mdwstrx: Lexapro / escitalopram taper or not?

[mdwstrx]

On 6/30/2020 at 12:15 PM, Frogie said:

Just checking in with you, wondering how your move is going?

 

Hi @Frogie

Girl, I'm amazed at you!  How do you keep up with so many of us?  It's so appreciated...💜

Move is progressing. All should be final by end of month. Thanks for asking.   

 

As for tapering, I held 15 days and then did a 1.94% drop to 2.55 mg 3 days ago.  

I had a gray sky emotional day yesterday with crying and a whoa is me attitude all day

despite it being a beautiful  sunny day and so much to be thankful for.  WTH? 

 

I won't taper again until after the move to spare my family and builder, lol.  I wonder if every

reduction from here on out will have such strong effect.  If so, it'll be years... 

 

Popping over to your page now to see how you're doing.  Thanks again for stopping by.

Md 🌻

[ChessieCat]

8 hours ago, mdwstrx said:

I had a gray sky emotional day yesterday with crying and a whoa is me attitude all day

 

It's actually woe is me.  Whoa means stop!  Funny thing was that I knew it was wrong but couldn't think how to spell it correctly.

 

8 hours ago, mdwstrx said:

I won't taper again until after the move to spare my family and builder, lol.

 

And yourself, too.  It's better for you as well. 😉  Wishing you all the best with the move.

 

Edited July 5, 2020 by ChessieCat

[mdwstrx]

2 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

It's actually woe is me.

You're right @ChessieCat!

Usually I'm a stickler for spelling and grammar. 

My standards seemed to have slipped a bit with texting and old age!🤣🐴

Thanks for the well wishes. 💜

[Frogie]

On 7/5/2020 at 7:55 AM, mdwstrx said:

Girl, I'm amazed at you!  How do you keep up with so many of us?  It's so appreciated...💜

Move is progressing. All should be final by end of month. Thanks for asking.   

I am really happy to talk to everyone that I’ve met on here. It’s nice to hear how everyone is  doing. I’m glad to hear that your moving is progressing. It’s a pain to move. I did it last year at this time.

 

On 7/5/2020 at 7:55 AM, mdwstrx said:

As for tapering, I held 15 days and then did a 1.94% drop to 2.55 mg 3 days ago.  

I had a gray sky emotional day yesterday with crying and a whoa is me attitude all day

despite it being a beautiful  sunny day and so much to be thankful for.  WTH? 

That’s great you know your body and know when yo need to hold to stabilize. I’ve had days where I have gray skies and lots of tears. Someone looks at me funny and I cry or scream. It’s just all part of wd. Your emotions are coming out. But you’ll be ok😊

 

On 7/5/2020 at 7:55 AM, mdwstrx said:

won't taper again until after the move to spare my family and builder, lol.  I wonder if every

reduction from here on out will have such strong effect.  If so, it'll be years... 

That’s probably a good idea to hold until after you get settled. Are you having a new house built? How wonderful! My reductions got tricky when I was down as low as you. Just don’t make the mistakes I made and you’ll do great!

 

Have a super day🌻

 

Take care,

 Frogie xx

Edited July 6, 2020 by Frogie

[mdwstrx]

Stopping by for a quick update.

 

Last taper was 10 days ago. I'm now holding at 2.55 mg

until home move is over at end of month and there is less

stress. I feel ok, even good at times. But I still notice some 

wd feelings. 

 

When I tapered last, it hit really hard emotionally. It makes 

me apprehensive of the next reduction.  I was hoping things 

would ease up at the lower levels.  

 

Md

🌺

[Johni]

it is a huge achievement that you have come so far. Congratulations. I wish you strength and perseverance.

[Frogie]

4 hours ago, mdwstrx said:

Stopping by for a quick update.

 

Last taper was 10 days ago. I'm now holding at 2.55 mg

until home move is over at end of month and there is less

stress. I feel ok, even good at times. But I still notice some 

wd feelings. 

 

When I tapered last, it hit really hard emotionally. It makes 

me apprehensive of the next reduction.  I was hoping things 

would ease up at the lower levels.  

 

Md

🌺

It tended to hit me harder the lower I went also. But you are smart in holding through your move.

 

It sounds like you are doing relatively well😊

 

Take care,

 Frogie xx

[mdwstrx]

@Johni

Thank you. You are near Pecs? I visited many years ago.  
You are doing well also. I wish you the same, strength
and perserverence. 
Md

[mdwstrx]

@Frogie

yep, doing well so far. 
One day at a time. 
Thanks 😊 

 

[Frogie]

11 minutes ago, mdwstrx said:

@Frogie

yep, doing well so far. 
One day at a time. 
Thanks 😊 

 

Good to hear!

[Johni]

 

@mdwstrx

Hello. sorry for the late reply. I live in Sopron, the city of loyalty. Pécs is a beautiful city. About 250 km from me. I hope you're okay. Have a nice day

[Frogie]

Hi md!

 

Just wanted to drop by and see how you are doing?

 

Did you get moved? If so, I hope you are enjoying yourself

 

Take care,

Frogie xx

[mdwstrx]

Hi  @Frogie!

Thank you for stopping by and checking.  I'm doing very well. It's been mostly an uneventful move. Family and kids helped, thankfully. Love the new place so far, almost as much as the old. 😊
 

I reduced a few days ago from 2.55 to 2.5 mg to resume the taper.  Day 3 today and I can feel it. Not overwhelming but I find myself not feeling great at times and I have to remind myself I've tapered again. Mostly hot flashes and very slight neuro emotions. 

 

Day by day, inch by inch. It seems this last stretch of the taper may have to be much slower to stay ahead of the symptoms. While holding, I felt really good! It was very welcome. 
Md

🏡

[Frogie]

1 hour ago, mdwstrx said:

Hi  @Frogie!

Thank you for stopping by and checking.  I'm doing very well. It's been mostly an uneventful move. Family and kids helped, thankfully. Love the new place so far, almost as much as the old. 😊
 

I reduced a few days ago from 2.55 to 2.5 mg to resume the taper.  Day 3 today and I can feel it. Not overwhelming but I find myself not feeling great at times and I have to remind myself I've tapered again. Mostly hot flashes and very slight neuro emotions. 

 

Day by day, inch by inch. It seems this last stretch of the taper may have to be much slower to stay ahead of the symptoms. While holding, I felt really good! It was very welcome. 
Md

🏡

I'm so glad you are doing your taper the smart way and listening to your body. You have learned the right way.

 

You are coming to the end also. It is a little difficult the lower you get, but you will do it!

 

I'm so happy you are enjoying your new home. It's a new adventure to your almost med free life.

 

Keep me posted on how you are doing

 

Take care,

Frogie xx

[mdwstrx]

Made a reduction today from 2.5 to 2.45 mg.

Praying for smooth sailing this next week. 
Md

⛵☀️

[Frogie]

18 hours ago, mdwstrx said:

Made a reduction today from 2.5 to 2.45 mg.

Praying for smooth sailing this next week. 
Md

⛵☀️

I’ll cross my fingers to you 🤞🏻
 

I’m sure you will do fine. You’re doing a very well planned taper😊
 

Hope you’re settled and enjoying your new home.

 

Take care,

 Frogie xx

Edited August 16, 2020 by Frogie

[mdwstrx]

Thanks @Frogie!

So far, so good on day three.  🙂
Some light flushing and neuralgia but otherwise good. 
Take care of yourself my friend.  💜

[Frogie]

25 minutes ago, mdwstrx said:

Thanks @Frogie!

So far, so good on day three.  🙂
Some light flushing and neuralgia but otherwise good. 
Take care of yourself my friend.  💜

Good news.

Hang in there. You’re on the downhill part now😊

Take care of yourself also my friend 💜

[Frogie]

@mdwstrx

 

Hi!

 

Just wanted to drop by and see how you were doing?

 

Hope well.

 

Take care, 

Frogie xx😊💜

[mdwstrx]

Hi @ Frogie!

Thanks for dropping by. Doing very good, thank you! On the second week of my two week hold and will 

drop again Saturday. I have some symptoms but very manageable, thank you Lord! 

 

As for your journey, you're coming to a mile-marker, hopefully the last one. 

Counting the days with you as I have it marked on my calendar!

Very exciting is an understatement! 

 

Md

🙏

 

[Frogie]

On 9/8/2020 at 1:03 PM, mdwstrx said:

Hi @ Frogie!

Thanks for dropping by. Doing very good, thank you! On the second week of my two week hold and will 

drop again Saturday. I have some symptoms but very manageable, thank you Lord! 

 

As for your journey, you're coming to a mile-marker, hopefully the last one. 

Counting the days with you as I have it marked on my calendar!

Very exciting is an understatement! 

 

Md

🙏

 

Hope your second taper went well.

Enjoy the fall weather. We are going to be in the 90’s again this week.

Take care,

 Frogie xx

[mdwstrx]

Stopping in to update briefly.  

 

I'm currently at 2.2 mg Escitalopram and doing well.

I've slowed from 11% drops every 6 weeks to around 9% drops every 6 weeks. 

At this rate, w/d normal finds me very functional yet moody and a bit scatterbrained

as a matter of course.

 

I'm tempted to increase the drops to speed this up but unsure about it.

This is the lowest I've been on the drug so for me,  it's uncharted territory. 

I get confused about how long it will take to get off from this point. I'm anxiously

waiting for the update of the endgame taper article written by @brassmonkey to

chart a future course. Otherwise, I think it's gonna be a long time to get down to

an acceptable jumping off point.

 

Md

🎃

 

 

[Johni]

Hello. You are doing very well. Congratulations. I wish I could keep you there too 😁 what are your symptoms right now? perseverance 💪💪

[brassmonkey]

Hi mdwstrx-- I so glad to hear that tings are going smoothly, looks like you hit the sweet spot. Please don't consider speeding things up when they are working so well. It is still going to be a long time tapering from 2.2mg. We need to remember that at the lower doses a very small change in does can make a very large change to the SERT loading so we need to take things very slow and easy.

 

The article is coming, I'm having the other moderators and Alto review it before we publish. It's a very long article so it is taking a long time to get it done.

[mdwstrx]

Hi @Johni,

Thanks for your encouragement! You're doing really good too! Slow and steady wins the race is the old saying here. 🐢

 

Symptoms presently are very mild and include moodiness, hot flashes, a bit of feeling spacy, slight tingling in the arms but really not that

noticeable, light muscle aches that I've learned to ignore so don't think about them often and something I never connected to the drug before;

mild dysphagia occasionally or swallowing difficulties. I read someone here had found that ADs can cause it. But who knows 🤷‍♀️.

 

Keep going carefully Johni.  We will slowly get there as so many before us have successfully.  I'm very grateful for their trailblazing. 

Md

🙏

[mdwstrx]

Hi @brassmonkey

Thanks for your quick reply.  I feel so thankful and blessed that you and other mods have stayed on this site to help those of us coming up behind you!

I'll follow your advice then and stay the course. As for the article, apparently I have time to wait 😅 so don't mean to rush you.  Just checking.

Thanks!!!

 

Md

🍂🍁

[mdwstrx]

@brassmonkey
Hi Tom. 
Below is a post in which you replied to a question I had about exit dose. 

• Your close md, but still off by a power of 10. My calculator says 1.42 -4  so it would be 0.000142.  This would round easily to 0.0002 which is 0.2mgai. That is right where you want to be for a Target Exit Dose. Yes, it's an extremely tiny amount.

I’ve noted two other’s who were tapering the same drug jumped at or around 0.025 mg. One was using a liquid like me, the other used a powder. Can you help me to understand the difference in numbers?
 

Thank you. 
Md

🍂

[brassmonkey]

It's mainly a matter of how the body is reacting to the reductions at the time. Some people may feel more comfortable going to even small doses. Since I made that post we have changed the name from "Target Exit Dose" to "Theoretical Exit Dose" to emphasize that it is not a hard and fast number, but rather an area that is "safer" to make the jump. From there it all comes down to how a person reacts to the reductions and holds when making the decision to jump. So 0.2mg would be a good place to consider jumping to "0" if everything is going well. If there are still symptoms showing up with the reductions then more holds and further reductions are called for.

[mdwstrx]

1 hour ago, brassmonkey said:

So 0.2mg would be a good place to consider jumping to "0" if everything is going well. If there are still symptoms showing up with the reductions then more holds and further reductions are called for.

Very helpful.

Thank you.

 

[Miyan]

On 11/12/2020 at 1:46 AM, brassmonkey said:

So 0.2mg would be a good place to consider jumping to "0" if everything is going well

@brassmonkey

Hi Bro This quote for all Lexapro tapers.

[ChessieCat]

If you are tapering Lexapro / escitalopram I'd like to point out this:

 

  

On 5/27/2011 at 12:16 PM, Altostrata said:

 

If you are taking 5mg of Lexapro, it's not tiny, it's equivalent to 10-20mg Paxil or Celexa.

 

 

[Altostrata]

How much are you taking now, @mdwstrx. How did your last reduction go?

[mdwstrx]

Hi @Altostrata

 

First, I hope you are well. Thank you for your site and all that you and your team do.

 

17 hours ago, Altostrata said:

How much are you taking now, @mdwstrx. How did your last reduction go?

 

I am at 1.9 mg (liquid) 

 

Today is day 7 from my last reduction. I feel mostly good but not at

wd normal just yet.  Reduction symptoms are consistent, both emotionally and

physically. I'd say on a scale of 1-10 (10 being awful), my symptoms vary

between 3-4 at the worst. Today symptoms are about a 2. They diminish over

time, during the holds.

 

Here are my last two months worth of data. I experimented with 3 cuts instead of 4 this month and am now holding.

 

Date               mg      % reduction

9/16/2020    2.30    2.15
9/23/2020    2.25    2.20
9/30/2020    2.20    2.24
10/6/2020    2.10    4.65
10/13/2020  total   11.24
10/20/2020  hold    

 

10/26/2020  2.00    4.76
11/2/2020    1.95    2.50
11/9/2020    1.90    2.56
                       total    9.82

 

[Altostrata]

You are tapering very gradually, but your nervous system is telling you the decreases are either too large or too frequent. It could be 10% overall per month is too much for it. Up to you to negotiate with your nervous system how you want to proceed.

 

If you've been upsetting your nervous system every week with a reduction, you may wish to hold for a month or more to let it rest for a while.

[mdwstrx]

@Altostrata

Always grateful for your opinion, I'm curious why you decided to ask and what gave you the opinion

that my nervous system is unhappy; my scale rating? I didn't expect a symptom free taper and it's not

been too bad. The worst symptoms are moodiness. You can see my chart below shows I

was on a long hold in May (was reducing more aggressively) and in July (relocated). 

 

 

I'm anxious to get off but not at the risk of destabilization. Your take means a lot. However, others

seem to have gone faster than I have when I compare respective time frames. At this rate of reduction

(8% per month),  it seems I'll be on this another 5 years (see below).  Current events make that thought

very unsettling. I'm anxiously awaiting publication of the 'Managing the End Game Taper' article to assess

whether another 5 years of tapering is called for.

 

 

Edited November 19, 2020 by ChessieCat
removed excel data at member's request

[Jennings]

Hi, 

 

I’m sorry to bother you but I have a question.  
 

Did you ever figure out what the lower arm burning was?  I am off Lexapro after 6 years, 6 month taper, and I get that same sensation.  Never had it before, but I would get it if I missed a dose and when I tried to stop before.