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Porsche911: Lexapro taper after getting off Klonopin


Porsche911

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I was on Klonopin for 5 plus years as an add-on to Lexapro that I have taken for two decades. I did a long taper to get off of Klonopin a year ago and decided to taper off of Lexapro last month. Unfortunately, I went from 10 to 5 mg and after about 10 days began feeling really bad. I went back up to 10 mg but the damage was done and now I am trying desperately to stabilize. Should I be on a slightly lower dose or stay at 10 mg to get back to feeling better?

1998- started escitalopram 10 mg

2007- increased escitalopram dose to 15 mg

2014- increased escitalopram dose to 20 mg

2014- began taking Klonopin 3x .5 mg daily

2015- reached tolerance on Klonopin and increased dosage to 4x .5 mg daily

2016- early January decided to come off Klonopin and tapered off in only 24 days 

2016- reinstated Klonopin in May, 3x .5 mg daily

2019- long taper off of Klonopin October 

2020- tapered from 10 to 5 mg of escitalopram October 8-19, up dosed back to 10 mg October 20

 

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  • ChessieCat changed the title to Porsche911: Lexapro taper after getting off Klonopin
  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi Porsche and welcome to SA,

 

We need some more details of when exactly you made the reduction/s.  Please create your drug signature including ALL drugs/supplements, current and previous by following the instructions.  Please include the last dose you took of Klonopin.

 

Instructions:  Withdrawal History Signature
Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

Once we have this information we will be better able to assess whether you might reduce a bit or stay on 10mg.

 

How have you been feeling since the updose to 10mg?

 

It takes about 4 days for a dose change to get to full level in the blood and a bit longer for it to register in the brain.

 

This is your own Introduction topic which is the best place to ask questions about your own situation and journal your progress.  This way your history is in one place and you will not need to repeat yourself.  Also, the mods regularly check for new posts in the Introduction forum.  Because of how busy SA is and the large number of members if you post elsewhere the mods might not see the post.

 

 

Edited by ChessieCat

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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I reduced on Lexapro from 10/8-10/19 to 5 mg. It’s strange because I felt much better being at a lower dose for about a week and then started getting agitated before it hit me hard a few days later. I updosed back to 10 mg from 10/20 on. I am experiencing severe symptoms and think this is worse because I still am in benzo withdrawal after jumping off a year ago after a long taper. I have extreme anxiety, restlessness, agitation and overall feelings of being unwell. I haven’t left the house in more than a week and am concerned I am still not at the right dose. Also, is split dosing an option at 10 mg, 5 in the morning and 5 at night? I appreciate any help...thank you!

1998- started escitalopram 10 mg

2007- increased escitalopram dose to 15 mg

2014- increased escitalopram dose to 20 mg

2014- began taking Klonopin 3x .5 mg daily

2015- reached tolerance on Klonopin and increased dosage to 4x .5 mg daily

2016- early January decided to come off Klonopin and tapered off in only 24 days 

2016- reinstated Klonopin in May, 3x .5 mg daily

2019- long taper off of Klonopin October 

2020- tapered from 10 to 5 mg of escitalopram October 8-19, up dosed back to 10 mg October 20

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

2020- tapered from 10 to 5 mg of escitalopram October 8-19, up dosed back to 10 mg October 20

 

Please amend this to show the dates you made the reductions/increase like this:

 

2020 - escitalopram:  date,dose; date, dose; date, dose;

 

instead of it showing a date range (which is very confusing).  Thank you.

 

8 hours ago, Porsche911 said:

I reduced on Lexapro from 10/8-10/19 to 5 mg.

 

How were you feeling before reducing Lexapro (ie after benzo taper ended)?  What symptoms were you getting?  Do you think they were still from benzo withdrawal?  Or do you think they might have been Lexapro side effects coming out after not having the benzo covering them?

 

8 hours ago, Porsche911 said:

is split dosing an option at 10 mg, 5 in the morning and 5 at night?

 

It is probably unlikely to be interdose withdrawal.  However, if you are a fast metaboliser it is a possibility.  Splitting the dose is probably not necessary because of the half life of Lexapro.  Also if Lexapro is activating it might affect your sleep, which you don't want to mess up.  (If the notes seemed to point to interdose withdrawal you wouldn't have to move your dose completely 12 hours apart.  You could try moving part of the dose by one hour at a time until notice an improvement.  But we need to see the notes first.)

 

Don't worry about the possibility of interdose withdrawal at this time.  We need look at the whole picture. 

 

Please provide 3 consecutive days of daily symptoms notes, 24 hour period in one go, and then the staff can assess your situation.

 

See this post for what is required:

 

 

 

 

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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I haven’t been splitting the dose so it's not interdose withdrawal. I do have a fast metabolism but I’m not sure if that has a lot to do with this. As stated, I went from 10 to 5 mg of escitalopram for 12 days and updosed back to 10 for the next 13 days. I am wondering if I need to be at the full dosage of 10 or slightly less? This has really been severe, anxiety is intense, stomach upset and constant nausea, very weak, loss of appetite, hard to concentrate, my face and head get periodically hot and I feel just plain unwell. How can I be this sick and not be dying, right? 

1998- started escitalopram 10 mg

2007- increased escitalopram dose to 15 mg

2014- increased escitalopram dose to 20 mg

2014- began taking Klonopin 3x .5 mg daily

2015- reached tolerance on Klonopin and increased dosage to 4x .5 mg daily

2016- early January decided to come off Klonopin and tapered off in only 24 days 

2016- reinstated Klonopin in May, 3x .5 mg daily

2019- long taper off of Klonopin October 

2020- tapered from 10 to 5 mg of escitalopram October 8-19, up dosed back to 10 mg October 20

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus
20 minutes ago, Porsche911 said:

I haven’t been splitting the dose so it's not interdose withdrawal. I do have a fast metabolism

 

Did you mean to say that you have been splitting the dose?

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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No, I have not

1998- started escitalopram 10 mg

2007- increased escitalopram dose to 15 mg

2014- increased escitalopram dose to 20 mg

2014- began taking Klonopin 3x .5 mg daily

2015- reached tolerance on Klonopin and increased dosage to 4x .5 mg daily

2016- early January decided to come off Klonopin and tapered off in only 24 days 

2016- reinstated Klonopin in May, 3x .5 mg daily

2019- long taper off of Klonopin October 

2020- tapered from 10 to 5 mg of escitalopram October 8-19, up dosed back to 10 mg October 20

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus
22 minutes ago, Porsche911 said:

As stated, I went from 10 to 5 mg of escitalopram for 12 days and updosed back to 10 for the next 13 days. I am wondering if I need to be at the full dosage of 10 or slightly less?

 

SA generally suggests making small incremental increases, because the longer you have been on a lower dose the more your brain will have adapted. It is better to make a small increase than to risk taking too much, which might make things worse. 

 

Also, SA thinks in terms of lowest effective dose, not therapeutic dose, which is an arbitrary term which the pharmaceutical companies come up with.

 

24 minutes ago, Porsche911 said:

As stated, I went from 10 to 5 mg of escitalopram for 12 days and updosed back to 10 for the next 13 days. I am wondering if I need to be at the full dosage of 10 or slightly less? This has really been severe, anxiety is intense, stomach upset and constant nausea, very weak, loss of appetite, hard to concentrate, my face and head get periodically hot and I feel just plain unwell.

 

Providing the daily symptom notes might help the mods to work out what to do.  Please be patient.  It's better to take a few days to assess the situation than to keep changing things trying to fix it and possibly making things worse.

 

5 minutes ago, ChessieCat said:

 

Did you mean to say that you have been splitting the dose?

 

3 minutes ago, Porsche911 said:

No, I have not

 

Well you cannot rule out interdose withdrawal.  But it probably is not interdose withdrawal.  That will be the last thing that we will consider later if we need to so do not worry about it for now.  We need to look at other things first.

 

For now we need to see the notes to see if we can work out what might be the best thing to do regarding how much you take.

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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  • Administrator

Welcome, Porsche.

 

What time of day do you take 10mg escitalopram? How do you feel before and after you take it?

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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I was taking it around 6 pm but took it today at 3:30 pm. I have felt like 10 mg was too much because I felt really bad a few hours afterwards so I took 7.5 mg. I didn’t experience the bad symptoms associated with the 10 mg so I am hoping that this is a better dose. I had read on here that sometimes coming back to the original dose is not needed by the body because it had adjusted to a lower dose when I had gone down to 5 mg. We shall see....

1998- started escitalopram 10 mg

2007- increased escitalopram dose to 15 mg

2014- increased escitalopram dose to 20 mg

2014- began taking Klonopin 3x .5 mg daily

2015- reached tolerance on Klonopin and increased dosage to 4x .5 mg daily

2016- early January decided to come off Klonopin and tapered off in only 24 days 

2016- reinstated Klonopin in May, 3x .5 mg daily

2019- long taper off of Klonopin October 

2020- tapered from 10 to 5 mg of escitalopram October 8-19, up dosed back to 10 mg October 20

 

Link to comment
  • Moderator Emeritus
19 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

It takes about 4 days for a dose change to get to full level in the blood and a bit longer for it to register in the brain.

 

Just a reminder.

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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