☼ getofflex: weaning of Lexapro

[getofflex]

Hello everyone.  I'm feeling discouraged today.  It has been almost 3 months since my last taper.  I can't seem to stabilize.  I'm still dealing with hot flashes, irritability, high emotions, and severe insomnia.  I've fallen into a strange pattern.  Every other night I sleep well, and every other night I sleep poorly.  I'm practicing good nutrition, taking vitamins and supplements, walking daily, pacing myself, engaging in positive activities like painting, prayer, bible reading, listening to positive messages, and other stuff.  

 

I'm discouraged by the fact that I just can't seem to stabilize and feel good for any length of time, even almost 3 months into this last taper.  I have been undergoing a lot of stress and chaos between family members moving, a teenage son who gets surly and belligerent, getting our son off to college in August, and all the craziness with the covid19 and the political unrest in my area, and so forth.  Could all this external stuff be causing the inability to stabilize?

 

I could use some encouraging words, and also some suggestions on how to proceed.  I'm going to hold until late August or early September.   Please help.  

 

Edited September 21, 2022 by getofflex

[Gridley]

On 6/25/2020 at 11:16 AM, getofflex said:

even almost 3 months into this last taper.

It can take longer than three months to stabilize, especially with the stresses you describe.  You could still be working through the effects of your very fast tapers and updoses a couple of years ago.  These things can take a while to shake out.

 

On 6/25/2020 at 11:16 AM, getofflex said:

some suggestions on how to proceed.  I'm going to hold until late August or early September.  

 

We always say listen to your body rather than adhere to a schedule.  It sounds like you're doing a lot of good things to help with healing.  Your body is working very hard to stabilize.  If you rush to get off the drug, you can destabilize further.  I would continue to hold at 0.18mg.  One you have stabilized, you need need to taper lower than 0.18 before jumping to zero.  

 

6mg of melatonin is a high dose for someone in withdrawal.  You might try taking a lower dose and see how that affects your sleep.

Edited April 18, 2021 by getofflex

[getofflex]

Gridley thank you for taking the time to read and respond to my post and for the thoughtful answers you gave me. I feel reassured and cared for.  I will take as long as I need to get off.  I definitely don’t plan on jumping off from 0.18 mg. I hope my doctor understands and continues to prescribe until I’m finally able to get all the way off. I think I’m going to slow down and pace daily activities even more and try to eliminate as much stress as I can from my life. This process is teaching me how to be patient and flexible.  

Edited April 18, 2021 by getofflex

[Gridley]

1 hour ago, getofflex said:

This process is teaching me how to be patient and flexible.

This is a very good plan.

[Altostrata]

Hello, @getofflex, how are you doing?

[getofflex]

@Altostrata I'm doing very well as far as my W/D is going.  My sleep is much improved, and my emotions are not quite as over the top as they were earlier in the year and late last year.  I've been trying to hold at 0.18 of liquid Lexapro since April 1, due to the fact that my CNS has been so sensitized.  I think I inadvertently dropped to 0.17 mg a month ago, because I drew a line on the syringe with a sharpie and didn't get it exact.  Luckily I've had no reaction to that, so my system must be stabilizing.  There is a lot of chaos and stress going on in my personal life, so another good reason to hold.  I just got my youngest son off to college 2 days ago.  So after I a few days, I will taper down from 0.17 to 0.16.  I will try to taper off very gradually the rest of the way off of this.   I'm having some anxiety and am easily stressed.  Now that I don't have the chemical buffer, I'm having to really work on assertiveness and boundary setting.  How are you doing? 

Edited April 18, 2021 by getofflex

[getofflex]

I have reduced to 0.16 this morning, which is a very tiny reduction. I inadvertently went from 0.18 mg liquid lexapro to 0.17 mg over a month ago, and did not even feel it, or if I did I don't remember.    I've been doing really well as far as AD WD goes.  I also just got my youngest child off to college, so I'm dealing with empty nest.  I've actually been able to sleep almost normally most nights!  For that I'm very grateful, because that was my worst WD symptom, inability to sleep and being agitated and anxious.  I still have some anxiety, but it could be from a toxic situation I'm dealing with and the anxiety is easily controlled and is not continuous.  

Edited April 18, 2021 by getofflex

[Cigale]

Hello @getofflex - I have been following your journey and want to congratulate you on your progress - with the taper and life stressors. You are an inspiration for me. Thank you!

[getofflex]

Thank you cigale!  It has been quite a crazy roller coaster journey, as for all of us. 

Edited September 21, 2022 by getofflex

[getofflex]

So it's been 3.5 weeks since my last taper, which was from 0.17 mg to 0.16 mg of liquid Lexapro. I'm still having sleep issues (I get on average 6 hours a night, which is not too bad, but still not enough), anxiety, ruminations, brain fog, inability to concentrate, and tiredness.  I really thought this tiny taper, which was only a 6% drop, would be no big deal.  (It took me a while to figure out how to calculate the percentage)  I'm feeling frustrated and discouraged.  I'm on such a teeny tiny bit of this medicine, only a few drops.  Yet the minutest taper is still affecting me after 3.5 weeks!  I'm under a lot of emotional stress, due to 2 factors.  One, my youngest child just went off to college, and I'm sad and grieving him being gone.  Not only that, I have an elderly cat that needs lots of medical care.  

 

So, are my symptoms the stress from the above, or is it WD, or both?  Because if it's just the stress, I could go ahead and do another very small taper this weekend.  Any positive supportive feedback would be welcomed.  At this rate, it will take me forever to get off this stuff, since I'm only tapering in increments of 0.01 mg, and I have 16 more tapers to go.  

Edited April 18, 2021 by getofflex

[getofflex]

I just did another taper the day before yesterday.  So far so good.  I'm to the point where on my better nights, I actually feel well rested the next day, even though it takes me some time to fall asleep, and I wake up at 4 or 5 am and lay there a while before going back to sleep.  I'm down to 0.14 ml liquid Lexapro!  I'm also completely off the trazodone and Xanax.  Luckily I never took the Xanax daily, so didn't have to wean off that.  I have to say I'm feeling so much better than I did in March of 2018 when I first found this site, and was tapering too fast.  I still have waves and bad days, but that is part of the journey.  It may take another year, or more, to get off the rest of this awful stuff, because I'm only going to taper 0.01 ml at a time.  Perhaps when I get down to the last tiny bit, it will get easier.  I've been dealing with losing a cat that I was really attached to, my last child leaving to go off to college, the loss of 2 fake friends that were causing me stress and grief, the pandemic, and the USA election craziness, all in the past 2.5 months.  My emotions have come back, and I'm really feeling things, which is good!  It means that my brain is recovering, and I'm getting me back.  

[Krisseyb]

@getofflex I'm now following you too. Saw you on another topic, and thought I'd follow you. I'm about to start my Lexapro taper...so you're an inspiration to me!

 

[getofflex]

Thank you, Krisseyb.  Lexapro is an extremely powerful drug, so my advice to to taper slowly!  This site recommends tapering by 10% every 4 to 6 weeks of your previous dose.  Before I discovered this site I tapered as the doctors instructed which was way too fast.  I got severe WD symptoms, and I had to increase my dose several times, which sensitized my nervous system and made it harder to taper in the future.  I went through years of severe insomnia, agitation, anxiety, and other symptoms.  Good luck to you! 

Edited September 21, 2022 by getofflex

[Erell]

Hello

 

we never spoke together but I just came across your thread and wow, what a journey !

I wanted to congratulate you (0.14mg !) and to thank you for sharing your journey : you are and will be a real inspiration for many of us.

 

Sending you my best ☀️

Edited September 21, 2022 by getofflex

[getofflex]

Thank you Erell!  I appreciate you taking the time to read it all.  I'm very glad I can be an inspiration to people!  At least my suffering wasn't in vain.  I'm doing so much better now than I've done since I started this journey.  I'm extremely grateful I did not give up. I'm able to experience emotions fully again, I have better cognitive function, and I have much better discernment skills of sensing how other people feel, what their motives are, if they are a safe person or not, etc.  My memory is still bad, hopefully it will improve with time.  I'm just very grateful for this support forum, and for everyone in here who keeps it going! 

Edited September 21, 2022 by getofflex

[getofflex]

One of the hardest aspects of this journey is the lack of understanding of other people.  Whenever I get in a wave different people keep trying to tell me to jump off the last bit of Lexapro I’m still on.  This is the last thing I need to do!  They assume that my symptoms are being caused by still being on a bit of the drug when I know from reading on here it’s caused by my nervous system being out of whack from taking the drugs Away.  IT means I end up suffering in silence because it’s exhausting to try to explain all of the intricacies of ssri withdrawal. Thank god for this forum or I never would have made it.  I was doing great until Wednesday when several major stressors hit me.  Now I’m in a wave and can’t sleep and feel pretty bad.  This will pass. It is really trying my patience. It’s so hard to make plans socially when you never know if you’re gonna feel terrible or good that day.

[Gridley]

9 minutes ago, getofflex said:

to jump off the last bit of Lexapro I’m still on.

I'm sorry for the lack of understanding you're receiving.  I wanted to encourage you in waiting to get very low in dosage before jumping.  I was very glad I waited until I got to 0.025mgai before jumping.  Even so, I had a few blips a couple of weeks after jumping, but they appear to have straightened out now.

 

 You're doing great, getofflex.

[getofflex]

On 11/28/2020 at 10:44 AM, Gridley said:

I'm sorry for the lack of understanding you're receiving.  I wanted to encourage you in waiting to get very low in dosage before jumping.  I was very glad I waited until I got to 0.025mgai before jumping.  Even so, I had a few blips a couple of weeks after jumping, but they appear to have straightened out now.

 

 You're doing great, getofflex.

Thank you Gridley for your support.  I'm not going to listen to people telling me to jump off now.  They don't know anything about this.  I very much agree with you.  I'm going to take all the time I need.  I'm currently on 0.14, and will drop down by 0.01 for each taper.  They aren't the ones going through the tough WD stuff.  I'm so grateful for your help.  You helped me when I first came on here, and I thank you for that. 

Edited September 21, 2022 by getofflex

[getofflex]

I’m in a tough wave right now. I’ll take it easy and pray and read scripture today.  

[Kingfisher86]

Hi @getofflex

Sounds like a good plan.

Hope you are finding the energy to go thru this day🌻 and that tomorrow would be easier, even a tiny bit.

My day is almost over, it is 9 pm on my side of the world. Today’s highlight for me was that I had an afternoon nap. I didn’t have that in months.

[Heath]

@getofflex I too want to congratulate you for sharing and coming so far. And you are right no one understands unless they have been through it. I want to wish you a good day! Slow and steady! Hang in there !

[getofflex]

@Kingfisher86and @Heaththank you both for your well wishes.  My sleep has been terrible 2 of the last 3 nights (only a couple hours each time).  My anxiety has been very bad, so I suspect m cortisol is going crazy.  Last week my son was home for Thanksgiving, and was out very late a couple nights, which was stressful for me, and my eating patterns got way off.  Also, my husband snapped at me pretty badly, and that triggered me.  So I'm guessing all these stressors threw me into this wave.  Not to mention, preparing the Thanksgiving meal was very challenging, as my oven was not working properly.  I try to maintain the 3 S's (stable, simple, slow), but sometimes life just happens.  

 

Doing simple physical activities seems to help, so I did some housecleaning this morning, then rested with my kitties this afternoon and listened to relaxing piano music.  

Edited September 21, 2022 by getofflex

[getofflex]

I have a question for the mods. I read a book years ago that recommended taking amino acids for depression and anxiety. So I’ve been taking GABA and 5HTP for years, well before I started my Lexapro taper.   I take 50 mg 5htp nightly before bed as well as 750 mg of gaba. I’m wondering if weaning off of the five HTP now might help me have an easier time weaning off of the rest of the Lexapro. Or should I just wean the rest of the way off Lexapro and worry about the five HTP later?  What would you all suggest?  Of course I won’t make any changes until I stabilize. The way my Lexapro taper is going now I’ve been tapering by 0.01 liquid milligrams after I stabilize. It takes me about 4 to 6 weeks to stabilize maybe longer if there’s been a lot of stress.  Nice thing is I have a bout a couple of weeks in there where I feel pretty good and I’m able to get a reasonable amount of sleep and feel OK while I’m stable.
 

Here's the thing:  my main problem is insomnia, anxiety, and fatigue.   (also diarrhea, but that could be caused by anxiety). I don't really have any other WD symptoms.   When I taper, sometimes I feel fine for a few days after the taper then get hit with symptoms, sometimes I feel fine for a week after the taper, then feel bad, sometimes I feel fine for 3 weeks after a taper then get hit with symptoms, etc.    In other words, the waves don't seem to be highly correlated to the tapers.  In the past 6 days, I have had these 1 day waves every other day, and feeling fine in the alternating days, which seems quite strange.  During the wave, I may only sleep for 2-4 hours, and feel very anxious early in the day, and the alternating nights I get about 7 to 8 hours of sleep and don't feel anxious.  It's bizarre.  

 

I've spent several hours reading about 5-htp on this forum, and it seems that it does cause anxiety and insomnia in some people. If you think I should get off the 5htp before I resume my lexapro taper, at what rate should I taper this?  It is a powder in a small capsule.  thank you very much. 

[ChessieCat]

On 12/5/2020 at 2:18 AM, getofflex said:

I've spent several hours reading about 5-htp on this forum, and it seems that it does cause anxiety and insomnia in some people. If you think I should get off the 5htp before I resume my lexapro taper, at what rate should I taper this?  It is a powder in a small capsule.  thank you very much. 

 

And some members find that something they have been taking stops works or "turns on them" and can make things worse.

 

Please note that this is just a way that might work.

 

You could try dividing the contents of the capsule using a sharp knife on a piece of baking paper (this is slippery so the powder should not stick to it).  If you can divide it into 8ths your could try reducing by 1/8 for a period of time and keep notes to see how it affects you.  Remember to only make one change at a time.  It will be up to you to listen to your symptoms and taper according to them.  SA is not really able to help you with the taper, but you should be able to use SA's general taper methods as a guide.

 

If it was me I think I would be getting rid of the 5-htp before continuing the AD taper simply because it may no longer be working/helping.  However, if you start noticing a worsening of symptoms which don't seem to be withdrawal from the 5-htp then it might be better to leave it until after the AD taper.

[ChessieCat]

Please condense your drug signature so that it doesn't take up so much room.  Since the software upgrade, some of the topics appear on the left side of the screen.  I'm using a desktop computer and your drug signature takes up the whole length of my screen so it makes it difficult to read posts.

 

I suggest that you post your current drug signature into a post so you still have access to the information.  Once that is done you can copy the link location and include that in your drug signature if you want to do that.

 

Please reduce the font size.

 

Start with the drug name Lexapro and state the date and dose you first started. 

 

Everything in blue font can be deleted. 

 

Only the first mention of the new year needs to be used; you could bold it so it is easier to see.  Also remove *** and just separate the new date and dose with a semi colon (;)

 

You also only need to use the date and dose, not the period for the dose:  Jan 19 2020 -April 1 2020 0.2 mg

 

Also just use the first 3 letters of the month, Aug for August etc.

 

Change "have discontinued altogether as of" to "stopped".

 

Thank you.

 

Lexapro   April02 - Aug17: 10 mg,  ***  Aug17 - Sept17: 5 mg ***  Sept17 - Nov17:  2.5 mg,  ***  Nov17: 0 mg, ***   Dec17 - Aug18: 5 mg  ***    Aug/1/18 - Aug/30/18: 2.5 mg     *** Sep/1/18 - Sep/27/18:  1.25 mg. ***   Sep/28/18 - Oct/31/18:  2.5 mg,  ***  Nov/1/18 - Nov/15/18: 1.25 mg  ***   Nov/16/18 - Nov/30/18: 2.5 mg  ***   Dec/1/18 - Dec/27/18: 2.0 mg (switched to liquid)  ***    Dec/27/18 - Jan/31/19: 1.5 mg ***    Feb/1/19 - Feb/20/19: 1.0 mg  ***  Feb/21/19 - Mar/7/19: 0.5 mg  ***  Mar/8/19 - May/03/19: 0.8 mg ***   May/04/19 - May/13/19 0.7 mg ***  May/14/19 - May/24/19 0.6 mg *** May/25/19 - June/05/19. 0.5 mg *** June/06/19 - July/19/19 0.4 mg. ***  July/20/19 - Sep 14 2019 0.3 mg.  ***  Sep 15 2019 - Oct 21 2019 0.27 mg. *** Oct 22 2019 -Jan 18 2020 - 0.23 mg. *** Jan 19 2020 - April 1 2020 0.2 mg  ***  April 2 2020 - July 15 2020 0.18 mg *** July 16 2020 - August 22 0.17 mg, August 23 -- Oct 6 0.16 mg, Oct 7 - Nov 7 0.15 mg, Nov 8 - present 0.14

Trazodone.  used 50 mg once every 4-7 days for sleep, have discontinued altogether as of 12/23/19

Xanax. used 0.5 mg once every 4-7 days for sleep, have discontinued altogether as of 12/23/19 

When I cannot go to sleep, I take Benadryl 50 mg, Ibuprofen 800 mg, or Tylenol 1000 mg

other meds: Levothyroxine 75 mag. in AM 1/2 hour before breakfast with 24 ounces water

supplements AM: omega 3 fish oil, flax seed oil, natural multivitamin, vitamin C, vitamin E

supplements PM: Natural Calm magnesium 350 mg, GABA 750 mg, 5-HTP 50 mg. Estroven Sleep Cool and Calm (contains black cohosh 40 mg, soy isoflavones 56 mg) melatonin 3 mg

 

 

 

 

 

[getofflex]

I made the requested changes to my sig,but don't know how to reduce the font size.  I didn't see an option for font size on my screen.

 

I'm going to go ahead and start tapering the 5-htp tomorrow morning. Thanks for the info on how to divide up the capsule. 

 

Edited September 21, 2022 by getofflex

[ChessieCat]

Thanks for doing that.  Much simpler and easier to read.  Some of the formatting options aren't available in some areas and sometimes by increasing the screen % you can get them to show.  It can be very annoying.   What you can do though is copy and paste your signature into a reply box in your Introduction topic (but do not submit) format it and copy and paste it into the signature box.

[Kingfisher86]

Hey☀️

 

Thinking about my SA friends today. How is your tapeiring going?

Greetings👋🏻

Edited September 21, 2022 by getofflex

[getofflex]

@Kingfisher86thanks for asking.  I've been in a wave since the day before Thanksgiving, but it is lessening in intensity.  Main symptoms are anxiety, insomnia, tiredness, and hot flashes.  I've had a great deal happen.  The latest being that my son got COVID on Dec 7, but is recovered now.  Nevertheless, it made me pretty anxious.    He was away at college, and I couldn't see him. so I didn't really know how he was doing.  He often says he is "fine" when he isn't.  He just started college in August of this year.  At any rate, he is home now, and managed to pass calculus which he was failing at (another stress factor for me), and I can see him, and he is doing well.  So, hopefully this wave will pass soon.  I'm also slowly tapering off of the 5-HTP.  I suspect 5-HTP may be causing me some anxiety and sleep issues, so I want to get off of that.

 

How are you feeling now that you are off the escitalopram?  

 

Edited September 21, 2022 by getofflex

[getofflex]

@ChessieCat, no problem.  I'll keep your other suggestion in mind.

Edited September 21, 2022 by getofflex

[Kingfisher86]

@getofflex I am glad to hear that your son is doing good now, health and school wise☀️ It is hard in WD when people we love the most are not doing well. I often worry about my mom, but my worries are mostly imagined.

I am sorry about the wave you are going thru. We kinda cannot escape them but I am always surprised when one hits me.🙄

In my case, I just knew deep down that drug was not working anymore and I didn’t want it anymore. Oh Jeniffer, I went very fast off lexapro so my struggle began while I was skipping doses. Bad idea. Since May this year I started experiancing high anxiety. Luckly, after completly stopping the drug in August I had 2 months of tough physical symptoms but they subsided almost completly now. Tomorrow, will be my 21th week off the lex. Until week ago I was doing pretty good then I caught a cold and it threw me into wave. I am a bit discouraged but there is no other way but to move forward even though it can terribly suck😖 My waves are mostly anxiety, scared out of my mind, and right now tightening of the scalp. I sleep very well which I always read around here is a good thing.

When in a wave it helps me when I connect with SA friends. Wave can be a very isolating event so I try not to let that happen. Things are less scary when we share them.

I am cheering for you and all of us. We can do it together🌻

Edited April 18, 2021 by getofflex

[getofflex]

@Kingfisher86thanks for your interest and concern.  It's been a very hard year in many ways for me, not just with COVID and political insanity in the USA, but many, many personal stressors going on.  Many that I haven't even gone into.  I will see my family of origin (mom and youngest sister) for only an hour on Christmas.  My mom gets really nutty about Xmas, with extremely high expectations and demands, but it just isn't possible with the COVID.  

 

You are very fortunate that you have good sleep.  I've had terrible sleep these past 3 years overall, but it is very slowly improving.  Last night I actually had a good night.  This Lexapro is a really terrible drug, as are all the psych meds.  I know how painful anxiety is, because I have it a lot too.  I feel for you.

Edited September 21, 2022 by getofflex

[Kingfisher86]

I am sending you hugs now☀️

 

On 12/20/2020 at 8:30 AM, getofflex said:

but it is very slowly improving.  

We have to remember good things no matter how small☀️

 

On 12/20/2020 at 8:30 AM, getofflex said:

 Last night I actually had a good night.

This is awesome news:)

 

On 12/20/2020 at 8:30 AM, getofflex said:

 I know how painful anxiety is, because I have it a lot too

I did see big improvements. I just got discouraged now in a wave. But I am thinking, we will heal in time but we need that time to be passing as painless as possible. That is something we can do. Healthy diets, exercise, therapy, good company.... and when times gets tough we need not be ashamed of it and ask for help and support. Thank you for supporting me today🌻

Edited September 21, 2022 by getofflex

[getofflex]

@Kingfisher86you are a bright spot in my day today.  thank you so much for your kindness, empathy, and support.  This Christmas season is hard for me, and I didn't sleep well last night.  I'm praying for the Lord Jesus to be my strength today.  Without Him I would not make it.  I totally understand how discouraging it is to get hit with a wave after you've been doing well. I was doing so well until the day before Thanksgiving, and then I crashed, and have been in a wave since.  I hopefully will be able to get out of this wave after Christmas is over.  I will be praying for you, too, to recover from your wave. 

Edited September 21, 2022 by getofflex

[getofflex]

I've been weaning off the the 5-htp supplement for the past week and a half.  So far, I have felt no withdrawal effects from it, thank God.  I will say I had a rough night the night before last and yesterday morning, but had a much better night last night.  This time of year (Christmas) tends to bring up a lot of old memories.  I'm thankful I had a good night last night. 

Edited September 21, 2022 by getofflex

[getofflex]

So it's been almost 2 months since I did a Lexapro taper.  During this time, I have weaned off of the 5-htp.  So far, no significant WD effects from that.  I've been in a wave since the end of November, and am gradually coming out of it.  The stress of the holidays, the cold dark short days, and some severe personal stressors, and my son getting COVID19 have all played a part.

 

I'm taking a class called nonviolent communication, to better learn to relate to my husband and sons and family members.  I realize part of my recovery is learning to cope with life without the drugs.  Being on SSRI's made me passive and numb, so I had no incentive to learn those skills.  I'm very thankful I'm on such a low dose, and I can feel emotions again, and I feel like myself again.  I still have sleep issues, and some other WD symptoms. 

Edited September 21, 2022 by getofflex