In this blog post, we are going to talk about what one should do if he or she can’t remember taking lexapro. It is an antidepressant which is used to treat a number of mental health illnesses and should be used regularly for desired therapeutic outcomes.

This blog will cover the dangers related to missing a dose or taking more than you should.

What should you do if you don’t remember taking your lexapro?

If you don’t remember taking your lexapro, look for signs or ask someone living with you whether they have seen you taking your med or not. If nothing works for you, it’s best to wait for your next dose because if you have already taken your lexapro, taking another one will result in overdose.

Overdosing on your antidepressant comes with disturbing side effects. You can check your medicine bottle or count your medicines in order to help remember if you have taken your dose or not.

Not remembering if you took your antidepressant is pretty nerve-racking and it leaves you with two choices, missed dose and overdose. Missed dose is considered much better than overdosing on your lexapro.

What happens if you miss a dose?

If you have missed your lexapro dose, you may suffer some unwanted effects. However, this depends on the strength of your dose.

Studies suggest that people on low doses of lexapro won’t feel that much or may get away with little to no side effects, but people on higher doses may experience more pronounced effects.

Several studies also suggest that missing a dose may not cause any symptoms but if you continue to miss your dose, you will be subjected to disturbing symptoms, similar to the symptoms associated with lexapro abrupt withdrawal syndrome. These include:

Muscle cramps
Gastrointestinal side effects
Headaches
Emotional stress or constant crying
Inability to concentrate or think clearly
Forgetfulness
Awkward behaviour
Dizziness and lightheadedness
Chills
Feeling suffocated with excessive sweating
Insomnia or somnolence

Other rare symptoms include:

Brain zaps
Auditory or visual hallucinations
Hypertension
Arrhythmia
Heart palpitations

The above mentioned are possible symptoms of missing a dose. They rely on several factors, including the duration of your antidepressant use and your dose. You will not necessarily go through these symptoms but it is possible for some people to experience them.

If you’re way past the usual time at which you take your med, do not take it. It will cause you to overdose when you take your next dose, which is not too far away. It’s better to skip the missed dose and take the next one. If you remember your missed dose earlier, it’s safe for you to take it.

What happens if you take more than you should?

Overdosing on lexapro depends on a lot of factors. Research shows different responses to overdose. Some people tolerate it pretty well and some find it extremely difficult to deal with the symptoms.

There are two most important elements which can contribute to this variation, your dose and how well you generally tolerate lexapro. The duration of your treatment and the dependence of your body on this antidepressant can also make a huge impact on your symptoms.

Our survey indicated that some people begin to suffer from lightheadedness and weakness right away after missing their lexapro dose, simply because of the prolonged treatment duration and inability of people to do well without their antidepressant.

Following are the symptoms of escitalopram overdose:

Seizures
Unconsciousness or coma
Vertigo
Drowsiness/sleepiness
Hypotension (low blood pressure)
Insomnia or poor quality of sleep
Arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat
Nausea and vomiting

The above mentioned side effects can vary from person to person and are much more pronounced in people taking higher doses of lexapro. People who tolerate lexapro well and are at lower doses might get away with just a little discomfort.

Too much overdose can lead to hospitalisation. Make sure you immediately go to the hospital and properly inform them how much drug has been taken and when.

Is there any way to remember taking your antidepressant?

There are a few tips that might help you remember taking your antidepressant or any other medication that should be taken everyday to produce desired therapeutic outcomes. These include:

Try taking your lexapro at the same time, everyday.

It’s best to take your lexapro at the same time everyday. This way you will perfectly take it ‘once a day’. This practice also makes taking lexapro a part of your routine like other daily life activities and you’re more likely to remember taking it.

Try taking your med with some other daily activity

The best way to always remember taking your med is combining it with your daily activities. For example, if your doctor has advised you to take your lexapro every morning, try taking it with your breakfast.

This way, you will always remember taking it as it becomes a part of your breakfast routine. You can also link your lexapro to some other daily activity.

Seek help from technology and smart gadgets

The use of technology is the easiest way of keeping track of your lexapro. You can set an alarm or a reminder on your phone to help you remember taking your med.

You can also find apps on app stores which can help remember your medication schedule. Studies have revealed that people who put reminders and sticky notes on their phones are more likely to remember taking their med.

Use a pill box

Pill boxes are boxes with small compartments, which are labelled for storing your medication day wise. You can use one for lexapro and fill it up with a week of doses.

In case you forget if you have taken your lexapro or not, you can simply go check your pill box and see if the compartment labelled with the present day is empty or not.

Add it in your to-do-list

If you like crossing things off your to-do-list, you can try adding your antidepressant in it as well. It is advised to do it only if you keep and strictly follow your to-do-list. If not, then this hack will not work for you.

Ensure you never run out of it

Make sure you never have to miss a dose of your lexapro simply because you don’t have it. Always refill your prescriptions on time so you never run out of it.

Turn your bottle upside down

After you’re done taking your lexapro, turn your prescription bottle upside down. Day by day, try to make it a habit so you won’t ever forget doing that. If you forget it someday, just go check the position of your bottle from which you can check whether you’ve taken your medication or not.

Conclusion

In this blog, we have discussed what one should do if he or she can’t remember taking their lexapro. We have also discussed the dangers of missing your dose and how this missed dose sometimes becomes an overdose when people take their missed dose close to their next dose.

Experts suggest that if you’re way past the usual time at which you take your med, do not take it. We have also discussed multiple techniques to help remember taking your dose regularly.

You can set an alarm on your phone or use an app to make sure you don’t forget to take your med. Make sure you properly follow your doctor’s advice to help achieve desired therapeutic goals.

FAQs: can’t remember if i took lexapro

What to do if you can’t remember if you took your Lexapro?

If you don’t remember taking your lexapro, look for signs or ask someone living with you whether they have seen you taking your med or not.

If nothing works for you, it’s best to wait for your next dose because if you have taken your med, taking another one will result in overdose, which comes with disturbing side effects. You can check your medicine bottle or count your medicines in order to help remember if you have taken your dose or not.

What to do if you can’t remember if you took your antidepressant?

If you don’t remember and there’s nothing that can help you remember, it’s better to let it go and not take another dose in order to prevent overdosing.

What happens if you accidentally take 2 antidepressants in one day?

Antidepressants are associated with a lot of side effects on normal doses so it’s safe to say that you will suffer side effects twice as much as your usual dose.

Common overdosing symptoms include excessive sweating, restlessness and fatigue, headache, which often feels like your head is pounding, changes in blood pressure and/or temperature, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, bradycardia, and tremors etc.

These symptoms can vary as different antidepressants are responsible for affecting you in different ways.

How do I remember if I took my pill?

There are a few things you can try to remember taking your pill:

It’s best to take your med at the same time everyday.
You can set an alarm or a reminder on your phone to help you remember taking your med. You can also find apps on app stores which can help remember your medication schedule.
You can use a pill box for your meds and fill it up with a week of doses. In case you forget if you have taken your med or not, you can simply go check your pill box and see if the compartment labelled with the present day is empty or not.
If you like crossing things off your to-do-list, you can try adding your medications in it as well.
Make sure you never have to miss a dose simply because you don’t have it.

Does your brain go back to normal after antidepressants?

Your brain does go back to normal after you stop using antidepressants, but it takes time and this time taken depends on the duration of your antidepressant therapy. It could take up to 10 months to go back to your normal serotonin levels, after long-term antidepressant therapy.

Can you OD on Lexapro and alcohol?

No, you should never OD on lexapro and alcohol. This hangover can make you go through unimaginable side effects.

References

Don’t Mess With Your Antidepressant https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20000504/dont-mess-with-your-antidepressant
Norio Yasui-Furukori, Kojiro Hashimoto, Shoko Tsuchimine, Tetsu Tomita, Norio Sugawara, Masamichi Ishioka, Kazuhiko Nakamura (2016) – Characteristics of Escitalopram Discontinuation Syndrome: A Preliminary Study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27171568/
Lexapro – Uses, Side Effects, and More https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-63990/lexapro-oral/details

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Can’t remember if you took your Lexapro? (5+ Tips that might help)