ikam: tapering escitalopram

[Gridley]

@ikam

 

Congratulations!

 

On 5/1/2019 at 1:11 PM, ikam said:

Actually, it increased my anxiety. 

 

Benzos can definitely have a paradoxical effect.

[Frogie]

2 hours ago, ikam said:

Both, the divorce and house sale achieved... 🌞 

The house sale was completed just on Tuesday... 

My mind was so full of problems for the past two years that suddenly it feels kind of empty... 

 

I am down by 66%, taking 34%...

That is great news!

 I’m very happy for you.

 

Take care,

 Frogie xx

[ikam]

Exhaustion continues... Also feeling severly nauseous, I think it is from both, stress and withdrawal... 

[ikam]

Just an update. 

I started tappering around 1150 days ago. 

I am now down 77% of my 2.5mg dose of escitalopram. Meaning I am taking 23% of it (0.575mg)

I persevere despite of anything... 

Managed to get through divorce... 

Now waiting for o foot surgery for morton's neuroma... 

Hopefully I will be free of escitalopram in the beginning of next year... 

[Frogie]

4 hours ago, ikam said:

Just an update. 

I started tappering around 1150 days ago. 

I am now down 77% of my 2.5mg dose of escitalopram. Meaning I am taking 23% of it (0.575mg)

I persevere despite of anything... 

Managed to get through divorce... 

Now waiting for o foot surgery for morton's neuroma... 

Hopefully I will be free of escitalopram in the beginning of next year... 

Hi ikam:

 

I have been wondering how you have been doing. It sounds like your taper is going very well.

 

 I’m sorry to hear you have to have foot surgery. I’ll be thinking of you through that. Pleas keep us updated.

 

It was nice to see you back 😊

 

Take care,

 Frogie xx

[ikam]

6 hours ago, Frogie said:

Hi ikam:

 

I have been wondering how you have been doing. It sounds like your taper is going very well.

 

 I’m sorry to hear you have to have foot surgery. I’ll be thinking of you through that. Pleas keep us updated.

 

It was nice to see you back 😊

 

Take care,

 Frogie xx

Thank you. The tapper is going well...I have on and off symptoms, but nothing debilitating... 

 

I see you tappering xanax now, you seem to be doing well... Just step by step... 

 

I will have more drugs yl tapper, as I increased doxepin when I was going through the divorce... 

I am also on betablocker and PPI... The PPI seems to have stopped working and I am with a severe reflux now... 

 

With best wishes 

Ikam

 

 

[Frogie]

3 hours ago, ikam said:

Thank you. The tapper is going well...I have on and off symptoms, but nothing debilitating... 

 

I see you tappering xanax now, you seem to be doing well... Just step by step... 

 

I will have more drugs yl tapper, as I increased doxepin when I was going through the divorce... 

I am also on betablocker and PPI... The PPI seems to have stopped working and I am with a severe reflux now... 

 

With best wishes 

Ikam

 

 

I’m doing ok. Like you said, one step at a time.

 

This is my last drug to taper off of.

 

You are making great strides in all that you have been going through.

 

I’m glad to hear you’re doing well.

 

Take care,

 Frogie xx

[ikam]

Sorry I did not answer, I completely forgot. 

 

I am impressed by your perseverance, great job! 

 

My tapering has lasted more than 3 years, sometimes I think that perhaps I should go a bit faster... But I am scared at each step... 

Perhaps I should try 2% at a time?

 

I think I will be lexapro free by the end of this year... 

 

Then I have 3 other drugs, atenolol, doxepin and ppi, and also HRT... 

 

 

[Frogie]

14 minutes ago, ikam said:

Sorry I did not answer, I completely forgot. 

 

I am impressed by your perseverance, great job! 

 

My tapering has lasted more than 3 years, sometimes I think that perhaps I should go a bit faster... But I am scared at each step... 

Perhaps I should try 2% at a time?

 

I think I will be lexapro free by the end of this year... 

 

Then I have 3 other drugs, atenolol, doxepin and ppi, and also HRT... 

 

 

You have to taper the way that works best for you. You are doing wonderful!

 

 I’m sorry you still have to go through more tapers though, just like me. I’ll be glad when I can say goodbye to this Xanax. It’s a different taper with different side affects. But I will make it, just like you.

 

Keep up the good work and please keep me posted how you are doing.

 

Take care,

 Frogie xx

[ikam]

An update, I am down 80%from 2.5mg

 

Today I had a surgery for morton's neuroma under gerneral anastetic + co-codamol... 

 

Cannot sleep and perhaps this may be due to escitalopram... 

Do not know what anaesthetic I had, it was a short lasting one... 

My mind feels overactive, my body tired but heart beat quite fast... 

 

I guess this will wear down at some point, but today it is 2am and I am not sleeping yet... 

[ikam]

Better... 

[Frogie]

2 hours ago, ikam said:

Better... 

I’m glad you are better! But so sorry you had to have surgery.

 

Take care,

 Frogie xx

[ikam]

Additionally I have managed to cut for another 2%, so I am now on 18% of 2.5mg=0.45mg

[Frogie]

6 hours ago, ikam said:

Additionally I have managed to cut for another 2%, so I am now on 18% of 2.5mg=0.45mg

That’s awesome! Glad you are feeling well 😊

[ikam]

I think I am hit by WD, as I had general anasthetic and local nerve block 17days ago... 

To say I feel exhausted, sweat a lot and have a severe brain fog... 

I think this may be related to WD magnified by the resent anasthesia... + I had few days of paracetamol with codeine... 

[ikam]

Better... 5 weeks post surgery... 

Still a bit foggy... 

[Frogie]

4 hours ago, ikam said:

Better... 5 weeks post surgery... 

Still a bit foggy... 

I’m glad you are feeling better😊

[ikam]

I am on 12% from 2.5mg

 

Just thinking ahead, as I am on a combination of meds I am unsure how to plan my next step. 

I am on:

PPI omeprasole 40mg in evening

Doxepin- 150mg in evening

Atenolol, twice a day 10mg

Sandrena 1mg evening

Utrogestan 100mg evening

 

Thank you

[ikam]

9 hours ago, ikam said:

I am on 12% from 2.5mg

 

Just thinking ahead, as I am on a combination of meds I am unsure how to plan my next step. 

I am on:

PPI omeprasole 40mg in evening

Doxepin- 150mg in evening

Atenolol, twice a day 10mg

Sandrena 1mg evening

Utrogestan 100mg evening

 

Thank you

I do not know which one to do next and how? 

 

[Altostrata]

ikam, what are the times of day you take your drugs? Do you take them all at the same time in the evening? If so, why do you take them all at once? What is the drug name for Sandrena and Utrogestan?

 

Please put ALL your drugs in the Drug Interactions Checker https://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.php
and copy and paste the results or a link to them in this topic.

[ikam]

Hi Alto,

I take the remaining escitalopram 12% from 2.5 mg in the morning. It had taken me over 4 years to tapper... 

Another medication in the morning is Atenolol 10mg and another 10mg in evening. 

I had to decrease escitalopram really fast at first as I was getting adverse symptoms due to the interaction of escitalopram and doxepin. So after few days on 5mg I had to cut to 2.5mg...and then tappered slowly, 1% at a time... 

 

At this point I am a bit unsure which medication to rapper next? And what protocol to use? I am also unsure how to cut capsules? Escitalopram is in a tablet form

 

The interactions are below:

https://www.drugs.com/interactions-check.php?drug_list=1013-0,935-0,1750-0,2414-0,1019-3929,273-0

 

Thank you... 

 

Morning: escitalopram and Atenolol 

Evening: Atenolol, Utrogestan (progesterone) and doxepin 

Later--around 1 hour later, omeprazole and Sandrena (estrogen) 

Edited December 25, 2019 by ikam

[Altostrata]

What times o'clock do you take your drugs, with their dosages?

 

15 minutes ago, ikam said:

escitalopram 12% from 2.5 mg in the morning

 

What does this mean? Are you taking 2.5mg escilatopram?

 

How are you feeling on less escilatopram?

 

Why are you taking escilatopram with atenolol in the morning? Why do you take atenolol with doxepin in the evening? Why was atenolol prescribed? Why was omeprazole prescribed?

 

As you're still tapering escilatopram, why are you concerned about choosing another drug to taper?

 

(I enlarged the font in your signature because it was too small to read.)

[ikam]

Alto, 

I am taking 0.3mg of escitalopram, doing well... I often hold for longer, especially if anything additional happens, such my recent surgery and anasthetic... 

I am not considering tapering anything until I finish with escitalopram, but I am preparing mentally, as it takes me long to prepare, think it through and then decide and carry on with the protocol... 

Atenolol was prescribed for diastolic hypertension and fast heart rate

Omeprasole for symptoms of Gerd (it is not helping anymore!) 

Doxepin- as a pain management

Escitalopram--for depressive symptoms 

 

I am taking them together as I was not adviced how to take them. I wanted to make sure that doxepin and escitalopram were separated. 

Also I take omeprasole around 1 hour after doxepin... 

[jozeff]

UitslagHi ikam,

 

Have been following your topic for a while.

You are a great example for me how to taper gradually.

 

So you did a 1% taper a week with no holds (in theory). You have beeno tapering now for 3.5 years from 2.5 mg to 0.3 my is that correct?

 

How long did it take you to stabilize on the 2.5 mg?

 

Hope you are doing well!

 

I've been tapering for 8 months now and managed to go from 18 mg citalopram to 12.9 mg...

That is not too speedy but hey as long as I can manage it, it's ok right?

 

Wish you the best

 

 

Jozeff

[ikam]

2 hours ago, jozeff said:

UitslagHi ikam,

 

Have been following your topic for a while.

You are a great example for me how to taper gradually.

 

So you did a 1% taper a week with no holds (in theory). You have beeno tapering now for 3.5 years from 2.5 mg to 0.3 my is that correct?

 

How long did it take you to stabilize on the 2.5 mg?

 

Hope you are doing well!

 

I've been tapering for 8 months now and managed to go from 18 mg citalopram to 12.9 mg...

That is not too speedy but hey as long as I can manage it, it's ok right?

 

Wish you the best

 

 

Jozeff

Hi Jozeff, thank you. It has taken me long... Although my first step had to be fast, cutting by half... Then I had a long time for stabilisation... 

I think it took me around one year to stabilise after that drastic cut... 

I cut by half only because I had severe adverse response 

 

For me 1% at a time works best. But all requires lots of mindful preparation, as I adjust my protocol accordingly to my life events, some of them pretty difficult, such as divorce or surgery... 

So, I do slow down and stop in times... 

 

Recently, each time I cut by another 1% I do not have any additional symptoms.... 

 

I think it does not matter how long it takes, but the final result...and also that it does not destabilise me further... 

 

I have few more meds to tapper, unfortunatelly, but I will only do one at a time...

 

[ikam]

One more, in terms of time line

24.10.2014, started escitalopram, from 5mg and then I was on 10mg for less than one week

5.01.2015- reduction from 5mg to 2.5mg

 

Then on 22.07.2016, started reduction by 1%, so it had taken me 1.5year go stabilise

 

[jozeff]

Hi ikam,

Thanks a lot!

 

Ok, so did you taper by 1% per week calculated from beginning dose of 1% from previous dose. This makes a massive difference in taper length. You hàve been tapering for over three years so it must be the latter method....

 

I tend to hold to a schedule but this never works because sometimes you just want to hold it you have the flu or a surgery for example.

 

I hope you will succeed in getting rid of the last 0.3 my eventually. I'm sure you will!

 

 

Cheers

Jozeff

[ikam]

Just found the below:

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/2207-taking-multiple-psych-drugs-which-drug-to-taper-first/?do=findComment&comment=21436

 

So I have taken the decision to tapper the accelerator, escitalopram first... 

 

I am still unsure what next step to take? 

I think doxepin will be really hard... As I have been on it for years and it seems I may be somehow addicted... 

 

Perhaps, PPI should be next? 

[Altostrata]

What times o'clock do you take your drugs, with their dosages?

 

You might go off omeprazole next, by 25% per week.

[ikam]

Thank you Alto.

 

8am- Atenolol 10mg and escitalopram, 0.3mg

 

7pm- Atenolol 10mg, Doxepin, 150mg, Utrogestan (Progesterone) 100mg

 

8pm- 40mg Omeprazole

 

9pm- Sandrena (estrogen) 1mg

[Altostrata]

Why are you taking atenolol and escilatopram together?

[ikam]

Alto, nobody until now suggested any different way...i did not realise myself that I should keep them separate... And I have been taking like this since 2014! I assume that I should not... 

So, I take them during my breakfast before going to work... 

[ikam]

Updated my Escitalopram signature. It has been steady progress and I am now on 11% of 2.5mg = 0.275mg.

 

My intention for this year is to be Escitalopram free and I am sure I can achieve this.

 

In the beginning I had to make a fast tapper, as I had some adverse symptoms related to the cocktail of meds I was at that time. I remember Christmas 2014 when I truly thought I was going to die. This is when I found this group. I was in a terrible state, unable to go out, sleep, work, etc. 

(the psychiatrist I was under that time just added Escitalopram to Doxepin + also added some sleeping pills and benzos + I was also talking medication for migraine; I never got back to that psychiatrist!)

After the fast tapper, I was holding for around 1.5 year.

 

In my personal protocol I used elements of the BrassMonkey tapering protocol, but I did hold sometimes for much longer: this related to dealing with adverse life events, such as divorce. 

There have been times that I carried on tapering by 1% at a time for more than 4 weeks, but this was only occasional. Also on few occasions I tapered by 2%. 

 

Since 2014, I have managed to move house on 3 occasions, change jobs on 3 occasions, get through the divorce and my mother's death. Also, I was Iron deficient and had to go through Endoscopy, Colonoscopy and then intravenous Iron (as I cannot take it orally).

I had a surgery this year in October, 26th with a local and general anaesthetic. Recovering well. 

 

I am aware that my autonomic nervous system may never fully recover; there are aspects I just need to learn how to live with.

 

Recently somebody suggested to me IRest meditations and I am finding them VERY useful...

 

I updated my signature, but was unable to get more than 11 lines, so I did not add my supplements that is:

In the morning: Omega 3, Multivitamin

In evening: Magnesium Glycinate and Milk Thistle 

 

Last year when I was going through extreme stress (divorce, banks, repossession, selling the house, debts), my body "just refused" to digest any more "complex food" and somehow I have stopped eating meat all together, but I have found now good natural products that are full of nutrients, protein and are organic and often gluten free. This seems to be working well for me. One thing I take regularly in the morning is Ezyprotein  https://ezyprotein.com.au/ and Super Greens. I have been taking this for around 2 yeas and since then I do not have any iron deficiency. 

(my body is compromised and I may never get back to a "normal" functioning, but I can lead a quality of life)

 

 

 

 

[Erell]

5 minutes ago, ikam said:

My intention for this year is to be Escitalopram free and I am sure I can achieve this.

 

You seem To have been through a lot, and I'm glad To read someone who has tappered low like you !

 

I wish you To reach your goal, and wish you a good year of healing 😊

 

You Will achieve this! ❤

[ikam]

Thank you Errel, slow is good... Always measure the next step by achieving the previous one... (hope I put this in correct grammar!) 

[wantrelief]

Wow, ikam, you've been through so much and are doing so well with your taper - very inspiring and impressive!!  Was there anything that you found helpful with getting through those stressful events?  I have had so much trouble with stressful things upending me and always ended up updosing.  Now citalopram is no longer working for me (I believe I am in some sort of tolerance situation) so no longer have that option. I am working on how I cope with anxiety/stress but would love to know if there was anything you found particularly helpful during those times?  

 

You will complete your intention of getting off of escitalopram this year, no doubt about it!