does anyone take 5mg escitalopram?

[Linny]

i have been taking it for about 3 weeks, 5mg but my anxiety has gone up! would i be better off without them ? or is it yet to take effect?
i know its a low does but i thought that at the very worst i would just feel the same...not worse!

[nomorepanic]

Linny

Have a read of the posts in the sub-forum dedicated to that medication.

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=53

[amandaj]

hi linny ive not been on these but ive just been prescribed other meds and was told a symptom is for anxiety to rise before it goes down, its common apparantly ,but its not nice ive got to go through this when i start them on wednesday hope yours goes away soon

amanda

[alias_kev]

Hey Linny. Whats called "paradoxical anxiety" is quite common, perhaps more common than is officially recognised. I also wondered in another post if some of it might just be us noticing our original anxiety more during the part of the day when the medication is at its lowest. Like when you are on pain killers and they wear off before the next dose is due. You can feel the pain more then than you probably would have without any. With most of the SSRIs the medication fades over the 24 hours to the next dose - having peaked at some point after we take it. So even without considering our lives, side effects and getting used to the medication there is good reason to feel different at different points in the day.

The documentation says about 3-4 weeks to get the positive effects more than the side effects. Some report a bit longer than that. So you are getting there but it could be a bit longer. Its also arguable that 5mg is a light dose - depending on severity, age, sensitivity, & other factors of course - so it might be its enough to give you side effects without giving you the benefits. See this document. Most people would be on 10mg unless you are in the more sensitive groups (ie wrong: age, renal, heptatic).

If the amount of extra anxiety is bothering you then you should discuss it with your doctor. Some meds do not suit some people and it is possible (though very rare) to go off the rails completely. I found Esc' made a big difference to depression but only a small difference to my severe GAD. Each individual is pretty different though.

Keep talking to us - its a good way to put up with the side effects.

[evita]

Hi!

Ive been using 5mg now for about 4 months, and after tough first 5 weeks or so, theyve made a huge difference. just take it one day at a time, no matter how much worse you feel in the beginning. It can take up to many months before they are 100% effective. Initially, after 4 weeks i still thought should i start on 10mg but decided to wait, and now i honestly have to say that im finally getting "back to normal". I suffered from bad gad, panic attacks had started and I was quite depressed. I had fought against meds for 4 years, while been in therapy. I didnt want to take them, one reason being that i had been through tough times before and battled my way up everytime without meds. For example last year was good. but then it hit again and for the sake of my husband and close ones i decided to start the meds. but i cried and took them. was oner of the hardest things. Now i have to say that im glad i did. they have helped my nervous system to calm down enough so that i have been able to learn stuff in therapy and relaxation techniques etc, and the past month i been getting back to "society" slowly but firmly. I recommend to try meds if you feel like you are slowly "dissappearing in your own cocoon" and therapy etc dont help enough. think of the meds as crutches that help you forward and let your overstressed nervous system to calm down. I was helped by 5mg. Also they have helped with the worst pms symptoms ever.

[fedupofanxiety]

naturally your anxiety usaully goes up when you take an anti depressant for the first 3- 6 weeks but the recommended dose of cipralex for anxiety is 10 mg i think you should have your dose upped because it should have started to make some sort of difference by now!!

[Geminios]

Just putting my 2 cents worth in. I feel like escitalopram saved my life. I was diagnosed with depression like 4 years ago and I felt like life was pointless. After about 2 weeks of taking escitalopram I felt different. I felt less frusturated and less sad all the time. Ive been on the 5mg. But I rarely take them now for some reason. Hope this helps to someone.

[karenp]

I started out on 5mg but had Lorazepam to help me so I managed ok to get up to the full dose of 20mg but it just never worked for me as far as taking anxiety away like CITALOPRAM did, which made me 100% perfect. I wish my doctor had swapped me along time ago but just kept on prescribing it with the benzos and now I'm a benzo addict. But it def eventually helped me with the depression side of things and I was very happy on it, just never well enough not to feel anxiety still xxx

---------- Post added at 08:21 ---------- Previous post was at 08:20 ----------

I found going up to the next doses easier too....I would dread it but did it very slowly, like after a month on one dose and then up.