Q: What dose of LEXAPRO should a patient start with and how do you know if the dosage should be increased or decreased? When the dosage is increased or decreased, what does that do to the body and what does it feel like? What are the minimum and maximum dosages?

A: Most patients are started at 10 mg/day. Some patients might be started at 5 mg (especially those with severe anxiety disorder, or who are old or ill from other medical conditions), but most start at one 10 mg tablet. The medication is taken once a day, most commonly in the morning, but some prefer to take it in the evening or at noontime.

For all patients, 10 mg/day is the recommended starting dose of LEXAPRO. 10 mg/day is also the maintenance dose for many patients. If the dose is increased to 20 mg/day, this should occur after a minimum of 1 week. LEXAPRO can be taken morning or evening once daily, with or without food.

Your doctor may suggest a decrease in dosage if you experience side effects that do not go away after approximately 2 weeks. (Most side effects, like nausea, indigestion, diarrhea, headache, slight increase in anxiety, do go away within 2 weeks).

Once the side effects disappear, they usually do not return. However, if your physician recommends increasing your dose, the side effect may return for a brief period of time (usually no more than a day or two).

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