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Hi @KateH! I have no idea if the LDN is helping. It's a confusing, jumbled mess at the moment. I started having these weird gagging sensations, along with inappropriate crying over the last two days. The problem is I'm not sure which drug is causing the problem, since I have stupidly been taking both at the same time. Live and learn, right? I'm moving the LDN to a different time of day to see what happens. Time will tell. In terms of my current taper, I tapered quite fast from 20 to 10mg, knowing that I had no trouble in this range in the past. Or at least I don't think I did- my previous taper was done generally way too fast, so I'm not sure at this point exactly when the nasty symptoms are going to kick in. I held at 15 mg for 3 months with absolutely no problem, then dropped to 10. I would like to drop to 9mg on Wednesday, but I need to sort out whether it's the escitalopram or the naltrexone causing my current issues before doing anything. These setbacks are frustrating, but it's important to make slow and careful decisions to try to avoid setbacks! I wholeheartedly agree with you re: EMDR and IFS! These have been absolutely life changing for me. I still have a ways to go, but I'm very grateful for the progress I've made so far! My only other supports are a handful of Facebook groups. And of course my husband. He's my greatest supporter. I know I love him so, so much, but long-standing anhedonia makes it hard for me to really 'feel' it, if that makes sense. The drugs have been masking so much for so long. I'm hoping that the stars align, and I'm able to get off these drugs for good and forever, and hopefully learn to experience real emotions again. Most days I'm super optimistic, but I'm struggling a bit today. Tomorrow is another day, right? This too shall pass... How are you feeling today? Getting some rest? I can't imagine traveling during this withdrawal stuff. My familiar, comfortable surroundings have been an absolute must!!! Where else have you traveled so far? I so want to see more of the world, but I think an international flight might just kill me right now lol! Maybe someday!

Hope you do not mind me leaving a message on your thread. Cant speak for others, but I do not see it as disheartening, but rather reassuring that a slow methodical taper can be successful and safe for many people Wishing you the best on your continued taper.

Hi @Sonoma! Welcome! Definitely not crazy. I came off of Paxil cold turkey many years ago, and had similar symptoms, plus the brain zaps. Not fun. You have also likely 'pooped out' on Paxil, which is why you felt it wasn't really doing much for you, even after dosage increases. This seems to happen with all antidepressants- they just stop working. Unfortunately though, OMW is right- the best treatment for your withdrawal is to reinstate a small dose of Paxil-very small, to see how your body reacts. And then you have to wait a week or so to see if it makes a difference. Unfortunately, everything happens at a snail's pace when withdrawing from these drugs, but we're here to support you along the way!

Also, can I get interdose withdrawal this low, or is that not a thing with lex?

Hi all, I'm new here, currently tapering escitalopram. I was on a revolving door of SSRIs, SNRIs, benzos, and sleep meds from the mid/late 90s until 2007. I rapidly tapered my meds in 2007 to prepare to get pregnant. I had some fertility challenges, but did manage to carry a baby to term in 2009. I went on to have a series of miscarriages (4 confirmed by ultrasound, 3 others that occurred too early to see anything on ultrasound, but did have positive pregnancy tests). I returned to taking escitalopram in 2016 after a job change that activated my anxiety. So I was off the meds from 2007-2016... I had anhedonia and zero libido while on my drug cocktail... I assumed I would return to normal I got off the drugs, but it didn't happen- the anhedonia and lack of drive stayed exactly the same. I then had a traumatic birth experience, and my daughter had a stroke shortly after birth... also extremely traumatic. I guess I'm fearful that I may never get my libido and my zest for life back. I know that I was only off the drugs for two years before I gave birth and was traumatized, and maybe that wasn't long enough for my nervous system to recover. And I have no doubt that the trauma around my daughter's birth contributed more to that lack of recovery. I guess I want to know if there's hope for me? My husband is an angel and a saint- he is patient, kind and supportive. But I just don't feel much anymore, emotionally or sexually. Will I recover once I get off escitalopram? Is there anything I can do to help? I'm currently on disability due to long covid (that's another story), so I am really focussing on my wellness right now. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Good idea! I don't know if there is one of the drug that is safest to move. I know they usually suggest to always take your AD at the same time... but if it helps, it helps! The good thing is that you you can take your time to figure it out and see if you can find a pattern. It's frustrating... but the way I see it, it's better that it happens now instead of the day following a dosage change!

I am so sorry @Bailey ssme and hope people who’ve been on here a long time and know their way around aka can please chime in on how to navigate this all. hugs

@Farm24 Sounds a bit like me, sometimes I read symptoms others have had and all of a sudden I get it too. Best not to overthink things.😏

You have to give it at least a week. It's going to be a bumpy road. You won't know today. Probably not tomorrow either. It's okay. You got this!

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I get the stiff neck one too. That seems to be coming back less and less. Of course now that I say that....

Thank you. @brassmonkey. What dose would you recommend right now? I was at .06 10 days & kept getting worse & worse. .04 or .05? I’m worried I’m kindling. I’ve taken .03 so far today, .01 at a time bc I was terrified to have another adverse reaction. The first 2 doses definitely helped. The 3rd one, I feel worse.

I think it's both. I understand. You don't want to rock the boat. Hopefully the warm bath will help.

@LostInCanada thanks and good point I won’t from here on out. To be fair the symptoms in my list I put above all started before the Tylenol. It agreed! im going to take a warm bath! Does the warm bath actually convince the cns to calm down or is it just convincing me to calm down and then the cns? Just curious about these things. I have a full cold plunge set up that I’m terrified to use at the moment.

@ScaredDad it could be the Tylenol causing a reaction. I would suggest taking absolutely nothing so we can figure out if the 1 mg is going to work or not. Just breathe. You are safe and are going to be okay. Can heat or cold help? Walking?

Hey, I'm very sorry this is happening to you. Combining stress and withdrawal is the perfect recipe for having a bad time. It is not your fault. You are doing the best you can. I hope this health issue you mention is solved as soon as possible. I wouldn't make any decisions right now. Updosing might make things worse. But I'm not a mod and you know yourself best so take this advice with a grain of salt. This is all temporary. I know it is hard to believe when you are in a wave, but that's the truth. I wish you all the best ❤️

At what point would I know if this just won’t work? I feel like I’m on acid all of a sudden. Like feel like I can’t control my arms. Jeeeeze I was so confident legit an hour ago. My whole body is vibrating. i did take a Tylenol but no way that’s making my hands go deeply numb right? Usually it’s surface this is deep

@Farm24 @Farm24 Hi, at the moment I don't have a heavy head feeling but I find symptoms just seem to come and go, sometimes new ones crop up like increased tinnitus and sound sensitivity (hearing the toilet flush sounds like Niagara Falls in my left ear) and sometimes old ones come back. I have stiff neck and shoulders today, could all be tension🤔.

@HelenR Hi Helen, sorry you haven't had a good day, I think you had a busy stressful day and that seems to flare up these horrible symptoms. Hope you have a better day tomorrow. My daughter called today for lunch so that meant extra work for me, cooking, cleaning etc. It's worth it though because I love seeing her but it does affect my symptoms. I was ok doing all of that, it's when I stopped the dizziness started. It's ok at the moment, I think i'll stick with my new dose, it's hardly anything which is annoying but it's on the way down which is what I want. I think most sensible people only start reducing once they've stabilised on a dose but with me I hadn't stabilised and I always felt unsure whether it was the Citalopram that was actually making me feel worse. Ah well, it's done now. Thank you for your support, hope you have a peaceful night.🙏😊

Exactly. I think it’s because a lot of supplements act on the same neurotransmitters.

Has that heavy feeling gotten any better for you?

@onmyway thank you for responding about egg retrieval. My progress: 17 months post rapid taper of 40 mg Prozac, 12 months from hell and resinstatement of 20 mg ( didn’t know any better) I am now finally functional after not working for 1 year but am still utterly exhausted by end of week. Palpitations stopped, shaking at night stopped, severe acne improved. Since working though, I’ve had to decrease exercise other than walking because I’m still so tired 1 year out. Estrogen levels low. Menses still with very short intervals (21 days) I tried first cut from 20 mg to 19.5 mg ( 2.5 percent) by combining 10 mg tablet with liquid. Two weeks later extreme fatigue, chest pain and shaking at night. No increase in anxiety yet. I hope you can help me. Questions: 1. Did I cut too soon? 2. does this mean it will take me 10 years or more to wean or worse? Or will I be able to cut more later as original withdrawal improves 3. I was planning on embryo freezing not egg freezing but now I’m totally afraid of the hormone induction plus anesthesia for egg harvesting. Can my body handle while in withdrawal? What are your thoughts? 4 I may need hormone replacement since my estrogen low and may be going into full ovarian failure. What happens to withdrawal if you add hormones? 5. Mark Hurowitz book on Deprescribing talks about decreasing dosage based on SERT occupancy instead of flat 5-10 percent per month. Is this newer information or is it a disagreement from this site? 6. I don’t know if low estrogen is from withdrawal or from the drug itself but I’m guessing it’s withdrawal since withdrawal caused extremely severe acne. What are your thoughts? 7. If I need anesthesia, do the dosage of drugs change or are there certain drugs that are better tolerated? my plan is to hold this dose now for several months but maybe I should go back up to 20. What are your thoughts? So grateful for you. I take nothing else- no caffeine, no alcohol. Nothing.

@BaccatePlayer I would find going somewhere like Church, or a theatre or a supermarket even these days very stressful and the very reason I don't go is because I'm afraid of losing control and having a panic attack such as you described. You mentioned that you felt the panic continued whilst at home after returning from Church. I listed to one of Dr Mark Horowitz ' videos where he described his withdrawal symptoms and one was waking up in a state of panic that continued to occur into the evenings. During my first withdrawal I attended a funeral, in the service we had to stand to sing a hymn and I had to hold on to the seat in front of me because my balance was off, my legs turned to jelly. It happens to me sometimes now if I'm talking to someone, it becomes too much for me to listen and I try hard to keep it brief, I find myself in a state of derealisation and I cannot wait for them to leave. This is not normally me so I can only assume it's anxiety (fight of flight) caused by my sensitized nervous system and withdrawal. I'm getting anxiety and some depression now that I never experienced before that I put down to part of the withdrawal process. It messes with our minds and will have us believe that we are going insane sometimes but we have to keep a cool head and remind ourselves that our brains are healing and these are symptoms of the healing process. This is what I keep telling myself when I think I'm losing it sometimes because I've found those feelings very scary. You always seem to understand what it is you are experiencing and you have answered your own questions in your post and have given valid explanations for your symptoms. This sounds me like someone of sound mind and rational thinking. I wish I could be of more help to you but you are far more knowledgeable with this than I am. Always here to listen. 🙏😊

Consistency and accuracy are very important. Take the dose at the same time each day. Set an alarm at a time you know you can stick to. As to the size of the dose, be as accurate as you possibly can. We've all been there. You will turn the corner. Be kind to yourself and patient. This all sounds very positive. 👍 Keep us posted.

I do too unfortunately. It is odd and scary that a freaking vitamin can cause my brain to work different.