Side effects of increasing dose of Cipralex

[supermario42]

Hi group, this is my first post here.

I have been taking Cipralex/Escitalopram for about 7 weeks for Anxiety and Panic attacks. It was helping until I returned to work last week, I was off for a while to recover.

My doctor suggested I increase my dose to 20mg from 10mg. I have done this for two nights now and it feels like the bad side effects I first had have returned. For example, more anxiety, nervousness, jittery, hard to sleep, upset stomach and dry mouth.

Is this expected? Since I was already on 10mg, should the side effects of 20mg work themselves out quicker than when I started this drug?

Maybe I should start at 15 and ramp up?

Any thoughts or advice are welcome.

Thanks

SM42

[nomorepanic]

Yes it is normal to get side-effects with each dose increase.

[karenp]

Good luck with your increase xxx
I'm meant to be upping my Escitalopram too as the last couple of weeks I have started to feel anxious and depressed again, was hoping it was just a blip but have been prescribed the 20mg pills. I'm really not looking forward to the side effects part again but hopefully they will soon pass...hope they do for you too. I once had to go to full dosage on regular Citalopram and the pharmacist I asked about the increase told me it would not be as bad as initial start up, I can't remember if he was right now but just remember feeling so much better after a fortnight.

[karenp]

I took just an etra quater of a pill last night but woke up at 4am with bad flushing, a rotten head I can't shift and aggitation but mood slightly better. How are you doing? I had forgotten how horrible the side effects are and just hope in a few days I feel like I did only a couple of weeks ago which was really great :-)

Thinking of you xxx

[Serenitie]

Hi group, this is my first post here.

I have been taking Cipralex/Escitalopram for about 7 weeks for Anxiety and Panic attacks. It was helping until I returned to work last week, I was off for a while to recover.

My doctor suggested I increase my dose to 20mg from 10mg. I have done this for two nights now and it feels like the bad side effects I first had have returned. For example, more anxiety, nervousness, jittery, hard to sleep, upset stomach and dry mouth.

Is this expected? Since I was already on 10mg, should the side effects of 20mg work themselves out quicker than when I started this drug?

Maybe I should start at 15 and ramp up?SM42

This is perfectly normal and very common. I had awful side effects when I tried to increase from 10mg to 20mg. I felt very agitated, restless, jittery and low. The increase was suggested by my GP in response to a difficult period.

I decided to reduce back to my original dose of 10mg as my anxiety was still there, but manageable on this dose. I decided that I was happier to ride out the storm and work through the bad patch rather than medicating a perfectly normal response to a rotten situation.

I am not suggesting that you do this, just sharing my experience.

When I started Escitalopram I weaned myself up from 2.5mg to 10mg very slowly in 2.5mg increments. This method was very successful for me and resulted in minimal side effects. Maybe you could discuss increasing slowly with your GP?

It is also worth considering that your return to work may be increasing your anxiety levels, understandably so.

I wish you well with your increase and continued progress.