Suggest Remedy For Anxiety After Increasing Dose Of Zoloft

Posted on Tue, 24 Mar 2015

Question: My meds dr. upped my Zoloft to 150mg and also put me on a very low dose of Abilify( half of a 5mg tab) for 2 days. Then for the next 6 days a I am to take 5mg at night. I can't seem to break the anxiety that I have and although she wants me to take an Ativan at breakfast and one at dinner it tires me and seems to make me fearful. Is this how all these meds work when used together?

Answered by Dr. Shubham Mehta (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
drug change indicated.

Detailed Answer:
Hello
Welcome to HCM.

Your dose of Zoloft has been increased to 150mg. Along with that, you have been prescribed low dose of abilify in night and ativan twice a day.
But you are still anxious and feel tired.

I think the choice of medicines is not appropriate. Therefore you feel such symptoms. The choice of drug should be such that it causes least discomfort and maximum benefit to the person. The minimum the number of drugs, the less is the discomfort.

Dear, I have some suggestions for you:
1. Abilify can precipitate anxiety for initial few days or may be longer in some cases. Also, it is usually not prescribed in night as it can disturb sleep.

2. In my opinion, if drug augmentation is instituted in your case, I would prefer seroquel (if you have not tried it earlier). This drug has excellent anti-anxiety and mood stabilising properties. It will also help you to sleep better in night and thus omit the need of ativan.

3. If you get the feeling of tiredness with ativan, other benzodiazepines with least sedating potiential can be tried like etizolam.

Hope this addresses your concerns satisfactorily.

Feel free to ask further.

Take care.
Thanks.

Dr. Shubham Mehta, MD (Psychiatry).

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Shubham Mehta (51 minutes later)

Dr. Mehta,
Do you think I should see any results after taking Ability for 1 week?

Answered by Dr. Shubham Mehta (10 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
should see some results after 7-10 days of taking abilify.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for the follow-up.

Dear,
Abilify has been approved as an adjunctive treatment for depression.

You should definitely expect some results after 7-10 days of taking abilify.

However, tolerability to abilify is a major issue in some cases.
If your body tolerates the drug, this could prove as a wonderful augmentation strategy as well.

Hope I am able to help you with my answers.

I would be happy to answer if you have more issues to discuss.

I wish you good health.

Thanks.

Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar