High anxiety after switch from Lexapro to Prozac

Treatment and medication
1

Mid Dec decided to switch from 10mg Lexapro and gradually increased to 40 mg Prozac as of Jan 13.  Waking every am 3:30 with waves of panic attacks which sometimes lessens later in day.  Dr and I trying to decide if lessening to 30 mg Prozac OR switch back to Lexapro 10mg???? Anxiety was definitely better on Lex but depression symptoms were worse. 

Anxiety is terrible and not sleeping past 3:30 or 4 every night😓 Please help if any advice. 

Lynne 

2

Hi Lynne

That early morning panic and can't sleep crap is the worst. Most of us here have experienced it. I'm one of those. Although that seems to be getting better. I'm currently on Lexapro (3 weeks@10mg....6 weeks @20mg). I'm sad a lot, and that's just not me. And I think it's the Lexapro. I dropped back down to 10 for a few days before I transition back to what I used before... effexor XR 75, but this time in the brand. It went generic twice and stopped working. I felt fine on it. But it's the anxiety on Lexapro that it's horrible. This side effect just kept getting worse.

But I think you need to find the equivalent dosage of Lexapro and Prozac. It could be just the fact that your brain is trying to shift gears chemically and the anxiety and panic is what's happening. I would suggest that you talk to your doctor about switching back and forth in such short periods of time. That could cause anxiety. There are other medications out there that work differently. That's why I like effexor xr... It works great for BOTH depression and anxiety. Good luck and keep us posted. You're going to get to the bottom of this, try to breathe and be patient. 🙂

3

Thanks Tammy for your input!  I see dr on Friday and I think I need something different for sleep at night too.  Currently on 7.5 remeron which helps me sleep about 3-4 hours but I have terrible bizarre dreams which stick in my mind for about an hour after I wake up and causes me more anxiety.  Having some success with guided relaxation exercise for the middle of the night but I usually don’t go back to sleep for more than 1/2 hour.  Anyone ever been on remeron and had this experience???