Rianon: two weeks off Lexapro / escitalopram

[Gracee]

4 hours ago, Gridley said:

 

Thanks, Gracee.  Credit for originating the definition goes to Brassmonkey.

 

OK Credit where credit is due.   However, both you and @brassmonkey are total gems.

[Gracee]

I understand how you feel.

Why did you decide to taper?

[Rianon]

11 minutes ago, Gracee said:

I understand how you feel.

Why did you decide to taper?

In December I was having trouble with my anxiety and panic attacks so I tried going from 10mg to 20mg which made me have a panic attack every hour.

So I thought I didnt need it and went to get help where a medication doctor told me I didnt need to be on medication to "cure" anxiety just therapy.

So I was like ok let's do this. She also said she'd never heard of anyone having trouble coming off of Escitalopram before so that reassured me to taper off quick with no problems.

 

Well I was wrong and so was she. 

I should've just stayed at 10mg and started therapy to learn to manage my anxiety.

 

We live and learn I guess.

[Gracee]

Ok.   I understand.   My situation was similar.    I was originally on 20 mg Paxil.   Over 17 years I updated to 30mg.   When I reached tolerance I was up-dosed to 40 mg.   I pretty much pooped out at 40.   I tapered down to 30 mg where I now feel comfortable.   I am in no hurry to reduce for the time being.

[Rianon]

2 hours ago, Gracee said:

Ok.   I understand.   My situation was similar.    I was originally on 20 mg Paxil.   Over 17 years I updated to 30mg.   When I reached tolerance I was up-dosed to 40 mg.   I pretty much pooped out at 40.   I tapered down to 30 mg where I now feel comfortable.   I am in no hurry to reduce for the time being.

I keep reading that pooped out but I'm not exactly sure what it means?

[Gracee]

9 minutes ago, Rianon said:

I keep reading that pooped out but I'm not exactly sure what it means?

 

Stopped working.

[composter]

So sorry you are feeling so out of sorts. Good idea to focus on stabilizing for now. It may take several months to stabilize and after that you can decide if you want to go through with a much slower taper, like the 10% per month schedule advocated on this site. But don't worry about that now.

 

I think it may be a good idea to change the time you are taking your medication so you aren't as drowsy during the day. Mods--any guidance on how Rianon can change her dosage time?

 

Antidepressants are sedating. I take mine 3 hrs before bedtime and that schedule works well for me.

[Gridley]

1 hour ago, composter said:

Antidepressants are sedating.

 

Composter, tricyclic antidepressants like your Amitriptyline, are indeed sedating.  By contrast, SSRI antidepressants like Escitalopram are activating (stimulating), not sedating, and are best taken in the morning.  I switched gradually from taking Lexapro at night to morning and slept better.   My tricyclic, Imipramine, I take at night.

 

Taking multiple psych drugs? Which drug to taper first?

 

[Sassenach]

Hi Rianon

 

Have you had any improvement yet ?

 

I had a thoroughly lousy week including yesterday, even thought the med might have pooped out.

Gridley said unlikely, today has been so much better.

 

All the best 

 

Sassenach

[composter]

On 4/19/2019 at 6:05 PM, Gridley said:

 

Composter, tricyclic antidepressants like your Amitriptyline, are indeed sedating.  By contrast, SSRI antidepressants like Escitalopram are activating (stimulating), not sedating, and are best taken in the morning.  I switched gradually from taking Lexapro at night to morning and slept better.   My tricyclic, Imipramine, I take at night.

 

Taking multiple psych drugs? Which drug to taper first?

 

 

Thank you for clarifying, Gridley! Good to know.

[Rianon]

I have good days and bad days.

Sometimes I'll have good mornings and bad nights or bad mornings and good nights. 

The awful nausea in the morning has gone thank god.

The only complaints I have right now are the self detachment I always forget the right word for that and a lot of things remind me of the past and it gives me a strange sort of feeling. Almost like I'm re-living that moment and that weird feeling it gave me as a child and teenager. I've had these feelings before taking the lexapro and occasionally on the lexapro. I'm trying to ignore it till eventually hopefully I wont notice anymore.

But I do definitely feel a lot better now being back on the medication. I'm back to work and trying to keep my mind busy. 

I'm in the process of hunting for a good therapist and psychiatrist so fingers crossed. 

Maybe after a few months if I'm still feeling funky I'll go back up to my original dose of the 10mg. 

For now I'm going to stay on the 5mg till I stabilize and see how I feel. 

But I really don't see a future of me ever being completely off the medication which I've come to terms with. 

Today wasnt the best day, but I am also a female and we all know what comes with being a female every month Haha.

I'm staying positive and keeping strong!

I've been eating a lot more too which is good. I know if I can't eat then there is something really wrong because I love food haha.

[Rianon]

I'll make this as quick and short as possible. October 2022 my dad had confessed to the family he had been off his antidepressants for a little over a year and had gone to see an ex girlfriend which caused him to spiral into a deppresion. Since October of 2022 he has gone on and off of numerous medications with no success. He was battling the side effects more than his own deppresion. He has lost over 50 pounds is in a constant state of worry and irrational thoughts. As of February 26th he stopped taking Olanzapine 5mg tablet which he started in January and Mirtazapine 30mg tablet which he started in January because he thought it was the cause of his bladder issues. Then he stopped taking Lexapro 10mg March 5th and he started that in February, then he stopped Colonzapam 0.5mg March 9th and he had been taking that since November at least. His psychiatrist made the ok for him to take all of these drugs and stop them cold turkey. This past week has been hell due to what I belive is withdrawal from the psych meds and the Colonzapam which is a benzo. We went to the emergency room thursday his physical health is wonderful they wanted to keep him in the psych ward but he's got a strong support system and we are with him 24/7. After the visit to the ER two days ago we asked his psychiatrist to prescribe him something to sleep, he prescribed Trazodone 50mg to take at night. The first night he had panic attacks and last night he took one at 7pm woke up at 2am and has been having panic attacks since. He doesn't belive me that they are panic attacks he believes he is going to die tonight. Could he be having a serious adverse reaction to the Trazodone? His body is so sensitive to everything. I just want his misery to end I don't know where else to turn. I need help, help for him. 

He has been diagnosed with MDD, Depression, Anxiety, OCD. He has been battling mental illness since he was a teen and he has been sober for 15 years from alcohol now. 

[Erimus]

Please don't create topics in the Symptoms & Self Care forum for issues with family members. Either post here, in your thread, or direct your father to start his own topic.

Edited March 17 by Erimus