jon1: Cipralex / Lexapro withdrawal - longer time with each taper?

[jon1]

4 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

 

If you want to get sleepy and relaxed, take a smaller dose.

 

Even tiny doses make me feel awful I'm afraid. It's not the tiredness that bothers me so much, but a soul-crushing depression. It's horrible.

 

As I say, I've always reacted like that to it, so it's just one of those supplements my body has never reacted well to. I make sure I get plenty of natural magnesium through foods though.

[catmama]

Hi @jon1 I’ve been reading thru your intro and I’m curious how your fatigue and exercise intolerance has been over the past several months. I too used to be very active, lifting in the gym 4-5 days/week, etc and it all came crashing down after a stressful event during WD that I’m still recovering from. Now I suffer daily from major fatigue and if I do anything more than a short walk, I’m feeling it the next day. It’s so heartbreaking. Is there hope that it gets better? 

[jon1]

Hey @catmama, so sorry to hear you’ve been suffering from exercise intolerance too. It really sucks, and it’s definitely been the worst of all my symptoms, as even when I’ve felt better in mood, I’m unable to take advantage of it, or had to limit what I do to prevent a crash.

 

I’m afraid I’m still going through it. I will tentatively say (as I’m petrified of tempting fate!), that occasionally I can do a little more and feel less intense effects. Near the beginning I’d be knocked out for almost a week after doing too much, now that appears to be reduced to around 3-4 days.

 

That said, I have learned to pace properly and so no longer challenge myself. I always felt like I should just push through it, but now I know that’s the exact opposite of what to do.

 

One thing I’ve noticed is that getting a few days rest in between exercise seems to be more important than doing little and often. If I try to do very short walks on consecutive days, I will suffer far more than if I’d taken one longer walk, then rested for a couple of days afterwards.

 

Luckily my doctor has been understanding, and has seen this before from people in withdrawal from SSRIs (a similar thing can happen to people who’ve quit benzodiazepines and alcohol too), and he believes the symptoms are due to our bodies being unable to mop up the stress hormones that are naturally released when we exercise. It takes a lot longer for them to be flushed out of our systems, causing the exhaustion and crash.

 

He also said that fatigue can be caused by the constant stress on the body, and low levels of the neurotransmitters that make us feel energetic and alert. It seems that SSRIs not only affect serotonin, but can dramatically alter other downstream chemicals, like dopamine, GABA and endorphins.

 

From what I’ve read online, it does appear that things do get better, it just takes a long time.

 

I wish I had more encouraging news - for both of us!

[jon1]

@catmama One thing I forgot to mention is I’ve found it incredibly helpful to use an electric bike. It means I can get around my local area without having to walk long distances or use public transport. As the bike is doing all the work it doesn’t affect my symptoms.

 

Psychologically it’s been quite freeing. I’ve only been using it over winter so far, so I’m looking forward to being able to go out for a ride in the spring sunshine.