Dee12h: weaning from a low dose of Lexapro

[Dee12h]

On 10/3/2023 at 12:12 PM, modelarz71 said:

Is Your IBS better? regards

Yes, moslty.

[Dee12h]

Pasting my routine here as well. My kids are in school finally this yr (coming off of 12+ yrs of having preschoolers &/or homeschooling) & not working RN.

I have settled into a good routine for me. It’s helping my nervous system to know what to expect each day. It’s also important to remain flexible & not too rigid & listen to your body. Being kind to myself is very new to me!

 

-I have to get up at 7 to help get my boys out the door to school. (Need to work on getting up at this time every day as consistent sleep wake times are healing to the CNS.)

-Go back to bed, usually don’t go back to sleep but watch a show or something.

-Watch a devotional while I have bfast/decaf coffee.

-Go for a walk outside. This increases my dizziness so much, but it’s helping to train my brain that the symptoms aren’t dangerous. My anxiety response to the dizziness is slowly improving.

-Do gentle exercise (yoga or the guy mentioned above)

-Shower/bath.

-”Morning basket”- this contains journal, Bible, devotional, music, coloring, novel I’m reading, etc. I don’t do all of it every day! I try to meditate some here too.

-Daily & weekly chores/projects- several hours

-Then I try to do something fun before the boys get home, playing Sims lately. 😆

-Someone else is still driving my kids home, but I try to practice driving each day so I can hopefully be able to do that soon.

-The afternoon/evening is family time/ childcare

[Dee12h]

I’ve figured out it’s most likely the drug causing my pppd/constant dizziness. So I have hope now it’s going to get better once I’m off. Going faster now.

[Dee12h]

Panic attacks have definitely been added to my symptom list. Never really had them before. Actually, they are considered anxiety attacks, not panic, bc I always know the trigger, & as soon as I’m removed from the situation it starts getting better. Panic attacks usually come out of “nowhere”.

Dr’s visits, big stores alone, even on the phone with my counselor whom I’ve known for years. 🙄 Today it happened in the voting booth. Had to leave after 3 answers. 🫣 &DH was there.

Symptoms that have resolved mostly: insomnia, IBS, loss of appetite, activation

 

Newer ones: much worse anxiety, depression (although still seems limited to hormonal cycle, thank God), dissociation, PPPD (dizziness), hypnotic jerks, head pressure & ear ringing (doesn’t last long), headaches

 

I don’t understand how any of this could happen while tapering this slowly!!! 😤😡

 

[Dee12h]

Now I’m having panic attacks as well. I feel like I’m developing agoraphobia. I minored in psych in college, & I remember studying that condition & thinking that had to be the most miserable. 🙁

 

My dizziness is worse. It’s so bad I feel like my brain is shutting down sometimes. I feel like I’m on the verge of passing out constantly. We think we should do an MRI. I don’t think it’ll show anything, but maybe it’ll lower my anxiety that I’m not actually dying, bc that’s what it feels like.

 

I can’t believe this could happen after 1.5 years on a 1/4 of the starting dose & such a slow taper. I have no idea what to do. I tried up dosing & it didn’t work.

[Dee12h]

@brassmonkey Is interdose withdrawal possible at .05mg lexapro? Should I split my dose?

Could you look at my tapering again? I was fairly stable (WD symptoms would last just a few days) until I went from .15mg to .1. I held that for 9 months but never stabilized, only got slowly, progressively worse as time went on. I started thinking it was the meds, so I kept tapering, & now I’m barely functioning. Extreme dizziness/brain fog & agoraphobic anxiety/panic attacks are the main symptoms. I tried to updose to .07 & got worse, so now I’m back at .05. Should I try .06?

 

I’m assuming this is not WD normal & I should hold for at least a year, but what if it just keeps going downhill like my last 9 month hold? Is it better to get off if that happens?

 

 

[brassmonkey]

Looks like you destabilized things going from .15 to .1. That was a 30% reduction and way too much. The lower doses are quite tricks and could take a very long time to restabilize. I would stay put for a few more months and see if things stabilize.

[Dee12h]

It’s one thing after another here. My husband has run out of patience & empathy. He actually told me my symptoms are making our marriage bad & making him not want to be around me. Who says that to someone who’s struggling? I thought we had a good marriage, but apparently it was a farce. He’s a people pleaser, but says he’s gonna finally start being “more honest”. What a fre@king great time for that. 
 

Needless to say, this makes my symptoms so much worse. How do I deal with this & get to the bottom of it (we’re in counseling) without it setting me back so much? I get so activated, but not dealing with it at this point is also very stressful with the level of rejection I’m dealing with.

[AndyPants]

@Dee12h I'm so sorry you're going through that. I think the hardest part of all this tapering stuff is that life is constantly pushing back and challenging us in the midst of also trying to get off the stupid drugs and deal with all the withdrawal symptoms and nonsense.

[Dee12h]

On 4/17/2024 at 3:46 PM, brassmonkey said:

Looks like you destabilized things going from .15 to .1. That was a 30% reduction and way too much. The lower doses are quite tricks and could take a very long time to restabilize. I would stay put for a few more months and see if things stabilize.

@brassmonkey Thanks so much! If you have time to answer my other questions, that would be great.

I tried to go up to .06, & it hasn’t helped at all (on day 9 today). I’ve gotten worse. I have a really hard time figuring out if I’m on too much or too little. I’m barely functional RN. My anxiety has been getting steadily worse, but this is now all day panic.

[Dee12h]

I definitely feel better in the few hours after my dose. Could be the time of day (evening), but I think it’s the dose.

[Dee12h]

Actually, I feel manic after my dose. I wake up in a panic 12 hours later while it’s still in my system, so I’m thinking I’m on too much. I’m so confused. This is the worst I’ve ever been. 

[Dee12h]

I took .05 last night bc the past 9 days after updosing to .06 have been progressively worse to the point of worst days of my life. I felt slightly better this morning, but when I started feeling panic, I took 1 drop (to get to .06 total), and I had a very bad adverse reaction. I had to call 9-1-1, because I thought I had serotonin syndrome. My husband (a Dr.) & they convinced me it was just a panic attack- worst one of my entire life- had to take .125 xanax 😟. But no hospital thankfully.
 

So now IDK what dose I should be on. I’m never going above .05 again, and am never updosing again. I’m terrified to take anything tonight! I looked over my drug history & noticed bad experiences with updosing. 🙅🏻‍♀️ Please don’t yell @ me. I’ve had very little mod direction on this thread.  @brassmonkey @Gridley

[Dee12h]

It’s impossible to get serotonin syndrome at such low doses, right? 

 

Can you develop poop out while tapering? 

[Dee12h]

1 hour ago, Dee12h said:

I took .05 last night bc the past 9 days after updosing to .06 have been progressively worse to the point of worst days of my life. I felt slightly better this morning, but when I started feeling panic, I took 1 drop (to get to .06 total), and I had a very bad adverse reaction. I had to call 9-1-1, because I thought I had serotonin syndrome. My husband (a Dr.) & they convinced me it was just a panic attack- worst one of my entire life- had to take .125 xanax 😟. But no hospital thankfully.
 

So now IDK what dose I should be on. I’m never going above .05 again, and am never updosing again. I’m terrified to take anything tonight! I looked over my drug history & noticed bad experiences with updosing. 🙅🏻‍♀️ Please don’t yell @ me. I’ve had very little mod direction on this thread.  @brassmonkey @Gridley

@Erimus 

[Gridley]

@Dee12h

Sorry I can't help you, but I'm no longer moderating.  I'm not sure if Brassmonkey is or not.  

 

I suggest you check to see which moderators are active now and tag them with your questions.  No one will yell at you.

[Dee12h]

16 hours ago, Dee12h said:

I took .05 last night bc the past 9 days after updosing to .06 have been progressively worse to the point of worst days of my life. I felt slightly better this morning, but when I started feeling panic, I took 1 drop (to get to .06 total), and I had a very bad adverse reaction. I had to call 9-1-1, because I thought I had serotonin syndrome. My husband (a Dr.) & they convinced me it was just a panic attack- worst one of my entire life- had to take .125 xanax 😟. But no hospital thankfully.
 

So now IDK what dose I should be on. I’m never going above .05 again, and am never updosing again. I’m terrified to take anything tonight! I looked over my drug history & noticed bad experiences with updosing. 🙅🏻‍♀️ Please don’t yell @ me. I’ve had very little mod direction on this thread.  @brassmonkey @Gridley

@Altostrata

[Dee12h]

Worst night of my entire life last night. Extreme panic all the time, and mag glycinate no longer working.

I need help.

[Jakeblack14]

Hey @Dee12h, I have been where you are and I am sorry its happening. How much magnesium gly are you taking? How much water have you drank today? 

[Dee12h]

27 minutes ago, Jakeblack14 said:

Hey @Dee12h, I have been where you are and I am sorry its happening. How much magnesium gly are you taking? How much water have you drank today? 

I am taking 300mg/ day mag glycinate. Not sure how much elemental is in it. And then taking 100mg elemental of mag l-threonate. I’m having diarrhea, but that might just be from all the adrenaline/anxiety. I can’t tell.

I’m drinking a lot because my mouth is so dry (never have this issue, another symptom of too much serotonin?) I can’t eat much at all. I get so much anxiety after eating. @Jakeblack14

[Jakeblack14]

300mg of magnesium glycinate it a pretty low dose, however I don’t know how it compares with the other dose of magnesium. 300mgs I believe is close to 50mg elemental. If you are having bowel issues, it could be because of not having anything in your system while taking the supplement. I can only give advise based on what worked for me. First is move only slightly and as much as you are able. Second, drink as much water as you are capable. Third eat, but when you eat, eat something Keto Friendly. Seems to not upset the nervous system as much. 

[brassmonkey]

No, you do not get serotonin syndrome at these low doses.

No, you cannot develop poopout at low doses while tapering.

If you are having bowel issues you are taking too much magnesium.

 

You need to stop changing your dose whenever the symptoms get out of hand. Your body is screaming out for stability. You need to pick a dose and stay on it for many months to let things stabilize. Everything you are experiencing is common for ADWD, especially when things are not stable.

 

We have many threads on how to cope with the stress of ADWD, please look them up and read through them. ADWD is the most stressful/difficult thing most people will go through in their lives. There is no getting around having symptoms, but how you react to them makes all the difference in the world.

[Dee12h]

3 hours ago, brassmonkey said:

No, you do not get serotonin syndrome at these low doses.

No, you cannot develop poopout at low doses while tapering.

If you are having bowel issues you are taking too much magnesium.

 

You need to stop changing your dose whenever the symptoms get out of hand. Your body is screaming out for stability. You need to pick a dose and stay on it for many months to let things stabilize. Everything you are experiencing is common for ADWD, especially when things are not stable.

 

We have many threads on how to cope with the stress of ADWD, please look them up and read through them. ADWD is the most stressful/difficult thing most people will go through in their lives. There is no getting around having symptoms, but how you react to them makes all the difference in the world.

Thank you. @brassmonkey. What dose would you recommend right now? I was at .06 10 days & kept getting worse & worse. .04 or .05? I’m worried I’m kindling. 
 

I’ve taken .03 so far today, .01 at a time bc I was terrified to have another adverse reaction. The first 2 doses definitely helped. The 3rd one, I feel worse.

[Dee12h]

Deleted.

[Dee12h]

Also, can I get interdose withdrawal this low, or is that not a thing with lex?