TurtleX1: Lexapro Blues what a mess.

[TurtleX1]

Hello all, 

 

My nightmare began in August of last year after hitting my rock bottom. I had a full on panic attack at my place of work which led to agoraphobia for about a week and pretty severe depression. Having been struggling with anxiety and depression for a while I finally decided to seek "medical help". 

 

I saw my first psych whom gave me a cocktail of prozac and .5mg clonazepam. I could not tolerate the prozac well and ended up switching providers. The new psych tried me on a series of things over the course of a few months but the ones that stuck was Lexapro and buspar. 

 

I was doing well on 15mg Lexapro and 7.5mg buspar for about a month. Then I had another severe panic attack. I have always had side effects with all the SSRI's i tried primarily nausea and dizziness. My provider said it was probably more anxiety related.

 

After diving deep into the mental health sector of the internet I discovered that it probably was not the medication that was making me feel better but probably the DARE response, Anxious truth, hope and help for your nerves technique etc that I had learned and started to implement. That being I decided I want off of these meds and started tapering down on my own without knowing any better. Thats when the severe withdrawl symptoms kick in so I reached out to my psych for a cessation protocol, he said there was no such thing and he's not sure why I am so "sensitive" to the medication.

 

After being my own health advocate I found this forum and learned about the 10% rule. I now know that I did this completely wrong and tapered way too fast. I was on 0mg for about 5 days and could not handle the side effects (dizzy, nausea, headaches) so i  reintroduced it back to 2.5mg for 2 days then 5mg which made it worse now I am back to 2.5mg.

I still feel completely nauseas all the time and my headaches come and go through out the day.

 

I feel stuck and like I have wrecked my nervous system beyond repair.

 

Also I only take the clonazepam as needed which is very seldom, and I stopped taking the buspar but can not remember when probably 6-8 weeks ago.

 

Please help.

 

[Gridley]

Welcome to SA, TurtleX1.  Thanksfor completing your signature.  We're a site for helping members taper off psychiatric drug and deal with withdrawal.

 

First of all, you have not wrecked your nervous system beyond repair.  Your brain and nervous system are very resilient and they will heal.  So please put that fear out of your mind.

 

A few questions:  

1. You wrote that severe withdrawal symptoms kicked in when you started tapering.  What were these symptoms?

2. Were they different from the dizziness, nausea and headaches you later experienced at 0 for 5 days?  

3. And are your current nausea and headaches that come and go through the day different or the same as your previous symptoms?  

4. When did you reinstate to 5mg and when did you drop to 2.5mg?

 

For your understanding, here is some information on withdrawal:

 

What is withdrawal syndrome.

 

Brain Remodelling 

 

Video:  Healing From Antidepressants - Patterns of Recovery

 

Daily Checklist of Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms (PDF) 

 

As you've found, we recommend tapering by no more than 10% of your current dose every four weeks.

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

I'd suggest you hold at 2.5mg for some time (perhaps at least three months) in order to let your system recover recover from the dose changes and withdrawal.  At that point, when you are stabilized, you can begin a slow steady 10% taper off the 2.5mg.  A note about what we mean by "stabilized"--it is not feeling great.  It is feeling a consistent level of tolerable symptoms without big swings in symptoms from day to day.  The following link is specifically about tapering Lexapro and includes information on how to get the nonstandard doses needed for a 10% taper. 

 

Tips for tapering off escitalopram (Lexapro)

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 9, 2023 by Gridley

[TurtleX1]

1 hour ago, Gridley said:

1. You wrote that severe withdrawal symptoms kicked in when you started tapering.  What were these symptoms? headaches, heightened anxiety, nausea

 

2. Were they different from the dizziness, nausea and headaches you later experienced at 0 for 5 days?  Yes, the headaches were much more severe, and nausea was more severe along with the nausea I have this unsteadiness constantly feel like i'm leaning left its very odd. Lastly, last night I had insomnia for the first time. 

 

3. And are your current nausea and headaches that come and go through the day different or the same as your previous symptoms?  They feel more intense than previous. Before I was able to go about my day with the symptoms right now they feel almost debilitating.

 

4. When did you reinstate to 5mg and when did you drop to 2.5mg? I was originally on 15mg then tapered down to 5mg and stayed there for several weeks in early January 2023 with very mild symptoms, I tapered down to 2.5mg mid January I was on 0mg from approximately January 28 to February 3rd. The symptoms were unbearable on the 3rd which is when I started researching and found this site.  February 3rd I took 2.5mg (approx since I was cutting pills) February 4th I took 5mg since my symptoms did not improve on the 2.5mg, I had a panic attack, went back down to 2.5 February 5th and have been there since.

 

I recently had a Rx filled with liquid so i can be more accurate. Started the liquid last night for the first time 2.5ml.  

 

[Gridley]

@TurtleX1

 

Thanks for the information.  It sounds like you're on top of it.  So you're prepared, sometimes, not always, there are temporary bobbles/symptoms as you shift from tablet to liquid due to different rates of absorption.

 

Take it easy, take care of yourself, avoid stress.  Many members find the self-care techniques in this link helpful as they deal with withdrawal.

 

Non-drug techniques to cope