was pleasantly surprised that at 1 week I was actually starting to feel better, with very few side effects. My Dr. told me to increase to 10mg at the 2 week mark, but I didn’t because I was actually feeling really good. At day 21 I began feeling some anxiety and decided I had better increase. Last night I went to 7.5mg because I do not want to deal with an increase in anxiety. Has anyone increased to 10mg slowly; and how did it go? I REALLY want my love for back and want to feel happy, free from anxiety and fear again. I would appreciate only positive comments, as this journey has been hard enough. Thanks so much 💕

0 likes, 13 replies

13 Replies

  • lauri1967
    lauri1967

    Posted

    *life back... not *love. 😂

  • deanna42576
    deanna42576 lauri1967

    Posted

    Hi lori! I too started at 5mg of Lexapro. At week 4 I started to increase to 7.5mg. I felt extremely groggy for a few days but now feel better. I have been on 7.5mg for 1 week now. I will try 10mg soon & see how I feel. There’s no problem with increasing slowly! I hope you feel better soon!

    • lauri1967
      lauri1967 deanna42576

      Posted

      Thank you! I hope when I get to 10 I have good results! I am so ready to feel like my old self again 
  • robin06253
    robin06253 lauri1967

    Posted

    I was nervous like you and went to 7.5 for 3 days and then 10 with no issues other than one night of interrupted sleep.  I have been at 10 for one week and am feeling much better!
    • lauri1967
      lauri1967 robin06253

      Posted

      Hi Robin,

      Thanks for your reply I hope to have the same result as you and get back to my old self! Best wishes! 

  • amber09486
    amber09486 lauri1967

    Posted

    I was there once too. I ended up increasing to 20 over 4 weeks. Each time I increased I had some minor side effects for 2-3 days. I started to feel like myself again at 5 weeks. I had a good period at 3 weeks then relapsed with 2 panic attacks. I would increase to 10, it really is a very small increase. When I went from 15 to 20 it took about a week to feel better, but I think that had more to do with the meds just being in my system for 5 weeks. I was completely better at 6 weeks but was still fragile with myself. Looking back now, the 6 weeks total I was an anxious mess are now like it never happened at all. I feel great and back to my normal self. Lexapro has been a good AD for me with no side effects and I was lucky this AD worked for me on the first try. You aren’t alone and the sun will shine again soon, I promise!! 
    • alex10154
      alex10154 amber09486

      Posted

      Hi Amber

      I'm now 3 weeks at 10mg after a week at 5mg. I'm still getting the awful morning anxiety and now wondering whether to increase. Did you increase from 10 to 15 then 15 to 20? Did your Dr suggest the increase and over what period did you stay at each dose? Not sure whether to wait another couple of weeks or increase now as it's been a month in total? Sorry for all the questions just want to feel normal again x

    • amber09486
      amber09486 alex10154

      Posted

      Alex, no problem! I had a million questions when I was going through it and despite people telling me not to go online, I found comfort in reading others experiences. Here is my increase schedule:

      4 days at 5mg

      10 days at 10mg

      15 days at 15mg

      7-10 days at 20 mg then felt good at roughly 1 week on 20.

      For me it took a solid 5 weeks to start feeling like I could function again and 6 weeks before I felt like this good feeling was going to really stick! My mornings were the toughest but my Dr gave me klonopin (I took .25mg) in morning to try and cut my anxiety a bit. I am a small person and usually respond well to medicine so I didn’t think I would need 20mg but my dr said every person is different and has different brain chemistry. My dr was very aggressive about getting me back on my feet. He checked in with every other day. I had high hopes I would be the person who was all better at 3 weeks but at 4 weeks I learned to have patience and just give the meds the full 6-8 weeks to work.  I stopped focusing on how long i had been on the meds with no result and instead told myself to just give it 8 weeks then the dr and I would find something else that would work. Low and behold I started climbing out at 5 weeks. 

      Just be patient with yourself and surround yourself with only supportive people. And try and talk with your dr regularly and tell them everything you are feeling. A 5 mg increase isn’t so bad and I think my anxious brain made the each of my increases into something they really weren’t, but that is anxiety for you. I also started therapy when I started the meds to really work on the root of my anxiety. That had been helpful and I have actually used some of the tools I learned to prevent panic attacks when I felt them start. That was empowering when I took control of my thoughts and didn’t let the anxiety  throw me into a spiral. 

      My whole experience with anxiety seemed to have come out of now where but looking back the writing was on the wall. I am a mom of one and happily married with a successful career then boom, i hit a wall and looking back I think it was all a wake up call. 

      You will get better. I know others have probably told you that and that right in this moment it doesn’t feel like it will, but trust me, having just 2 months ago come out of it myself, you will too! 

  • tammy76379
    tammy76379 lauri1967

    Posted

    Hi. I started about 4 weeks ago on 10mg. I felt great the first few days but then started having stomach pains and anxiety. The anxiety remained steady. After researching Lexapro I found that this was a side effect of the medicine but to be patient as it would probably go away. My therapist however said that I should probably be on 20 because that is the magic number for most anxiety sufferers on this medicine. I talked to my doctor and after 3full weeks of being on 10mg I went to 20. My anxiety got anxiety little bit worse but I started getting morning anxiety which was awful. I'm happy to say that after 4 days on the higher dose my general anxiety has decreased by at least 90% And I no longer wake up with anxiety at 3 or 4 in the morning. Just from coming on this site and doing research I have come to learn that this medication does cause anxiety at the beginning but once your body gets used to a certain dose you level out and are fine. With each increase of the medication then anxiety will come back and then settle down again. Hopefully I will feel even better in the weeks to come. Good luck and God bless you!

    • lauri1967
      lauri1967 tammy76379

      Posted

      Thanks for posting Tammy! This site does help me realize that this is all normal and will subside soon... I guess patience is a rare quality In an anxious person. Hahaha HAPPY NEW YEAR!
  • stephie27
    stephie27 lauri1967

    Posted

    I got put on 10mg right away. I had bad heightened anxiety/headaches/nausea/depersonalization/no appetite for the first couple of weeks, but they went away day by day. After that it was just the waking up in the middle of the night that lasted an extra week or two. Then I went right up to 20 mg and only had a little headache. I think the worst side effects come when you go from nothing to your first dose. 

    You are increasing by tiny amounts, so I'm guessing side effects will be minimal smile

    • lauri1967
      lauri1967 stephie27

      Posted

      I am on day 5 of the increase and it really hasn’t been too bad. I’ve had a little anxiety but nothing like before I started the Lexapro.  Thanks for your comments. 
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