luke91: Tapered off Lexapro too fast. Desperate for help.

[luke91]

I started taking Lexapro in 2017. I think it helped right away for my anxiety. Like within a few hours. I had mild depression at the time i was taking it. It was more so for my anxiety issues. I believe i started on 10 but was on 20 by 2019. At the end of 2021, i decided i wanted to  try something else. I was also feeling okay because I was able to increase my exercise. So i thought i could safely come off these meds and was curious how i would be without them. Beginning of January this year, my doctor gave me these instructions:

i started halving the dose every 2 weeks. 20 to 10 to 5 to 0. I was officially off mid february. I started getting nausea/brain zaps in march but i just powered through it. I also started waking up early for some reason. And then beginning of April everything went to ****. I was in a constant state of panic attack/anxiety. Went through hell for a couple weeks thinking that this was just a withdrawal phase and i would feel better. It would not stop. I could not do anything. I could not concentrate on tv and could barely walk without my legs feeling like jello. I was starting to get very scared for my health as my heart was constantly beating aggressively. I started to think that my time on earth was limited now. I eventually caved and took 10mg of the lexapro. I was really scared that it would take weeks for the lexapro to kick in. I did not know if I could last that long. Thankfully within a few hours of taking the lexapro i felt immediate relief from my anxiety. I started to feel better but then depression hit me like a train. Started to have suicidal thoughts. Could not get out of bed. No motivation. Started to sell some of my belongings. Ive now been back on lexapro for about two months now. Upped to 15. I still have anxiety and i still have depression. Just not as bad as i was prior but not in a state where i can live my life. 

 

I'm stuck on what to do now. Do i stay with the lexapro? Taper off again and try a different medication? My concerns are the experience of tapering off these meds again as well as i'm not sure if there is a medication that will be some magic pill. I feel I have such a habitual negative way of thinking and my life situation is just not great. I have a lot going on. I'm not sure if another medication  is going to help. I'm seeing a psychologist who i pay out of pocked and so far we have practiced CBT and challenging my negative thoughts. But it so hard. It's like going up against Mike Tyson with weights on. 

I don't have a psychiatrist appointment till August. I am so scared. Scared of the transition to a new medication, scared its not going to work, repeating the process etc. I've spent a lot of money on supplements. So far the only thing that i've noticed help slightly is the coq10. First day i took it i felt relief but doesn't seem to be working much anymore. I've never gotten anxiety in the comfort of my home. It was mostly before social events. And now i'm getting so much anxiety i can;t handle it. My doctor doesn't know **** about tapering. She has ruined my life. 

[getofflex]

Hello, and welcome to SA.  We are a volunteer-run community of people who have been or are getting off of psychiatric drugs.  I'm sorry that your doctor has put you in this situation.  Believe me, I was put in a very similar situation myself by my doctor.  

 

Can you please give us specific information in your signature about your drug history for all drugs you are on and have been on, especially for the past 18-24 months?  It would be especially helpful to have the details of your drugs in a concise vertical list (no symptoms), only drug names, specific dates (as best you can say for example early March if you don't recall the day) and dosages of each medication decrease or increase.  Use this format:

 

Drug name: date, dose, date, dose, date, dose…

Drug name: date, dose, date, dose, date, dose…

Etcetera

 

Please read the link below for instructions.  This will allow us to give you the best guidance.  

 

How to List Drug History in Signature

 

There is hope for you, but it requires patience and perseverance.  Your doctor tapered you off super fast, and your brain did not have time to adjust to being off the medication.  This important link will explain more about that: 

 

How Psychiatric Drugs Remodel Your Brain

 

 

This helps you understand what withdrawal syndrome is: 

 

Video on Recovery from Psych Drugs

 

Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

 

Here is a link with checklists of common WD symptoms: 

 

Dr Joseph Glenmullen Withdrawal Symptom Checklists

 

 

Here are some techniques to cope with symptoms: 

 

Non Drug Ways to Cope with Withdrawal Symptoms

 

Stability is really important when we are tapering off psych meds.  Please read the link about stability:

 

Keep It Simple, Slow, and Stable

 

 

We don't suggest many supplements, but 2 that many of us find helpful are magnesium and omega-3 fish oil. Here are the links for info about those. It is suggested to add one at a time, and start with a low dose to see how it affects you. 

Magnesium

Omega 3 Fish Oil

 

I see that you reinstated.  It is possible that you reinstated at too high a dose, and are now possibly having an adverse reaction.  When we suggest people reinstate, we usually suggest a very low dose.  But please do not change the dose of your Lexapro just yet.  Doing so puts your at risk of making yourself even worse.  Please do a daily journal, and keep track of your daily activities and symptoms, and especially pay attention to how you feel before you take your Lexapro, and how you feel in the 5 or 6 hours after you take it.  Post the results here in your introduction thread for each day.  This link goes into that in more detail: 

 

Recording Drug Schedule and Symptoms to Track Patterns and Progress

 

And, this link will talk about the various factors about reinstating: 

 

About Reinstating and Stabilizing to Reduce Withdrawal Symptoms

 

 

[getofflex]

I just wanted to add that you can get off of this drug.  What we recommend is a very slow, hyperbolic taper of 10% every 4-6 weeks, each reduction becoming smaller and smaller as we taper.  That is explained here: 

 

 Why Taper by 10% of my Dosage  

 

We need to see if you are having an adverse reaction to the Lexapro, before we do anything else.  The daily journals will help us to see that. 

[Heath]

Hello @luke91 and welcome to SA. You are in the right place to taper safely off this drug. 

Do not worry about tapering right now. Continue taking the same brand , same dose, same time daily. 

 

It may take around 6 months to get back to before dr weaned you off too fast. That doesn’t mean you will be stuck like this for 6 months. You will gradually start feeling better as weeks go by. Try to focus on every day normal tasks and do what you can. And it will get better. Practice and learn self help ways to cope. This will benefit you now and many years to come.
 

 I been there about 4 or 5 times before I found SA and it always took around 3 months to start noticing feeling better and about 6 months to get back to pre fast taper. But everyone is different. 
 

Do not let dr talk you into changing dose or brand. And they will try ! Be very careful when you talk to them. Because all they know is pills and drugs. Unfortunately I did not get this advice from someone and I let dr drag me on a 5 year drug merry go round and it is miserable.
 

 Lexapro worked for you for 5 years and it will again. Be patient. And once you are stable then start the tapering process! 
This will pass 💪. 

[luke91]

Although I appreciate your guys responses, I don't know if i should listen to you guys. I am in such a bad place. But i also don't want to go on this merry go round of drugs like you say. I am so torn on what to do. Doctor is recommending pristiq. I have not made the decision yet. 

My history of drugs is basically: 20mg every day, for breakfast. (it makes me feel wired and used to not be able to fall asleep at night), Been taking lexapro since 2016. started low but was on 20mg 2019. 

January 1st i started halving the dose every 2 weeks, so was off by mid february. Then went through hell in april an I've been back on 15mg since April 13th of this year. I had 10mg for a week then upped it to 15. 

I wake up with so much anxiety. After about 7pm im a lot more calm. I'm also very depressed. Having suicidal thoughts. I can barely go through the links you've provided. I just can't bring myself to do  it. I'm so scared.

[ChessieCat]

We understand how hard it is to know who to trust and what to do.  When I found SA I was experiencing 2 weeks of very bad withdrawal symptoms after reducing my Pristiq from 100mg to 50mg.  The staff suggested that I increase my dose but I didn't know if that was a good idea so I did a lot of research, which was very difficult because of the brain fog that I was experiencing.

 

We are not going to tell you what to do.  All we can do is provide information about what has been found to work in most instances.  And with that information hopefully you will be able to make an informed decision.

 

I will tell you what happened to me which might help you to understand how powerful these drugs are.

 

Two weeks after reducing my dose of Pristiq from 100mg to 50mg I was not able to type.  Leading up to this I was experiencing very bad brain fog; even walking took my full concentration.  Being a professional typist for many decades when I wasn't able to type I knew that something was very wrong.  After I took more Pristiq, only 4 HOURS later (hours NOT days) I was able to type again and the brain fog lifted.  There was no way that this was placebo.  I had a benchmark so I knew for certain that it was because of the drug.

 

getofflex has requested that you provide daily symptoms notes.  This is very important for the staff to assess your situation.  To start with we need 3 consecutive days.

 

Please read this post which explains why the notes have been requested and how they might help.

 

Example:

DATE:

 

6 a.m. Woke with anxiety
8 a.m. Took 2.5mg Lexapro
10 a.m. Stomach is upset
10:30 a.m. Ate breakfast
11:35 a.m. Got a headache, lasted one hour
12:35 p.m. Ate lunch
4 p.m. Feel a bit better
5 p.m. Took 2.5mg Lexapro
6 p.m. Ate dinner
9:20 p.m. Headache
10:00 p.m. Took 50mg Seroquel
10:20 p.m. Feeling dizzy
10:30 p.m. Fell asleep
2:30 a.m. Woke, took 3mg Ambien (NOT "took 1/2 tablet Ambien")
2:45 a.m. Fell asleep
4:30 a.m. Woke but got back to sleep

[ChessieCat]

Oh yes, and after more than 25 years of taking an AD I have been off successfully for 7 months.

 

SA was started in 2011 by Altostrata who experienced cold turkey withdrawal from Paxil.

 

Please listen to this podcast which will provide information about Altostrata and might help you to realise that the information that is being provided has a solid foundation:

 

mad-in-america-surviving-antidepressants-an-interview-with-alto

 

You might also find the following video helpful, but please note that SA's recommended taper rate is no more than 10% of current dose with a hold of about 4 weeks, which may be different from what is stated in the video:

 

Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

[luke91]

Average day the past month:

8:30am. wake up with lots of anxiety. try to deep breathe to get some extra sleep. Feel restless and keep changing positions. Lots of ruminating and intrusive thoughts

9:30am. force myself out of bed, immediately take 600mg of L-theanine. and 200mg of Coq10. make breakfast and take the 15mg lexapro

11am: go for a 45 min walk. Legs feel like jello from anxiety

1pm: eat lunch

2- 5pm: lots of anxiety. also feel exhausted. Take .5 ativan if i get very anxious and cant function. Sometimes take ativan earlier in the day like after waking up

6:30pm: eat dinner

7pm: feel more relaxed, hopeful, less intrusive thoughts

8-12am: watch tv, try to work on challenging my negative thoughts

12:30 fall asleep

 

( lately i have not been able to fall asleep at 1230 and often toss and turn worrying)

 

It's important to note. I do not have any withdrawal symptoms anymore. Those only lasted 2 months for me. But the anxiety and depression that hit me months after being off lexapro was unbearable. I've never had anxiety in the comfort of my home, only before social events/sports games. I did worry a lot but rarely felt the pressure in my chest like i do every day now. I'm so motivated to rewire my brain. Change the way i habitually think since childhood. But it seems impossible. Especially in the morning. I have the hardest time in the morning. By 7pm and later I can tackle my thoughts and am a little more stable. I'm such a perfectionist, hypersensitive, high social anxiety. I have a book selling amazon business where i buy books from thrift stores and resell them on amazon. It's able to get me by but im ashamed of the job. At 31, I am a loser compared to who i am surrounded by. My mom is staying with me these last few days and i can't see her break down any more. I have thoughts of taking my life and she is catholic for gods sake. It would ruin her. So i have to keep moving. I unfortunately (or fortunately) read something on this site regarding Tachyphylaxis and it has put me in a state of panic the last few days. If i find a medication that works, how long is it going to work? Is it going to stop working? All these questions have stressed me out 10x the last few days.

[luke91]

Supplements i've been taking lately: 

 

first thing in the morning:

 

600mg L-theanine 600mg

Coq10 200mg

 

Breakfast:

 

Vitamin d: 2000IU

B complex

Magnesium Glycinate: 90mg

 

Between breakfast and lunch: zinc 50mg

 

Dinner:

Vitamin d: 2000IU

K2

 

Later at night: Omega fish oil: 1000mg

Turmeric: 550mg

 

Before bed: 

 

Elemental Magnesium: 500mg

 

[getofflex]

Please continue to make a daily journal for each and every day for the next several days.  We need to see if you are having an adverse reaction to the Lexapro.  Especially make note of how you feel before you take the drug, and also for the several hours after you take the drug.  See if you feel worse in the several hours after you take the drug.  Thank you.  Then we can proceed from there. 

 

Please do not despair.  This is very difficult, but it is temporary.  

 

For Those Who Are Feeling Desperate or Suicidal

Edited June 14, 2022 by getofflex

[luke91]

What is an example of an adverse reaction? I am just getting anxiety and depression. I have no other symptoms.

[ChessieCat]

50 minutes ago, luke91 said:

What is an example of an adverse reaction? I am just getting anxiety and depression. I have no other symptoms.

 

https://www.drugawareness.org/ssri-facts/adverse-ssri-reactions/

[Heath]

I think what getofflex is talking about when we reinstate at a higher dose it may create some adverse reactions. That is one thing  they want to look at in daily notes and your signature. So they can better advise you. 

 

[luke91]

Just this

39. Inability to see any alternatives in situations

 

53. Self destructive behavior and suicidal ideation