Missyk

[Missyk]

Nortriptyline 1996-1999

Zoloft 200 mg yr 2000-2012 off and on

Clonazepam 1.5 mg 2002-20012

Effexor 50 mg 2002-2003

Respiradol 2002-2003

Lunesta 2002-2004

Ambien 2003

Xanax 2012-2015

Paxil 2015

Lexapro 10 mg 2016-currently tapering very slowly. I'm now on 7.25 and started taper May 2019. Dropped too fast from 10 to 7.5 mg.

[Gridley]

Welcome to SA, Missyk.  

 

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How are you feeling now?  Are you having withdrawal symptoms from your drop from 10mg Lexapro to 7.5?  How bad are they?

 

We recommend tapering by no more than 10% of current dose every four weeks.  Some have to taper more slowly.

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

The following link is specifically about tapering Lexapro, including how to take the nonstandard doses you'll need for your taper.

 

Tips for tapering off Lexapro (escitalopram)

 

You wrote in your post that you dropped too fast.  Here is some information on withdrawal and why a slow taper is so important.

 

What is withdrawal syndrome.

 

Glenmullen’s withdrawal symptom list.

 

When we take medications, the CNS (central nervous system) responds by making changes over the months and years we take the drug(s). When the medication is discontinued, the CNS has to undo all the changes it made. Rebuilding the neurotransmitter production and reactivating the receptor and transporter cells takes time -- during that rebuilding process symptoms occur.  

 

These explain it really well:

 

Video:  Healing From Antidepressants - Patterns of Recovery

 

   On 8/30/2011 at 2:28 PM,  Rhiannon said: 

When we stop taking the drug, we have a brain that has designed itself so that it works in the presence of the drug; now it can't work properly without the drug because it's designed itself so that the drug is part of its chemistry and structure. It's like a plant that has grown on a trellis; you can't just yank out the trellis and expect the plant to be okay. When the drug is removed, the remodeling process has to take place in reverse. SO--it's not a matter of just getting the drug out of your system and moving on. If it were that simple, none of us would be here. It's a matter of, as I describe it, having to grow a new brain. I believe this growing-a-new-brain happens throughout the taper process if the taper is slow enough. (If it's too fast, then there's not a lot of time for actually rebalancing things, and basically the brain is just pedaling fast trying to keep us alive.) It also continues to happen, probably for longer than the symptoms actually last, throughout the time of recovery after we are completely off the drug, which is why recovery takes so long.

Once you've answered my questions about your symptoms, we will be in a better position to help you.

 

We don't recommend a lot of supplements on SA, as many members report being sensitive to them due to our over-reactive nervous systems, but two supplements that we do recommend are magnesium and omega 3 (fish oil). Many people find these to be calming to the nervous system. 

 

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker 

 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 

 

Please research all supplements first and only add in one at a time and at a low dose in case you do experience problems.

 

This is your Introduction topic, where you can ask questions, post updates and connect with other members.

 

 

[laydefish]

Welcome!

[Missyk]

I'm gonna have to call my pharmacist and see if they have a smaller syringe to use for this method you've sent me. Sounds like a good plan. How are you now?

[Gridley]

11 hours ago, Missyk said:

How are you now?

 

I'm chugging along.  I'm down to a low dose on the Lexapro and have been sick, so i've slowed down my taper a bit and holding longer.  Thanks for asking.

 

[Missyk]

Are you still on the benzo?

[Gridley]

Yes.  Likely that will be what I taper next after I finish the Lexapro taper.

[Missyk]

I cold turkeyed off of Xanax and Clonazepam. Tapering Lexapro is very much like being in benzo withdrawal. So this feels like I'm doing this a third time. It's so hard. The anxiety and intrusive thoughts are my worst symptoms. Today is a bad day for me. I get adrenaline surge in the mornings and it slacks off through the day but I go through crying spells and shaking, being cold and my shoulders and neck will hurt so bad from the tension. I end up with an ice pack on my neck and shoulders. And cries off and on until it wears off.

[Gridley]

43 minutes ago, Missyk said:

The anxiety and intrusive thoughts are my worst symptoms. Today is a bad day for me. I get adrenaline surge in the mornings and it slacks off through the day but I go through crying spells and shaking, being cold and my shoulders and neck will hurt so bad from the tension.

 

Thanks for providing your symptoms, which are typical withdrawal symptoms.  This link explains the morning cortisol surge.

Waking with panic or anxiety - Surviving Antidepressants

Are your symptoms improving?

 

If not, you might want to consider reinstatement.  Reinstatement of a very small dose of the original drug is the only known way to help alleviate withdrawal syndrome.  The only other alternative is to try and wait out the symptoms and manage as best you can until your central nervous system returns to homeostasis.  Unfortunately no one can give you an exact timeline as to when you will start feeling better and while some do recover relatively easily, for others it can take many months or longer.  

 

Reinstatement isn't a guarantee of diminished symptoms for everyone but it's the best tactic available.  You're still in the time period where reinstatement predictably works, up to 3 months after last dose.  We usually suggest a much smaller reinstatement dose than your last dose.  These drugs are strong, and when reinstating it is better to start with a small amount and increase if symptoms remain unbearable. Your system has become sensitized and If you take too much it may be too much for your brain and can cause you become more unstable.   Then, once you've stabilized on that dosage, which can take several months,  you can begin a 10% per month taper down to zero.  Please read:

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms. -- at least the first page of the topic

 

If reinstatement is something you want to consider, I would suggest a very small increase to start, perhaps 0.5mg, bringing your dosage up to 8mg.  It takes about 4 days for a dose change to get to get to full state in the blood and a bit longer for it to register in the brain. 

 

If you don't want to reinstate, I would definitely hold where you are at 7.5mg until you stabilize.

 

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