SSRI Dosage and side effects

[sn01]

Hello,

From what I understand, it takes around 2 weeks for a dosage increase to be felt at all (but up to 6 weeks for the full effect). If you experience side effects in the first 2 weeks of upping the dosage, and those side effects clear up after about 1 week, is it normal to begin experiencing much more servere side effects at the 2 week mark? I'm speaking from experience, where I've had this happen to me on these medications & dosages (and above, but not below):
Celexa - 20mg
Lexapro - 10mg
Pristiq - 100mg
Paxil - 20mg

In this situation I've only ever increased the dosage and it's made the side effects even worse, and I've only stuck it out for probably 2 weeks max and then stopped the medication within a week or so.

[KK77]

I have experience with Paroxetine (Paxil) only. When I increased dose from 20 to 30mg the side effects were pretty bad and persisted, so I reduced again after a month or so.

I would be wary about delayed side effects which are serious because it probably indicates a problem that has been building until you've reached a steady state. So it depends on the half life of the drug. Longer-acting meds like citalopram and fluoxetine might throw a spanner in the works quite a few weeks after increasing dose, whereas with Paxil and Pristiq a lot sooner.