ssri dosage increase

When can I expect to feel positive effects from a dosage increase of an ssri? I have been on celexa for 8 weeks, slowly going up from 5 to 20 mg. I've been on 20 mg for 7 days and still feel anxious...how long does it take for a new dosage to yield positive effects?

[lynn57]

I take 60 mgs of Celexa per day.  40 mgs did the trick until I tapered off Klonopin.  I now take a small dose of that as well.  When my dosage got increased it took about three weeks to see a difference.  In fact I had a little bit of an increase in my anxiety at first.  I went from 20 mgs to 40 then ended up at 60mgs.  Each time it took about three weeks for the higher dose to help.  I am assuming your slow increase is due to side-effects, otherwise you could probably increase a little more on each increment.  It's gonna take awhile but it's worth it.  Stick with it.

[cj29]

It can take around a month in my experience with SSRIs like Celexa.  Meds like these will affect people in different ways, however, I have had a positive experience with them.  I think another thing you should be doing (if you are not already) is going through counseling to confront and learn about your anxiety.  In my opinion, medications like Celexa are a great tool to use while you are going through therapy.  While they will not 'cure' you of anything, they helped me tremendously.

I did notice I would have an increase in my anxiety whenever I would start, stop, or adjust dosage (under a doctor's supervision of course), but after I adjusted to it, it worked well.  Keep us posted!