worriedmother: please help - 17 year old daughter quit Lexapro cold turkey 3 months ago and is still suffering

[worriedmother]

I am thankful to have found this website and would love some advice or suggestions from the group. My 17 year old daughter has had significant anxiety for years. In July of 2021, her doctor started her on 10mg of Lexapro. It helped her anxiety significantly but also gave her some brain fog. In April of 2022, she quit taking the drug cold turkey. I encouraged her to taper off and to visit the doctor and quit under his supervision. She refused. Her withdrawal symptoms were severe. She had brain zaps, insomnia, depression and more. She had been a 4.0 student and was now struggling to do anything. I worried if she would graduate. It has now been almost three months and she is still quite depressed. She had never been depressed before taking this mediation, only anxious. Please help! After reading through this site, I feel terrible that I didn't insist on tapering more forcefully. I will have her visit the family doctor that prescribed the medicine this week, but I don't know that he is an expert. She has been considering returning to the medicine, but honestly she is going away to college soon and was not good at remembering to take it without my help. We would greatly appreciate any opinions/suggestions. Do you think taking a very small dose would still be helpful so much time has passed? I desperately want to see her recover. Thanks again! 

 

Thank You!

Worried Mother

 

10mg Lexapro from July 2021 - April 2022

Quit cold turkey

W/D symptoms: brain zaps, insomnia, anxiety, depression (had never experienced depression before)

[Shep]

Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants, @worriedmother

 

Yes, she would likely benefit from a tiny reinstatement. When she sees her doctor, please ask him to prescribe the liquid formula. That will be easier to taper at tiny doses. 

 

Please see these links and discuss with your daughter:

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

 

Tips for tapering off escitalopram (Lexapro)

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

Since she went cold turkey from 10 mg 3 months ago, she'll want to take a very small amount. As you'll read in the "tips for tapering off" thread I linked, Lexapro is a very potent drug. So a tiny dose is still a powerful dose. She may want to start out with 0.25 mg - 0.5 mg to test the waters. She can always increase. Because her nervous system is sensitized at this point, it may hyper-react to higher doses. 

 

Please add a signature and note that it's for your daughter's drug history: 

 

How to Summarize Your Drug History in Your Signature

 

A direct link to your signature is here:

 

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

Please print the below PDF out to show to your daughter and her doctor. It was written by the Royal College of Psychiatry in the UK, which is equivalent to the American Psychiatric Association here in the states, so it's a very reputable document. 

 

Stopping antidepressants

 

Please invite your daughter to start an account here. It's best for us to work directly with her. 

 

Thank you for being an advocate for your daughter. 

Edited July 18, 2022 by Shep
fixed typo