TroubledThoughts: Lamictal Overdose/Withdrawal?

[TroubledThoughts]

Hello,

I am 24 years old, and am currently going through what I think are Lamictal withdrawals. My story is rather long and complicated, so I will try to sum it up as best I can. If anyone wants me to explain anything further, I can do that as well.

I was diagnosed Bipolar II in 2010 at 18 yeara old, and was prescribed Lexapro, Seroquel, Vyvanse, and Klonopin. I immediately felt like a zombie, and stopped taking everything but the Lexapro.

Fast forward to May of 2016, I am only on 5mg of Lexapro now and feeling rather depressed. My new psychiatrist wants to try a mood stabilizer (I have always fought against doctors wanting to add new drugs to my cocktail). Unfortunately, my parents convinced me that a new pill would be the answer, and I started up on 25mg of Lamictal.

For two weeks I took that and felt alright, a slight improvement I guess. Two weeks later I bumped up to 50mg and started noticing a decent improvement, but also some pretty noticeable side effects. Two weeks later, I upped the dose to 100mg, and the next day felt absolutely horrible.

I got terrible flu like symptoms, rash on my hands and feet, swollen glands, spread throat, stomach pains, etc. I went to the hospital and they said it was just a virus. I continued to take 100mg of Lamictal. Two days later, the rash had now spread to my whole body and was extremely itchy. I went back to the ER, and again they said it was just a virus and had nothing to do with Lamictal.

I took it upon myself to stop taking 100mg that day (June 5, 2016). The rash went away almost immediately, but the withdrawal symptoms were unbelievably overwhelming so I reinstated 50mg three days later when I couldn't take it anymore.

I stabilized for two weeks on 50mg, until I got yet another itchy rash, this titem accompanied with a very dizzy headache and a lot of cognition problems. I stopped cold turkey again, and made it three days before needing to reinstate 25mg as the withdrawal was too much to handle. I then stayed on 25mg for a week (still feeling absolutely horrible the whole time). I experienced insomnia (jerked myself awake every time I was about to fall asleep), rapid heart beat, extreme anxiety, worse depression then I've ever had before, zero appetite (lost 13 pounds and am already underweight), dizziness, terrible brain fog, confusion, memory loss, dp/dr, shakiness under the skin, back and neck pain, extreme fatigue, bouts of crying, extreme anger, and much more.

After trying to stabilize at 25mg for that week, both my pDoc and GP told me just to stop the 25mg as it wasn't making anything better and I was past the worst of it. They also prescribed me 2 weeks of Klonopin as I basically hadn't slept the past week.

I took my last pill of Lamictal on July 1, 2016.

It's now been two weeks since taking my last pill, and I'm not sure if I feel any better. One moment I feel alright and think I can push through, the next minute I feel like it's going to last forever and I should reinstate a small dose and try to stabilize there first. Then I think I've already made it through 14 days with no pills, and my symptoms are not nearly as bad as they were when I was taking 25mg of Lamictal at the end of the taper.

The first week after stopping Lamictal I felt rather depressed, but somehow still hopeful that things would get better. I still had a very rapid heart rate, trouble sleeping, dizziness, and feeling generally uneasy, but it wasn't too bad at all. This second week has been somehow harder though, and I feel like I don't know what to do. I am now pretty dizzy all the time, my loss of appetite is back, and I usually feel pretty depressed and hopeless about the future. I also have almost no interest in anything that used to bring me happiness. It's getting somewhat overwhelming and I don't know what to do anymore. Should I just keep fighting?

Both my mother and my pDoc think that I should keep pushing through and eventually things will get better. I want to believe that but I feel like my hope is fleeting me each day that I wake up and feel the same.

I also am very addicted/dependant on Marijuana, and use it to sleep, eat, stop anxiety, feel better, etc. However, after this whole issue whenever I smoke it makes everything a million times worse. Unfortunately, when I don't smoke, all I can think about is smoking pot and that it will make me feel better. So I then proceed to smoke, feel worse, and then painfully sober up until I go through the whole process again. I want to stop smoking altogether, and have tried hundreds of times, but have never made it more than a few days before I feel like I'm losing my mind.

I was taking .25mg of Klonopin 2x/day these past two weeks, but have decided to stop that now as I don't want to become dependant on it.

I have also been meditating, eating healthy (when I do eat), trying to stay positive, trying to exercise and stay busy, got myself on a sleep schedule, and want to start taking some supplements. None of these things I was doing before all of this. I also scheduled an appointment with a talk therapist (as I feel I have some deep rooted issues causing my anxiety/depression) and with a Neurofeedback Center (in hopes of lessening my anxiety/depression, reducing pot addiction, and resetting my brain to its natural state).

If anyone could offer any insight or advice or experience with anything I've been going through I would be extremely grateful.

Right now I have so many concerns I don't even know where to start. Should I continue pushing through the Lamictal withdrawals in hopes the symptoms will reside soon? Should I reinstate any amount of Lamictal to stop the withdrawals symptoms? But couldn't that cause worse symptoms like it did when I was on Lamictal in the first place? Should I keep taking the Klonopin to help with anxiety/sleep or should I stop? Should I just cold turkey stop or try and taper down the Klonopin? Is it possible to already be dependant on Klonopin after only two weeks? I feel as though I may be dependant on it to sleep.

Sorry for the long post, I'm not sure if that's alright, but I've been holding this in for a while and am not really sure where else to turn.

Edited July 19, 2016 by scallywag
add tags

[TroubledThoughts]

Anyone?

[scallywag]

TT: Just a quick message to let you know that I've seen your post and intro.  I'll be drafting a longer reply and then posting it. Stay tuned to this space.

[TroubledThoughts]

Thank you!

[scallywag]

TT
 
First things first, your current prescriptions: Is this correct?

• 5 mg Lexapro once per day
• 0.25 mg Klonopin (clonazepam) 2 times daily

If yes, please confirm and post the times of day you take them.
 
If no, please provide the correct drugs and dosages and times you take them.
 
 

About the klonopin: Do not make any changes.
 

Our brains adapt very quickly to these powerful substances. It's possible that you are already dependent on it after 2 weeks.

 

You're already dealing with symptoms from the introduction of lamictal, bouncing up and down in dosage and then discontinuing it. Making any changes to your klonopin dosing will almost certainly worsen your symptoms.

 

If you want to get through this with the least ongoing disruption to your life and functioning, please keep your Klonopin dosage constant. Do not make any changes.

 

 

The rash from Lamictal:
 

The Lamictal rash is a well-known adverse effect.  So well known that the FDA has compelled the manufacturer to include a warning in both the information for patients and medical professionals: If a rash occurs, discontinue taking Lamictal. Your prescribing doctor should have advised you of this possibility and of the actions to take. At some point,

 

Had your own docs or ER docs caught this, you would have been saved several weeks of distress and suffering.

 

When you're feeling well enough, you might wish to

• have a discussion with the doc who prescribed you Lamictal and tell him/her what happened to you and that you're major-league pi**ed off that s/he as a medical professional you trusted didn't advise you about the rash. They only learn from their mistakes if we tell them. It's absolutely rotten that we're the ones that pay the price for their bad advice.
   
• inform the head of the ER department about his staff's mistreatment of you and to suggest that his docs review the Physician's Desk Reference before making declarations about the non-existence of drug side effects.  Okay, maybe not the second part that's my sarcastic, snotty side showing.

 

Reading assignments of topics relevant to your situation:

Introduction to antidepressant withdrawal syndrome

What is withdrawal syndrome

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

Tips for tapering off Lamictal (lamotrigine)

Tips for tapering off Lexapro (escitalopram)

Please read those topics. Browse the forum, particularly Symptoms & self-care; there are many discussion threads where members have posted about specific symptoms and what has helped ease or resolve the symptom.

This is YOUR introduction topic -- the place for you to ask questions, record symptoms, share your progress, and connect with other members of the SA community.

[TroubledThoughts]

Hello Scallywag,

 

My current prescriptions are 5mg Lexapro in the AM and .25mg of Klonopin 2x/day.

 

Three days ago I dropped to .125mg 2x/day, two days ago I dropped to .125mg just at night, and yesterday I didn't take any at all.

 

I don't have any Klonopin left besides a single .125mg chunk, which I just took now. I will contact my psych and ask her for more Klonopin... I am just extremely nervous that I'm going to make it through Lamictal withdrawals and then have to go through it all again with Klonopin.

 

I slept well last night (almost better than with the Klonopin) and woke up with more energy than usual.

 

My dizziness is also getting much worse as the day is progressing.

 

Yesterday, I also started taking a multivitamin and Omega-3 in the morning, and Magnesium (Calm) before bed.

 

Any thoughts on reinstating Lamictal?

 

And should I go back to .25mg 2x/day of Klonopin?

[TroubledThoughts]

I would also like to share that my Pdoc did warn me about the rash, and that's why I went to the hospital both times I got it.

 

She was just listening to the ER doctors who told her it was not Steven Johnsons rash, and that it was just a virus. After the second hospital visit, she wanted me off Lamictal immediately because she was concerned the rash was from the meds (even though the ER again said it was just a virus).

 

She told me to stop taking it immediately, which I tried for three days, and then could not handle the withdrawals so I went back on at a lower dose. After trying to stabilize at the lower dose (50mg) before tapering anymore, I got another rash. I therefore quit c/t once again, made it three days and the withdrawal was overwhelming, so I went back on 25mg. I stayed on 25mg for a week until I was feeling "somewhat alright" at which time my Pdoc told me to stop taking it again, as she thought the Lamictal itself was causing side effects, not withdrawal.

 

I listened to her and it has now been 15 days since I took any Lamictal.

 

Those 15 days I was also taking .25mg or .5mg of Klonopin a day, depending on how I was feeling. I was told I wouldn't become dependant from just two weeks, which is why I tried to stop them.

[TroubledThoughts]

I have read all those topics before, and know I tapered way too fast, but since I had a life or death rash going on, I really had no choice.

 

I'm just wondering if there's anything I can do to help the withdrawal symptoms, or if reinstating a small dose of Lamictal will have any benefit.

 

I've tried supplements, exercising, eating right, meditating, getting a set sleep schedule, and making a daily routine, but nothing seems to be helping.

[TroubledThoughts]

It's now been about two hours since I took .125mg of Klonopin and I feel it has definitely knocked back some of the dizziness and anxiety I was feeling. Does this mean I was experiencing Klonopin withdrawal? Is it just placebo effect? Who knows but I have contacted my Pdoc asking for a refill and will go back on it.

 

Should I reinstate .125mg 2x/day or .25mg 2x/day.

 

The past two weeks I haven't really been taking it consistently, as it was more of an as needed basis. Some days I took just .25mg total, some days it was probably .75mg or 1mg. I went through 16 .5mg pills in about 10 days time. Then the past 5 days have given the pills to my mom and been taking them on a regular basis.

 

Yesterday was the first day I went without a pill, and this morning I felt pretty awful, yet still bearable.

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Troubled.

 

Yes, you had the notorious rash from lamotrigine and the ER didn't recognize it. I agree with scallywag, this warrants a strong complaint to the hospital.

 

It is also well-known that the rash results from increasing lamotrigine too fast. Your psychiatrist should have been able to diagnose it without a trip to the ER.

 

Keeping intake of your other drugs stable is very important right now, so as to minimize confounding factors when interpreting your symptoms.

 

If you take Klonopin consistently, it's likely you will become dependent on it, but you can taper it later.

 

It's up to you if you want to take a little lamotrigine to reduce the withdrawal symptoms, even 5mg might help without triggering the rash. For dosing info, see Tips for tapering off Lamictal (lamotrigine)

 

Your bipolar diagnosis might well be wrong, it's a very common misdiagnosis.

[TroubledThoughts]

Okay so I had another appointment with my Pdoc today, and told her how I felt. She basically had nothing to offer besides that I am super sensitive to meds... thanks doc. She did prescribe me another script of Klonopin though so I can try to stabilize on that.

 

I'm not sure what dosage I should try to stabilize on though. I guess I'll start with .125mg 2x/day and see how that goes?

 

I'm feeling definitely better after taking a .25mg of Klonopin midday, but it did make me feel rather loopy as well. Maybe .125mg in the AM and .25mg in the PM?

 

I am just trying to find the right dosage so I can stabilize and make sure the Lamictal is out of my system.

 

I probably will not reinstate any Lamictal by now since it's been 15 days already and I feel like I'm past the worst of it.

 

I think these last few days have been getting worse because I've been cutting the dosage of Klonopin pretty rapidly, since I was running out of pills.

 

Does this make sense to anyone?

[Altostrata]

You're feeling better because of the Klonopin. It's up to you to decide if you want to become dependent on that or go back to lamotrigine.

 

Your pdoc should have known immediately you were suffering a lamotrigine rash. She's just making an excuse for herself.

 

If I were you, I would choose the lowest effective dosage, as it will be less for you to taper later. You'll have to listen to your body to determine the dosage that's right for you.

 

0.125mg in the a.m. and 0.125mg in the p.m. might be sufficient.

 

Post in our benzo forum http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/forum/29-members-only-benzo-tapering-discussion/for more information.

[TroubledThoughts]

You're feeling better because of the Klonopin. It's up to you to decide if you want to become dependent on that or go back to lamotrigine.

 

Your pdoc should have known immediately you were suffering a lamotrigine rash. She's just making an excuse for herself.

 

If I were you, I would choose the lowest effective dosage, as it will be less for you to taper later. You'll have to listen to your body to determine the dosage that's right for you.

 

0.125mg in the a.m. and 0.125mg in the p.m. might be sufficient.

 

Post in our benzo forum http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/forum/29-members-only-benzo-tapering-discussion/for more information.

So you don't think I'm already dependant on Klonopin? Would it be wise to just stop taking it then and deal with all the withdrawal at once?

 

The only reason I'm reinstating is because I was told it would make my situation easier. I don't want to become dependant on Klonopin (although I feel I might already be dependant on it). If I don't take it for a day I feel horrible.

 

You're saying it's possible this is still just the Lamictal withdrawal and the Klonopin is just masking it?

 

If that's the case I'd rather deal with Lamictal withdrawals and drop the Klonopin altogether.

[Altostrata]

If you feel horrible in a new way when you don't take Klonopin, you are dependent on it.

 

It could be the Klonopin is masking lamotrigine withdrawal, but now you're stuck on it, it doesn't make sense to take 2 drugs when one will do.

[TroubledThoughts]

If you feel horrible in a new way when you don't take Klonopin, you are dependent on it.

 

It could be the Klonopin is masking lamotrigine withdrawal, but now you're stuck on it, it doesn't make sense to take 2 drugs when one will do.

Hi Altostrata, sorry if I'm not understanding. I do feel I'm already dependant on Klonopin. I don't want to be on any drugs at all.

 

When you say "now you're stuck on it, it doesn't make sense to take two drugs when one will do", what do you mean?

 

I feel like you're saying I'm already dependant on it (which I agree with) in which case I wouldn't be able to just stop taking it? I'm not sure which two drugs you mean, as I have already stopped the Lamictal?

 

If you could explain a little more I would be very appreciative. I just want to make the right decisions now as I haven't been making the right ones in the past.

[scallywag]

TT:  You are dealing with symptoms that resulted from your Lamictal experiences, symptoms of a destabilized central nervous system trying (CNS) to restore itself. The Klonopin may be covering up the effects of the recent discontinuation of Lamictal.

 

If you're finding that you are functioning reasonably well on your current dose of Klonopin, there's no need to reinstate lamictal at any dose. It's good that your pDoc has given you a new prescription so that you don't have to just stop taking it.  You'll get good information about tapering the K in the benzo topics. forum. 

[Altostrata]

Yes, you are dependent on Klonopin, you will not be able to simply stop taking it without making yourself very sick. You will need to taper it.

 

For the time being, it is "treating" the lamotrigine withdrawal.

[TroubledThoughts]

Okay so I am definitely not going to reinstate any Lamictal at this point, as I feel those withdrawals are somewhat mild now and reinstating would just draw things out even longer.

 

I've posted in the Benzo forum asking for advice on tapering my Klonopin use. I'm just concerned I'm going to be tapering for a month or so... turning my three week benzo dependancy into a two month dependancy (if the taper goes smoothly). Is anyone else concerned about this?

 

I'm sure the Klonopin was masking some of the Lamictal withdrawals (that's why I started it in the first place), which is probably why I'm feeling pretty terrible when I stop taking it.

 

Not only am I feeling the Lamictal withdrawal again, but now a Klonopin withdrawal on top of it.

 

I started neurofeedback yesterday and have very high hopes for that. I've also been eating healthier, trying to set a sleep schedule, meditating, and getting some light exercise.

 

Generally still feeling like crap, but at least since reinstating the Klonopin I can function again.

[scallywag]

TT: Most of us are concerned about the length of time it takes to taper off these drugs.  It's so easy to get started on them -- get a prescription, get it filled and away we go.

 

Surgery and other medical procedures require informed consent; the same needs to be applied universally for pharmaceutical treatments.  Maybe we would have made the same choices but at least it would have been an educated decision.

[TroubledThoughts]

I totally agree with your opinion on signing some sort of release... then at least I couldn't go blaming my doctor or anyone for putting me on it. And don't even get me started about the overmedicated children in foster care in this country. It really is an epidemic.

 

So I guess I've come to the conclusion that Im going to have to taper the Klonopin, but since I've only been on it for a short while I may be able to push it a little faster.

 

If I'm consistently dropping dosages over the next few weeks/month, do you guys think that makes sense? Would I become more dependant on it even though I'm dropping dosages?

 

I tried stopping cold turkey and the dizziness and dp/dr was pretty overwhelming, so that's probably not a smart move.

 

If I'm already dependant on the Klonopin am I stuck with a long taper anyway? Is there any way to taper off without getting any withdrawal effects?

 

After going through Lamictal withdrawals basically cold turkey, I really want to manage my Klonopin withdrawals much better. My main concern now is deciding the speed at which to taper; I want to go nice and slow (since that seems to alleviate a lot of the withdrawal symptoms), without dragging out my dependancy and thereby making the withdrawals worse.

 

Sorry for being confusing... as I'm sure you can tell I have a problem with over thinking everything. I'm working on that with a therapist as well.

[scallywag]

TT:

 

Maybe my conservatism on this comes from having done a number of crash-and-burn sort of things in my life, but I now struggle to understand why anyone would trade a slow uneventful taper that allows higher functioning and poses lower risk for a faster, riskier taper.

 

It's a choice that only you can make: 

• follow the recommended taper that's longer but poses fewer risks (Ashton)
  --- or ---
• taper faster, assume the increased risk, deal with fast taper symptoms if they arise.

It sounds as if more investigation into the risks and benefits is in your near future. You've posted in the benzo forum.  Read some of the threads from start to finish. For sure there are people who have tapered Klonopin -- why not learn from them?

[TroubledThoughts]

It seems that everyone seems to be telling me that I should just take it slow and steady, so that I can still function on a day to day basis. That makes a lot of sense... my personality usually just wants things to change immediately, but it looks like that won't happen in withdrawal.

 

I think I was probably just being hopeful that maybe I wasn't already dependant on Klonopin and could get off before doing any real damage, but it seems I'm already past that point.

 

For now it seems like the only thing that sounds appealing is to do a slow taper and minimize withdrawal symptoms. I never want to go through a cold turkey / too fast of a withdrawal again. My CNS is still in complete disarray after doing that with Lamictal... it makes sense not to further destabilize everything by rushing off of Klonopin.

 

I'll spend some time reading the Benzo forums... it just seems whenever I get into it, there doesn't seem to be much "success" in terms of getting off Klonopin. Most of what I read is people months after they've stopped taking it and are still feeling the effects of withdrawals... granted most have been on higher dosages for much longer than I have.

 

It just makes me nervous that I'll be stuck on this stuff forever if it's only been a few weeks and I'm having this hard of a time getting off of it.

 

To bring it all back around again, I guess that's why a slow taper makes sense. Going slowly over time shoul make it easier for my body to make adjustments.

[scallywag]

You won't be stuck on klonopin forever. You just need to reduce it slowly.

I like analogies. If you do, here's one that might be helpful:
 

Think of the Saphris (or any drug for that matter) as a wolf or a bear.

When you are in the wild and you encounter one of these things, the FIRST thing you must do is: KEEP CALM. (yeah, I know, the meme and all, but it's true) The next thing you do is DON'T MOVE!

If it is a total standoff and you want to get away, you CANNOT run. It's you and the bear. If you run, the bear and wolf have a hard-wired instinct to chase, and you will lose.

The goal in a standoff with a bear is to sneak.

That's what a taper is. Sneaking away from the wolf. You've seen a cat stalk - it waits until the prey is not looking, then moves a bit (maybe 10%?) then it waits. And waits. And waits. Holding will save your life, when you are in a standoff with a bear. And Saprhis and olanzapine are a bear and a wolf respectively!

Before, you dropped your berries and ran away, and the bear caught up to you. Didn't work.

The goal is to sneak the drug out of your system sooooooo slowly that your brain hardly notices it's gone. And doesn't chuck a wobbly like before.

[JanCarol]

Hey Thoughts - 

 

 

 

It seems that everyone seems to be telling me that I should just take it slow and steady, so that I can still function on a day to day basis. That makes a lot of sense... my personality usually just wants things to change immediately, but it looks like that won't happen in withdrawal.

 

This is wise awareness.

 

 

 

To bring it all back around again, I guess that's why a slow taper makes sense. Going slowly over time shoul make it easier for my body to make adjustments. 

 

You got it!  

 

Tapering slowly puts you in the driver's seat instead of the drug, believe it or not.  You can choose when to have symptoms, and when to stay the same.  The good news is, the lower your doses go, the more like "yourself" you will feel.

 

It would be a good idea, too, to learn some Non Drug Techniques for Coping with Emotional Symptoms and set up some practices to help manage your own mood.

 

Just a brief comment on your impulsive cannabis habit - lexapro is pretty famous for lowering your impulse control, and even inducing impulsive behaviour (like shoplifting, gambling, etc.).  I haven't seen this for pot, but it's something to consider in your chemical mix.  It may be that, after you've come off the klonopin, you might choose to come off the lexapro and maybe find that you're not as addicted as you thought you were.  

 

There are others on SA who have greater experience with this "impulsive" side of lex, I just thought I'd mention it to you.  

 

I'm glad you found us, and you are able to get help on our benzo forum before it went on too long, or the withdrawals got worse.  It can get better from here.

[TroubledThoughts]

Hey Jan!

 

Thanks for commenting, I appreciate it. I think I'm finally starting to accept the fact that I can't rush this, as that just makes everything worse. I was definitely just hoping I could get off quick before becoming dependant on Klonopin, but it looks like that ship has already sailed.

 

As for the impulse control with Lex... that does make sense. I have absolutely no stop button for anything I do (pot, alcohol, video games, eating, music, etc.). Once I get into something I become obsessed and have a hard time doing anything in moderation. You're saying this could be from the Lexapro? I always thought it was just part of my bipolar diagnosis.

 

I know that diagnosis was made 6 years ago, by a rather incompetent doctor, but it's been reconfirmed by a few others as well.

 

I've also been doing some research and it seems that I display a lot of the signs of bipolar type II. I have spent most of my life extremely depressed (no motivation, quit jobs, hardly eat, withdraw from social activity, low energy, sleeping a ton, and almost nothing brings me joy. Then seemingly out of nowhere I'll get a ton of energy, won't have to sleep nearly at all, feel like I can't stop talking or thinking, will start a million different projects but won't finish any of them, and talk/think about how I'm going to move our and get a job and change the world. And then before I know it, I'm back to depressed, stopped going to my job, stopped answering friends, stopped paying bills, etc. And this has basically been my whole life.

 

I used to have a ton of friends but almost none of them answer me anymore (and I can't figure out why). I find it impossible to get a job because I know I'll just end up not going one day. I'm losing a little but of hope here that I will just be like this forever.

 

P.S. This has been happening my whole life, long before any medicine was introduced.

[TroubledThoughts]

Hey everyone,

 

Just a quick update. It's now been 3 weeks since I took my last dose of Lamictal, and I am definitely having some "normal" days here and there which is awesome. Definitely not 100%, but light years better than I was 3 weeks ago.

 

As for the Klonopin, I stupidly tried to do a rapid taper again (which obviously failed) so I have reinstated and will be doing a much slower taper from here on out.

 

Thanks again for all the responses, you guys really helped me to keep my head on straight when I was going through the worst few weeks of my life!

[TroubledThoughts]

Hey everyone, I was here two years ago and am now having some new problems. I am 25 years old by the way. 

 

I had also taken Klonopin to get through the Lamictal withdrawals and had a very tough time getting off of them. That thread is Here

 

I eventually got through all that and was doing fine. I have been taking Lexapro for 8 years now, and have been slowly tapering since those last two posts. I dropped down to 2.5mg a day for the past few months, and then ran into some problems. In December I stopped completely for about a week and felt fine. I then got surprised with a vacation, so I went back on the 2.5mg every other day so I didn't get hit with withdrawal in a different country.

 

Everything was fine until I got back home at the end of January. I started doing research and came across PSSD which really freaked me out since I had been noticing I was having a lot more trouble in bed which never used to be a problem. In somewhat of a rash decision I threw out all my Lexapro and stopped taking it.

 

That was about 4 or 5 weeks ago. At first I felt a little weird, just generally uneasy and anxious and depressed, but it was bearable. Could overcome it most times and make myself happy and I thought I could get through it. Also had some heart palpitations, was pretty tired, emotionally dull, but still went out and worked and hung out with my friends.

 

Recently however, I've been getting many different things. I have a heavy head almost all the time, I am super dizzy, have a very hard time concentrating, feeling kind of down and doomed all the time, plus all the things I had before. I also feel like I'm going to cry all the time, it feels like I'm shaking inside, my back and neck are tense and weird feeling, muscles are weak, etc. 

 

The past few days I've really only been able to sit in my dad's office and help him with minor things. I wake up and have the hardest time getting out of bed. I can't tell if things are getting worse but it feels like they are. 

 

I am highly considering going back onto maybe 1.25mg of Lexapro in hopes that I can get stable again and then try tapering extremely slowly. I really don't think I can handle going through this withdrawal for the months or years that I see a lot of people on here have to deal with. I know everyone says it will eventually end but it honestly does not feel like that right now.

 

Does anyone have advice? Similar experiences? Has anyone ever reinstated successfully? I really just need advice from anyone who can give it at this point, I'm starting to get very scared.

 

Edited March 10, 2018 by ChessieCat
removed unnecessary link

[ChessieCat]

I've merged your new Intro post with your original Intro.  Each member has only 1 Intro topic where they can ask questions and journal their progress.  Please do not create any more Intro topics.  Thank you.

[ChessieCat]

Your drug signature contains a lot of unnecessary information.  Please leave out symptoms and diagnoses.  Just dates, drugs, doses please.  Please also update it whenever you make a change so it remains current.

 

This is the preferred format which allows the mods to glance at your signature and see your drug history without having to read back through your topics.  Thank you.

 

A request: Would you summarize your history in a signature - ALL drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-24 months particularly?

• Please leave out symptoms and diagnoses.
• A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs. 

• Any drugs prior to 24 months ago can just be listed with start and stop years.
• Please use actual dates or approximate dates (mid-June, Late October) rather than relative time frames (last week, 3 months ago)
• Spell out months, e.g. "October" or "Oct."; 9/1/2016 can be interpreted as Jan. 9, 2016 or Sept. 1, 2016.
• Link to Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

 

Edited March 10, 2018 by ChessieCat

[TroubledThoughts]

 

15 minutes ago, ChessieCat said:

I've merged your new Intro post with your original Intro.  Each member has only 1 Intro topic where they can ask questions and journal their progress.  Please do not create any more Intro topics.  Thank you.

 

Hi sorry, I also changed my signature as well.

[ChessieCat]

11 minutes ago, TroubledThoughts said:

I also changed my signature

 

Thank you.  That is much easier to read.  Please add the date you stopped in January.  Thank you.

 

40 minutes ago, TroubledThoughts said:

I dropped down to 2.5mg a day for the past few months, and then ran into some problems. In December I stopped completely for about a week and felt fine. I then got surprised with a vacation, so I went back on the 2.5mg every other day so I didn't get hit with withdrawal in a different country.

 

Many members find that the lower their dose gets the slower they have to go by tapering less than 10% and/or holding for longer.

 

Escitalopram is one of the strongest antidepressants, so jumping off at 2.5mg 1.25mg was much too high.  Also, skipping days is not recommended because the brain likes consistency.  Skipping Days vs Every Day Dosing Graph  Same dose, about the same time, every day.

 

40 minutes ago, TroubledThoughts said:

I am highly considering going back onto maybe 1.25mg

 

You stopped taking 1.25mg during January (date unknown at the time of my writing).  It has been at least 5 weeks since you have been off the drug.  1.25mg may be too much because your brain will have already made some adaptations whilst you have been off.

 

You might find that a very small amount 0.25mg may be enough to reduce the withdrawal symptoms.  The idea of reinstating isn't to get rid of the withdrawal symptoms completely but to bring them to a tolerable level.  It is better to start with a small amount and increase after about a 1 week to 10 days if you haven't felt any improvement then you would increase by another very small amount.  It takes about 4 days for the dose to get to full state in the blood and a bit longer for it to register in the brain.  You will need to remain patient and not panic and give reinstatement a chance to work.  Keep Notes on Paper so we can see if reinstatement is working.  If your symptoms worsen upon reinstatement you would  discontinue.

 

Please read Post #1 of this topic so you understand the suggestions:  About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

 

Edited March 10, 2018 by ChessieCat

[TroubledThoughts]

I definitely think the jump off was too high, I just got nervous when I read about PSSD. The entire months of December and January I kind of bounced from 2.5mg to 1.25mg cuz I was cutting the pills and couldn't really get them exact. I know you're not supposed to do that looking back, but I was feeling good and had confidence I would get off.

 

So do you think reinstatement would be a good idea? I'm still on the fence since it's already been a month, but the past week has been a little worse than the previous three. Definitely some windows here and there but I feel like there should be more if my withdrawals were starting to go down. 

[ChessieCat]

9 minutes ago, TroubledThoughts said:

So do you think reinstatement would be a good idea?

 

All we can do is give you the information, we can't decide for you.

 

A few times during my taper I had to make a decision about updosing.  The question I asked myself was "can I put up with the symptom if it continues?"  A couple of times I answered "no" so I updosed.  A few times I said "yes" and stayed at the dose I was on.

[TroubledThoughts]

Yes I know you can't decide for me, I understand.

 

Currently I could probably get through what I'm going through now, although I wouldn't be doing much with my life besides watching tv and browsing the web trying not to think about it. 

 

My worry is that it seems like my symptoms are not getting better, and if anything are getting worse.

 

I've read a few posts with people who have been okay for a few months and then get slammed into withdrawals way down the road and I'm nervous that's going to happen to me.

[TroubledThoughts]

Just wondering if anyone has some more advice? I'm really at a loss here

[TroubledThoughts]

I just got a 5mg pill of Lexapro and I guess I'm going to make a liquid and try to take a small dose. I'm very nervous it's going to set me back but my withdrawal symptoms seem to just be getting worse.

 

I'm starting to sleep less, am unbelievably tired during the day, very weak throughout my body, a strange feeling in my back/neck that I can't describe, brain fog, very emotional and want to cry all the time, nervous about leaving my house or being alone.

 

Wish me luck I guess.