HunterBob Still Lexapro withdrwal?

[HunterBob]

Hello, I been on Lexapro 10 mgs for 4 years. I was put on due to stomach issues (nauseas, pain, etc) a constant "blah" feeling, and a feeling of just feeling sick when my previous dr said it was just anxiety and depression.  I went thru alot of tests and everything always came back normal.

 

At the time everything started I was very fit and active. I weighed 195 pounds and was benching 300+ pounds. Then when everything hit in no time I was down 25 pounds in almost a month or 2. I didnt have no energy to work out and I felt disconnected from myself which was my 1st symptom. I lost interest at this time to do alot of things. I was always foggy.  I didnt really feel much stress in my life tho.

 

I was with a great girl which is now my wife and I have a great job. So without researching anything I decided to try Lexapro suggested by my dr. Thru the 4 years we had 2 beautiful children, built a house, got married, and I got promoted to management. I will say tho I still feel my job does not have much stress. My wife is also a RN.

 

Yes, I have had some waves of feelings but looking back it could of been some of the side effects of the Lex and also a few times I went from 10 mgs to 5 mgs and vice versa. I found myself going back to 10 mgs when I had to watch the children alot. My wife works 12 hour days as an RN so 3 - 4 days a week I come home from working my 10 hour day and get the kids and I am with them till they go to bed around 8 and I get up for work around 4 in the morning.

 

I am a huge part of my kids lives. They are 2 and 4 at the time. So yes, I do deal with some stress when they are being kids throwing temper tantrums and mom isnt around. So thats why at times when I just felt frustrated I would up my dose to 10 mgs which was the recommendation. It seemed to keep me a little more cool headed. Thats the only thing I thought it really did.

 

Well, 5 months ago my dr asked if I wanted to get off them. I agreed to try. He said to take 5 mgs for 2 weeks and then 2.5 mgs for 2 more weeks. The 1st 2 weeks at 5 mgs was fine, then a few days in on the 2.5 mgs I started to notice withdrawal. I stuck it out for a few days then just quit thinking it would get better. I was wrong. I went thru alot phases and didnt even know about withdrawal until I started researching it.

 

Its been a rough 4 months now and I believe I am still going thru it. I have good and bad days. Today is Christmas and its a bad day which brings me to this forum. Not being able to enjoy Christmas as I would like with my family had got me depressed today for sure.

 

My day to day symptoms right now seem to be where I am always tired, I have a "bobble head" feeling like Im on a boat, its not real bad but its like Im constantly off balanced, I have light sensitivity, headaches, nausea, and anxiety. I really never had anxiety until I came off. I got an mri done last week and that was hard to sit thru which before it never bothered me before. This was ordered thru a ENT dr which believes I might have vestibular migraines. I am still waiting for that report by the way.

 

I have times where my heart feels like its fluttering and I get leg and arm weakness, Im going to guess this is part of anxiety? It comes from out of the blue and cant find a trigger.

 

I went to the dr last week, which is a new dr because my last one retired, and she wants to put me on Celexa or Cybalta. I didnt pay much attention as I thought great another pill.  I 1st said no way. She made me feel to be crazy as she smirked at me when I said its not depression. Now a week later Im starting to think about trying it. I just want to feel normal again and enjoy my family. Im looking for some advice. Should I wait this out a few more weeks or try something else? I do have another dr apt with a new dr my wife wanted me to see in 4 weeks. I just dont know if this is still withdrawal or something else? Looking back now and after reading I know I stopped way to fast. Im looking for some advice? Thanks.

Edited December 26, 2017 by Altostrata
added screen name to title, paragraph breaks

[Altostrata]

Welcome, HunterBob.

 

How long have you been completely off Lexapro? How are you sleeping?

 

19 minutes ago, HunterBob said:

At the time everything started I was very fit and active. I weighed 195 pounds and was benching 300+ pounds. Then when everything hit in no time I was down 25 pounds in almost a month or 2.

 

"When everything hit" -- was this before or after you started Lexapro?

 

You have many signs of withdrawal syndrome. Doctors very commonly dismiss this as anxiety. One thing you can do right away for the light sensitivity is dim the lights and wear dark glasses a lot of the time.

[HunterBob]

Hello, I have been completely off now for 4 months. I usually sleep OK. There are days were I am really restless or once in awhile I have what appears to be shaken leg syndrome and cant fall asleep. Usually after a long hot shower I am fine. I use to drink alot more then I do now as well. Once my wife got home I would drink 3-4 beers before bed and sleep great. On the days she was off I would drink more. Now sometimes I find myself getting sick if I drink more then one, and then sometimes I could drink a few. A few beers sometimes made me "happy". I have tried the 5htp but haven't noticed any differences but I would stop on a day where I didnt feel good.

"When everything hit" was before I started Lexapro. 

I wear sunglasses every time Im outside. Right up to dark. Even at work I have dark tinted safety glasses. 

 

Thanks!

 

[Altostrata]

Avoiding alcohol completely is a better idea when you're struggling with withdrawal syndrome. 5-HTP is unpredictable, I would avoid it for now.

 

Many people do better with fish oil and magnesium supplements, see

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/36-king-of-supplements-omega-3-fatty-acids-fish-oil/

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1300-magnesium-natures-calcium-channel-blocker/

 

A lot of people find them helpful. Try a little bit of one at a time to see how it affects you.

 

Magnesium in particular can help those leg twitching symptoms.

 

Please see our Symptoms and Self-care forum  http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/forum/8-symptoms-and-self-care/ for suggestions about how to cope with symptoms.

 

What we see is that withdrawal syndrome very slowly goes away -- if you don't do anything to further disturb your nervous system. The recovery process goes in waves and windows, with many frustrating setbacks. Symptoms fade and change. You have to be very, very patient and take care of yourself while this is happening.

 

It's up to you to decide what to do. It's possible reinstatement of a low dose might eliminate the symptoms you're feeling. You would stabilize on this for some months and then taper off very gradually.

 

Celexa is a gentler version of Lexapro and comes in a liquid. You might ask your doctor for a prescription for the liquid and take perhaps 2mg Celexa to see how it affects you. (Milligram for milligram, Lexapro is several times stronger than Celexa.) This very low dose might take the edge off the withdrawal symptoms without bringing on an adverse reaction to the drug.

 

[HunterBob]

Thanks. I have been trying the magnesium with daily vitamins. I was skeptical about the fish oil because I am allergic to fish. 

I have read alot of those posts but will go back and read them again. 

I would need a new prescription with Lexapro if I did the reinstatement. Woud going on a low dose of Celexa most likely get rid of the symptoms? I was thinking about trying that out for a few months and then carefully and slowly tapering off that?

[Marmot]

On 25/12/2017 at 8:05 PM, HunterBob said:

I was skeptical about the fish oil because I am allergic to fish.

 

Hey, I have a fish allergy too, really bad one.  Fish oil is not good if you have this allergy. Instead of fish oil, I used to take the vegan algae based epa/dha, it's also omega 3, but has no trace of fish.