Anyone on lexapro or other that had to up the dose?

hooliface

I had my dose upped today to 20mg and the nurse mentioned that it could make symptoms worse before they get better and that it will take about 2 weeks (ish) to get into my system.    

If you upped doses did you notice it took that long?

Did your symptoms get worse before better?

How did you cope while you waited for the dose to kick in?

If you had trouble sleeping, did you do anything in particular to help you?

 

Thanks 

oct11bride03

I've been on Paxil since November. In the early days/weeks the doc is titrating your dose to find what works for you. Paxil took forfreakingever to start working, but thankfully I was on Ativan as well to help with the anxiety.

My symptoms never got worse before they got better, but I was pretty severely depressed so I feel like I had nowhere to go but up.

I coped by relying heavily on family for help. It was really bad - we had to have round the clock help because K was so young and I wasn't supposed to have any childcare responsibilities until I was cleared by my psychiatrist.

I slept all the time, but a lot of the time I was just laying in bed. Sleep CDs seemed to help, but the anxiety is what kept me awake. Once I started on the Ativan I was able to sleep.

firsttogo

I went from 10 to 20, and felt better pretty fast... a few days I think. I was also given Trazodone to help sleep, but it made me more anxious and jittery. Ambien helps when I need to sleep. I also take my lex before bed.

Hope that helps. Also,  I did not get worse before better. When my dose was too low, I had that spacey feeling, like I could not focus. Once We got it right, I felt better. 

charmcitygirl

I've been on Lexapro since October.  We started with a low-ish dose around 10mg.  Then increased after a couple of weeks to 15mg and then finally settled on 20mg.  I was having trouble sleeping.  Not falling asleep, but staying asleep.  It helped me to take Lexapro at night so that I could feel more drowsy all night.

When I started on Lexapro, I felt nearly an immediate (I mean like 3 days) improvement.  My doc said that there are 2 elements of Lexapro, the immediate release and then a long term release when you're on it for a couple of weeks or more.  So, I felt better within a couple of days and felt myself around 2 weeks.  When we increased my doses, I felt the relief within a week or so because it was already in my system...I was just increasing it.  I definitely didn't see my symptoms get worse...just gradually better.

I'm slowly weaning myself off of Lexapro right now (with my doc's supervision).  Started at 20mg, then down to 15mg for a month, then 10mg for a month and now I just started 5mg.  And everything is still good.

With Lexapro, I'm a better version of myself.

ela81

I also went up to 20mg but stopped before the s/e got better. I had really weird dreams (=no sleep), constant leg shaking, and I kept my teeth clamped together. Emotionally it was doing it's job. I've been fine for a little while but if I go back on it I will give it more time.