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Is 10mg Lexapro a too low dosage?


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I started taking the 10 mgs around the 1st of this month, I think I was feeling a bit better. I went in for my follow up on (last) Thursday feeling pretty good and the Dr. told me I looked a lot better from last time lol. Now I feel...not so good. Is this just an up and down thing? I have anxiety and I ruminate a lot -like obsessive thoughts, I worry..I get sad. I try to exercise and read and other things. Does anyone take this medication here? Do you have any advice? Thanks : )

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hiya, yup, i'm currently on it. took five mgs first three weeks. that's below the therapeutic dose but worked incredibly well for me. upped to full dose (ten) two days ago.

 

so basically you're about three weeks in as well? they can take several weeks to kick in, i would give it more time. have you noticed any effects yet? how did you cope starting out with the full dose? sometimes it makes ppl feel worse for a while, especially in regards to anxiety. if your doctor says to up them, you can do so gradually, by quarts, to avoid side effects if they make you more anxious or tearful.

 

i'd love to hear how you do on lex. i really like it so far.

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So far I think I like it. I don't wake up sad like I usually do. The side effects I have are sexual..lol...and I have crazy dreams, sometimes I'm not that hungry...like my appetite went down a bit. My mouth gets dry. I had a bit of nausea but thats going away. The Dr. said that the side effects will slowly go away. She also gave me Xanax to help me get over the hump of starting the Lexapro...I hardly take those..they are as needed. I think I coped pretty well, it wasn't bad at all. I just knew I had to do something to help myself you know?

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Yes, I've been on that for years. Then I switched to many other ones because my psychiatrist feels other ones might be better. Nothing worked for me better than the Lexapro/Cipralex, same medication under different names, depending on where you live.

 

The only downside to that medication is it makes me feel very sluggish. Yes, it did help with depression, but I feel so off. My psychiatrist than got me to supplement it with Wellbrutrin XL. Now I'm on the combo and it makes me feel a lot better. Wellbrutrin gives me the boost and cipralex helps calms my nerves down. They equal out. All other combinations, did not work for me at all, they eventually made me feel worst.

 

You could talk to your psychiatrist and maybe try out different combinations and see which ones is most suitable for you. Everyone reacts to anti-depressants differently and they generally take over 3 months to get the full benefits. So maybe you are just going through the first stages of the medications. After about 3 months, you will know if it works for you or not. It should make you feel more stabilize, in other words, feeling normal. Hope that helps. Just talk to your psychiatrist, tell him/her all the symptoms and see what they suggest.

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ah, yes, for the sexual ones, i have seen replies on other forums stating gingko biloba has helped ppl.

 

i only got slight nausea in the beginning and seabands and taking lex with food seemed to help.

 

my appetite was huge on the small dose, and currently supressed on the full.

a lot of the side effects vary depending on the dose and when you take them but most go away soon.

 

yeah the weird vivid dreams, had a few of those. it's because it can mess with your rem cycle. you could try relaxation techniques before bed to sqeeze in more rem. if you get jaw clenching magnesium before bed helps some.

 

i'd say it's working, it's just a process of several weeks for most.

 

 

hope you feel better soon.

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ah, yes, for the sexual ones, i have seen replies on other forums stating gingko biloba has helped ppl.

 

i only got slight nausea in the beginning and seabands and taking lex with food seemed to help.

 

my appetite was huge on the small dose, and currently supressed on the full.

a lot of the side effects vary depending on the dose and when you take them but most go away soon.

 

yeah the weird vivid dreams, had a few of those. it's because it can mess with your rem cycle. you could try relaxation techniques before bed to sqeeze in more rem. if you get jaw clenching magnesium before bed helps some.

 

i'd say it's working, it's just a process of several weeks for most.

 

 

hope you feel better soon.

OMG YES! I have the jaw clenching I forgot about that.

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I started taking the 10 mgs around the 1st of this month, I think I was feeling a bit better. I went in for my follow up on (last) Thursday feeling pretty good and the Dr. told me I looked a lot better from last time lol. Now I feel...not so good. Is this just an up and down thing? I have anxiety and I ruminate a lot -like obsessive thoughts, I worry..I get sad. I try to exercise and read and other things. Does anyone take this medication here? Do you have any advice? Thanks : )

 

Yes, I take the generic form of lexapro 15.

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yeah sure. you can always ring the docs office to confirm if you're worried. 4-6 weeks is when it starts to make a big difference usually.

 

if you have a very bad day there's still your rescue pills you could take.

 

if you do up, up by a little at a time.

 

i still get some down days, but nowhere near really bad. the good days are really good. hope it kicks in soon and that you find it so helpful too.

 

eta, ha, yeah my jaw just snapped itself shut one time aligator style. weird.

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Can I stay at 10mg for a bit longer you think? I don't feel like going up just yet if I may not be giving it enough time.

 

Most likely your DR is not going to bump it up or switch you until you've been on it for at least 3 months. Generally if you go to a general DR, 10mg is standard. A psychiatrist is the one that usually will bump and switch you. They will have to closely monitor you if they put you on a high dosage.

 

I was on 10 mg for a almost a year. Then I got switch to different medication. Then went back to the Lexapro, except the next time I was bumped to 20mg with Wellbrutrin XL. It's all trial and error, just be patient with the medication.

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i just noticed juju felt sluggish on them. did you take them in the morning, ju? they made me feel sleepy when i did so i switched to taking them before bedtime. i actually feel very awake during the day and have loads of motivation. my head feels clearer and calm and less crowded somehow and the intrusive worries are gone.

 

it can affect ppl differently, but i would give SSRIs some time.

 

i know what you mean you had to do something for yourself. that was my exact thought when i started them too. i read a bunch of horror stories about it too. so glad i didn't chicken out.

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i just noticed juju felt sluggish on them. did you take them in the morning, ju? they made me feel sleepy when i did so i switched to taking them before bedtime. i actually feel very awake during the day and have loads of motivation. my head feels clearer and calm and less crowded somehow and the intrusive worries are gone.

 

it can affect ppl differently, but i would give SSRIs some time.

 

i know what you mean you had to do something for yourself. that was my exact thought when i started them too. i read a bunch of horror stories about it too. so glad i didn't chicken out.

 

You are correct, that's exactly what happened, I used to take them in the morning until I started seeing a psychiatrist, then he told me to take them at night time. I felt better when I switched to nighttime but still feel a bit slow and no motivation so he added the Wellbrutrin and that helped a lot.

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