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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by BRC on October 1, 2004, at 15:57:28
Hi, my pdoc has raised my Lexapro to 60mg a day. I thought the max. was 20mg. And everyone I talk to or read on this board and others does not take that high of a dose.
I asked my doctor if this was too high of a dose but he said as long as I didn't develop any major symtpoms that the dose was ok. He even stated that he could go as high as 80mg. I hope he is not confusing this with Celexa.
Is this high of a dose dangerous? He also has me on 30mg of Remeron and 4mg of Klonopin. I am wondering if some of my problems is that I am being over medicated. I have been on this combo for almost two years.
I would appreciate anyones input.
Posted by xjs7 on October 1, 2004, at 19:35:15
In reply to Advice Please!! Is 60mg of Lexapro to high?, posted by BRC on October 1, 2004, at 15:57:28
Lexapro is sometimes used at higher dose ranges for OCD (I am not sure about other problems). I take 30 mg for obsession-like thoughts, and was on 40 mg for a few weeks. I lowered back down to 30 mg because my insurance wouldn't pay for 40 mg.
And regarding the over-medication concern, I once said to my doctor that I was on a lot of meds when I was on 5 different medications. He responded, "Not by our standards." Now I am on six, and the side effects are less than when I was on two several years ago. So I wouldn't worry too much about being overmedicated.
XJS7
Posted by King Vultan on October 1, 2004, at 19:53:14
In reply to Advice Please!! Is 60mg of Lexapro to high?, posted by BRC on October 1, 2004, at 15:57:28
> Hi, my pdoc has raised my Lexapro to 60mg a day. I thought the max. was 20mg. And everyone I talk to or read on this board and others does not take that high of a dose.
>
> I asked my doctor if this was too high of a dose but he said as long as I didn't develop any major symtpoms that the dose was ok. He even stated that he could go as high as 80mg. I hope he is not confusing this with Celexa.
>
> Is this high of a dose dangerous? He also has me on 30mg of Remeron and 4mg of Klonopin. I am wondering if some of my problems is that I am being over medicated. I have been on this combo for almost two years.
>
> I would appreciate anyones input.
What kind of problems are you having?Todd
Posted by Emily Elizabeth on October 1, 2004, at 22:29:35
In reply to Advice Please!! Is 60mg of Lexapro to high?, posted by BRC on October 1, 2004, at 15:57:28
I was on 50mg of lex, but I just backed down to 50 due to increased side effects w/o increased symptom relief. Do you tend to be a person who needs more of meds to make them work? I know that I am. I was on high doses of Paxil and Prozac before. On the other hand, if you keep needing to up your dose w/o a lot of improvement, it may be time to look at changing some of your meds or adding something different. I just added a small amt of a TCA to my lex and neurontin combo.
Posted by BRC on October 1, 2004, at 23:11:56
In reply to Re: Advice Please!! Is 60mg of Lexapro to high?, posted by King Vultan on October 1, 2004, at 19:53:14
I guess my major physical problems is the inability to set still I feel a sense of inner restlessness, although friends and family can't tell. It just feels like my body is always tense. So to relieve that tension I always have to be doing something. Another words I can't rest or relax. But I don't know if this is part of my anxiety disorder or a side effect of my medication.
Also the magnitude of my thoughts have increased. Meaning my thoughts seem to race out of control. But the reason the dose was raised was to treat OCD thoughts.
And I have terrible insomnia.
Posted by BRC on October 1, 2004, at 23:14:48
In reply to Re: Advice Please!! Is 60mg of Lexapro to high?, posted by Emily Elizabeth on October 1, 2004, at 22:29:35
Hi, thanks for responding to my post. I guess I have tried so many meds for such a long period of time that my body has built up a tolerence to medication.
Posted by King Vultan on October 2, 2004, at 10:42:30
In reply to Re: Advice Please!! Is 60mg of Lexapro to high? » King Vultan, posted by BRC on October 1, 2004, at 23:11:56
> I guess my major physical problems is the inability to set still I feel a sense of inner restlessness, although friends and family can't tell. It just feels like my body is always tense. So to relieve that tension I always have to be doing something. Another words I can't rest or relax. But I don't know if this is part of my anxiety disorder or a side effect of my medication.
>
> Also the magnitude of my thoughts have increased. Meaning my thoughts seem to race out of control. But the reason the dose was raised was to treat OCD thoughts.
>
> And I have terrible insomnia.
Akathisia is the term used to describe your restlessness; it and the insomnia are side effects of the Lexapro's actions in increasing serotonin availability. Specifically, the serotonin-2A receptor is being stimulated. Remeron blockades this receptor and theoretically should neutralize the side effect, but apparently, the high dosage of Lexapro is making so much serotonin available that the Remeron is being overpowered. You could look at increasing the Remeron, I suppose, but if the Lexapro is causing these side effects plus the racing thought problems, and is not dealing that effectively with the OCD, anyway, I would frankly look at reducing the dosage or trying something else if I were in your place.Todd
Posted by stressed on October 2, 2004, at 21:07:29
In reply to Re: Advice Please!! Is 60mg of Lexapro to high? » BRC, posted by King Vultan on October 2, 2004, at 10:42:30
Just reading your post and I do know that my daughter's doc. told us that in order to treat OCD, you have to go higher on a Lexapro dosage. She was taking 40, and starting to go up to 50 when the weight started piling on. She's off that, and on Wellbutrin now. Taking Topamax for binge eating (OCD) and we'll see how that goes. Good luck.
Posted by Shadowplayers721 on October 4, 2004, at 20:25:00
In reply to Advice Please!! Is 60mg of Lexapro to high?, posted by BRC on October 1, 2004, at 15:57:28
I am on 10 mg of Lexapro. One day, I took two 10 mg by mistake. I was very irritable. I don't know about you. But, I think this amount of Lexapro is way too much. I know that I couldn't tolerate 20 mg let alone 60 mg.
Posted by invisiblemanpa on October 6, 2004, at 7:13:09
In reply to Re: Advice Please!! Is 60mg of Lexapro to high?, posted by Shadowplayers721 on October 4, 2004, at 20:25:00
I am also on 30 mg of Remeron, which was added to boost Effexor xr and 4 mg Klonopin. I am weaning myself off of the Effexor as it really made my depression much worse at 225 mg....I was going to ask to try Lexapro ..because I also have GA / Socail Anxiety...and geez their web page just sounded so promising! ...now all of the Lexapro postings are scaring me off.......I read an article last night from the author that wrote something like.."Prozac Nation??"..it was scary to read about the increase in suicide, hospitalization, violent crimes, etc. after people had been put on Prozac and as she described everything else (zoloft etc.) as Prozac 1, Prozac 2, Prozac 3.....it was like Phil Hartman's wife (zoloft)...Columbine (Luxor?)..etc.etc...Are we helping ourselves or destroying our health in the long run. I can honestly say that the only meds that I have had a true and helpful response for me have been the benzos...Sorry for babbling...
Ed
Posted by nolegirl323 on July 5, 2006, at 19:19:55
In reply to Re: Advice Please!! Is 60mg of Lexapro to high?, posted by invisiblemanpa on October 6, 2004, at 7:13:09
I was glad to stumble upon your post. I have the same general symptoms as you do (plus anorexia/bulimia) and my pdoc just bumped me from 20 mg's of lexapro to 40 mg's and I was worried that this was too high of a dosage...
I keep reading all over the net, and am unable to find any difinitive answer to the age old 'how much is too much' question..
I also take 4 mg's of xanax XR + 12.5 mg's of ambien CR..
I'll let you know how this 40 mg's affects me, hopefully I don't put on 40 lbs like my friend's mother did; with my eating disorder and all that would be REALLY BAD.
This is the end of the thread.
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