Dee12h: weaning from a low dose of Lexapro

[Dee12h]

@Gridley @ChessieCat @brassmonkey @getofflex

 

Thanks for the help! A mod has never really looked over my case & given recommendations, so I thought I’d ask again now that I’m having problems. I settled on .85 for my dose, but I have no idea if that’s right. After taking my meds the past 3 evenings, within an hr, my anxiety & jitters are way up, & I’m having trouble sleeping again. I feel worse than ever today. I didn’t feel quite this bad when on 1.25 ev other day. I did not feel anything like this while on 2.5 ev 3rd day (for awhile in Jan & Feb before stopping- which is about .83mg/day). I’m wondering if I’m taking too much now or if this could possibly still be WD? Could it be switching to liquid? Could it be switching to everyday as opposed to skipping like I did for so long? I can’t figure out what to do- up, down, or hold? Should I try switching meds to the morning first? TIA!! ❤️
 

Putting symptoms journal below, as someone asked for that earlier...

 

May 2019 started Lex 2.5 mg

Around mid 2020 noticed low energy, went to 2.5 mg ev other day, energy improved, mood stayed stable (except maybe irritability)

Mar 2021 stopped lex (after tapering to every 3rd then 4th day)

Mar 19 insomnia started, progressively getting worse each day (felt better/great other than that)

March 29 restarted lex 2.5mg

Mar 30 slept great

April 1 2.5 lex

Ap 3 1.25 lex

Ap 5 1.25 lex

Ap 7 1.25 lex, feeling WD sx, dizzy, brain fog

Ap 9 1.25 lex

Ap 10 felt weird (upcoming trip?), took 1.25 lex a day early

April 12 felt great, little dizziness, 1.25 lex

April 13 got a bad cold, 12.5 benadryl

April 14 cold, 12.5 benadryl, 1.25 lex

April 15 Lots of dizziness (nux vomica?), cold, 6.25 mg benadryl

Ap 16- cold, 12.5 benadryl, 1.25 lex

Ap 17- 6.25 benadryl, cold getting better, a bit tingly/shaky

Ap 18- cold better, severe low blood sugar episode before lunch, shaky & arms tingly, no sleep till 1:30 (6.25 benadryl, 2mg mel & 1 tart cherry), 1.25 lex

Ap 19- no sleep till 1:30 (12.5 benadryl, 2mg mel), .75 lex

Ap 20- feel awful, dizzy, weak, irritable, tired, shaky, anxious, .9 lex, slept good (3 mg mel., 6.25 benadryl)

Ap 21- feel anxious/shaky after my dose, .85 lex, 3 mel, slept great

Ap 22- felt great, .85 lex, 1.5 mel, slept great

Ap 23- touch of bad mood afternoon, dizzy, exhausted pm, allergies am (10mg claritin), .85 lex, .5 mel

Ap 24- anxiety after med, .85 lex, dizzy, 2 mel, no sleep till 2 (6.25 benadryl)

Ap 25- lots of physical anxiety, jittery, muscle spasms

[Dee12h]

Cool, guess I’ll just keep guessing. I stayed on .85 & moved it to the morning. I feel a little better but now am so tired I can barely function after noon. I’m a homeschool mom of 3 kids, so that’s difficult. I think I’m taking too much, but I’m not going to change anything as I have a trip this weekend I’ve been looking fwd to. I’ll drop to .8 after I get back.

[AndyPants]

The question about if it could be the switch to the liquid is one I've been wondering about too, if switching to the liquid this past week while I was having bad withdrawal symptoms made everything worse. If you felt better before at 1.25 every other day and the bad symptoms started a few days after .85 daily I think your feeling that it was too much makes sense.

 

And I thought one kid while dealing with this stuff was bad enough, three and homeschooling would be a lot!  It's hard feeling like the withdrawals and medication impact your ability to totally be there for your family and do everything they need you to do.

 

 

[Dee12h]

So if I feel worse right after my dose, even after switching the time of day I take it, and feel better several hours later, I’m guessing my dose is too high?

[Dee12h]

I’ve been on .8 for about 5 days. I don’t feel as bad after my dose; not sure if I’m getting used to it or the lower dose helped. Now I feel like I have side effects & WD @ the same time.

 

Not sure since no one ever answered what dose I should be on. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[brassmonkey]

Hi Dee-- after five days your dose change is just starting to stabilize your blood serum levels, it will be a little while longer before things really start to settle down. I'd give it a couple of more weeks at this level to stabilize.

[Dee12h]

@brassmonkey, Well, my question was if I’m taking too much. I don’t think any of it was WD, actually; I felt like I did when I was on AD all along, so tired I can’t function & irritable. I moved my dose a little later in the day today & had a much better morning. I also lowered a bit more to .75. I’m not going to lower again until June 4 (after a trip) unless my symptoms are extreme. 

[brassmonkey]

I would stay with the .75 until June and see how things settle out.

[Dee12h]

Well after a few days of what I guess was WD, I’m back to side effects. I feel much worse after my dose in the afternoon than before my dose- fatigue mainly. The few WD days were mainly stomach/colon symptoms; other than that I felt great. I still have very mild nausea/low appetite. I also have a little trouble getting to sleep & need melatonin, which I didn’t have until WD. For that reason I’m staying, but can you have bad side effects while in WD, or do bad side effects always mean you need a lower dose?

[AndyPants]

On 5/12/2021 at 11:06 AM, Dee12h said:

Well after a few days of what I guess was WD, I’m back to side effects. I feel much worse after my dose in the afternoon than before my dose- fatigue mainly. The few WD days were mainly stomach/colon symptoms; other than that I felt great. I still have very mild nausea/low appetite. I also have a little trouble getting to sleep & need melatonin, which I didn’t have until WD.

Sorry your dealing with those effects. How much melatonin are you taking? Does it seem to help?

[Dee12h]

This is the strongest melatonin I have ever taken. It feels like I took a muscle relaxer or benadryl! It’s 3 mg, but the sustained release mechanism is in the powder, not the capsule, so you can open it up & take much less. I try to take .5-1mg. https://www.amazon.com/Pure-Encapsulations-Melatonin-SR-Sustained-Secretions/dp/B071KN44Z8/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia-wc-rsf-lq2a1_0?cv_ct_cx=Melatonin+sr&dchild=1&keywords=Melatonin+sr&pd_rd_i=B071KN44Z8&pd_rd_r=31ca0299-5419-4260-906b-395ef676b5c0&pd_rd_w=GJ8fs&pd_rd_wg=RAMkr&pf_rd_p=26b0e770-de1c-4342-bf97-c57fd874dbaf&pf_rd_r=GETXQZG303MMEKW3P86Q&psc=1&qid=1620941839&sr=1-1-49946e88-733b-44df-869b-c05699555c56 

[purple]

On 5/12/2021 at 10:06 AM, Dee12h said:

For that reason I’m staying, but can you have bad side effects while in WD, or do bad side effects always mean you need a lower dose?

Sorry don't know the answer to that question and am a little confused by it. Do you mean if you have bad side effects from tapering that you need to bump back up to a higher dose?

[Dee12h]

Side effects meaning effects from the drug, so the opposite of WD symptoms (WD= Too little drug, side effects= too much)

[purple]

Hmm, my brain isn't working right now haha. I think I need to draw this out for myself.

 

So if one is in the midst of tapering, side effects mean that the dose is too high and withdrawal effects mean that the dose is too little?

 

Sorry about my confusion.

[Dee12h]

Well yeah, that’s my theory. Not sure if it’s correct. Basically side effects are any undesirable effects from a drug. WD symptoms are from not having it or as much of it anymore. So I was asking if you can have both at the same time. 

[purple]

Ahh I see. I think it's possible but I have no evidence to back up my thoughts haha. It's all theory here as well.

[AndyPants]

On 5/13/2021 at 3:39 PM, Dee12h said:

This is the strongest melatonin I have ever taken. It feels like I took a muscle relaxer or benadryl! It’s 3 mg, but the sustained release mechanism is in the powder, not the capsule, so you can open it up & take much less. I try to take .5-1mg.

Thanks I'll have to check that out after I use up the melatonin's I have. I have a food scale but I don't think it's sensitive enough for such low weights so I'd have to figure that out.

 

How have your wd and side effects been the last week?

[Dee12h]

@AndyPants  I’ve been ok. I dropped my dose again to .7 bc the fatigue & irritability are hard to take (side effects from the drug). Since then I need a little help falling asleep at night (melatonin), have nausea when I don’t eat & have muscle twitching every day. I feel “off” sometimes but mostly ok.

[Dee12h]

@LexAnger Hi. I tried to pm, but it said you don’t receive messages. This is what it said....

 

I was reading an old thread & saw your sig. I’m coming off lex as well. Just wondering how your tapering went & if you had any problems after 0? 
 

I had the same issue with the 2 sets of symptoms- one from the drug & one from withdrawal. The drug makes me SO tired & irritable, so I’m really tempted to taper faster. The main thing I get with WD is insomnia. It’s a balancing act for sure. Anyway, just wondering how you’re doing now. Thanks!

 

I also noticed you went faster than 10%/mo toward the end. Was that bc of the drug side effects? Thanks.

[Dee12h]

Well I dropped to .7 for 6 days, and was fine except needing some melatonin at night. Until last night. It’s like WD hit me all the sudden (6 days is how long this drug takes to get out of your system completely, so that may have been why)- bad insomnia, muscle stiffness/pain, anxiety, antsy. I took .05 mg at 1am (to get back to 7.5 I had been on), and maybe it was placebo but I felt all warm & calm almost right away, went right to sleep. 🙄 I would have stayed the course if not for our week long vacation coming up on Sunday. I can’t mess around with insomnia right now. I shouldn’t have dropped so close to a vacation; I was just SO sick of the fatigue & irritability. That’s all back today though- kinda feel like a zombie.

 

But I learned a lot through the experience. I now can tell a big difference between side effects & WD symptoms, and yes, you can have them at the same time, especially with yo-yo-ing your dose! I can’t believe .05mg of something can make that big of a difference. 😳

 

Lex side effects for me: lots of fatigue, irritability, becoming overwhelmed & overstimulated very easily, brain fog- memory & hard to concentrate, lower motivation, just want to get away from everything, higher appetite 

 

WD effects for me: insomnia, more anxiety, muscle issues- stiff, pain, twitching/spasms, stomach issues- nausea, loss of appetite, colon cramping, minor mania if I go too quickly

[Aleena]

What you are suffering are usual side effects and wd effects. Why are you not using any supplements. They are quite helpful with withdrawals. I suffer the same and also more problems due to this strong drug. Please try holding for at least 2 weeks before going lower. 

[Aleena]

Yes you can feel the side effects at lower dose too. I feel the  side effects and withdrawals at the same time. 

[Dee12h]

I take vit C & magnesium. I have fish oil but keep forgetting to take it! 

[Aleena]

Your sleep will get better eventually. Most people here are suffering insomnia at lower dose. 

[Camille]

 

6 hours ago, Dee12h said:

I can’t believe .05mg of something can make that big of a difference.

Hi ! I'd like to report something that happened to me that might help you. I was taking my med at night and was completely unable to reduce even by the smallest reduction/percentage. Every time I reduced I would have insomnia and anxiety. A few days ago, I decided to take my med in the morning, immediately my sleep became normal again and I was able to reduce by 15% with (for now, fingers crossed) no WD effects. The only thing is that when I take my med in the morning, my mood is bad during the day, but I chose to do it because it allows me to reduce more. Anyways it might very possibly all be a coincidence but who knows, maybe you could try it ! I know you said that you felt worse when taking your med in the morning (just like me) but maybe, for some unknown reason, it could help you reduce faster.

[purple]

On 5/27/2021 at 6:27 PM, Dee12h said:

I take vit C & magnesium. I have fish oil but keep forgetting to take it! 

I was thinking about buying those daily pill boxes to place the supplements in so I don't forget since I take quite a few supplements in the morning. Perhaps this could work for you? I think they only cost a dollar and some cents (esp from dollar tree).

[Dee12h]

Well, today is day 5 on .7. I felt better at first, lots more energy. Yesterday I was pretty irritable. Today I feel crazy- irritable, touchy, dizzy when I turn my head, spaced out (is that DR?), this weird stress feeling in my chest like I can’t get a deep breath. It’s not exactly anxiety, just feel super weird. I can’t figure what I’m supposed to be doing or what I want to do. I’ve been sleeping ok with melatonin.

[Dee12h]

On 5/31/2021 at 12:53 PM, purple said:

I was thinking about buying those daily pill boxes to place the supplements in so I don't forget since I take quite a few supplements in the morning. Perhaps this could work for you? I think they only cost a dollar and some cents (esp from dollar tree).

The fish oil is a liquid. That’s why I keep forgetting! Plus I have to keep it in the fridge away from my others bottles. 😆

[purple]

On 6/10/2021 at 8:11 PM, Dee12h said:

The fish oil is a liquid. That’s why I keep forgetting! Plus I have to keep it in the fridge away from my others bottles. 😆

Ohhhh, that makes sense!

Hmm, what you described sounds like the effects of decreasing the dose/withdrawal. At least, those were some of what I experienced when I went off and then several months later, when a delayed withdrawal appeared to hit for me.

[AndyPants]

On 6/10/2021 at 12:01 PM, Dee12h said:

this weird stress feeling in my chest like I can’t get a deep breath. It’s not exactly anxiety, just feel super weird. I can’t figure what I’m supposed to be doing or what I want to do

This is what I've been feeling a lot, it's hard to describe but that constant tenseness in my chest and just feeling like I don't know what I want or need to do with life. Like something isn't right but I just don't know what to do about it. 

[Dee12h]

I need help. @brassmonkey

 

I’m scheduled to drop again today to .6, but not sure now. I’ve been feeling great for the most part, sleeping great, more energy whenever I drop. My last post about symptoms only lasted 1 day.

 

For the past 3 days I’ve had weakness, dizziness, shakiness, been more tired, low heart rate, weird feeling in my chest. I was exercising 3 days ago & had what felt like heart palpitations which turned into chest pains. It went away with rest, but DH was even concerned, & he’s usually like, “you’re fine”. (He is a family med M.D.) I know ADs can cause heart symptoms but not for the 1st time while tapering so low, right? Is this WD? I’ve been feeling great, going slowly. I did start a lower calorie & exercise plan about 10 days ago. 🤔
 

I can get DH to do a simple heart work up for me if needed. Should I hold longer or reduce & see how I feel? Usually fatigue is a side effect from the drug for me, but not with these other scary symptoms. I’ve also never previously been in WD w/o insomnia, and I’m more sleepy, if anything, lately.

[brassmonkey]

Those are pretty common WD symptoms. Palpitations and increased heart rate are very common. I got them all the time. If DH wants to do a heart check, then go for it, if only to rule out any problems.

 

Looking at your signature it seems like you are going a bit too fast. I would hole for a few weeks and see if things calm down a bit. For the Endgame Taper you need to go quite slowly and wait for any symptoms to fully resolve before reducing each time.

 

Be really careful with the exercise.

[Dee12h]

Thanks. But my heart rate is lower, not higher. Does calorie restriction make things worse during WD? 
 

I’m now convinced I double dosed without realizing it. This afternoon I have ALL the drug side effects I’ve always had when I’m on too much- extreme fatigue, brain fog, hunger, low motivation, some type of euphoria but irritable when disturbed bc I’m so tired, just very drugged feeling. I had this thought that I may have forgotten & taken 2 doses a couple days ago, but the next day I felt ok. Could it take a couple days to show up? @brassmonkey

[Dee12h]

Well I’m glad I’ve been tracking my symptoms & supplements. I’ve realized I’m having a bad reaction to fish oil- anxiety, depression, irritability, nausea, gas. It’s a really good brand too. My nutritionist is so pro-fish oil. I’m stumped as to what this could mean. 🤔 But glad I figured it out!

[AndyPants]

So did you stop taking fish oil for a few days and things got better?

[Crochet]

@Dee12hThat's interesting about the fish oil.   Listening to your body is the best thing right now.