Cipralex and Clonazepam

[sunnidee]

I was on 10mg of cipralex for about 4 years with great results with having an anxiety disorder since I was really young. After feeling great for so long, I decided to stop taking my cipralex. I did not have any withdrawal symptoms minus being a little more emotional and was feeling great for about 4 months.

Then with the stressors of life, I had a break down and my anxiety was just as bad as it was before I started cipralex. My doctor put me back on cipralex and I started back on my 10mg. 6 weeks in, I'm still struggling. Constantly crying, no interest in doing anything, constant stomach ache, lack of appetite, constant fear and worry about everything!

Going back to my doctor, he upped my dose of ciprelax to 20mg and prescribed me 0.25mg of clonazepam AM and 0.5mg before bed if needed. I have been taking my upped dose for 3 days now and I feel like the clonazepam has taken the edge off (I am now able to eat and don't feel that knot in my stomach) but my worries are still there. I fear of doing the simplest things like going to the store. I have taken a few days off of work to kind of pull myself together but I'm starting to fear going back with my anxiety.

Has anyone had to up their dosage of their SSRI and when they started to feel the difference?
Any advice would be helpful. I feel so alone with this.

[Otherside]

SSRI's don't generally kick in for a few weeks, even when you up the dose and they do have a habit of making you worse before you feel better. Give it some time, see if it fades. Six weeks was long enough that it should begun to work if it was going to, but give the upped dose some time to work.

I fear of doing the simplest things like going to the store. I have taken a few days off of work to kind of pull myself together but I'm starting to fear going back with my anxiety.

Do what you can. Some people will tell you that the longer you avoid things, the worse the anxiety will be, and whilst that is true, if you need to take a short time off to get things under control, then do what you need to, and take the time off. Work on getting better.

Also, have you tried therapy? Meds can help a lot, but CBT/counselling could help you learn to handle the anxiety and panic.

And from a person who has had problems with anxiety