BellaC's Success story_ complete recovery from Escitalopram (Lexapro) of 12 years!

[BellaC]

It has been a year since I got off Lexapro. I am now completely healed without symptoms. I think this would be a good time for me to share my success story with you. (Link to my intro topic: BellaC: tapering Lexapro / escitalopram)

 

Background: 33 years old female, I took 20mg SSRI Escitalopram (Brand name: Lexapro) from 2010-2017. I started tapering in June 2017 after family doctor's advice.

Taper timeline: 2017 June -2022 March   (I posted a very detailed timeline & symptoms at the very end of this post, for those who are interested)

Taper strategy: usually 10% taper each time, reach stability before further tapering.

Taper method: 1. Cut & weight pill with digital scale; 2. homemade liquid solution (w/ syringe) when the dosage is low.

Pattern of recovery: For each taper, I usually held 4 weeks (sometimes 8 weeks) for the symptoms to subside. In the early stage, I experienced more somatic symptoms (physiological discomfort) than psychological symptoms; as the dosage got lower, it was the other way around-psychological symptoms became dominant. After I completely stopped the medication, it took about 6 months (plus a lot of inner work) for the symptoms to dissolve. It has been a year and I am completely healed! Drug free and symptom free!

 

Things that helped me heal & what I learned from the experience:

 

Tapering method: 

10% taper is good. You can adjust later depending on how your body reacts, but always start slow and go steady. Observe and listen to your body. Know when to pause, when to re-evaluate, when to ask for help. Trust yourself but never do this alone.

 

Mindset: 

This is a huge one. Here is my philosophy that worked well: symptoms are temporary, change is happening daily, so go slow and steady. Don’t taper for the sake of taper. Before anything else, make sure you are a functional person for the loads of life responsibilities you have (home, work, school, relationship etc.). Either adjust the speed of taper, or adjust the loads of your life responsibilities. The whole purpose of taper, is to function better and to live a more meaningful life, which may or may not be a pain-free life. Taper for a “meaningful life”, not a “pain free life”.

 

Rational expectations:

You will have symptoms, your body will feel uncomfortable, your mood will swing, and symptoms will not disappear quickly but will go away eventually. Irrational expectations or being emotionally unprepared increase the likelihood of failure.

 

Supplement: 

fish oil, I cannot comment on how much it helped but this was what I took.

 

Coping: 

exercise (walking, running), meditation, talk to my support network, inform and update people around me of my tapering & ask them to monitor/support me.

 

Have hope & be patient:

Trust neuroplasticity. I do believe that the brain is a consistently changing organ. With time and new coping skills, it heals.

 

Get emotional support:

Talk about your decision with people you can trust and check in with them regularly.

 

Do the inner work:

If you take drugs for mood disorders (nonpsychotic type) such as depression/anxiety or trauma/stress related disorders, know that the symptoms are likely to return and stay as you taper. Because those traumas have not been worked on yet. It's hard work to step into the storm, but it's absolutely necessary and liberating once you go through it. The body and mind store the trauma, they are stuck energy in you. Once you are brave enough and are ready to release it, do the inner work by looking for resources that are accessible to you. Whether it's therapist, church/spiritual guides, or books/videos, go find them or they will find you in the right time.  Don't just listen/read, practice what you've learned. Here are some resources that helped me tremendously:

 

[Book] Healing Trauma: A Pioneering Program for Restoring the Wisdom of Your Body, by Peter A. Levine   (highly recommend if you have pain/somatic symptoms)

[Book/Audiobook] The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, by Eckhart Tolle

[Book/Audiobook] Practicing the Power of Now: Essential Teachings, Meditations, and Exercises from the Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle

[Youtube] Eckhart Tolle's teaching on his Youtube channel

[Book/Audiobook] Whatever Arises, Love That: A Love Revolution That Begins with You, by Matt Kahn

[Biblical Canon] Holy Bible

 

Final words

Whenever you are, you are exactly where you need to be on your journey. Don't indulge on the past or project to the further. Focus on each step in front of you. Have faith. 

I am so thankful for this site (and mediators) that provided so many valuable information. I want to do the same to help, support and cheer for your journey. If you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment below. 

 

 

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------Detailed timeline & sx--------------------------------------------------------------

Lexapro 20mg: 2010-2017 (I was doing fine for those years)

PCP recommended tapering in June 2017

Tapering instructed by PCP:

• 20mg & 10mg every other day: 6/2017-12/2017, No sx
• 10mg: 12/2017-2/2018, Anxiety and hormone imbalance 
• Restated 15mg: 2/2018-7/12/2018, No Sx

Self Tapering:

---------digital scale weighing method below-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2018

• 15mg & 12.5mg every other day:7/12- 8/8, No sx
• 12.5mg : 8/9- 8/28: palpitation, brain fog, diarrhea, dreams, obsessive thought. Subsided on 8/29.
• 11.2mg: 9/14 -10/12: mild sx. Subsided by 9/27/2018.
• 10.2mg: 10/13 - 11/7: lethargy, mild shoulder pain. Subsided in 2 wks.
• 9.2mg: 11/7- 12/10: no sx

2019

• 8.4mg: 12/11/18- 1/7/19: mild sx. Subsided in 3 days.
• 7.3mg: 1/8-1/26/: no sx
• 6.6mg: 1/27-2/25: pain, palpitation, anxiety. Subsided in 1 wk.
• 5.67mg(15% cut): 2/26-3/26: dreams, pain, palpitation. Subsided in 2 wks.
• 5mg: 3/26-4/25: no sx.
• 4.1mg: 4/26-5/19: slight palpitation, gone by 5/8.
• 3.4mg:5/20-6/23: no sx
• 2.8mg:6/24-7/21: palpitation, anxiety and dreams. subsided after 2 wks.
• 2.45mg:7/22-8/18: slight palpitation, down mood, gone by 1st week; diarrhea daily. subsided after 3 wks.
• 2.1mg:8/19-9/18: slight palpitation, dreams, constipation. gone by 3rd wk.
• 1.69mg: 9/19-10/16: slight WD sx.
• 1.38mg: 10/17-11/18: anxiety, depression sx. gone by 4th week.
• 1.17mg: 11/19-12/16: 2nd week-somatic pain, anxiety, diarrhea, better by 3rd wk.

2020 (new year yay!)

• 0.92mg: 12/17/2019-1/26/2020: holding, has been 6 wks: somatic pain, down mood, dream, some diarrhea.
• 0.76mg: 1/27-3/1: somatic pain, palpitation in first 2 wks, diarrhea in 3rd wk, gone by 4th week.
• 0.65mg: 3/2-3/28: I did not track sx
• 0.55mg: 3/29-5/5: I did not track sx
• 0.46mg:5/6-6/3: overall mood is a little low, sad and pessimistic sometimes, sensitive towards stress. stabilized after 4wks.
•  0.38mg: 6/4-7/19: depressed mood, sensitive towards loud sound, improved after 1 month
• 0.31mg:7/20-8/23:depressed mood initially, sensitive towards loud sound, improved after 1 month
• 0.23mg: 8/24-10/4: depressed, somatic pain, less , social, easily cry, low motivation. got better after almost 2 months!

--------- Homemade liquid solution below------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• 0.15mg :10/5-11/5: pain in shoulder, depressed, gone after 1st week.
• 0.13mg:11/6/20- 12/7/20: depressed. stable after 1 month.

2021 (new year yay!)

• 0.11mg: 12/8/20-1/3/21:depressed, pain in shoulder, ease after 1 month.
• 0.097mg: 1/4/21-3/7/21: depressed, anxiety, mood swing, pain in shoulder. improved after 2 mons.
• 0.084mg: 3/8/21-5/9/21: increased anxiety, shoulder pain, difficulty concentration, negative thinking pattern. improved after 2mons.
• 0.071mg: 5/10/21-9/30/21: increased anxiety, shoulder pain, difficulty concentration, negative thinking, lack of motivation. Improved after doing Somatic Experiencing exercises after the book Healing Trauma by Peter Levine
• 0.064mg:10/1/21- 11/1/21:  No sx, minimal pain
• 0.051mg:11/2/21-1/9/22: anxiety, shoulder pain, low motivation. ease after 2 months.

2022 (new year yay!)

• 0.032mg: 1/8/22-2/28/22: palpitation, pain in shoulder, ease after 1 month.
• 0.016mg: 3/1/22-3/10/22: anxiety, palpitation.
• 0 mg: 3/11/22 (jumped off!): anxiety ( palpitation, irritability, panic), mood swing, pain in shoulders, low motivation, difficulty concentrating, slow mental processing, difficulty falling asleep, nightmares.

[manymoretodays]

Congratulations BellaC!  Excellent report.  So glad you are doing really well.

And thank you for adding your Success Story.

 

I remember you.

 

Love, peace, healing, and growth,

mmt

[wantrelief]

Congratulations, Bella, on your successful taper.....all of your hard work paid off!  Wishing you all the best, WR.

[zma1]

You are so lovely. Thank you sooo much for taking the time to post this!! Best of luck to you ❤️

[catmama]

I have bookmarked your success story on my browser bc it’s so inspiring and encouraging! I’m also 33, and in my third year of tapering off Lexapro. It’s been mostly smooth up until about three weeks ago. I hit a big wave triggered by emotional stress (heartbreak). But I’m determined to do the work to heal (I already bought the book you recommended and will be starting therapy soon) and finish my taper and be DONE with this drug, even if it takes another couple years. Thank you so much for sharing your story, your advice, and your success. Congratulations!!! 

[BellaC]

1 hour ago, catmama said:

I have bookmarked your success story on my browser bc it’s so inspiring and encouraging! I’m also 33, and in my third year of tapering off Lexapro. It’s been mostly smooth up until about three weeks ago. I hit a big wave triggered by emotional stress (heartbreak). But I’m determined to do the work to heal (I already bought the book you recommended and will be starting therapy soon) and finish my taper and be DONE with this drug, even if it takes another couple years. Thank you so much for sharing your story, your advice, and your success. Congratulations!!! 

Hi @catmama, best wishes to your recovery! You can do it  

[Chlo]

On 5/15/2023 at 10:12 PM, BellaC said:

It has been a year since I got off Lexapro. I am now completely healed without symptoms. I think this would be a good time for me to share my success story with you. (Link to my intro topic: BellaC: tapering Lexapro / escitalopram)

 

Background: 33 years old female, I took 20mg SSRI Escitalopram (Brand name: Lexapro) from 2010-2017. I started tapering in June 2017 after family doctor's advice.

Taper timeline: 2017 June -2022 March   (I posted a very detailed timeline & symptoms at the very end of this post, for those who are interested)

Taper strategy: usually 10% taper each time, reach stability before further tapering.

Taper method: 1. Cut & weight pill with digital scale; 2. homemade liquid solution (w/ syringe) when the dosage is low.

Pattern of recovery: For each taper, I usually held 4 weeks (sometimes 8 weeks) for the symptoms to subside. In the early stage, I experienced more somatic symptoms (physiological discomfort) than psychological symptoms; as the dosage got lower, it was the other way around-psychological symptoms became dominant. After I completely stopped the medication, it took about 6 months (plus a lot of inner work) for the symptoms to dissolve. It has been a year and I am completely healed! Drug free and symptom free!

 

Things that helped me heal & what I learned from the experience:

 

Tapering method: 

10% taper is good. You can adjust later depending on how your body reacts, but always start slow and go steady. Observe and listen to your body. Know when to pause, when to re-evaluate, when to ask for help. Trust yourself but never do this alone.

 

Mindset: 

This is a huge one. Here is my philosophy that worked well: symptoms are temporary, change is happening daily, so go slow and steady. Don’t taper for the sake of taper. Before anything else, make sure you are a functional person for the loads of life responsibilities you have (home, work, school, relationship etc.). Either adjust the speed of taper, or adjust the loads of your life responsibilities. The whole purpose of taper, is to function better and to live a more meaningful life, which may or may not be a pain-free life. Taper for a “meaningful life”, not a “pain free life”.

 

Rational expectations:

You will have symptoms, your body will feel uncomfortable, your mood will swing, and symptoms will not disappear quickly but will go away eventually. Irrational expectations or being emotionally unprepared increase the likelihood of failure.

 

Supplement: 

fish oil, I cannot comment on how much it helped but this was what I took.

 

Coping: 

exercise (walking, running), meditation, talk to my support network, inform and update people around me of my tapering & ask them to monitor/support me.

 

Have hope & be patient:

Trust neuroplasticity. I do believe that the brain is a consistently changing organ. With time and new coping skills, it heals.

 

Get emotional support:

Talk about your decision with people you can trust and check in with them regularly.

 

Do the inner work:

If you take drugs for mood disorders (nonpsychotic type) such as depression/anxiety or trauma/stress related disorders, know that the symptoms are likely to return and stay as you taper. Because those traumas have not been worked on yet. It's hard work to step into the storm, but it's absolutely necessary and liberating once you go through it. The body and mind store the trauma, they are stuck energy in you. Once you are brave enough and are ready to release it, do the inner work by looking for resources that are accessible to you. Whether it's therapist, church/spiritual guides, or books/videos, go find them or they will find you in the right time.  Don't just listen/read, practice what you've learned. Here are some resources that helped me tremendously:

 

[Book] Healing Trauma: A Pioneering Program for Restoring the Wisdom of Your Body, by Peter A. Levine   (highly recommend if you have pain/somatic symptoms)

[Book/Audiobook] The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, by Eckhart Tolle

[Book/Audiobook] Practicing the Power of Now: Essential Teachings, Meditations, and Exercises from the Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle

[Youtube] Eckhart Tolle's teaching on his Youtube channel

[Book/Audiobook] Whatever Arises, Love That: A Love Revolution That Begins with You, by Matt Kahn

[Biblical Canon] Holy Bible

 

Final words

Whenever you are, you are exactly where you need to be on your journey. Don't indulge on the past or project to the further. Focus on each step in front of you. Have faith. 

I am so thankful for this site (and mediators) that provided so many valuable information. I want to do the same to help, support and cheer for your journey. If you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment below. 

 

 

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------Detailed timeline & sx--------------------------------------------------------------

Lexapro 20mg: 2010-2017 (I was doing fine for those years)

PCP recommended tapering in June 2017

Tapering instructed by PCP:

• 20mg & 10mg every other day: 6/2017-12/2017, No sx
• 10mg: 12/2017-2/2018, Anxiety and hormone imbalance 
• Restated 15mg: 2/2018-7/12/2018, No Sx

Self Tapering:

---------digital scale weighing method below-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2018

• 15mg & 12.5mg every other day:7/12- 8/8, No sx
• 12.5mg : 8/9- 8/28: palpitation, brain fog, diarrhea, dreams, obsessive thought. Subsided on 8/29.
• 11.2mg: 9/14 -10/12: mild sx. Subsided by 9/27/2018.
• 10.2mg: 10/13 - 11/7: lethargy, mild shoulder pain. Subsided in 2 wks.
• 9.2mg: 11/7- 12/10: no sx

2019

• 8.4mg: 12/11/18- 1/7/19: mild sx. Subsided in 3 days.
• 7.3mg: 1/8-1/26/: no sx
• 6.6mg: 1/27-2/25: pain, palpitation, anxiety. Subsided in 1 wk.
• 5.67mg(15% cut): 2/26-3/26: dreams, pain, palpitation. Subsided in 2 wks.
• 5mg: 3/26-4/25: no sx.
• 4.1mg: 4/26-5/19: slight palpitation, gone by 5/8.
• 3.4mg:5/20-6/23: no sx
• 2.8mg:6/24-7/21: palpitation, anxiety and dreams. subsided after 2 wks.
• 2.45mg:7/22-8/18: slight palpitation, down mood, gone by 1st week; diarrhea daily. subsided after 3 wks.
• 2.1mg:8/19-9/18: slight palpitation, dreams, constipation. gone by 3rd wk.
• 1.69mg: 9/19-10/16: slight WD sx.
• 1.38mg: 10/17-11/18: anxiety, depression sx. gone by 4th week.
• 1.17mg: 11/19-12/16: 2nd week-somatic pain, anxiety, diarrhea, better by 3rd wk.

2020 (new year yay!)

• 0.92mg: 12/17/2019-1/26/2020: holding, has been 6 wks: somatic pain, down mood, dream, some diarrhea.
• 0.76mg: 1/27-3/1: somatic pain, palpitation in first 2 wks, diarrhea in 3rd wk, gone by 4th week.
• 0.65mg: 3/2-3/28: I did not track sx
• 0.55mg: 3/29-5/5: I did not track sx
• 0.46mg:5/6-6/3: overall mood is a little low, sad and pessimistic sometimes, sensitive towards stress. stabilized after 4wks.
•  0.38mg: 6/4-7/19: depressed mood, sensitive towards loud sound, improved after 1 month
• 0.31mg:7/20-8/23:depressed mood initially, sensitive towards loud sound, improved after 1 month
• 0.23mg: 8/24-10/4: depressed, somatic pain, less , social, easily cry, low motivation. got better after almost 2 months!

--------- Homemade liquid solution below------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• 0.15mg :10/5-11/5: pain in shoulder, depressed, gone after 1st week.
• 0.13mg:11/6/20- 12/7/20: depressed. stable after 1 month.

2021 (new year yay!)

• 0.11mg: 12/8/20-1/3/21:depressed, pain in shoulder, ease after 1 month.
• 0.097mg: 1/4/21-3/7/21: depressed, anxiety, mood swing, pain in shoulder. improved after 2 mons.
• 0.084mg: 3/8/21-5/9/21: increased anxiety, shoulder pain, difficulty concentration, negative thinking pattern. improved after 2mons.
• 0.071mg: 5/10/21-9/30/21: increased anxiety, shoulder pain, difficulty concentration, negative thinking, lack of motivation. Improved after doing Somatic Experiencing exercises after the book Healing Trauma by Peter Levine
• 0.064mg:10/1/21- 11/1/21:  No sx, minimal pain
• 0.051mg:11/2/21-1/9/22: anxiety, shoulder pain, low motivation. ease after 2 months.

2022 (new year yay!)

• 0.032mg: 1/8/22-2/28/22: palpitation, pain in shoulder, ease after 1 month.
• 0.016mg: 3/1/22-3/10/22: anxiety, palpitation.
• 0 mg: 3/11/22 (jumped off!): anxiety ( palpitation, irritability, panic), mood swing, pain in shoulders, low motivation, difficulty concentrating, slow mental processing, difficulty falling asleep, nightmares.

Congratulations!! @BellaC

My heart is jumping for joy for you 🤗 I thank you so much for coming back and sharing your success story.

I will read it several times during my remaining taper.

You give us all so much hope. I figure I have about 9 more months before I'm off my Lexapro. Some day....SOME DAY...with the Lord's help, I will be writing my rescue story 🤍✝️🤗

Sending you B I G hugs, love, and God's blessings!

[abricots]

I could use advice.

Wish I had the summary I used to sign up ; - )

1993-1997 zoloft lowest available dosage [for post divorce situational depression; tape loops of having ruined my life]

1998-2007 wellbutrin, eventually the XR or XL, longest acting....again low dose ?150mg

2008-May 2023 lexapro 5mg.

Tried on various activating agents and then stayed with 30mg Vyvanse 2008-June 2023.

I'm 73 and slowly have noticed trouble recalling nouns but for year+ this seemed worse and I noted my ability to learn and remember had slipped.

Seemed similar to others in my friend group, but have several times tried to WD [usually ¼ tablet at a time for several weeks] because I wondered if along with the tape loops, ADs were suppressing other parts of my memory.

Had anxiety for a few weeks before my daughter delivered by Caesarean in April [had less striking/shorter anxiety before her first delivery]. Psych added aripiprazole aka abilify. Helped immediately; was up to 3mg and fine. Decided, since it hit some of the same neurotransmitter sites as lexapro, this would be a good time to taper lexapro. Went down ¼ tab [1.25mg]/week for four weeks. Then fatigued, which my psych and I agreed was from the abilify. He had me taper off of it over a week. Then, since I was off the lexapro, I started to taper the vyvanse. Even going to 20mg i hit the wall with fatigue. Might as well just go off rather than be fatigued on a slow taper, I thought.

In retrospect, I was having withdrawal from the lexapro topped off with the amphetamine WD. Docs were out of town for 4th of July. I had done the 5 days of horrible that was the minimal expectation of amphetamine withdrawal, per the internet, when an addiction psych I asked to be referred to called. So, we agreed I would gut it out....He said it could be 3 months but warned it could be longer.

Almost every week was a little better but I was almost non-functional. All over the map emotionally, usually one thing at a time for 1/2-all day anxiety, depression, brain fog. 

I began seeing a therapist.

At 10 weeks I just couldn't feel that bad any longer and on the advice of my original psych took "something". 1.25mg. Felt slightly better even that evening and better after a week. Bad brain function, a significant worsening of what I was worried was cognitive impairment before going off meds. Energy low for me but tolerable. Function diminished. I try to do one task AM and one PM instead of my old 20 things before noon pattern.

Bedtime moved up to 10 from 12:30-1AM. Loose stool instead of my usual formed.

 

So, I want some feedback on whether to stick here until I'm improved and then wean at a 5% every 3-4-whatever it takes to stabilize rate.

My psychiatrist, and some part of me, thinks I might up my dose until I feel more normal, but it was such a hard fought battle to get to this place where I function ok and feel emotionally ok. I could imagine crawling it up by 5-10% increments.

 

Meanwhile, trying to get a neuro-psych evaluation for both psych dx, that would eliminate the concern about depression and mental status/cognition, which I fear will show my brain is showing Mild Cognitive Impairment if not worse.

Likewise, neuro consult to evaluate the cognition from a medical pov.

Getting a consult in place for these visits is teaching me patience. 

 

Bella, I liked your success story.

I'm a lot older with complicating cognitive issues.

Curious if anyone sees some commonality with my story and has things to say about

1) my current dose

2) long term expectation.

Thanks 

Edited August 23, 2023 by Karma
Edited error in dates

[cornchowder]

Hi Bella, wonderful post! I'm so glad you're off of them after a long taper - congratulations!!! 

 

I'm curious, as you reached the final two years of your taper, how severe were your psychological symptoms? It seems like you went slow and steady -- did that make the withdrawal symptoms more manageable? 

[abricots]

Hi, Corn,

You can read that I went from 5mg lexapro over one month, and 30mg vyvanse [amphetamine] at the last of that quick taper. The 5mg lexapro is probably the equivalent of zoloft 50mg which I had been on in the distant past.

Again, you can read, 2 ½ months later, I restarted Lexapro at 1.25. Choice was random because I could split the tablets in 4.

Symptoms resolved relatively quickly [within a week] on that quarter of original dose. I held at that dose for a month. Felt good and more like myself all the time. Then started a 5% decrease, planning on reducing every 3 weeks.

I did fine with the first decrease. 

However, I still feel slightly fragile [taking psychological "temperature" with every mood change] and was concerned about SAD with the seasonal change, so I have not done my next 5% taper. I bought a light therapy lamp. Seeing the Brass Monkey plan again. I plan to re-start the taper tomorrow with 2.5% decrease and do another 2.5% 10 days after that.

 

Input from people like BellaC, my own experience and reading Dr. Horowitz's account are important supports for my continuing the taper.

 

If you start a taper, I hope you will post often. 

 

 

 

[BellaC]

On 10/14/2023 at 3:53 PM, cornchowder said:

Hi Bella, wonderful post! I'm so glad you're off of them after a long taper - congratulations!!! 

 

I'm curious, as you reached the final two years of your taper, how severe were your psychological symptoms? It seems like you went slow and steady -- did that make the withdrawal symptoms more manageable? 

yes, I went slow and I didn’t set up any expectations or timeline in terms of when the tapering will end. I tapered based on how my symptoms were. If my symptoms last for mons, I held for months for them to subsided before I taper more. If they only last for 2 weeks, I taper after 2 weeks. The indicator of tapering  was the symptoms, not any idealistic timeline in my head. Hope it helps:)

[BellaC]

Hi @abricots,

My personal experience is that it’s more beneficial to base the speed of tapering on how the symptoms are, not an idealistic timeline in your head.

 

For me, I waited to stabilize first before further tapering. I didn't rush things and didn’t have an expected timeline (I told myself if it’s gonna take decades then be it, that way I don’t feel pressured).
 

This approach worked well and I didn’t “suffer” too much during the whole tapering process. 

 

hope it helps. Best wishes! 
Bella

[cornchowder]

13 minutes ago, BellaC said:

yes, I went slow and I didn’t set up any expectations or timeline in terms of when the tapering will end.

 

Thank you for letting me know!!

 

How did the symptoms *after you went to zero* compare to the last year of your tapering? Were they worse at all? 

[cornchowder]

On 10/15/2023 at 10:10 PM, abricots said:

Input from people like BellaC, my own experience and reading Dr. Horowitz's account are important supports for my continuing the taper.

 

If you start a taper, I hope you will post often. 

Thanks for posting! I'm planning on posting regularly once I start tapering. Before that, I'm just haunting others' threads, like this...

[cornchowder]

On 8/21/2023 at 10:55 PM, abricots said:

Wish I had the summary I used to sign up ; - )

You should be able to see this in your account information / profile. 

[SunAndSnow]

Thank you for sharing your story. You give me so much inspiration. I hope to follow your plan someday, I’ve been on lexapro 6 years now.. thank you for sharing your plan, especially the taper dosages and your symptoms through each taper..you are inspirational!!! 

[Jakeblack14]

Hey friends, I am interested in how you guys know you are in the clear? I have been reading some of these success stories and many people are just able to say they know they are healed and good to go. Is that from a certain period of time or just a feeling that you know? Thanks so much and congrats @BellaC

[BellaC]

On 11/27/2023 at 2:36 PM, Jakeblack14 said:

Hey friends, I am interested in how you guys know you are in the clear? I have been reading some of these success stories and many people are just able to say they know they are healed and good to go. Is that from a certain period of time or just a feeling that you know? Thanks so much and congrats @BellaC

Hey Jake,

For me, it's about knowing what type of thoughts contribute to my depression in the past, and knowing that I can choose how/what I think (regardless of life situations), hence having a sense of control of how I feel. Now, I think based on how I want to feel, not based on observing what the external situations are. I have been happily ever after since  Hope this helps.