babychrissy: My doctor suggested taking Prozac to help with my Lexapro withdrawal

[babychrissy]

Long story short:

I was on 20mg of Lexapro and 150mg of Welbutrin XL. I tapered off of Lexapro this summer and since taking my last dose on July 31st (today is September 26th), I've been suffering with dizziness and very bad nausea. This past weekend, I ended up in the ER from all the puking and it was horrible. My doctor wants me to take 5mg of Prozac until my symptoms go away and then wean off of that.

Has anyone done this and had success?!

I'm terrified adding Prozac to this mess will prolong feeling better, but I'm also feeling desperate for relief.

[Catwoman73]

Hi @babychrissy, and welcome to SA!  We are a community of volunteers providing peer support in the tapering of psychiatric medications, and their associated withdrawal syndromes. 

 

If you could kindly complete your drug signature, we would greatly appreciate it.  This is a summary of your drug history that appears at the bottom of your posts.  This allows us to see your history at a glance, without having to read through an entire thread to sort out where you've been.  You can do this by clicking the link below, filling in the box, and clicking save.  That's it!  You can have a look at my signature at the bottom of this post to get an idea of what is expected.  Signatures should be updated as you make changes over time. 

 

Your Drug Signature

 

I'm not sure how you tapered from your lexapro, but here at SA, we recommend tapering by no more than 10% of your current dose, no more often than every four weeks (so, as an example- 10mg, 9mg, 8.1mg, 7.3mg and so on).  This is known as hyperbolic tapering, and it is designed to release the receptors in the brain from the drug in a manner that is tolerated well by most people, and allow the brain to slowly undo all the biochemical and genetic changes it has made in response to the presence of the drug.  Read more here about what is happening in your brain, and hyperbolic tapering:

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

How Psychiatric Drugs Remodel Your Brain

 

If you did not taper in this manor, it is not overly surprising that you are having withdrawal issues now.  Everything you describe is very typical withdrawal.  Check this list of typical withdrawal symptoms out, for your reference:

 

Daily Checklist of Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms (PDF) 

 

Introducing Prozac is absolutely NOT a good idea. Adding new drugs into the mix can be very destabilizing, and make you feel worse rather than better.  I would rather see you try to take a very low dose of the lexapro- like start at 1mg- to see if that mitigates your symptoms to make them more tolerable.  This is called reinstatement, and it is much safer than trying new medications to deal with the withdrawal effects from these meds. It is very, very important to start at a very low, sub therapeutic dose of the drug in order to avoid the possibility of a hypersensitivity reaction.  Your doctor will likely think you have gone mad for suggesting this though, as almost all doctors are clueless about how these drugs actually work.  If you have him prescribe you 5mg tablets, we can guide you on how to create your own liquid at home in order to introduce these very tiny doses.  Read more about reinstatement here:

 

About Reinstating and Stabilizing to Reduce Withdrawal Symptoms

 How long does it take to stabilize after reinstating or updosing?

 Hypersensitivity and kindling

 

Whether you choose to reinstate or not, you will heal from this.  We all do.  We are healing all the time, even when it doesn't feel like it.  The only thing is, it can take time.  So you have to be very patient. 

 

As you stabilize and heal, you will notice periods where you feel better, and periods where you feel worse.  This is absolutely normal, and is a good sign that healing is occurring.  We refer to this as the windows and waves pattern of stabilization.  Read more here:

 

Windows and waves pattern of stabilization

 

There are a few things you can do to help with healing- most are intuitive.  Eat a balanced, whole foods diet, stay well hydrated, engage in gentle exercise/movement and get enough rest/sleep.  Avoid all neurologically active substances, such as caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and recreational drugs, as these things are like pouring gasoline on a fire.  Like I said above, do not add further psych meds- it can be dangerous.  We only recommend two supplements here at SA to help with symptoms and healing- magnesium and omega-3 fatty acids.  Do be mindful though, it is very common for those of us in withdrawal to become hypersensitive to all sorts of things, including medications, supplements and even foods!  So if you choose to try a supplement- even those we recommend- start with a very low dose to see how you fare.  You can increase the dose over time if it is well tolerated. 

 

You may benefit from starting a symptom journal at this time.  Keep track of each of your symptoms from day to day, rating them on a scale of 1-10 for severity.  This can help you identify your windows and waves, and can help you see your progress over time.  Progress can be slow, so having a record of where you've been makes it easier to see how far you've come.  If you choose, you can also keep track of foods, activities, etc.  This will help you identify symptom triggers.  Not all waves have triggers, but some do, and it's nice to be able to identify your triggers so you can avoid them.  For me, triggers include coffee (even decaf), chamomile, refined sugar, intense exercise, stress, and magnesium (yes, we recommend it here, but it acts paradoxically in me, thanks to withdrawal.  It gives me brain zaps and insomnia!).  

 

Many people here struggle with nausea- we recommend sticking with natural things for relief, such as ginger tea, or ginger chews.  Even things like gravol can aggravate symptoms rather than fixing them, and can prolong your healing timeline.  I struggle with dizziness at times as well.

 

This is a time where you need to take great care of yourself- not only physically, as discussed above, but emotionally as well.  We have many threads here on non-drug coping mechanisms that are recommended.  I'll link some below.  Personally, I have found developing a mindfulness practice to be the most helpful thing I have done to get me through the days.  Guided meditations, yoga Nidra and recordings of nature sounds can be very calming as well.  Deep breathing helps.  Recognizing, challenging and replacing any negative thought patterns that you have is very important.  And keeping yourself busy and distracted is very important, and can get you through the rough days.  Find things that bring you joy, and do them every day.  This makes the journey much easier to take.

 

 Symptoms and self-care

Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms

 Easing your way into meditation for a stressed-out nervous system

Music for self-care: calms hyperalertness, anxiety, aids relaxation and sleep

Ways to cope with daily anxiety

"Change the channel" - dealing with cognitive symptoms

Dealing With Emotional Spirals

Getting Started with Mindfulness

 

In summary, taking prozac would not be a wise decision.  I would rather see you reinstate a tiny dose of lexapro, and I'm happy to help you figure out dilutions and dosing for getting these small, sub therapeutic doses.  Reinstatement is not a guarantee, but it is your safest bet for some symptom relief at this time.  Whether or not you choose to reinstate, this is a time to look after yourself both mentally and physically, in order to help facilitate healing.  And you will heal.  We all do, especially given time and attention to proper self care. Sending you love and hugs- you are stronger than you think, and you will get through this! ❤️‍🩹

 

This is your introduction topic.  Each member gets one intro topic.  Please post updates and questions here, on this thread.  But do explore the rest of the forum- there's tons of good info here!  And it's always a great idea to read and comment on the intro threads of others here- this is how we build our community and support each other during these difficult times.  Engaging with the community makes the healing journey a much less lonely one.