Re: Lexapro and dosage for anxiety

[Guest guest]

> I've been taking Lexapro for about 2 weeks. I'm taking it

primarily

> for anxiety and social phobia with mild depression. I haven't been

> on an AD for about 5 years. I've tried most of the SSRI's and

> couldn't tolerate the side effects of any of them.

> Anyway, after a rough 1st 8 days with Lexapro (headaches, heavy-

> headedness, spaciness, increased anxiety) my mood began to lift and

> I felt pretty good. Almost all of the initial sides have passed.

> Unfortunately it hasn't done much for my anxiety. I was wondering

> if anyone has had success with increasing their dosage to 15 or

20mg

> for anxiety. My doctor is reluctant to give me benzos so I'm

really

> hoping Lexapro will eventually help with the anxiety as well as the

> depression. Thanks in advance for any input.

>

> Tim

Hi Tim,

I have been on Lex for 9 weeks now. The doc started me on 10 mg, and

my mood/depression " lifted " significantly within the first couple of

weeks, however, I didn't feel much relief from the anxiety. I

increased the dose to 15 mg after 3 weeks and it has helped some w/my

anxiety, although I still need a low dose of Xanax one or two times a

day, about 5 days a week. I am thinking about asking my doctor what

she thinks about increasing again to 20 mg to help w/the anxiety.

If anyone else has any other input, I would LOVE to hear it. I think

Lexapro is a miracle drug for depression, and would love to get

better results from it on the anxiety front if at all possible.

Tim - good luck!

[Guest guest]

Hey Tim just wondering why is your doc reluctant to giving you benzos

(Yes I know they are addicting), but without my Klonopin I would be

in extreme trouble especially with how many meds I've gone through.

In fact that's the only thing that's holding me together along with

my Lex (5Mg) and Luvox (25Mg). As with my experience the anxiety

goes away on week 2 or 3. Unfortunately for me I'm on Luvox now so

now I have another 1-2 weeks of anxiety suffering. Anyway hang in

there it should hopefully get better...

> I've been taking Lexapro for about 2 weeks. I'm taking it

primarily

> for anxiety and social phobia with mild depression. I haven't been

> on an AD for about 5 years. I've tried most of the SSRI's and

> couldn't tolerate the side effects of any of them.

> Anyway, after a rough 1st 8 days with Lexapro (headaches, heavy-

> headedness, spaciness, increased anxiety) my mood began to lift and

> I felt pretty good. Almost all of the initial sides have passed.

> Unfortunately it hasn't done much for my anxiety. I was wondering

> if anyone has had success with increasing their dosage to 15 or

20mg

> for anxiety. My doctor is reluctant to give me benzos so I'm

really

> hoping Lexapro will eventually help with the anxiety as well as the

> depression. Thanks in advance for any input.

>

> Tim

[Guest guest]

I have just begun to phase-off of Effexor XR and will be starting Lexapro (at 10mg strength) in about 3 weeks. I also have an anxiety disorder. For this, I taking 60mg. of Buspar daily (4 tablets of 15mg each; 2 in the morning, 2 in late afternoon). Buspar seems to work well for me, and it is non-addictive. For acute anxiety attacks, I have a Ativan (a benzo) in tablets of 0.5 mg strength; I take this on an as-needed basis only when my anxiety becomes severe, which fortunately, is not often.

I'm also a recovered alcoholic, with heightened sensitivity to other addictions, so I must closely monitor my use of the Ativan. I hope this is of some help to those persons here who have an anxiety disorder in addition to depression, and perhaps are also recovering from a chemical dependency.

========Original Message========

Subj: Re: Lexapro and dosage for anxiety

Date: 11/23/02 5:42:32 PM Eastern Standard Time

From: salloyd1@...

Reply-to: Lexapro

Lexapro

Sent from the Internet (Details)

> I've been taking Lexapro for about 2 weeks. I'm taking it

primarily

> for anxiety and social phobia with mild depression. I haven't been

> on an AD for about 5 years. I've tried most of the SSRI's and

> couldn't tolerate the side effects of any of them.

> Anyway, after a rough 1st 8 days with Lexapro (headaches, heavy-

> headedness, spaciness, increased anxiety) my mood began to lift and

> I felt pretty good. Almost all of the initial sides have passed.

> Unfortunately it hasn't done much for my anxiety. I was wondering

> if anyone has had success with increasing their dosage to 15 or

20mg

> for anxiety. My doctor is reluctant to give me benzos so I'm

really

> hoping Lexapro will eventually help with the anxiety as well as the

> depression. Thanks in advance for any input.

>

> Tim

Hi Tim,

I have been on Lex for 9 weeks now. The doc started me on 10 mg, and

my mood/depression "lifted" significantly within the first couple of

weeks, however, I didn't feel much relief from the anxiety. I

increased the dose to 15 mg after 3 weeks and it has helped some w/my

anxiety, although I still need a low dose of Xanax one or two times a

day, about 5 days a week. I am thinking about asking my doctor what

she thinks about increasing again to 20 mg to help w/the anxiety.

If anyone else has any other input, I would LOVE to hear it. I think

Lexapro is a miracle drug for depression, and would love to get

better results from it on the anxiety front if at all possible.

Tim - good luck!

[Guest guest]

I think it's probably the risk of addiction. She's not completely

against the idea of using a benzo, she just wanted to see if the Lex

would be sufficient by itself first. After 2 1/2 weeks I'm not so

sure it will be. Right now the anxiety is worse, particularly in

the morning. I'm taking my 10mg at night. Maybe the anxiety will

subside some over time like the other side effects did, but I'm

going to ask her for something else in the meantime to get me

through. I'm scheduled to go back a week from today.

It sounds like you're going through a pretty rough time finding the

right combination of meds also. It's frustrating that it takes

weeks of suffering through side effects before finding out if

something really works or not. Maybe someday they'll have these

meds perfected. Good luck to you.

Tim

> > I've been taking Lexapro for about 2 weeks. I'm taking it

> primarily

> > for anxiety and social phobia with mild depression. I haven't

been

> > on an AD for about 5 years. I've tried most of the SSRI's and

> > couldn't tolerate the side effects of any of them.

> > Anyway, after a rough 1st 8 days with Lexapro (headaches, heavy-

> > headedness, spaciness, increased anxiety) my mood began to lift

and

> > I felt pretty good. Almost all of the initial sides have

passed.

> > Unfortunately it hasn't done much for my anxiety. I was

wondering

> > if anyone has had success with increasing their dosage to 15 or

> 20mg

> > for anxiety. My doctor is reluctant to give me benzos so I'm

> really

> > hoping Lexapro will eventually help with the anxiety as well as

the

> > depression. Thanks in advance for any input.

> >

> > Tim

[Guest guest]

Hi Tim,

I am also on Lex for anxiety (in addition to depression). This is my

first experience w/ADs or any medication, by the way. I started on

10 mg, which was great for depression but really nothing for

anxiety. After 3 weeks I increased to 15 mg which had an impact on

the anxiety but I still need at least a tiny bit of Xanax most days

of the week. Recently I increased the Lex again to 20 mg, and I do

think it's helping more with the anxiety. I barely need any Xanax

now. In fact, I could probably do without it completely. Something

to think about? I have heard other people say that until they got up

to 20 mg of Lexapro it wasn't effective on their anxiety. I'm no

physician but it might be something to talk to your Dr. about.

Good luck!

PS I take 10 mg in the a.m. and 10 at night.

> > > I've been taking Lexapro for about 2 weeks. I'm taking it

> > primarily

> > > for anxiety and social phobia with mild depression. I haven't

> been

> > > on an AD for about 5 years. I've tried most of the SSRI's and

> > > couldn't tolerate the side effects of any of them.

> > > Anyway, after a rough 1st 8 days with Lexapro (headaches, heavy-

> > > headedness, spaciness, increased anxiety) my mood began to lift

> and

> > > I felt pretty good. Almost all of the initial sides have

> passed.

> > > Unfortunately it hasn't done much for my anxiety. I was

> wondering

> > > if anyone has had success with increasing their dosage to 15 or

> > 20mg

> > > for anxiety. My doctor is reluctant to give me benzos so I'm

> > really

> > > hoping Lexapro will eventually help with the anxiety as well as

> the

> > > depression. Thanks in advance for any input.

> > >

> > > Tim

[Guest guest]

How was your adjustment period going from 10mg to 15mg to 20mg? Did

you experience the same side effects again or any new ones? How

long before you felt relief from the anxiety?

Tim

> Hi Tim,

>

> I am also on Lex for anxiety (in addition to depression). This is

my

> first experience w/ADs or any medication, by the way. I started

on

> 10 mg, which was great for depression but really nothing for

> anxiety. After 3 weeks I increased to 15 mg which had an impact

on

> the anxiety but I still need at least a tiny bit of Xanax most

days

> of the week. Recently I increased the Lex again to 20 mg, and I

do

> think it's helping more with the anxiety. I barely need any Xanax

> now. In fact, I could probably do without it completely.

Something

> to think about? I have heard other people say that until they got

up

> to 20 mg of Lexapro it wasn't effective on their anxiety. I'm no

> physician but it might be something to talk to your Dr. about.

>

> Good luck!

>

> PS I take 10 mg in the a.m. and 10 at night.

>

[Guest guest]

When I went from 10 to 15, I had about a 3 day adjustment period. In

going from 15 to 20 I haven't noticed any negative side effects; just

that my anxiety is better!

> > Hi Tim,

> >

> > I am also on Lex for anxiety (in addition to depression). This is

> my

> > first experience w/ADs or any medication, by the way. I started

> on

> > 10 mg, which was great for depression but really nothing for

> > anxiety. After 3 weeks I increased to 15 mg which had an impact

> on

> > the anxiety but I still need at least a tiny bit of Xanax most

> days

> > of the week. Recently I increased the Lex again to 20 mg, and I

> do

> > think it's helping more with the anxiety. I barely need any

Xanax

> > now. In fact, I could probably do without it completely.

> Something

> > to think about? I have heard other people say that until they

got

> up

> > to 20 mg of Lexapro it wasn't effective on their anxiety. I'm no

> > physician but it might be something to talk to your Dr. about.

> >

> > Good luck!

> >

> > PS I take 10 mg in the a.m. and 10 at night.

> >

[Guest guest]

same with me, when I went from 10 to 15 I also had a 3 day adjustment period. 15 is working very well for me, so I think I will stay where I am, but it does make me feel good knowing you had no problems going from 15 to 20!