MadMatt: Lexapro withdrawal

January 1

I took Lexapro 20 mg last year for the first time ever for situational depression and it helped. But in June 2023 I missed 3+ doses and immediately withdrawal set in. As I wanted to just get off this, at the recommendation of my psychiatrist I jumped down to 10 mg to start the taper. Terrible OCD thoughts set in and in desperation I jumped to 20, then stupidly 30, but things just got worse. I have finally landed at 10 mg and have been holding until I stabilize, 10 weeks now, as my central nervous system was very much destabilized by all of this switching doses rapidly. I had akathisia, serotonin overload, jerking of my arms and legs, hypersensitive hearing and blurry vision for about 2 weeks each. At this dose over the last 10 weeks, though, all of that has improved and stopped, which leads me to believe that I am doing the right thing by just trying to stabilize. The intrusive thoughts have been the worst part that just won't quit, and the constant shameful thoughts, me wondering "What have I done wrong, will this ever get better, will I ever be myself again?" are constant. I look for counsel from other members here who have gone through a similar thing and asking for affirmation that I am doing the right thing by holding. Tapering off is my absolute goal, but I have read enough here that I understand I need to not even begin to think about that until I have been stabilized for a good while. Thankfully, I have a very supportive family in all of this. Any comments and advice are appreciated.

Edited January 2 by Emonda
Name to title

January 2

Matt,

I am also currently tapering off lexapro 20mg that I have been on a little over two years. Started tapering on 9/1/2023 and have currently been on 7.5mg for four weeks. I have had little to no withdrawal symptoms with any of my dosage reductions until this one. Felt fine for three weeks after dropping down to 7.5 mg. Then, last Tuesday I started feeling pretty off. Not sleeping well, feeling weird/pressure in the head, some stomach pain here and there, emotions all over the place, get antsy occasionally, etc. Each day that has gone by has gotten somewhat better. Sounds like we just have to buckle up for the long rollercoaster ride ahead of us. I know one thing is for sure... I will not be lowering doses by anymore than 10% after this one.

Side note - the one thing that really helps me, even if it is only for a few hours, is exercise. 20-30 minutes on the treadmill each day and for the two or three hours after that I feel like nothing was ever wrong... must be the endorphins and Serotonin produced by exercise. Also, not sure if you are a man of faith or not, but prayer and the Bible helps a lot.

January 4

Ben,

Glad to hear things are improving for you. Yes, my faith in God and my family are the only things getting me through this. Honestly, from my experience, I would wait until things have gotten back on track before you decide to taper again at all, and I think mods on here would agree. Seriously, it can be catastrophic. I basically CT'd by missing doses and then reinstated at half, updosed, then dropped again and really got slammed for it.

If I could do it over again, I would taper as slow as possible, even it takes 5 years given the damage it has caused already.

I also have been exercising on the treadmill a few times a week, just light walking for the time being but it seems to help a bit.

-Matt

January 4

Hi @MadMatt and welcome to Surviving Antidepressants.

If you could please post a signature by clicking on the link below.

To give members the best information, we ask them to summarize their medication history in a signature -- drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-24 months particularly. A list format is best.

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On 1/1/2024 at 11:47 AM, MadMatt said:

At this dose over the last 10 weeks, though, all of that has improved and stopped, which leads me to believe that I am doing the right thing by just trying to stabilize.

Stabilization is very important to achieve. Once you feel that you are ready to being tapering, we recommend tapering at no more than 10% of your dosage every 4 weeks.

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

On 1/1/2024 at 11:47 AM, MadMatt said:

The intrusive thoughts have been the worst part that just won't quit, and the constant shameful thoughts, me wondering "What have I done wrong, will this ever get better, will I ever be myself again?" are constant.

I had those intrusive thoughts as well. I learned how to live with them and accept them which ultimately was the best solution for me. Here is some more info.

We are very glad that you found us!

January 14

Matt,

How are you doing since your post two weeks ago? Are your side effects going away anymore? I am finally over my wave and am starting to feel much better. The best part is I can finally feel some of my normal emotions coming back to me! My wife always told me I never had any emotions while on Lexapro, but I never believed her until now!

I hope you are doing well and sticking with it. I am still on 7.5mg and holding to stabilize.

January 14

Ben,

That’s great to hear man. Really glad you’re making some progress. And from everything I’ve read, you’ll get more of those emotions back as you get lower, which is great if lexapro blocked those for you. Check out @BellaC’s success story, her holds were pretty long and she’s definitely a good model of how it should be done.

I’m still in the thick of it unfortunately, I had one window of feeling about 60% in November, but that’s pretty much it and I’m currently non-functional because I jumped around in dosage unknowingly that if would pretty much fry my CNS. I think I fall into the protracted “injury” category given how I feel and the symtpoms I’m experiencing for 7 months now, nonetheless people say just keep going and that it will improve. It’s very very hard I’m not gonna lie, but still moving forward and going to hold on 10 mg for as long as it takes until I feel better.

keep me posted brother.

January 15

I will check out Bella’s story and see what it’s about. It’s crazy how this stuff can come and go. I think I’m going to hold for a month or so once I stabilize at 7.5mg. Do you take any omega 3 supplements? They seem to help me a little bit.

Also, have you heard of Dr. Josef Witt Doerring? He’s on YouTube and is one of the only psychiatrists out there fighting for the truth about these meds. He is a specialist in helping people taper off. He has some great content on YouTube and his website. Check him out.

I’ll be praying for you. Hopefully you feel better soon! Keep me updated as well.

January 15

Yes, I have heard of Josef Witt-Doerring, he is definitely getting the word out about this.

I took omega 3 (cod liver oil) early on, but found that it increased my overall anxiety so I just take a low dose of magnesium L-threonate at night and that’s it. I think the important thing is consistency and to not overdo it with anything supplements or otherwise. I tried a bunch of supplements like L Theanine, B12, B6, mag, etc. early into withdrawal but it was just overkill and too much on my system at the time. I tried strict Keto diet as well and it increased my anxiety x10.

You’re on the right path.

I will keep you in my prayers as well, Ben, God bless.

January 15

Does the magnesium L-threonate help you much? Does it help with symptoms or sleep? I’ve been taking melatonin and it works well.

January 20

Matt,

Hope you are doing well.
How have you been feeling?

January 21

Ben,

Sorry for the late reply. I’ve been sleeping a little better lately which is good. The magnesium didn’t seem to make all that big of a difference and I actually dropped it recently. Decaf sleepy time tea seems to help more than anything honestly. How are you holding up otherwise? Glad you’re getting relief from the melatonin.

January 21

Glad to hear you are sleeping better. I've been praying for you and the relief of your symptoms.
I am making some good progress, but still have smaller waves that are not too bad, more just annoying. I am also starting to think that my blood sugar and digestive system is changing a good bit since tapering off these meds. I get low mood and lethargy along with other mild symptoms that are usually fixed by eating or drinking something, but I have checked my blood sugar and it is always in the 80's. I feel 10 times better than I did a week and a half ago. I still hav uneven sleeping patterns and do not sleep the best. Sometimes the melatonin helps, and sometimes it does not. The tea you are drinking is called Decaf Sleepy Time Tea? Does it really help... I might have to get some to try.
How are you holding up symptom wise?

January 22

Thank you for your prayers, I greatly appreciate it. Yes, decaf sleepy time tea, the brand is Celestial. I have a lot of symptoms at the moment, a lot of brain fog and fatigue, memory issues, and anhedonia. I’ve been feeling pretty spaced out more or less.

How about you?

January 22

I feel good about 70% of the time... when I feel bad I feel these hot sensations in my arms and chest, I do not sleep well, I get night sweats occasionally, and I will get occasional feelings like I am going crazy. As time goes on, these symptoms appear less and less. The other symptom I get a lot especially whenever I try to start keto is that I feel very excited and full of energy for no reason. Almost what they call manic I guess? But as soon as I stop eating no carb and eat something somewhat unhealthy, it goes away. I had no idea getting of these drugs could affect so much. Once I am off, I will do everything in my power to stay off of them.

For now, I am holding at 7.5mg. Considering I started at 20mg and I am over half way there, I am pretty happy. Just hoping theses symptoms along with your worse symptoms go away.

Have you found any way to eliminate or help ease the symptoms you are having? Do you exercise any? Running seemed to help me a lot.

January 22

I would be careful with Keto, from my experience it can be a mixed bag. I definitely plan to do it later down the line, but it was affecting my sleep and gave me ridiculously high energy levels at the time. If I wasn’t in withdrawal that would have been a good thing, but right now increased energy = increased anxiety so I am sticking to a healthy diet and limiting processed foods and sugar. That seems to help me the most.

I still can’t exercise unfortunately, it skyrockets my anxiety. This process affects your adrenals pretty significantly from what I understand, so too much of anything can send me into overdrive. It has gotten better over the past couple of months, but I still have to be careful. When I hit the 6 month mark, things leveled out and I’m more fatigued, depressed, and spaced out.

The stability aspect is super important, so your symptoms definitely will subside if you’ve had windows already, but once again, I would just stay the course and keep holding until everything subsides. I completely understand the feeling crazy aspect, I constantly question this process on a daily basis and wonder if it’s just who I am or part of my condition. I have chatter in my head, random songs that play in my head on repeat, the most vivid dreams, feelings of self loathing (neuroemtions) and regret, intrusive memories, intrusive thoughts, etc. I’ve been told this is all part of the process.

January 22

I feel you on the keto... I have tried it several times and I get the same constant high energy feeling. I have done it for a month here and a month there when I was on my full 20mg dose and never had any problems. It worked great and my anxiety was at an all time low. I felt great while on keto. But while tapering off... it has a whole different affect.

I find that if I skip a day of exercising on the treadmill, I do not sleep well at all so I make it a priority.

I am planning on staying at 7.5mg until I stabilize. Once I stabilize, I will no longer be dropping 2.5mg at a time... I am following the 10% rule. I wish this was a much easier process for the sake of everyone on this site... It is almost like the drug companies and doctors do not tell you about how hard it is to get off so they do not scare you from getting on them in the first place. They make them hard to get off so people are forced to stay on them so they do not experience the side affects... seems like a revolving door to me.

I also occasionally get the song playing on repeat in my head... lol so weird. I refuse to believe "it is who I am" because I know there is healing at the end of this and the good Lord will provide. I was talking to a friend the other day who is a psychologist for the Dept. of Defense and he was telling me my body was just one of those bodies who needed to be on these meds for life... I do not believe that propaganda they teach all the psychologists and doctors... it's all about making money! My psychiatrist was on the fence about me stopping these meds but I finally said screw it I am doing it whether you like it or not!

January 22

Good for you man. I thought the same thing about the side effects being understated for that reason, not to scare people into going on them. As much as this pisses me off, I still want to do this the right way. Slow and steady definitely wins the race on this one. Better to show these people that it can be done, just not the way they advertise or suggest. Psychiatrists have no clue, absolutely zero. I respect the hell out of my psychiatrist, he’s a good guy and definitely has my best interest at heart. I don’t blame him for what happened, even when I was jumped around in dosage and then dropped. It’s all the literature and information they adhere to, telling people they can ditch these meds in 2-3 months with no consequences.

Sounds like we have a different experience when it comes to our psychiatrist lol. I have been through a few over the past 1.5 years, and was fortunate enough to find a good one who doesn’t push meds and is very conservative when prescribing.

January 22

Good to hear you have a good psychiatrist. I would say mine is ok…. I have called him twice since tapering because of bad side affects or questions (before I was on this website) and he never returned my calls! 😂 other than that, he seems ok. Sometimes I just get the vibe that he just schedule 3 or 6 month check up’s to keep money coming in. Just asks how I’m doing and gets me in and out of his office quick.

for your sleep problems… you should check out the Virtusan app that Andrew Huberman helped out with. He has a NSDR (non sleep deep rest) thing that is about 10 minutes long. He walks you through breathing and relaxation and by the end of the 10 minutes, you are almost guaranteed to fall asleep. Works on me every time. When my symptoms are high, my body wants to fight it but it still works. Give it a try… it might help.

January 24

I will definitely give that a try. Lately I’ve been using brown noise on Spotify. I just leave it on throughout the night on low volume. It seems to help keep me asleep, that’s the main problem I’ve been having. I do sleep but it’s broken.

January 27

Ben just checking in, how are you doing?

January 28

I am doing good. All of my symptoms have pretty much gone away from the withdrawal. I started Keto last Tuesday and was on it until last night. I started to get weakness, sweating, shaking/shivering all over, brain fog, and even puked one time. I am pretty sure I had some kind of electrolyte imbalance. I have been drinking gatorade and not eating keto since yesterday at dinner and am feeling much better, still fatigued. But while I was on keto, I did feel great. Going to start keto again tomorrow. Just have to make sure I keep getting enough electrolytes and nutrients. As far as the withdrawal symptoms from the lexapro, I think I have finally came to the end and am back to normal. I am going to stay on. 7.5mg another week or two just to be safe.

How are you doing?

January 29

How long did the bad anxiety last when you stopped doing keto? I’ve been feeling crazy these last two days and I’m wondering if it’s from keto or another super bad withdrawal wave?

January 29

It was definitely withdrawal for me, and strict keto made it worse. It sounds like a wave to me, I’m not doing keto anymore, just avoiding bad carbs and otherwise earning as healthy as I can. How was it before the last 3-4 days?

January 29

@MadMattInteresting...
Before friday, I felt great. My withdrawal symptoms were pretty much non existent. Friday afternoon on a 4 hour drive to southern VA, I started going down hill quick. Uncontrollable shaking, intrusive thoughts, did not feel myself, muscle pain and fatigue, brain fog, couldn't focus, cant sleep, night sweats, pressure in head, dry, clammy mouth. I stopped keto Saturday afternoon/evening and I am feeling better and better as the days go by so I do not think it's withdrawal, I think keto sent me into a crazy spiral out of control. I am supposed to go to my psychiatrist today at 4:30 since he would not talk to me over the phone, but I know he is just going to want to start me back on my meds at a higher dose so I might just call him and not go lol

February 2

@MadMattHow have you been holding up?

February 10

@BenD7123 Ive been in a pretty awful wave for the past week and a half, mostly from lack of sleep, what about you? Did the manic-ish symptoms go away?

February 10

And are you still doing Keto?

February 10

@MadMatt that’s not good… what are your symptoms? I am doing pretty well I guess. I went up from 7.5mg to 10mg last Tuesday because my anxiety came back and I was having panic attacks again. I am no longer anxious on the 10mg but I still have a lot of symptoms like brain fog, loss of appetite, disinterest in what I usually like to do, still not sleeping great, etc. seems to me I am at just a high enough dose of Lexapro to knock the anxiety off but still have all the physical symptoms. I know if I tell my doctor this when I see him in a couple weeks he will

want to bump me back up to 20mg.

I started keto on Friday of last week. I’ve lost 7 pounds in one week and my body feels great… it’s just this gray cloud over my head that I can’t seem to get to go away. Very frustrating as I do not want to go back to 20mg, but I know if I do I will feel great.

February 16

@MadMatt How are you doing? Making any progress?

February 25

@MadMatt Hey… haven’t heard from

You in a few weeks… how’s it going? Making any progress?

February 26

@BenD7123

Still in that wave at the moment, I’m currently experiencing dp/dr and very very fatigued. It’s hard for me to focus too, kinda feel like my brain is lagging a step behind in time and it can’t keep up. And definitely relate to that grey cloud feeling, I have it too.

Glad to hear Keto is going well for you, if it’s helping then that’s great. How’s everything else on your end? Did your physical symptoms subside at all? Mine were worse in the beginning after I got switched around and now it’s mostly mental. I have physical symptoms but it switches between an empty hollow feeling in my head and a full-head feeling. Better than the burning head pain I was having 24/7 in the beginning but still not fun.

February 29

@MadMatt Can't believe you are still having all of these crazy symptoms even when you upped your dose and have been on it for a while. I am back to 15mg of lexapro and have no issues so far. Today is day 7 of being on 15mg. Doc told me to go back up to 20mg but I might stay at 15mg for now and see what happens. My anxiety is mostly gone, but it is still taking some time for the 15mg to build up in my system again. Do you still feel anxious or ever have any anxiety symptoms?

I do not really have many more physical symptoms since I switched up to 15mg. If I did have any physical symptoms at 10mg, they were all anxiety related like weak muscles, lack of sleep, sweating, couldn't focus, lump in throat when swallowing, felt like my throat was closing up, stuff like that. Gonna stay at15mg or 2omg for a year or so to stabilize and then try and taper back off again. In the mean time, I am just realizing this is all part of Gods plan and I am along for the ride. Let me know if you ever need anything. I will be praying for you!

March 11

@MadMatt How are you doing man? Have not heard from you in a few weeks.... Are you still on the 10mg?

March 13

@MadMatt Hey Matt... how are you doing? Hope you are improving! Ever since I have stepped up to 20mg, I am in the same boat as you I'm afraid...

March 13

@BenD7123 What are your symptoms like now after you upped to 20? I’m sorry to hear that it, do you think it made things worse?

I’ve been in a plateau now for about 4 months and physical symptoms come and go, but still very debilitating. Still holding on the 10 mg. Switches between hollow head feeling and vice grip pressure in the back of my head. Mental symptoms are all over the place, rage, anxiety, racing thoughts.

Hope you’re hanging in there, I will pray for you as well. Any questions you have send them my way!

March 13

@MadMatt That stinks! I am actually making some improvements. My emotions have pretty much leveled out and I do not feel aggressive or the rage anymore, just feel like crying sometimes depending on what I am talking about. No more anxiety or intrusive thoughts and feeling somewhat less agitated and am getting some sleep. Mornings are the worst for me. Cortisol levels are high when I wake and I feel like I can't sit still and have to move. Today I started to develop the muscle stiffness in my legs, arms, and throat so that's annoying. I have only been on the 20mg for 13 days so I know that some of this could still be side effects so I am hoping in the coming weeks the symptoms continue to subside. Looking back, I should've stayed at 10mg. I was better off and my windows were days long, not just hours lol.

The new muscle stiffness is very annoying and frustrating but I am sure with time it will subside. Mornings until about lunch or so I feel like I am full of energy and working a desk job just allows that to build up so I try and move around every once in a while. I think tomorrow I am going to start running in the mornings instead of the evenings to see if that helps.

I hope you can stabilize sooner than later! I am hopeful for myself. Trying to find the joy in the suffering. I also am trying not to stop doing things just because I feel crappy, but it makes it hard. Luckily my wife and family are pretty understanding.

MadMatt: Lexapro withdrawal

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