Gardengonewild Posted January 30, 2023 Posted January 30, 2023 Zoloft started it. Lexapro destroyed me. Long painful story too traumatic to retell or survive but here I am. Brain absolutely destroyed after long taper. 27months off. Poly drugged into oblivion. No hope but I want to be here just to read some stories if that's ok. Thanks
Moderator Emeritus Gridley Posted January 30, 2023 Moderator Emeritus Posted January 30, 2023 Welcome to SA, Gardengonewild. We're glad you're here. I'm sorry you're going through this. If you're up to it, it would be helpful to us for you to do a drug signature with a brief drug history. If you can't, that's fine and you can just be here. In case you feel able to do the drug history--drugs, doses, tapers, discontinuations--here's the link. Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature. We don't recommend a lot of supplements on SA, as many members report being sensitive to them due to our over-reactive nervous systems, but two supplements that we do recommend are magnesium (glycinate is a good form) and omega 3 (fish oil). Many people find these to be calming to the nervous system. Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) Add in one at a time and at a low dose in case you do experience problems. This is your introduction topic -- the place for you to ask questions, record symptoms, share your progress, and connect with other members of the SA community. I hope you’ll find the information in the SA forums helpful for your situation. I'm sorry that you are in the position that you need the information, but I am glad that you found us. Gridley Introduction Lexapro 20 mg since 2004. Begin Brassmonkey Slide Taper Jan. 2017. End 2017 year 1 of taper at 9.25mg End 2018 year 2 of taper at 4.1mg End 2019 year 3 of taper at 1.0mg Oct. 30, 2020 Jump to zero from 0.025mg. Current dose: 0.000mg 3 year, 10 month taper is 100% complete. Ativan 1 mg to 1.875mg 1986-2020, two CT's and reinstatements Nov. 2020, 7-week Ativan-Valium crossover to 18.75mg Valium Feb. 2021, begin 10%/4 week taper of 18.75mg Valium End 2021 year 1 of Valium taper at 6mg End 2022 year 2 of Valium taper at 2.75mg End 2023 year 3 of Valium taper at 1mg Jan. 24, 2024: Hold at 1mg and shift to Imipramine taper. Taper is 95% complete. Imipramine 75 mg daily since 1986. Jan.-Sept. 2016 tapered to 14.4mg March 22, 2022: Begin 10%/4 week taper Aug. 5, 2022: hold at 9.5mg and shift to Valium taper Jan. 24, 2024: Resume Imipramine taper. Current dose as of Dec 28: 2.2mg Taper is 97% complete. Supplements: multiple, quercetin, omega-3, vitamins C, E and D3, magnesium glycinate, probiotic, zinc, melatonin .3mg, iron, serrapeptase, nattokinase, L-Glutamine, milk thistle, choline I am not a medical professional and this is not medical advice. It is information based on my own experience as well as that of other members who have survived these drugs.
Gardengonewild Posted January 31, 2023 Author Posted January 31, 2023 If I did it would absolutely bring me to my knees with trauma. I can only say this. I had situational anxiety from being misdiagnosed with something terminal and now I'm absolutely brain damaged and mental and there's just no coming back from it. I was a 100% normal wife and mama and someone should go to jail for what was done to me. Thank you for having me. I will likely just lurk a while.
rmce72a Posted February 6, 2023 Posted February 6, 2023 Hello Garden. You are obviously suffering deeply. I, too, am trying to get off Effexor and am suffering as well. I have found good support and information here. Please reach out when you are able, if for no other reason than to know you are not alone. Love and hope to you for better days ahead. 2 Prozac 10mg 1990-1999 -1999-2018 Effexor XR 75 mg capsules -2018 Dr direct switched me from Effexor 75XR to Cymbalta 20mg XR and 20 mg Metoprolol following irregular heartbeat incident -Late 2019 began worsening anxiety/ depression symptoms -2020 Dr direct switched back to 75 mg Effex XR Symptoms worsened -2021 Changed Dr and began therapy for GAD and worsening physical symptoms -2022 Found this forum and began slow taper by removing beads - 6/7 - 6/10 Effexor 73.2mg 6/11-6/14 Effexor 72.9mg nightmares, tinnitus, anxiety; 6/15- Effexor XR 72.6mg 6/16 - 6/20 Effexor XR 72.8 nausea, heart palpitations, anxiety, tinnitus 6/22-7/4 hold Effexor XR 72.9-73.1 7/5-7/11 Effexor XR 72.62 7/12 - 7/15 Effexor 72.6 bad symptoms 7/16-7/17 Effexor XR upped to 72.9 7/18 Effexor XR 72.9 most symptoms gone hold at 72.9 - 73.0 8/26 - 9/6 Trying to keep dosage under 73. Holding around 72.9 sometime 72.86 due to bead count Having symptoms most days. 9/6-9/23 Holding at about 72.9-73. Still very ill. No improvement. 9/23 - 11/23 Still keeping dose around 72.9-73 11-23-Jan 14 Held until one week ago. Dropped to 72.75-72.81 terrible WD 1/14- present Worse WD symptoms. Back to 73.10. Cannot seem to stabilize. 2/2 - present Holding at about 73 hoping to stabilize 3/19 - present Dropped to aprox 92.9-92.88. (vary from day to day.) Holding Take only Clarinex 5mg for allergies and the Effexor 73 XR. I cannot take any supplements. No caffeine, sugar, soy, gluten, dairy.
NardilTime Posted February 6, 2023 Posted February 6, 2023 You’re off everything? Then you’ll heal. Or at least you’ll feel a million times better even if there’s some residuals. 2000 - 2020 - Effexor 250 mg November 2020 began Nardil 60 mg reduced Nardil from January 2021 to August 2021 to 0 mg. Drug free.
Elaine5 Posted February 10, 2023 Posted February 10, 2023 Hi, just wanted to say, you don’t deserve this. You will get better.that emotional disconnect is unfortunately common with these drugs and it can take a long time to feel better. if you need some hopeful inspiration feel free to check out Baylissa fredericks. And believe that people really do heal from this. Even people really messed up who said they never thought they would. so keep a glimmer of hope alive. It will be worth it one day 3 Aug 2020 - Feb 2022 on and off Lexapro 5 and 10mg, Rapid taper Nov 2021 - May 2022 on off Wellbutrin 100mg, 150mg, 75mg CT clindamycin cycle and also Plan B bc 1x Fall 2020- June 2022 - Xanax .5 PRN usually 4x a week, CT June 2022 - Z pack, Buspar 7.5 3 days September 20-24th - low tryptophan diet and 20-30g beef gelatin powder Oct 3- 16 - Xanax .5 for sleep each pm, 1 mg Ativan in ER, .25 Xanax —> .125–>0 Oct 14-17Trazadone 50/75, Lunesta 3mg Oct 24- start Belsomra, 4 days to20mg Nov 3-5 10mg Belsomra and 300mg Gabapentin Oct 13-Dec 1 Buspar 7.5 2x/day rapid taper over 2 weeks due to ADR Recent: Belsomra 20mg since 10/23/2022 to 15mg mid December for 2 nights —> 20mg —> 15 mg since 12/22/2022 —>14 mg compounded 02/11/2023 —> 15 mg 2/13 —> 10mg 2/22 —> 5mg 3/1 —> 0mg 3/8/2023 Current: Propanolol 20mg AM, 10mg 4pm, 20mg PM since 11/30/2022
margaretLO Posted April 22, 2024 Posted April 22, 2024 On 1/30/2023 at 5:42 PM, Gardengonewild said: Zoloft started it. Lexapro destroyed me. Long painful story too traumatic to retell or survive but here I am. Brain absolutely destroyed after long taper. 27months off. Poly drugged into oblivion. No hope but I want to be here just to read some stories if that's ok. Thanks I feel You.. 💔 Lexapro Use History (2015-2022) I have been using Lexapro for seven years, with many attempts to quit due to severe side effects. 2015: I started taking 20 mg of Lexapro at age 24 for presentation/social anxiety induced by weed use. 2016: I attempted to quit cold turkey (on my doctor's advice) but experienced extreme terror and anxiety, prompting me to reinstate the medication. 2016: I tried to stop again cold turkey, resulting in severe OCD, social fear, and terror, leading to another reinstatement. 2018: I reduced the dosage to 10 mg due to OCD, visual snow, and fatigue. I struggled with severe sickness for 2.5 years before stabilizing. 2022: I attempted to taper off 10 mg almost cold turkey over one month (again on my doctor's advice), because I experienced even more adverse reactions and elevated inflammation markers. I faced extreme protracted withdrawal symptoms with every attempt to stop, experiencing a wide range of symptoms. After two years, I have healed about 30% and have seen even more improvements in some symptoms. I started to regain functions I hadn’t had for 10 years, and I began to feel hopeful about my healing journey. However, in March 2024, I experienced an extreme crash/setback after taking a multivitamin that contained 50 mg of Panax ginseng, which I did not notice. I had taken the vitamin to help with a wave of swallowing issues related to my difficulty eating solid food. As a result, I lost all my improvements, no longer have any windows of relief, and even developed new symptoms.
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