I started taking Lexapro 5mg, and my doctor told me that if I felt ok with it to try 10mg. He mentioned interactions. I tried the 10mg and now have trouble sleeping and nausea and jittery. My question is this: Does Lexapro interact with the prot.inhibitors, to increase the amount of Lexapro in the blood? I am on Norvir, Rayataz and Prezista. I ask because the usual starting dose of Lexapro is 10mg, why would he choose 5 to start? I figured if the prot.inhibitors increase the amount of Lexapro in the blood then the 10mg may be like taking 20mg. Is this the case? Also, will these side effects (nausea and insomnia) of the 10mg dose go away like many symptoms do or are they permanent? I can fall asleep but wake up very very early and can't fall asleep again. Thanks for answering these 2 questions.

Protease inhibitors can increase the levels of Lexapro significantly so good clinical practice would be to start at lower than usual dose (5mg ) and observe for 1-2 weeks before increasing. Early side effects from Lexapro can wane after several weeks for many patients. KH