dear Brodie, welcome to the site.
This can be a very common problem, and by saying this it doesn't mean that it's easy to be rectified.
What can happen is that the medication hits us so fast and the effects are so immediate that our mind is taken away so fast that it takes takes our thoughts away from what we were doing, and I can relate to this.
When I was put on another type of medication and this includes antidepressants it took my mind off my alcohol drinking, as I used it to self medicate, but the doctor or trained medical staff told me that I couldn't drink with type of medication, so I didn't.
I would gather that your gambling and alcohol would go hand in hand, and if either your doctor or medical staff told you what they told me then both would stop, but after awhile it does become of what are you going to do to fill this empty hole that once was filled by gambling and drinking.
I'm not sure whether you are working or at uni, never the less there is going to be spare time that you need to be doing something else, and there are so many different choices such as picking up a hobbie, taking up a sport, start a course that you takes your fancy, but this has to be something that really involves you.
What ever you decide on doing it must be something that you really like, so that it takes your mind off the gambling/drinking.
Getting back to your first part about increasing the dosage, is that it went for me in that the increase kicked in pretty quickly and after a week I knew whether it was working or it wasn't.
It does differ with some people that the increase has no affect, and if this happens then you have to go back to your doctor and it will be changed.
I really hope that you can keep us involved with how you are going. Geoff.
