Milena: Hello - would like any help with tapering liquid lexapro

[Milena]

Hello, I'm new to this website and so happy to have found this community!

 

I've been on lexapro since 2020 and have been trying to come off it for about a year now. I am on 2.5mg at the moment. The next drop I can go to when cutting my pills is not very accurate at approx 1.7mg. When I do this the withdrawals are very bad. The typical one is the dizzy spells, but I also feel very emotionally unstable. I've seen three doctors now, (one of which was my doctor of 25 years who put be on the medication) and they have all been extremely unhelpful and very judgmental, often making me feel like its my fault that I am reacting so badly and I should stay on the medication. It seems from reading on here that this is quite a common experience for doctors. I want to be able to taper in smaller doses but I find it very hard with the pills as they are very small. I've been suggested to get the liquid form, but apparently  the only available liquid in Australia can only go down in 1mg doses, which is too much for me. Is there a way to dilute the liquid form so I can go down in smaller doses? I can get the pills compounded but it is very expensive so I was hoping to try the liquid form first. 

Thanks so much advance for your advice!

Milena

Edited October 19, 2023 by Emonda
Added name to title

[Emonda]

Welcome to S.A, @Milena.

 

Could you please include your drug signature by following these instructions.

 

13 minutes ago, Milena said:

so happy to have found this community!

 

Glad you've found us 👍

 

14 minutes ago, Milena said:

I am on 2.5mg at the moment. 

 

I'm not sure what dose you've started tapering from, but well done on getting down to 2.5mg.

 

15 minutes ago, Milena said:

The next drop I can go to when cutting my pills is not very accurate at approx 1.7mg. When I do this the withdrawals are very bad. The typical one is the dizzy spells, but I also feel very emotionally unstable.

 

Dropping from 2.5mg to 1.7mg is a reduction of 32%, which is way more than recommended on this site. The recommendation is for a maximum of 10% per month of the most recent dose. The monthly reductions get smaller and smaller. Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

32 minutes ago, Milena said:

When I do this the withdrawals are very bad. The typical one is the dizzy spells, but I also feel very emotionally unstable.

 

These are pretty standard WD symptoms. Have a read of the WD symptom checklist.

 

34 minutes ago, Milena said:

I've seen three doctors now, (one of which was my doctor of 25 years who put be on the medication) and they have all been extremely unhelpful and very judgmental, often making me feel like its my fault that I am reacting so badly and I should stay on the medication.

 

Sadly, a very common response. It's not your fault, and you can get off ADs if you do it slowly. All you need from your doctor is the prescription. If you choose to taper according to the maximum 10% plan, that's your business.

 

The following link may be beneficial:

 

 

 

You could make your own liquid. I do that myself with a different AD. How to make a liquid from tablets or capsules

 

39 minutes ago, Milena said:

apparently  the only available liquid in Australia can only go down in 1mg doses

 

I'm not sure if I am misunderstanding, but you can buy 0.5ml syringes in AUS and adjust the amount you have in the syringe to taper your dose. You need to be careful crossing from pills to liquid, however. If you plan to do this, let me know, and I'll send you a link on this topic as well.

 

Two more links that may be beneficial: Windows and waves pattern of stabilization and non-drug coping strategies.

 

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

Magnesium

Omega 3 Fish Oil

 

Avoid alcohol. It is very unhelpful when tapering.

 

Please post any updates here in your thread. It is helpful to keep everything related to your journey in one spot. You are very welcome to jump onto someone else's page and interact with them. The encouragement members give each other on this site is wonderful to see.

 

Sing out with any questions. 

 

Once again, welcome to S.A.

 

Emonda.

 

 

[Milena]

Hi Emonda,

 

Thanks for your responses. I clarified with the pharmacy and the liquid is designed so that one drop out of the dropper is equal to 1mg, so it would be impossible to use a syringe to get anything smaller. 

 

The option I have is to get the medication compounded as a tablet, going down in 0.5mg increments, that was the best they could offer me.