Going from 5mg to 10mg

[elodrumm]

Hi all,

I know this has been posted before but I think I just a bit of reassurance. I started 5mg of Lexapro about 3 months ago to help with panic attacks and anxiety that were gettting out of control and basically starting to ruin my life.

I was very scared to take the 5mg but it worked wonderfully for a few weeks but now im starting to feel the anxiety creep in again. My doc said I could go up to 10mg if i wanted.

Is 5mg a very low dose or should I just stick with it? I'm scared of the side affects of taking 10mg and that it will make me feel worse instead of better.

Anyone out there who went from 5mg-10mg and it helped? Thanks for reading x

[panic_down_under]

Is 5mg a very low dose or should I just stick with it?

5mg is likely to be a sub therapeutic dose. The usual effective adult dose range is 10-20mg/day.

I'm scared of the side affects of taking 10mg and that it will make me feel worse instead of better.

You might have an increase in side-effects, including anxiety, for a few days to a week or two, however, this is by no means a certainty. Most do not have significant issues.

If anxiety does spike ask your doctor to prescribe a benzodiazepine to help you cope until the side-effects diminish, or maybe for the prescription antihistamine hydroxyzine (Vistaril) which has pretty good anti anxiety properties (not sure if GPs in Ireland can prescribe it).

There is no advantage in taking an antidepressant at an ineffective dose, but doing so for long periods could 'train' the brain to no longer respond to the drug.