Gridley

[Rosetta]

Wonderful, Gridley.  Congratulations!  How exciting.  To have an activating drug gone must be so nice for you.  Hugs, Rosetta

[ipuka]

Congratulation on tapering off Lexapro, Gridley!

 

 

 

 

[Estman]

On 11/4/2020 at 3:11 PM, Gridley said:

 

Hi Grindley,

Are you also panicking during imipramine reduction?
Has an increase in blood pressure been a symptom of imipramine withdrawal?
Anafranil withdrawal symptoms include rapid pulse, high blood pressure and periods of panic (waves)

[Gridley]

11 minutes ago, Estman said:

Hi Grindley,

Are you also panicking during imipramine reduction?
Has an increase in blood pressure been a symptom of imipramine withdrawal?
Anafranil withdrawal symptoms include rapid pulse, high blood pressure and periods of panic (waves)

I'm not reducing Imipramine now.  I'm still holding since 2016 while I did my Lexapro taper.  No panicking.

No blood pressure issues.

[Estman]

4 minutes ago, Gridley said:

 

Yes, people are different
Did it happen to you sometimes that you cut too fast (Lexapro)?
How long did you stabilize then?

[Gridley]

35 minutes ago, Estman said:

Yes, people are different
Did it happen to you sometimes that you cut too fast (Lexapro)?
How long did you stabilize then?

I meant to tell you that when I was tapering Imipramine after a certain point I had extreme anxiety but  not panic attacks.  Wait, now that I think about it, I did have one or two in the middle of the night when tapering Imipramine.  When tapering Lexapro, I was going slowly so not too much anxiety except at the end when because of the limits of the scale I was cutting 50%.  When I was going too fast there at the end I wold hold for 6 weeks to stabilize.

[elbee]

On 10/28/2020 at 8:45 AM, Gridley said:

I jumped to zero today from 0.025mg Lexapro after a 3 year, 11 month taper.

 

Big congrats on great milestone, @Gridley! It's great to hear you feel good about this, . . .you've come a long way. It's so important to celebrate the successes. Wishing you continued healing as you move forward with the benzo WD. 🙏❤️

[Estman]

2 hours ago, Gridley said:

 

As if there were withdrawal symptoms right now
It's like being nauseous, but feeling unwell
I'm not sick otherwise
These symptoms usually start in the first 1-2 weeks
Strange that started again a few days ago (31 days now)
I think this is a mistake of tricyclic drugs
As with the second wave of withdrawal symptoms, though, there is no dose adjustment

[Gridley]

2 hours ago, Estman said:

As with the second wave of withdrawal symptoms, though, there is no dose adjustment

I think windows and waves can happen with any of these drugs, without a dose change.

[Gridley]

@elbee

 

Thanks, I appreciate it.  I'm going let things settle a bit then start work on the benzos.

[Estman]

12 hours ago, Gridley said:

 

Yes, I also have extreme periods of anxiety
Sometimes they are strange
Last night I had total anxiety and feeling unwell
However, waking up at night was relatively normal
The sleep was alive but refreshing
Waking up the same morning already in bed was a huge anxiety
Like an explosion of adrenaline
Were there such things with Lexapro?
How did you react when there was a lot of anxiety?

[Gridley]

2 hours ago, Estman said:

Were there such things with Lexapro?

I had many of the same things with Lexapro.

 

The best thing I've found for anxiety is this restorative yoga pose.

 

10 minute Restorative Yoga for Relaxation | Up the wall

 

A small amount of magnesium helps also.

 

 

[Gridley]

Update of Lexapro jump to zero.

 

Day 13 and I'm doing okay.  Starting at day 7, I started having more anxiety and by day 10, my symptoms had ramped up considerably, a whole slew of symptoms: more anxiety, some depression, dizziness, chest pain, so much so I wondered whether I'd jumped off too soon.  But day 11, miraculously it seemed, brought a window for the morning.  Now I'm back to WDnormal, which is fine by me.

 

One great benefit of being off the Lexapro is that my sleep has improved.  I still wake up around 3:00am, but since going off the Lexapro (excepting a few days) I'm generally able to get back to sleep with the aid of a bit of magnesium and eke out a couple more hours of sleep, getting me up to 8 hours some nights, not premium-quality sleep but even so, it's an improvement.

Edited November 9, 2020 by Gridley

[Estman]

8 hours ago, Gridley said:

Update of Lexapro jump to zero.

 

Day 13 and I'm doing okay.  Starting at day 7, I started having more anxiety and by day 10, my symptoms had ramped up considerably, a whole slew of symptoms: more anxiety, some depression, dizziness, chest pain, so much so I wondered whether I'd jumped off too soon.  But day 11, miraculously it seemed, brought a window for the morning.  Now I'm back to WDnormal, which is fine by me.

 

 

Very good Gridley!
Have you ever had a night-morning cortisol jump?

[Rosetta]

I’m so glad your sleep is improving.  That makes a big difference.  Thinking of you, Rosetta

[Gridley]

5 hours ago, Estman said:

Have you ever had a night-morning cortisol jump?

I used to have them almost every morning.  Now they're much improved.  Sometimes a bit of anxiety in the early a.m.

[Gridley]

49 minutes ago, Rosetta said:

Thinking of you, Rosetta

Thanks for stopping by, Rosetta.  I hope you have a good day.  I know not having school makes it difficult.

[Rosetta]

Yes.  Her school is 4 days a week, 3 hours a day.  She was off all last week because she had coronavirus symptoms, and getting tests and doctor’s letters took a while.  I’m very grateful the school is following the the rules and being careful.  However, it does mean 3 -10 days of 

missed school every time.

 

You are awake at 4:00 am?  Sorry about that.  I hope you can sleep again.

 

-R

[Estman]

12 minutes ago, Gridley said:

I used to have them almost every morning.  Now they're much improved.  Sometimes a bit of anxiety in the early a.m.

I reduced my daily dose on October 5th
The withdrawal symptoms were then 20 days
After that, it was relatively normal for about 7 days
8 days ago, the wave suddenly started again
High anxiety, fight-escape reaction (high cortisol probably)

Strange that such a wave begins a month after reduction
Now in recent days there has been a severe depression and weakness
Sometimes it feels like the wave isn't passing, thankfully it hasn't gone that way before
Strange that the waves are repeated in this way, in the meantime, as if the symptoms disappear and the idea arises that now okay
Have you experienced similar waves?
How long do waves usually last?

[Gridley]

35 minutes ago, Estman said:

How long do waves usually last?

There is no way to predict the length of a wave. 

[Heath]

Gridley Happy to hear you got to 0!!! Hope you have a great day !!!

[Gridley]

@Heath

Thanks, Heath.  I hope you have a good day today.

[SkyBlue]

Gridley! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! HUGE congratulations to you, my friend! ! ! ! !This calls for a celebration. 

 

You did it! ! ! ! ! ! Incredible work. I celebrate your perserverance and wisdom throughout your journey. 

 

Hooray! 

[Gridley]

@SkyBlue,

 

Thanks, Sky, good to hear from you and I appreciate your kind words.  

[sunnysideup69]

On 10/28/2020 at 12:45 PM, Gridley said:

Hello, friends.  I jumped to zero today from 0.025mg Lexapro after a 3 year, 11 month taper.  I'm pretty happy about it.  Really, the near 4-years went fast.  Some symptoms of course.  I'll be continuing to post here about the post-zero journey.

 

Wow! I'm so happy for you @Gridley! You've been so helpful to me and this helps even more, it's so inspiring. Wishing you even more fantastic healing to come  

[Gridley]

5 hours ago, sunnysideup69 said:

 

Wow! I'm so happy for you

Thanks, Sunny.  It's always nice to  hear from you.

[manymoretodays]

On 11/9/2020 at 2:55 PM, Gridley said:

Update of Lexapro jump to zero.

 

Day 13 and I'm doing okay.  Starting at day 7, I started having more anxiety and by day 10, my symptoms had ramped up considerably, a whole slew of symptoms: more anxiety, some depression, dizziness, chest pain, so much so I wondered whether I'd jumped off too soon.  But day 11, miraculously it seemed, brought a window for the morning.  Now I'm back to WDnormal, which is fine by me.

 

One great benefit of being off the Lexapro is that my sleep has improved.  I still wake up around 3:00am, but since going off the Lexapro (excepting a few days) I'm generally able to get back to sleep with the aid of a bit of magnesium and eke out a couple more hours of sleep, getting me up to 8 hours some nights, not premium-quality sleep but even so, it's an improvement.

 

Joining the celebration here, Gridley.  Big milestone.  Confetti and balloons are in order!  🤗

And oh, thank goodness, back to WDnormal.  And good sleep overall.

 

You are the rock Gridley.  A good strong rock!

 

L, P, H, and G,

mmt

 

[Gridley]

1 hour ago, manymoretodays said:

 

You are the rock Gridley.  A good strong rock!

 

Thanks, mmt.  You too are the rock.  A very caring rock.

[SkyBlue]

On 11/10/2020 at 1:41 PM, Gridley said:

@SkyBlue,

 

Thanks, Sky, good to hear from you and I appreciate your kind words.  

You're very welcome. : ) 

 

[Godsave]

@Gridley

congrats for making this happen !!! 🎉👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
u would have undergone so much and u should have got the patience patience 🙏🏼👍👍

god bless 🙏🏼😊

 

I tapered this so many times and was off also many times .. but did not follow this 10% and now I understood my lessons .. 

after suffering so much I reinstated to my original 5 mg and keep it hold and waiting to stabilise .. hope one day I should make it too by ur inspiration 

[Gridley]

6 hours ago, Godsave said:

hope one day I should make it too by ur inspiration 

Thanks, Godsave.  You will make it too.  

[Gridley]

Update 15 days out from Lexapro jump to zero:

 

A few symptoms have cropped up in the last couple of days, a reminder to me that it doesn't stop at zero: dizziness, throat and chest muscle constriction (that's a new one for me but several members have reported it), paresthesia this morning, still sleeping but not as well.  Not debilitating but definitely noticeable.  I'm holding off on my Valium crossover for a bit to see how things shake out.

[Erell]

Dear Gridley, 

 

yes when we read the post zero experiences it seems that there still can be some bump in the road : more healing to come !

I'm thinking of you and send you all my support ❤️

 

Postponning the crossover sounds good : how much Ativan do you have left ?

 

Sending hugs

[Gridley]

13 minutes ago, Erell said:

 

Postponning the crossover sounds good : how much Ativan do you have left ?

 

Thanks for checking in, Erell.  Yes, I've had a few bumps.  I had been hoping to just slip off the Lexapro.  Ah, well, acceptance, acceptance.  In the morning before I get out of bed I go over all my things and accept them, even the thorny ones that I do not want to hug.  It's always a relief to accept.

 

I have five months of Ativan left, so that's really plenty.  The crossover plan that I worked out with Shep is 6 weeks of crossover, plus another two weeks to change from 3 all-Valium benzo doses to one nightly dose. 

 

Big hugs to you.

 

 

[Erell]

1 minute ago, Gridley said:

Ah, well, acceptance, acceptance.

You made me laugh !  

Acceptance seems to be a lifelong work, right ? 

Still learning and practicing too

And I think we will never stop to tell us very optimistic stories : that's how we keep moving on, and better to except the best !

 

I'm relieved to read you : five months left, that leaves time to let things settle a bit.

 

You have all my support !

[Cigale]

Thinking of you dear @Gridley and hoping this is just a little teeny micro-wave. You have held my hand so many times over the past year, I want to reach out and send you a huge healing hug 🤗! Legs up the wall!