Mascasa: Oral Lexapro taper

[Mascasa]

May I ask how long you were on the painkillers? 

[Mascasa]

@Heath Thanks for the suggestion. I will look at Trader Joe's. I saw where I can eat salmon and sardines 3 servings to get my needed dose. How are things going? I am really going to have to sit a bit and stabilize. I went back and read some of your posts about your stomach. Mine really was bad for 3 days and the dizziness...

I see where you reduce each week by 1/10 6.4. to 6.3 etc. Is that helping to minimize the side effects?

 

[ChessieCat]

1 hour ago, Mascasa said:

May I ask how long you were on the painkillers? 

 

I've just checked my Intro and it looks like it was for about 5 weeks.

[Heath]

Yes I been tapering around 1.5 % for past month or so.

Yes it does reduce symptoms.  I don’t plan on doing this the whole way. When I first started tapering I thought oh 10% no problem I can do it I will be off this stuff in dish and such date.  But it doesn’t seem to work that way because of Life. And it’s more of listening to your body and tapering and holding in that way. It’s not really a straight 10% every time . it’s individual. 
But that’s ok as long as I am headed in that direction. 
I have to have minimal symptoms and be as stable as possible in my life rt now. 
we are all different in different situations

with all that said I would like to get off this stuff ASAP .  
 

you are doing the brass monkey slide ? 
like others have said a long hold will bring you back to some normalcy. 
I think it is a good idea that you holding for several months - you will feel a lot better. 

[ChessieCat]

56 minutes ago, Heath said:

But that’s ok as long as I am headed in that direction. 

 

Exactly!  Instead of thinking about how much you still have to go to get off, remember that every reduction, regardless of the size, is getting you off the drug.

[Mascasa]

Yes I was doing the brass monkey slide. The last few weeks have been such a big challenge. I am facing so many health issues. Seems like I never can catch a break. I am still working full time. Lots of weepiness and crying. When I stabilize might have to look at the way you are doing it @Heath.  I do need to keep on 9mg for awhile. @ChessieCat Yes, I will try and remember that.

[Mascasa]

Really struggling right now. The lows are very low. 

[ChessieCat]

Non-drug techniques to cope

[Mascasa]

Thank you so much. I just spent the evening reading the links. I definitely have to let the nervous system settle down. Also, I think acceptance has been my biggest hurdle. I have to tell myself to accept, and be patient. I need to really work on that.  It's been a struggle. I so appreciate you responding and your story. Everytime I see your post and your signature it reminds me it can be done. 

[ChessieCat]

42 minutes ago, Mascasa said:

I think acceptance has been my biggest hurdle. I have to tell myself to accept, and be patient. I need to really work on that.  It's been a struggle.

 

acceptance-and-hope

 

Yes it is hard. 

 

It is a good idea to examine our thought patterns to see if we are being factual in what we are thinking and saying to ourselves (and others).

 

By focusing on the negatives you can end up minimising or missing the positives.

 

If you start thinking negatively and getting down about a current symptom replace that thought with a positive.  So you say to yourself, yes I do have "this symptom" at this time and I don't like it (be honest with yourself but factual) but what is good is that I am sleeping and no longer have "this  symptom".

 

As an example, if for some reason you are really tired, continually thinking oh I am so tired can you feel even worse.  Saying yes I do feel tired, but hopefully tonight I will get some good sleep and feel a bit better tomorrow.

 

Reframing your thoughts can make a big difference.

[Mascasa]

I have worked on the acceptance all day today. That needs to be something I do every day. 

I just read about the shivers and stomach issues in the links. Goodness the shivers are interesting. I saw where altostrata  went to accupunture. Well, my plan is to just plod along at 9 for quite some time and let things settle down.

Wonder besides ginger tablets which I bought, and Pepto Bismo, if there is anything else for the upset stomach?

[Mascasa]

Anyone able to respond to how to cope with being sick? I have had some pretty bad nausea and am at work right now.  

[Heath]

When it’s bad enough for me I have to go home or lay back in seat of car. I’m feeling queezy with some sweating today day myself . I usually push through if not to painful. 
When my stomach is bad painful I usually grab the peptobismol. Eat light and drink water. I 

[Mascasa]

@Heath Thanks. I did grab the Pepto Bismo. Have a whole jug of water with me. The downside is I am in charge of a reading lab with several reading teachers. I did let one of them know I wasn't feeling great and why. The shivers are hard too.

May I ask how many times or when you seem to get the tummy problems? I have learned a really powerful lesson that I need to go SLOWER!

[Heath]

Stomach issues come and go with me. It goes along with the taper and stress and not eating rt.  But I been eating different. So I keep the stomach issues to a minimum.
Not as much acidic and junk food. When it’s real bad I stick with oatmeal , soup, and crackers etc. 

I have had the shivers before too they do go away. 
your withdrawal symptoms will most likely resolve after a good long hold. In the past when I held 6 months or so withdrawal symptoms went away. It’s been about 1 year since I did that I think. 

 

[Mascasa]

I have worked on the acceptance all day today. That needs to be something I do every day. 

I just read about the shivers and stomach issues in the links. Goodness the shivers are interesting. I saw where altostrata  went to accupunture. Well, my plan is to just plod along at 9 for quite some time and let things settle down.

Wonder besides ginger tablets which I bought

[Mascasa]

@Heath How bad did your stomach issues get? This has been 2 straight days in a row, all day, and so horrible. @Altostrata I have looked at the links and tried ginger and pepto bismo. The stomach ache is really bad. I have omeperazole for my tummy. Any thoughts on that?

[Heath]

There are a couple of stomach/ IBS threads on SA. You might check them out.
The worst symptoms I had were IBS type pain. I thought it was a kidney stone it was that bad. A lot of lower pain. I almost went to dr. But I didn’t. Like I said it calmed down with diet and peptobismol. And I had some negative obsessive thoughts nueroemotions with it too which didn’t help. 

If you think you need to get it checked by dr. Then do so better to be safe than sorry.

But keep in mind if they don’t find anything they may NOT acknowledge lexapro withdrawals and they may label it with something else with a bunch of tests. 
 

I am definitely no dr. This is just my experience.

Take care of yourself !

[Altostrata]

Are these gut symptoms worse at any particular times of day?

[Mascasa]

Hi no all day the last 2 days.

[Altostrata]

Quote

Celebrex 200 - 400 mg daily as needed, Pepcid 20 mg, zinc L carnosine

 

How much Celebrex are you taking lately?

 

When did you add the zinc carnosine? Why do you take it?

 

Either of these can cause gut distress. Zinc carnosine makes me immediately vomit.

[Mascasa]

Hi ther I don’t take any of those.

[ChessieCat]

I moved the post you made to Faure to their Introduction topic because it was not relevant in the topic where it was posted.

 

faure-mirtazapine-withdrawal

 

[Mascasa]

Ok thank you.

[Mascasa]

Quote

 

@AltostrataBoy this has been a tough go the last few weeks. Still holding at 9mg. But the physical symptoms and the health issues I am dealing with have been so challenging. Would love to get some advice on how to cope. I read the links about acceptance, and I am accepting. But so hard to deal with health problems and the tapering.

[Mascasa]

I am going to stay at 9mg for a while. Tummy problems eased up a bit. Fighting with costochronditis that has gotten worse the lower I taper. Some early waking lately. My questions are regarding tapering once I feel stable. What are thoughts on going to 8.5 from 9 and stay there for a few weeks. I am not sure the tapering I was going was giving myself time to adjust. I was going by the spreadsheet where I would be at 9.4, then 9.2, 8.9, then sit at 8.7 for three weeks. That's how I was going. 4 weeks with a 2 week hold. I just am grappling with too many other health issues right now and dealing with more is very challenging.

[Heath]

If you hold for at least 3 or 4 months you should be feeling a lot better. Just listen to your body and it will tell you when to start tapering again. 

on taper off.co chart you can adjust taper any way you want. I am doing brass monkey slide at 6% rt now. 
http://www.taperoff.co/

[Mascasa]

@HeathThank you for responding. Definitely listening to my body. Trying to keep things as consistent as possible. I was using the brass monkey slide. What do you think of just going to 8.5% and holding there for a month. I was wondering if the slide was too many reductions and I did it faithfully not giving enough time to have my body rest. I held at one point at 12.8. But definitely going to stay the course right now. The % you are reducing helping to eliminate most symptoms?

[Heath]

The maximum taper is 10% every 4 weeks. 
looking at you history you went from 20 mg in may to 8.7 in November. That’s 6 months or 24 weeks. So I put that in taper off.co. And it comes to an average of 12.8% every 4 weeks. That’s a little too much. 
 

in the beginning you tapered from 20mg in may to 12 mg in July. And that averages to 22.5 % every 4 weeks. That was a lot. 
 

so just from my experience the nervous system hasn’t had enough time to catch up to the drops that were made. That’s what I see here.  If It was me I would have to hold for about 6 months and then start my taper again. That’s what I’ve had to do before I learned from SA how to taper right. But everyone is different. The nervous system likes steadiness that’s the reason for the long holds. 
 

yes the % Iam tapering now keeps symptoms to a minimum so I can continue to work and carry on. But that’s me and my life. Everyone is different, different stresses and responsibilities in life. 
 

Its taken me about 2 years to figure out that I cannot do 10% every 4 week and 10% on brass monkey slide is still a little stiff. I’m learning how to listen to my body and nervous system. 
 

Now if I change my lifestyle some and drop some stresses or responsibilities and excercise a little . Practice good sleep habits well then I could probably taper faster. You get the jest. 

[Mascasa]

@Heath Makes perfect sense. I just want my body and nervous system to settle down. I am hopeful today seems a bit better. No plans to change anything. Yes, will be listening to my body. I have a bit of a tummy ache and some dizziness. But not like last week. What minimal symptoms do you experience by tapering the way you are?

[Heath]

I have to stay away from acidity foods. Even then my stomach is not right. It moves fast , crampy sometimes, loose stool. Sometimes pain in lower stomach. Kinda like IBS I have read. Stomach is manageable.

dizziness is minimal now I had that as a side effect more when I was on a higher dose. 

I just updated my introduction and described symptoms. 

[Mascasa]

I have been holding at 9 mg since December 1st. Don't plan on making a reduction for a another week or so, giving a total of a month at 9 mg. Curious as to what signifies a stable to make the next reduction? I plan on slowing down and going to 8.5 and holding there for 3 or 4 weeks OR when the body says it is okay.

[Mascasa]

@Heath saw in your signature you take Prilosec as needed, but also use Pepcid. Is the Pepcid on a regular basis?

[Heath]

I take Pepcid 20 mg daily only because I take Celebrex for bad disk at L5-S1. 
 

around 5 or 6 years ago in the ssri drug merry go round heartburn was bad and Prozac burnt my stomach so Prilosec 40 became daily.  I changed my diet , cut Celebrex in half and stopped the Prilosec.  I don’t really have any heartburn now. Occasionally I do.
and  I do have the other stomach issues related to withdrawals. 

[Heath]

On 12/23/2021 at 8:51 PM, Mascasa said:

I have been holding at 9 mg since December 1st. Don't plan on making a reduction for a another week or so, giving a total of a month at 9 mg. Curious as to what signifies a stable to make the next reduction? I plan on slowing down and going to 8.5 and holding there for 3 or 4 weeks OR when the body says it is okay.

everyone stable is different. 
read this thread

 

 

[Mascasa]

@Heath Thanks again for responding. I went out and bought some Pepcid 10 mg. Going to take it at night to see if it helps. Also, tried 100 mg of gabapentin to help with the lower back and foot pain. Didn't want to continue with the Tylenol #3. The gabapentin is going to be short lived I hope. I have a PRP injection for the lower back issues coming up and hope things settle down.

I did read the link on stabilization. Yep, everyone is different seems like. I am seeing a few more windows. However, not ready to do anything. I haven't figured out which way I will be going when I do. I might try going down to 8.9 and hanging there a week. KInda like you are doing? Or might go to 8.5 and stay there a month. Just want few symptoms.