Anyone started on a low dose 5mg?

[AngelHeart]

I've been prescribed 10mg as a starter for anxiety/panic and depression but as I'm really worried about the side effects was won if anyone had halved them to take 5mg and what the side effects have been from this? I still have to work and I have 3 children and need to be there for them so I really need the side effects to be minimal.
Thank you,
Hope your all well xx

[nicola1980]

Hi i would def start on 5mg if your worried about side effects, you can buy a pill cutter and cut them in half, when i was cit and i increased my dose i tended to go up in 5mgs especially when i upped from 10 to 20mg, good luck xx

[AngelHeart]

Thanks very much, how long do you think I should go on 5mg for before upping to 10? A couple of weeks perhaps? Thanks x

[Catya]

It would depend how you get on with them. I did this for about a week and then gradually upped them.

[nicola1980]

Id say do 5mg for a week to gently ease yourself in xx

[AngelHeart]

Thank you both x

---------- Post added at 10:05 ---------- Previous post was at 10:04 ----------

Also how long do they usually take to start working please? x

[nicola1980]

they can take a while to actually kick in especially if your only starting on 5mg, 20mg is the theraputic dose of cit but you should see a difference in a few weeks hopefully xx

[soulcrosses]

Hey! I'm not sure if you're already on 10mg, but I'd probably trust your Doctors judgement. 10mg really isnt that much.. When I started out, I was put straight onto 20mg and went from there. The side effects weren't nice, but they were bearable and only lasted a few days, so I imagine yours (if any), would be even more bearable. I'd hate to think that you're putting your mental health at detriment because you're afraid, that's all. Taking half your prescribed dose will only solve half the problem.. I hope you're okay

[Ingenious]

There is no reason why you should not start with a smaller dose or half a tablet for the first few days to help get settled in and lessen the potential side effects - but I'd say to only do this with the agreement of your GP. If you do get side effects - not everyone does - these are only temporary. Good luck!

[nagiko]

Hi Pauline, I was afraid to start on 10mg too so I did 5mg for about a week. I actually saw changes immediately (I am pretty sensitive to most medicines as a whole). I found it made me tired at night which helped with sleep. I also felt tingles all over my body, in my arms and neck, head, etc, which feel strange but they are harmless. It messed with my appetite but that is also a stress/anxiety symptom so all I did was just eat something small when I knew it was a mealtime and try to keep up small healthy snacks inbetween.

After a week I noticed that the anxiety seemed to be coming back and I got scared and decided to go up to 10mg. I didn't feel like it was a huge difference, just more of the tingles. I've just gone up to 15mg as of today and am feeling more tingles, but overall I feel confident that it is helping. I understand that fear you feel in starting, but when you have that first day where you suddenly feel good again and realize you CAN do things without feeling sad or anxious, it will be tremendously liberating. Good luck, hang in there. It is worth it to stick it out.