Buster: retaking Lexapro

[Buster]

I came off Lexapro myself without doctor approval March 18'.I didnt have many side effects.

The last 2 months my energy levels have gone down and the last 3wks I have been having insomnia.I feel like I could cry, teary eyed a lot.I dont have motivation to clean oretc cook etc.I was diagnosed with Gad 10 yrs ago.When Im shopping for food I need to realy Concentrate Or I forget what I need.I have anxiety & edgyness.I have lexapro here and I am considering taking 5mg for 2 wks & then upping to 10mg after that.myself without going to my doctor.

 

Edited January 12, 2019 by ChessieCat
unbolded

[ChessieCat]

Hi Buster and welcome to SA,

 

Taking 5mg Lexapro now, after having been off it since March 2018, may probably be too much.  Once you experience withdrawal symptoms your nervous system can become sensitised.  When a member wants to reinstate we suggest small doses.  In your case, because the length of time off the drug, you might consider trying a test dose first to see how you respond (0.25mg or 0.5mg).  These drugs are strong.  Please read Post # of this topic:  About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

 

It is better to start with a low dose and increase by small amounts than to risk taking too much, which could make things much worse.  I will provide more information in the next post, including a link to withdrawal symptoms.

 

Please create your drug signature using the following format.   Keep it simple.  NO diagnoses or symptoms please - thank you.

• details for last 2 years - dates, ALL drugs, doses
• summary for older than 2 years - just years and drug/s

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

 

This is your own introductions topic where your can ask questions about your own situation and journal your progress.

 

[ChessieCat]

Here's some additional information which might help you to understand what is happening:

 

Recovery isn't linear it happens in a Windows and Waves Pattern

 

Withdrawal Normal Description

 

When we take a psychiatric drug, we are adding chemical/s to the brain.  The brain then has to change to adapt to getting the chemical/s.  It might have to change something to do with A and then once that change has been made it affects B so another change has to be made and so on down the line.  It is a chain reaction, a domino effect.

 

The same thing happens when we take the drug away.  That's why it's possible to experience such a vast array of withdrawal symptoms, and they can change, and be of different intensity.

 

Dr Joseph Glenmullen's WD Symptoms Checklist

 

These explain it really well:

 

Video:  Healing From Antidepressants - Patterns of Recovery

 

are-we-there-yet-how-long-is-withdrawal-going-to-take

 

On 8/31/2011 at 5:28 AM, Rhiannon said:

When we stop taking the drug, we have a brain that has designed itself so that it works in the presence of the drug; now it can't work properly without the drug because it's designed itself so that the drug is part of its chemistry and structure. It's like a plant that has grown on a trellis; you can't just yank out the trellis and expect the plant to be okay. When the drug is removed, the remodeling process has to take place in reverse. SO--it's not a matter of just getting the drug out of your system and moving on. If it were that simple, none of us would be here. It's a matter of, as I describe it, having to grow a new brain. I believe this growing-a-new-brain happens throughout the taper process if the taper is slow enough. (If it's too fast, then there's not a lot of time for actually rebalancing things, and basically the brain is just pedaling fast trying to keep us alive.) It also continues to happen, probably for longer than the symptoms actually last, throughout the time of recovery after we are completely off the drug, which is why recovery takes so long.

 

AND

 

On 12/4/2015 at 2:41 AM, apace41 said:

Basically- you have a building where the MAJOR steel structures are trying to be rebuilt at different times - ALL while people are coming and going in the building and attempting to work.

It would be like if the World Trade Center Towers hadn't completely fallen - but had crumbled inside in different places.. Imagine if you were trying to rebuild the tower - WHILE people were coming and going and trying to work in the building!  You'd have to set up a temporary elevator - but when you needed to fix part of that area, you'd have to tear down that elevator and set up a temporary elevator somewhere else. And so on. You'd have to build, work around, then tear down, then build again, then work around, then build... ALL while people are coming and going, ALL while the furniture is being replaced, ALL while the walls are getting repainted... ALL while life is going on INSIDE the building. No doubt it would be chaotic. That is EXACTLY what is happening with windows and waves.  The windows are where the body has "got it right" for a day or so - but then the building shifts and the brain works on something else - and it's chaos again while another temporary pathway is set up to reroute function until repairs are made.  

 

[Carmie]

Hi Buster, 

 

How are you doing?💚