AtiumBurn Posted April 26, 2017 Posted April 26, 2017 Hi all, For my 10% taper, I crush my lexapro and weigh it. I usually weigh on wax paper and then dump it into a scoop of yogurt to ingest. I started my tapering in January and have been more or less sticking to 10% taper every 4-6 weeks. I honestly feel better and better the less I take, but am nervous at this point. My withdrawal the first time from quitting cold turkey was awful. I'm down to 1.82mg and feeling pretty good. Has anyone tried filling gel caps? It would be quicker for me to fill up a bunch of caps instead of weighing every morning. Will the gel caps interfere with the lexapro powder at all? I tried filling one, and am confident I am filling properly. It just looks strange because the powder sticks to the walls of the capsule and gets all dispersed in the cap. Do you think the gel caps affect absorption? Best, Atium 1 year on 5mg lexapro for GAD After a year, 2.5mg for 2 weeks, then quit. Started 1 week later Adderall for adhd Major panic attack after a week of quitting lexapro and starting Adderall. Quit Adderall. Had anxiety attacks for a month, then a major debilitating episode for a week. Started back on 2.5mg lexapro, took 3 months to stabilize. Started 10% taper in January and am down to 1.82mg where I think I'll stay until Sept 2017. Taper is going extremely well.
Administrator Altostrata Posted April 27, 2017 Administrator Posted April 27, 2017 Welcome, Atium. Congratulations on your successful taper. You could put the powder in gel caps, but you would still need to weigh it first to make sure you have an accurate dosage. You might find making a liquid to be easier, see Tips for tapering off Lexapro (escitalopram) This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner. "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein All postings © copyrighted.
nz11 Posted January 24, 2018 Posted January 24, 2018 Atium how's the taper going are you winning? Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing. http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651 Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos. Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you Recovering paxil addict None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped." Dr Mosher. Me too! Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015 I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015 Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017
AtiumBurn Posted January 24, 2018 Author Posted January 24, 2018 Hey there- been meaning to post here for an update. So thanks for the reminder. It's been a little over a year since I reinstated to 2.5 mg and started my slow lexapro taper. The main issues I've had are: Brief slight dizziness Eye dryness and fatigue, especially while driving Driving caused a lot of strain and had been difficult for a few months. Brief moments of anxiety. During my taper, I got married and flew to Europe for 2 weeks, so it's been going ok. Even though I've been pushing through, I'm still not back to where I was pre-lexapro, and do find it a daily struggle with how I'm feeling. Mostly like I'm tired or in a fog, with brief moments of anxiety every other week. So really not that bad. Exercise and red wine at night to relax have been my go tos for relief. I'm finally at the point where I can barely feel the effects of the lexapro, none of that buzzed feeling at peak absorption. I've finally found a good psychiatrist to oversee my taper. They wanted to put me on and taper from Prozac and discontinue lexapro because lexapro has a shorter half life. I really didn't want to risk it, so I told them I wanted to stay my course, and they were ok with it as long as I was tolerating. I'm at .62 mg and my eye strain and fatigue, esp when driving, has decreased significantly. I'm feeling pretty good. Like I said, can barely feel that buzz. I've attached my taper chart if anyone wants to see my course. It wasn't linear, I would stay on a dose until I felt like I normalized. Thanks for checking in. I'm nervous because I'm almost at the end of this long journey and hope I don't crash when I'm done. Cheers, Atium 1 year on 5mg lexapro for GAD After a year, 2.5mg for 2 weeks, then quit. Started 1 week later Adderall for adhd Major panic attack after a week of quitting lexapro and starting Adderall. Quit Adderall. Had anxiety attacks for a month, then a major debilitating episode for a week. Started back on 2.5mg lexapro, took 3 months to stabilize. Started 10% taper in January and am down to 1.82mg where I think I'll stay until Sept 2017. Taper is going extremely well.
nz11 Posted January 25, 2018 Posted January 25, 2018 Wow What a great taper-er you are. Thanks for the update. Congratulations on the marriage too. I notice in your plan that after 0.62 you are dropping by more than 10%. Why not walk this baby right down to the smallest dose going 10% or less. Just a thought i mean you don't want to fall over at the finish line. You might like to checkout the posterboy for tapering brassmonkey see what he did below 1mg it could be helpful . Maybe you can follow in his footsteps. Do keep updating. nz11 Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing. http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651 Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos. Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you Recovering paxil addict None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped." Dr Mosher. Me too! Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015 I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015 Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017
AtiumBurn Posted April 14, 2018 Author Posted April 14, 2018 Hey all, 4 months since last post and going strong. I was able to get liquid lexapro and switch over. No panic attacks, no side effects. Seems like my brain is adjusting well to the 10% drops every week. I cant even feel or notice it anymore. Been exercising a lot as well. I feel 95% back to normal. Currently on .2 mg. At this point i cut .02 until .1 and then continue with .01 cuts. This takes me to july finishing drop by drop. If I'm doing ok With the taper at this low of a dose, can I expect that I won't have the same protracted withdrawal as my last cold turkey? Cheers, Atium 1 year on 5mg lexapro for GAD After a year, 2.5mg for 2 weeks, then quit. Started 1 week later Adderall for adhd Major panic attack after a week of quitting lexapro and starting Adderall. Quit Adderall. Had anxiety attacks for a month, then a major debilitating episode for a week. Started back on 2.5mg lexapro, took 3 months to stabilize. Started 10% taper in January and am down to 1.82mg where I think I'll stay until Sept 2017. Taper is going extremely well.
WarriorWomanLV Posted January 6, 2019 Posted January 6, 2019 Hi Atium, how have you been? Very pleased to read that you were doing well during your taper. Have you reached 0 yet? How did you feel post 0? Prozac (?mg) - March 6, 2017. took it for 6 days and on day 7 had an adverse reaction. I believe it was serotonin syndrome. Lexapro (Escitalopram) 10mg -March 15 , 2017: first dose of Lexapro and stabilized within 3 weeks. -April 19, 2018: began to taper 1 yr from first dose - style of tapering: 10 mg to 5mg (2 months). 5mg to 2.5mg (2-3 weeks) 2.5mg to 1.25mg (2 weeks). 1.25mg every other day (2 weeks). - August 19, 2018: 0mg - felt fine for weeks after 0mg. Had minor panic attacks if I didn't eat every 4 hrs. otherwise felt fine. - Mid September: had teeth extractions done, given antibiotics (ammox) and had severe rash reaction to it, was then given a steroid shot to alleviate the rash. This is when things started to go downhill. - October 4, 2018: intense withdrawal symptoms started 6 weeks after 0 mg. - October 13, 2018: reinstated using the oral solution ( .20mg)/ 10.17.18: .30mg/ 12.8.18: .29mg/12.31.18: .28mg
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