MiguelFreeman: question about Lexapro

[MiguelFreeman]

hi hope you are all doing better and recovering like i am 

i have notice a pattern of healing i was able to go back to my internship and finish this last week , just missing 2 days now 

in terms of digestion its improving 

but the fatigue did improve but still there  feeling somewhat down 

but hey its part of the processe

 

[MiguelFreeman]

hi all just updating 
still going true the wave things are getting more manageable  
main symptoms are stomach pains (improving) muscle twitches (coming and going sometimes a bit intense ) some depression but not constant and Gastrointestinal distress also improving since I took some probiotics 
at least my waves have been somewhat not intense i did some mistakes ofc
did drink a single beer 1 week ago 
and did drink one or two cups of coffee in the last 2 weeks 
still trying not to smoke but I have considerably reduced to 1-3 cigarettes a day 
somedays I can actually not smoke 
sleeping wise kinda a mess 
recently  take a couple of hours to sleep even whit the help of valerian root 
at least can get 4-6 hours of sleep and then normally  lay in bed to try to sleep some more
but do need to get up to eat even though my body wanna stay in bed
 if I do  what my body tells me I will get worse since the acidity in my stomach does not let me go two long whits out eating 
ofc I had some suicidal thoughts but I have been able to deal whit them and accept that they are just thoughts and have no power 
and whats being helping the most is meditation and ofc reading success stories 

[Altostrata]

Have you tried these to improve your sleep?

 

Tips to help sleep -- so many of us have that awful withdrawal insomnia

 

Path to Better Sleep FREE online for everyone from the US Veterans Administration

 

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

 

What is the sleep cycle?

 

Melatonin for sleep: Many people find it helpful

 

TV or computer use in evening can disrupt sleep: Bright light signals the brain that it's daytime

 

White noise devices for sleep

[MiguelFreeman]

hi @Altostrata tnx for the link 

my sleep is getting better but the main problem is my stomach pains i have been having 

i did omeprazol for a couple of days to see if it helped  but after a while it cameback

i dont know if it might be wd symptom 

havent taken anything since the omeprazol 

do you recomend i do a short treatment whit omeprazol ?

or do i ride it out

i am able to eat but after eating i get this pains in my stomach 

and some reflux 

 

[Altostrata]

What I would do is see if something you're eating is causing indigestion, and stop eating it. Dairy product and spicy foods often contribute.

[MiguelFreeman]

@Altostrata I am stoping tobacco and coffee since coffee started to give me anxiety recently I feel I am going true the big wave that often speaks about in the final mouths getting close to 1 year just in this month of august my mood changed a lot true out the days and I feel that cigarettes and coffee is just making it worse so I decided to stop but i went 4 days whit out smoking again and failed but failed after drinking coffee so that was my mistake and also since I finish my professional degree and am about to be 1 mouth unemployed it also affects me so I decided to stop Tabacco and coffee and go look for work so I have something to give me a sense of purpose 
but I can say that if I didn't have the information this forum provided I don't know if I would be here today 
I could not imagine being stuck in that cycle of psychiatry forever 
and tnx you for saving my life 
this month of august was quite hard for me in terms of wd 
did get suicidal thoughts back and a deep depression that started getting better mid-august 
and my sleep was horrible and its getting better 
so I feel its the time to cut the addictions also since they are just making me worse 

[Altostrata]

That's so good to hear, Miguel. Listening to your body will help it heal. How far along are you in recovery, do you think?

[MiguelFreeman]

1 hour ago, Altostrata said:

That's so good to hear, Miguel. Listening to your body will help it heal. How far along are you in recovery, do you think?

tbh I have recovered a lot and comparing when I was on the drug and to the early days I am way better 
but I recently fell in a bout of depression even my hygiene went  down a bit but I am trying my best to keep taking good care of me but this last month was hard after my training ended I fell into a depression because i still need something to do you know just staying at home and doing nothing is exactly what I did when I was on the medication and it just makes me feel bad 
so in September, I will do my best to get a job in my area so I can have something to look forward when I wake up because this of just letting the days pass and not doing nothing whit my life makes the rest worse 

[MiguelFreeman]

So today i was feeling a bit tired and decided to drink a cup of coffee 

i regret it 

had A major adenaline spike  arms whent cold pain in the chest dizzinnes and upstet stomach feeling like trowing up 

this scared me  and now i feeli like i have a hot stream running true my body 

never had this 

[ChessieCat]

It's not good that this happened, but at least now you know to drink decaffeinated coffee.  Cola and energy drinks also contain caffeine.

[MiguelFreeman]

On 9/5/2020 at 10:54 PM, ChessieCat said:

It's not good that this happened, but at least now you know to drink decaffeinated coffee.  Cola and energy drinks also contain caffeine.

since that happen been only drinking decaff 

and still batteling to quit smoking also since my stomach is still not normal still having alot of reflux 

but atleast i am keeping tabbaco to a min 

 

But now the main strungle is keeping my shelf calm and trying not to worry to mutch since i am now unemployed and since now i am going true a wave its kinda making me stressed 

but i hope when i go out looking again i have more luck 

[MiguelFreeman]

hey i am back i am corrently 15 days whit out smoking and feeling better

still dealing whit the stomach issue and i am corrently trying to fix my sleep schedule 

but i do have a question 

is muscle twitching a sigh of stress ? or its still from WD

its been 9 mouths and 3 days since i quit the ad 

[manymoretodays]

Hi Miguel,

Congrats!  Huge on the quitting smoking!

 

The muscle twitching could be from WD or could be from stress. 

Are you exercising more?

 

Work is good for keeping the stress down, unless it's a stressful type of work.  At least you get paid, and it helps with self discipline, and self esteem. 

I wish I could get paid for this work of healing sometimes.

 

9 mos. and 6 days today!  Keep going Miguel.  Sounds like, overall, you are doing very well.

 

Best, L, P, H, and G,

mmt

[MiguelFreeman]

@manymoretodays hey hope you doing well 
yes I have been trying to exercise more but since  am still dealing whit stomach issued that mess my sleep its got a bit difficult to have the energy to exercise 
been dealing whit this muscle twitches for 2 months and also the stomach issued I have contacted my doctor and I will be doing some blood work and an ECG to check and after she checks my results she will decide if I shude do an endoscopy 
not my first time doing it but it always sucks 
been kinda worried about this muscles twitches and burning sensations on my lower back and legs but I have been very inactive lately   
began taking some magnesium and in the most part it got better still having the burning sensation and some twitches
I believe they are caused by the stress and possibly the wd also 
let's hope this issue from the stomach its nothing that bad 
also 
I am still smoke-free 
and caffeine-free
1 month  and 3 days since I quit smoking 

 

and how are you in your journey ?

my god bless you

[manymoretodays]

Oh Miguel,

Sorry to hear that.  I am hoping that it is just stress and WD related.

Are you able to do some meditation, walking, or other things to help you with relaxation?

 

I am doing okay.  Still journeying, of course.  Not completely healed.  Yet, that's okay.

Thanks for asking buddy.

 

L, P, H, and G,

mmt

[MiguelFreeman]

@manymoretodayshi again tnx for replying sorry I took so long content access the internet for a while 
well I am trying my best to exercise more muscle twitches seem to be calming down and the stomach pains did reduce a bit but they are still present 
I believe this is wd related since I am getting the same tinnitus I had when I was tapering even though they now have short durations 

[manymoretodays]

That's okay Miguel.  I sometimes have difficulties with the internet too. 

And that's good, short duration of tinnitus.  I will get brief symptoms of tinnitus, when stressed.

Did you get the GI work up done, that you spoke of last?  The endoscopy?  Or did things improve enough, that it was not necessary?

 

Overall, it sounds like you are doing really well!!!

[MiguelFreeman]

@manymoretodays 

my doctor gave me blood work to do first she will only give me the endoscopy if the blood work is fine cuz in November last year somethings were showing up on my blood work and she thought it might have been caused by the medication at the time or smoking, so she gave me more blood work but I didn't do it cuz of the stupid virus going around 
so long story short after a couple of mouths the gi issue started and I notice that since I quit smoking I am in a constant state of stress and anxiety that has momentary windows, maybe caused by the gi issue or a mix of the gi issue quitting smoking and maybe wd 
so I am trying to keep my shelf calm until I do my blood work 
the muscle twitches are still going on but I believe they are caused by stress 
because they normally happen at night when I can't sleep caused by the gi issue or when something the gives me stress happens 
also lately my gi issue is getting better at night I can sleep now even though prob, not the best quality of sleep it's better than going to bed at 11 in the night and only falling asleep at 6 am and waking up at 3 in the afternoon
at least now I can fall asleep around 2 or 3 am 
I did take some pharma grade magnesium to see if it helped it
it improved a bit but not that big of a difference 
also, I found a white line in my finger and  remember that I still  have a glass shard stuck in there for like 4 months now
and I only remember cuz a weird thing was happening when I rubbed my hands on something like the bed sheets 
the hand where there's no glass shard feels normal when I pass it on my bedsheets but the other hand gets all pins and needles 
that's why  remembered I had a glass shard on my finger 
I was getting worried about the tingling on my left hand were that glass shard is and now I am thinking its caused by the glass sard

and how are you doing?

Greeting 
Miguel

[manymoretodays]

Okay Miguel,

You have to take care of yourself in WD.  The finger injury.

 

I suspect a lot of the GI stuff is WD symptoms.

GI symptoms are really common around here.

Digestive problems: nausea, diarrhea, bloating, GERD

there might be some simple helps ^

 

Miguel, one of the mods found a new translator called "DeepL" too, that you might use, if you'd like.  I haven't tried it yet.  It's said to be better than Google translator so I thought I would pass it on to you.

 

The virus is stressful everywhere.  Stupid Covid19.  So you are not alone with that.

 

Thanks for updating.

 

L, P, H, and G,

mmt

[MiguelFreeman]

@manymoretodays hey tnx for the information last night i had a wierd reaction after exersicing had weekness and low blood presure and had high heart rate until today só almost 20+ hours até 90+ bpm i took some Xanax to see if it was a Panic attack but it was not One  had no bad reaction to xanax my plan is to do my blood work and ecg since the medical outline said it was nothing that required going to the hospital ,also things are kinda getting quite hard in my nhs cus covid ,so they advice me to go to my go to get checked out but since I don't got transportation to go there today I decided to do my blood work and ecg and then go to my GP so she can check the result ,but in my opinion I believe that all of this is caused by anxiety and I think my health anxiety is getting worse in the past months I didn't have much of an health anxiety but since the gi issues started  it's making a comeback also my family situation is a caos whit a lot of stress 

 

 

[MiguelFreeman]

I think this is all mainly caused by wd been having hot and cold sensations red cheeks and headaches feeling a lot of fatigue still dealing whit the burning stomach my blood work came back some values on my blood panel are a bit off but can't really understand it so gonna have my GP check it out after I do my ecg

[manymoretodays]

On 10/27/2020 at 1:18 PM, MiguelFreeman said:

i took some Xanax to see if it was a Panic attack but it was not One  had no bad reaction to xanax my plan is to do my blood work and ecg since the medical outline said it was nothing that required going to the hospital ,also things are kinda getting quite hard in my nhs cus covid ,so they advice me to go to my go to get checked out but since I don't got transportation to go there today I decided to do my blood work and ecg and then go to my GP so she can check the result ,but in my opinion I believe that all of this is caused by anxiety and I think my health anxiety is getting worse in the past months I didn't have much of an health anxiety but since the gi issues started  it's making a comeback also my family situation is a caos whit a lot of stress 

 

Sounds like a good plan Miguel. 

 

Are you using Xanax regularly?  Do keep in mind that it only takes 2 weeks to get dependent on a benzo.

 

Sorry the family situation is chaotic right now too.  Any chance you could get a break from that?

 

I agree, that you might just be in a wave of anxiety, and health anxiety.   And then it's hard to know which came first the "fears/anxiety", or the GI issues and increased pulse and blood pressure.

 

I can give you a couple of links that might help your understanding, and perhaps you might learn some non-drug coping skills too:

Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms

^ this one has a whole indexed list of different topics in the first post

Health anxiety, hypochondria, and obsession with symptoms

Ways to cope with daily anxiety

Easing your way into meditation for a stressed out nervous system

 

If I were you, I think I would just keep trying out some new non-drug coping skills until you find some that help.  Often it takes practice and persistence.  I think you are doing really well right now.  Think in terms of healing and where you will be in another several months(in a positive way).  That can really help.

 

L, P, H, and G,

mmt

 

 

[MiguelFreeman]

@manymoretodays hi-so did all my blood work and ECG so i have an appointment in the hospital for immunology some values were high 

also had to do the covid test because my doctor was worried that I had it since all of my family started white flu symptoms and fever but the covid test was negative Thank God  

so right now I am taking care of my anxiety since i notice it was quite high but now i am slowly getting it back down 

i do believe that this thing of being at home was making my anxiety quite high 

now i just need to take care of my stomach 

it got better but still not back to normal since when i exercise i tend to have reflux thus making me have chest pain 

 

but well least things are getting better 

[manymoretodays]

Hi Miguel,

Sounds good overall.

What have you found to help most with the anxiety/fears?  Or what has helped most for you, to slowly bring them down to more manageable?

[MiguelFreeman]

@manymoretodays just taking big walks trying to do that more but I am still dealing whit a lot of anxiety getting some numbness around my mouth that comes and also my muscles are weak and since I am still not eating enough they are prone to injury I have hurt my shelf just by doing normal things 
the numbness I believe is caused by my wisdom tooth that is pushing my front teeth 
so right now I am focused on checking the stomach issue and then prob go see a dentist and pull this goddam wisdom tooths out 
times are though since financially we are in the worse situation we ever been in a long time basically getting by meet and rice and the food cabinet is normally empty now so its gonna be fun trying to take care of myself whit no money 
I have already asked for social security aid 
trying to calm myself in the middle of all of this is not gonna be easy but i am trying my best to meditate 
also, its been a pain in the ass to contact my GP 
at least the muscle twitching went down by a lot 
my back is getting better since i started walking a lot
i try to walk at least 2 miles non-stop 
so i believe that i am going in the right direction

[MiguelFreeman]

just to add something that i forgot 
been having this weird headache that feels like its tight in my forehead and scalp  on the front of the head and i get like of a feel electrecity  not like a jult but like that feeling of a low corrent  and  lose focus and get like kinda a fog mind then it clears after 1-2 hours  

seems like Wd to me

 

[MiguelFreeman]

hey hope you are all doing greate its been almost 1 year and 1 mouth since i quit 

and been gong true a big wave recently  i now know my stomach problems are most likely a result of stress and anxieaty 

and i had tinnitus ever since i quit the ad and even before while i was tapering but recently its getting more frequent 

also will have a hospital appointment to check my blood since i had high red cell count it wasent realy high but it was elevated so my gp made an appointment to a specialist 

and i have been feeling quite fatigue and tired 

my question is shude i worry about this tinnitues and talk to my gp about it 

i belive it might just be high lvls of anxieaty causing this 

[MiguelFreeman]

Hey ,havent posted in a good while i was drug free since 2019 /12 but recently had  some health issues and started having panic attacks 

so unfortunaly had to resort to xanax to help me calm but it seems i got depended on it have been taking it for 1 mouth and half at 0.5 extended relese (in case of severe anxiety) or 0.25 that i devide in 0.125 mg halfs 

corrent been able to get past only taking 0.25mg pill but its getting worse the anxiety and i am realy depressed abot having to resort to medications again 

going to start CBT therapy soon but i  am trying to manage this anxiety whit out having to go back to lexapro  but i fear that xanax is even worse 

Dont know what to do 

[MiguelFreeman]

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[MiguelFreeman]

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[MiguelFreeman]

Hi i have been here before while i was tapering from lexapro witch i did quit in 2019 and was fine until recently 

i developed severe panic attacks  and was put o xanax 

0.25 per day some times i go up to 0.375 

recently my doc told me to get back to lexapro but after taking one pill i felt soo bad that i just decided not to go that way

currently going to therapy to learn how do deal whit my anxiety but now i feel like i addicted to Xanax 

 

i have been taking it since  mid january

my depression and anxiety issues came back recently but i don't wonna go down the medication  path again but unfortunately i had no change since my anxiety and panic attacks were so severe that i  had stopped eating 

also recently got diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis and i don't know what to do 

do i taper  the benzos even Thow my anxiety is still quite high or do i try to hold the dose until therapy starts working 

[Altostrata]

Hello, @MiguelFreeman I added your new posts to your ongoing Introductions topic.

 

Have you discussed your current problems with your doctor? After being a member here since 2017, you were aware that you might become dependent on benzos and would need to taper off them, correct?

[MiguelFreeman]

Hi @Altostrata long time no see 

 

at the time the panic attacks were so intense i has having heart rates of 160 mid panic attack

my GP is just a pill pusher at the moment 

i don't know what 2 do i have been trying to limit my use but only manage to stay at 0.25 mg per day 

what would be your advice 

[Altostrata]

7 hours ago, MiguelFreeman said:

0.25 per day some times i go up to 0.375 

 

Sometimes you take more Xanax?

 

It's likely you are getting interdose withdrawal from the Xanax or paradoxical reactions when you take too much. The symptoms of this are spells of anxiety and insomnia.

 

It seems you both want to be on some drug but not on a drug. What do you want to do?

[MiguelFreeman]

@Altostrata i only intended to use it in emergency's but they anxiety attacks were quite strong so i did use it for longer that i was expecting now my objective is to slowly come off

i was only taking 0.25 and some days half of that no problem but i was stupid in taking the word of my gp and taking lexapro to come off xanax since the moment i took Lexapro the anxiety when true the roof was shaking ,having nausea and vomiting,elevated heart rate ,its been 85 hours and most of that went aways now is just high anxiety that i am mananging by doing breathing  exercises and working whit therapist but  i notice that i have a problem whit Xanax 

 do i  try to take the lost dose possible and stabilize in that before i start any taper ?

[Altostrata]

Lexapro is not your problem, it's your use of Xanax. @Frogie @Shep can you assist?