sicksagittarius: Lexapro/escitalopram withdrawal

[Sicksagittarius]

Hi everyone!

 

I've been on 20 mg of Lexapro/escitalopram for 7 years originally for my anxiety. I wanted to eventually get off due to it increasing depression and numbing me. 6 months ago, I started experiencing stomach cramping, chronic diarrhea, throwing up, dizziness, brain fog etc. I had 2 EGD's and a colonoscopy and they found in my biopsy inflammation of my colon and small intestine. They thought I had celiac disease but going gluten free did not cure me. They think it could be microscopic colitis from the Lexapro so they gave me advice on how to ween off of it. I had already started slowly decreasing my lexapro before my stomach issues because I did not want to feel numb anymore. I decreased 1 mg at a time per month from 20 to 15 and it went well with no physical symptoms.

 

Then I follow the advice of doctors of lowering lexapro 5 mg at a time every 10 to 2 weeks and then adding in cymbalta (SNRI) to 5 mg of lexapro every other day. It was WAY too fast and now I'm scared I'm going to be stuck in severe withdrawals. When I told my psychiatrist I am withdrawing from stopping 5 mg, which he told me I could do, he said it's impossible for me to have withdrawals from that dosage and maybe I had a "stomach flu." I've asked nurses, nurse practioners, pharmacists, and doctors what to do and everyone claims that my reaction is rare. I asked him if lexapro is tougher to withdraw from due to it being a potent SSRI and he said no. I know it is not rare and that is is a difficult drug to get off of after I found this group. I'm so angry that psychiatrists are not willing to open their mind and use their critical thinking skills to treat me as an individual and not just another body. 

 

'm terrified I am going to have withdrawal symptoms for years because I was on the highest dose of lexapro for 7 years. After reading my history below, what dosage would be the best to reinstate to stabilize? I tried 2.5 mg bc 5 mg made me feel even worse when I took it. Do you think I will experience withdrawal symptoms for years due to the high dosage and long term use? How can I assuage withdrawal symptoms so I can function? I've used Bonine and that has helped with spinning and dizziness some days. Can I take Tylenol for head pressure? 

 

How do you recommend best being your own health advocate? Would showing doctors this support group or credible sources about SSRI withdrawals make them reconsider? Or will they not listen to me bc I don't have a medical degree? What type of functional doctor should I go to to assuage withdrawal symptoms? I heard acupuncture, craniosacral therapy, chiropractors, etc?

 

I am also very underweight right now due to my limited diet because certain foods hurt my stomach. Will getting more protein and light exercise help the withdrawal symptoms? The worst part for me is the spinning, head pressure, brain zaps and I need advice specifically for those physical symptoms. 

 

Lexapro/escitalopram: 

2014: 10 mg (1 year)
2015-2021: 20 mg (6 years)
2021: slowly weened from 20 to 15 mg (1 mg at a time for months for 3 months)

 

*advised by doctor to wean off lexapro due to chronic stomach pain, diarrhea, weight loss, dizziness, brain fog:

diagnose ideas: Celiac Disease, potentially microscopic colitis, irritable bowel disease, ulcerative colitis*

*followed advice of pharmacist, psychiatrist, and primary care physician*

 

April 2021: decreased to 10 mg - 11 days
April 2021: decreased to 5 mg - 8 days
April 2021: 5 mg lexapro + 30 mg duloxetine or cymbalta (took cymbalta once)

 

Cold turkey next day after trying 5 mg of lexapro+cymbalta

 

3-6 days after cold turkey, extreme withdrawal symptoms:
-vertigo, pressure in head, headaches, spinning ,dizzy, blurry spots in vision, sensitivity to light, sensitivity to sound, sweating, nausea, fatigue, heart racing, burning on skin, crying, anxiety, and anger increased

 

reinstated: 2.5 mg 6 days post cold turkey - helped symptoms
reinstated: 5 mg next day - worsened symptoms

 

went back to 2.5 mg currently - last 7 days, use bonine to help assuage withdrawal symptoms

[Gridley]

Welcome to SA.

 

If this is your real name, please PM one of the administrators, either Karma or Altostrata (listed under "staff" on the main page), and suggest a screen name to preserve your anonymity.

 

To give members the best information, we ask them to summarize their medication history in a signature -- drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-24 months particularly.  You can use a shortened version of the information in your post.  Use the following link:

 

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

 

Let me address your post point by point.

 

On 4/30/2021 at 6:50 PM, sicksagittarius said:

I decreased 1 mg at a time per month from 20 to 15 and it went well with no physical symptoms.

 

For future tapering we recommend tapering by no more than 10% of your current dose every 4 weeks.

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

It is much better to taper by a percentage rather than a linear taper (such as you did with 1mg per month) because with a linear taper you are tapering more and more as you get lower in doses.  A percentage taper gets smaller and smaller as you get to the lower doses, which makes withdrawal easier.  The lower doses are very potent and you want to slow down rather than speed up as you get lower and lower.  

 

 

The reason we suggest an exponential taper (cutting the dose by smaller amounts as we taper) is because there is a high rate of receptor occupancy at low doses of the drug.  That is to say, even on low doses of the drug, it is still having a major effect on the brain.  Please see this link: 

 

SERT Transporter Occupancy Studies

 

On 4/30/2021 at 6:50 PM, sicksagittarius said:

When I told my psychiatrist I am withdrawing from stopping 5 mg, which he told me I could do, he said it's impossible for me to have withdrawals from that dosage and maybe I had a "stomach flu." I've asked nurses, nurse practioners, pharmacists, and doctors what to do and everyone claims that my reaction is rare

 

What your doctor said is totally wrong.  While 5mg is not what doctors call a "therapeutic dose," it is very powerful, as explained in the SERT link above.  The reaction you had is not at all rare and is in fact common.

On 4/30/2021 at 6:50 PM, sicksagittarius said:

I asked him if lexapro is tougher to withdraw from due to it being a potent SSRI and he said no.

 

Lexapro is by far the most potent SSRI, being 2-4 times at powerful as other SSRI's.  However, it is generally regarded as less difficult to taper than SSRI's with shorter half lives such as Paxil or Zoloft.

 

On 4/30/2021 at 6:50 PM, sicksagittarius said:

what dosage would be the best to reinstate to stabilize?

 

I would stay where you are at 2.5mg and wait to stabilize.  This can take several months.  Regarding how long withdrawal in general will take, it is impossible to predict.

 

On 4/30/2021 at 6:50 PM, sicksagittarius said:

Do you think I will experience withdrawal symptoms for years due to the high dosage and long term use?

As I said, there's no way to know.  I hope not.  We all do eventually heal.  I was on a high dose (20mg) Lexapro for 16 years, finished a 4-year taper 6 months ago and am recovering.

 

On 4/30/2021 at 6:50 PM, sicksagittarius said:

How can I assuage withdrawal symptoms so I can function?

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) 

 

Add in one at a time and at a low dose in case you do experience problems. Get supplements that are single ingredient (not mixed with other types of supplements).   

 

We also recommend non-drug coping skills to help you function.

 

Non-drug techniques to cope

 

On 4/30/2021 at 6:50 PM, sicksagittarius said:

Can I take Tylenol for head pressure? 

Start with a low dose and see how it affects you.

 

On 4/30/2021 at 6:50 PM, sicksagittarius said:

How do you recommend best being your own health advocate? Would showing doctors this support group or credible sources about SSRI withdrawals make them reconsider?

 

Here are some scholarly studies.  Whether they will have much effect is questionable.

 

You may want to print this article out. It's from the Royal College of Psychiatry (RCP):

 

Stopping antidepressants

 

And here's an article with leaders in the RCP explaining why they wrote that. 

 

Psychiatry’s Top Experts Acknowledge Lasting Harms of Antidepressant Withdrawal

 

You may find this thread helpful, from the Journals section:

 

Papers about prolonged antidepressant withdrawal syndrome

 

You may also want to get a copy of this book. Robert Whitaker's writings come highly recommended here.  This is more for your benefit than for your doctor.  

 

Anatomy of an Epidemic

 

Scroll down that page and you'll see hyperlinks for the source documents, including for antidepressants. 

 

Here is the book trailer video for Whitaker's book: 

 

Robert Whitaker, author Anatomy of an Epidemic video (11.5 minutes)

 

Before you meet with your doctor, you may want to go through this thread:

 

How do you talk to a doctor about tapering and withdrawal?

 

On 4/30/2021 at 6:50 PM, sicksagittarius said:

What type of functional doctor should I go to to assuage withdrawal symptoms? I heard acupuncture, craniosacral therapy, chiropractors, etc?

 

Alternative doctors, though likely more receptive, are not necessarily knowledgeable about antidepressant withdrawal.  Some on this site have had benefits from acupuncture.  Be sure to tell the practitioner to work only on sedative, not activating, points.  I did craniosacral therapy for months for WD and received no benefits (though it was relaxing during the session).   Others have reported it helped.  There are two opposing camps in c-s.  One is more physical, more like chiropractic; the other is gentler. Chiropractic can also help.  It depends on the practitioner.  Gentler is better.

 

On 4/30/2021 at 6:50 PM, sicksagittarius said:

am also very underweight right now due to my limited diet because certain foods hurt my stomach. Will getting more protein and light exercise help the withdrawal symptoms? The worst part for me is the spinning, head pressure, brain zaps and I need advice specifically for those physical symptoms. 

 

Light exercise such as a walk in nature is beneficial and generally better than more intense exercise.  I do well with protein.  You'll have to experiment.  We're all different.  Regarding your specific symptoms, which are typical of withdrawal, time is the cure.  They will eventually abate.  Here's a link on head spinning:

Dizziness, vertigo, light-headedness, rocking or swaying ...

 

So that you have a better understanding of withdrawal and the healing process, please refer to the following links:

 

What is withdrawal syndrome.

 

Daily Checklist of Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms (PDF) 

 

The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

When we take psychiatric 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 the healing process really well.

 

Brain Remodelling 

 

Video:  Healing From Antidepressants - Patterns of Recovery

 

This is your Introduction topic, where you can complete your drug signature, ask questions and connect with other members.  We're glad you found your way here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sicksagittarius]

Hi Gridley,

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond in depth to all of my questions. This site has saved my mental state as I finally feel validated with my withdrawal symptoms. This experience has inspired me to create a career in Eastern Medicine and educating people on how damaging pharmaceutical drugs are. 

 

I received the liquid form of lexapro and I was wondering if I switch from the pill form to liquid, will I have any side effects? Is it something I have to slowly wean on to and add or can I just make the switch? If I am on 2.5 mg would I take 2.5 mL? Is it okay to take lexapro at night, the liquid or the pill? If I wanted to move times taking it, how would you recommend doing it? I have suffered from insomnia staying up fro, 3-5 AM. If I tried to close my eyes and fall asleep I could, however, I feel wide awake and can't stop having anxiety. I also think I have a bit of revenge bedtime tendencies because I feel sick a lot of the time during the day and at night if I feel better I want to stay up and enjoy that time.

 

Some mornings when I wake up, my heart is beating so fast and remains that way most days. I'm sure its my brain healing and learning how to react to my anxiety, but are there any natural ways to calm down? I've always smoked marijuana and have been able to in small doses in withdrawal and I added CBD and CBG which has helped tremendously. I also have tried aromatherapy with orange citrus essential oils which have helped. I also use meditation with crystals, breathing exercises, therapy, etc. Any other natural ways to help nausea? 

 

It's been 10 days of being on the 2.5 mg and the last few days I have felt better. The intense head pressure has decreased, the spinning has stopped (Thank god), and I am less sensitive to light and sound now. However, I know the healing process is not linear and is filled with windows and waves. For 2 days straight this week I felt like I had the flu with intense headaches and feeling fatigued and "blah." So intense I had to take Tylenol and it helped me feel better. Is it normal to have flu like, fever like symptoms with withdrawal? 

 

How will I know when I stabilize? Will I have the same exact symptoms everyday or no symptoms at all? 

[Gridley]

18 hours ago, Sicksagittarius said:

if I switch from the pill form to liquid, will I have any side effects? Is it something I have to slowly wean on to and add or can I just make the switch?

Most people do fine with the liquid but some don't.  The absorption rate is different so initially it there might be some minor symptoms.  Monitor your reactions to the change. We recommend a gradual crossover to the liquid as follows:

 

3/4 dose tablet, 1/4 dose liquid for 3 to 7 days

1/2, 1/2 for 3 to 7 days

1/4 dose tablet, 3/4 dose liquid for 3 to 7 days

all liquid there after

 

18 hours ago, Sicksagittarius said:

If I am on 2.5 mg would I take 2.5 mL?

This is normally the case.  Please check with your pharmacist.

 

18 hours ago, Sicksagittarius said:

Is it okay to take lexapro at night, the liquid or the pill? If I wanted to move times taking it, how would you recommend doing it?

Since Lexapro is an activating drug, it is better to take it in the morning.  To make the change, move your dose 1 hour back per day until you reach the time in the morning you want to take the drug.  You can do this before or after the cross over but not both at the same time; only one change at a time.

 

18 hours ago, Sicksagittarius said:

Any other natural ways to help nausea? 

Ginger is known to help with nausea.  Perhaps a low dose ginger supplement or in some other form.

 

18 hours ago, Sicksagittarius said:

Is it normal to have flu like, fever like symptoms with withdrawal? 

Yes, these are common WD symptoms.

 

18 hours ago, Sicksagittarius said:

 

How will I know when I stabilize? Will I have the same exact symptoms everyday or no symptoms at all? 

Stability is not no symptoms at all and is not the exact same symptoms but rather feeling more or less the same every day with no big swings.

 

Congratulation on getting so low on the Lexapro.

 

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by Gridley

[Heath]

@Sicksagittarius welcome to SA! Glad you found this site! Sorry you are in a bad place rt now. I too am on lexapro and have the same withdrawals and side effects.  One I’m dealing with now is stomach, I use Prilosec and try to eat low acidity foods and eat slow. And yes over the years I went for tests and look back and see it was withdrawals and side effects. Sinus problems headaches dry eyes, sweating dry mouth, dizziness. 🙄 Just about all of these will go away or get a lot better  in a few months. The times that I have been through it it usually takes me around 4 - 6 months to fully recover. But I usually started feeling better around 3 month mark. I transferred to liquid also. Transfer to liquid slowly 

Agree totally with gridley.

Same dosage and type and brand same time every day for many months and you will stabilize and feel much better! Try to stay busy and then spend time relaxing. Try to make yourself do your normal life activities with as less stress as possible. 
slow , steady, stable 

acknowledge that these are withdrawals and side effects 

accept that this is what it is and ask yourself is there anything I can do about it

 

float try and let those negative anxious feelings float on by. Kinda like listening to radio while you work you hear it but you aren’t listening to it. 

 

drs ! They don’t know about withdrawals. Most of the ones I talked to do not agree if I bring it up so I don’t. I just go to my dr and get the prescription. I have heard of a few that did help but far and few between! 
Just keep steady

hang in there !
 

 

[Sicksagittarius]

@Gridley Thank you so much for the efficient response! Everyone on this sight is my only hope of not feeling alone. Thanks for congratulating me on getting down to 2.5! I didn't think this was such a huge accomplishment but now I realize it is because I tapered down from 15 mg to 5 in a matter of 19 days which I know now is way too fast. I wasn't sure if I would need to increase it over time. 

 

When I read you have to taper onto the liquid, it made me want to cry because It's so difficult to cut the pills with pill splitters. I'm also horrible at math so it stresses me out. So you're saying most people can make the transition without weaning onto the liquid but some don't? I do not have a proper mg scale and I saw the main one recommended was not in stock on Amazon. I want to do the liquid because it will help me have an exact dose and it doesnt cause me to have to take so much time to split and weigh pills. How would I take the liquid just put it on my tongue? Doctors didnt even explain that to me. 

 

Why will I have symptoms even when I "stabilize" at the same dosage for a long time? Is it because it will just take the body months to actually get used to it but you still recommend to taper by 10% every 4 weeks after stabilization? 

 

I need to get off the lexapro because bc my gastroenterologist believes it is causing my microscopic colitis. I've had chronic diarrhea, stomach cramping, burning, nausea since November 2020 and I've lost so much weight and am only 100 lbs now. I have an extremely limited diet because gluten and other foods that are inflammatory cause the symptoms to be worse. The only thing that helps is taking an antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory medicine (hyoscyamine and mesalamine) and omeprezole for acid reflux which may also contribute to microscopic colitis.They make me nauseous which causes me to take more meds of zofran. I don't like taking these drugs because who knows the side effects they have on my body. Do you know anyone on this site who has had that issue with SSRI use longterm at the highest dose? It sucks because I need to get off lexapro to see if it is causing these issues but now I know its going to take a long time to get off of them due to withdrawal and I feel like my gastro doctor is going to be mad at me when I tell him that. 

 

I think taking 20 mg was way too much for me and it made my depression significantly worse. I already feel so much more clear headed and I actually feel happy and spiritually connected again. I'm sure the bouts of euphoria are my brain balancing but its nice to feel again. 

[Sicksagittarius]

@Gridley Is there a possibility 2.5 mg of lexapro is too low to stabilize for me since I weaned down so quickly from 15 mg to 5 mg in 19 days? Could I start to feel a lot sicker in the next few weeks or months with withdrawal symptoms? When I reinstated I took 5 mg and felt miserable but I took 2.5 and could tolerate it and am now feeling a lot better than when I was cold turkey for 6 days. 

[Sicksagittarius]

7 hours ago, Heath said:

@Sicksagittarius welcome to SA! Glad you found this site! Sorry you are in a bad place rt now. I too am on lexapro and have the same withdrawals and side effects.  One I’m dealing with now is stomach, I use Prilosec and try to eat low acidity foods and eat slow. And yes over the years I went for tests and look back and see it was withdrawals and side effects. Sinus problems headaches dry eyes, sweating dry mouth, dizziness. 🙄 Just about all of these will go away or get a lot better  in a few months. The times that I have been through it it usually takes me around 4 - 6 months to fully recover. But I usually started feeling better around 3 month mark. I transferred to liquid also. Transfer to liquid slowly 

Agree totally with gridley.

Same dosage and type and brand same time every day for many months and you will stabilize and feel much better! Try to stay busy and then spend time relaxing. Try to make yourself do your normal life activities with as less stress as possible. 
slow , steady, stable 

acknowledge that these are withdrawals and side effects 

accept that this is what it is and ask yourself is there anything I can do about it

 

float try and let those negative anxious feelings float on by. Kinda like listening to radio while you work you hear it but you aren’t listening to it. 

 

drs ! They don’t know about withdrawals. Most of the ones I talked to do not agree if I bring it up so I don’t. I just go to my dr and get the prescription. I have heard of a few that did help but far and few between! 
Just keep steady

hang in there !
 

 

 

Hi Heath!

 

I’m so sorry you’re going through it yourself and am so happy to hear you're feeling much better! It gives me so much hope! Wow you advice has made my day and made me feel so much better. Thank you for taking the time to respond it means the world to me. This is the hardest, most isolating thing I’ve ever gone through and no one understands it except the members of this wonderful support group. I feel I am losing the close bond with my friends because I barely see them anymore bc I'm so sick. 

 

What side effects are you having with lexapro in regards to your stomach? Did you start having symptoms before you started weaning off of the lexapro? Before weaning off lexapro, I had stomach pain when I exercised, throwing up, nausea, stomach burning/cramping every time I ate, unintentional weight loss, brain fog, joint pain, dizziness when standing up etc. After an EGD and colonoscopy they found microscopic colitis which is inflammation in the colon and small intestine. I went gluten free and that helped as they thought I had celiac but that did not cure me. My GI doctor believes its the lexapro causing it as SSRI's can have that side effect.

 

When you say your symptoms went away, in 4-6 months, are you talking about the side effects of lexapro or the withdrawals from weaning off of lexapro? Are you saying you stabilized around the 3 month mark?

 

In regards to weaning from the pill onto the liquid, how do you recommend cutting the pill form of lexapro to be the most exact as I transfer to liquid? Do you crush it and weigh it on a mg scale? I have 5 mg escitalopram, is it okay to crush those or does it have a coating on it?

 

I have changed my diet a lot too and it has helped manage my symptoms! I tried the AIP diet and low Fod map diet and that seems to help. I am also dairy free and gluten free and that helps a lot for me personally, but everyone is different!

 

I haven’t been able to work and I don’t know what to do about starting my career again. I was furloughed from my job with Covid and then I got sick and haven’t been back to work since. I was first only dealing with stomach issues and now I am dealing with withdrawal of lexapro on top of it. I have every symptom in the book and I’m honestly just exhausted. I’m tried of my mom and therapist telling me to push through. After a year of being sick, it’'s hard to find it in me, especially with feeling so physically and mentally weak.

 

I just want to be able to function more and be able to work full-time and make money and move out to start my adult life. I graduated from college 1.5 years ago with a 4.0 and I even graded a semester early. I did not expect my life to be like this a year later still living in my childhood home. I know there is a pandemic and a lot of others are “behind” in life with their careers but I need something to feel proud of and live for and obviously make money. I love you advice about slow, steady, and stable. It's a huge adjustment for me who is so unhealthily all or nothing personality. However, I've never been forced to take such good care of myself and focus on self-care as much as now. I know the only thing I can control in healing is working on my mental health and I feel I'm doing a great job at that. I feel 50% of my healing is mental health and since I cannot control the physcial healing, this is something that's important to me.  

 

Lots of good has come out of this and I am a very spiritual person who believes everything happens for a reason and it will help me grow so much. I would have never stopped taking my lexapro if I didn’t develop these stomach issues. I would have stayed depressed and numb my whole life because I didn’t want to deal with withdrawal symptoms.

 

This experience has made me appreciate the little things. I have been stripped of everything I loved and feel I am starting over, almost a rebirth. I’m learning how to eat healthy to heal my body, I appreciate the little things like a sunny day, I know I can get through literally anything else thrown my way after this experience, becoming a better friend and daughter, I could care less about the superficial things, I gained inspiration to change my career path to working with eastern medicine, actually coping with anxiety and depression and growing, etc.

[Gridley]

34 minutes ago, Sicksagittarius said:

@Gridley Is there a possibility 2.5 mg of lexapro is too low to stabilize for me since I weaned down so quickly from 15 mg to 5 mg in 19 days? Could I start to feel a lot sicker in the next few weeks or months with withdrawal symptoms? When I reinstated I took 5 mg and felt miserable but I took 2.5 and could tolerate it and am now feeling a lot better than when I was cold turkey for 6 days. 

We recommend reinstating as low a dose as possible.  Your system is very sensitized from your fast taper, and reinstating too much can destabilize it further, something that can take a long time to recover from.  The fact that you're feeling a lot better is a sign that the reinstatement is working, and I wouldn't tinker with success.

 

30 minutes ago, Sicksagittarius said:

Do you crush it and weigh it on a mg scale? I have 5 mg escitalopram, is it okay to crush those or does it have a coating on it?

That would be the way I would recommend.  I crushed the tablet into a fine powder between two spoons, gave it a stir with a toothpick to make sure the active ingredient was evenly distributed, then weighed powder using a Gemini-20 scale available on Amazon.  I then used a bent Post-it to pout the weighed powder into a size 0 or 00 gelatin capsule, also available on Amazon, and saved the remainder for another dose.  It takes a little practice to do the pouring and at first you may spill some powder but it becomes easier as you get used to the process.  I've never seen Escitalopram/Lexapro with a coating but if it does have a coating it doesn't matter because it is not time-release.

[Heath]

Agree with gridley. Your system is very sensitive rt now.  You are feeling better so leave it alone. Just hold for a long time. You will get better as time goes on and every week or so you will notice doing more things or less pain here or there. 
 

It is good to plan and think about taper plan. Try not to think about it too much. You have plenty of time before starting taper. And Right now you have a ton of information coming at you try to focus on getting stable. Remember a small change in these meds - you may not feel the effects for a month or so.

 

As far as being  less complicated you sound like me- so you can also get your dr to give you a prescription for liquid lexapro at 1 mg = 1 ml. And use a syringe. I use a 5 ml and a 1 ml syringe to get my dose. When you stabilize or when you decide to change to liquid you have to change over a month time at minimum. Example your on 10 mg 

1st week 7.5 mg pill 2.5 ml liquid 

2nd week 5 mg pill 5 ml liquid 

3rd week 2.5 mg pill 7.5 ml liquid 

4th week 10 ml liquid

and then I would hold there before starting taper 

 

one more thing on less complicated there are several premade taper charts. I like taperoff.co. Brass monkey I think made this one just type it in your web search bar. 
 

Side effects are unwanted things that are caused by medication while you are taking it some go away some stay as long as you take the med. 

withdrawals happen when the medication is stopped. which gradually go away the longer you are off med.

I believe you said in your first statement that you started decreasing lexapro before you had stomach problems ? So if stomach didn’t bother you for several years until you tapered some then that would tell me it is withdrawals. But you have done the rt thing to get checked out. One of these ssris hurt my stomach severe heartburn and went to gastrologist he said I had gastritis. The lexapro causes me stomach issues only when I change dosage knock on wood! Heartburn , indigestion  almost diarrhea . As far as side effects I have had dry mouth dry sinuses dry eyes, sinus problems in allergy season, dizziness, brain fog, can’t concentrate or focus. Now withdrawals all of above, joint pain, anxiety, cold, hot, sweating, dreams, eye sight, sleep all time, can’t sleep to name a few. 

[Heath]

When allergies started up this year I started getting dizzy when standing again . It happens every year with allergies since starting lexapro. Over the years I have chased drs for symptoms caused by ssri side effects and withdrawals. Sinus surgery, Ent allergies, dentist for dry mouth, eye dr dry eyes, back dr back pain, rt for chest pain, stomach dr and tests, etc 🙄. But now I know! Read and learn all you can from this forum!

[Heath]

As far as stabilizing after a wave ( being unstable due to withdrawals) everyone is different. I’m just saying for me after holding same dose same time each day - about 4 - 6 months to get back to pre wave status. And around 2 or 3 months I start feeling better. This all depends on many things. But like I said everyone is different. 
I cut pills with a pill cutter until I transferred over to liquid but I was on 10 mg when I transferred.

[Yesyes123]

On 4/30/2021 at 9:50 PM, Sicksagittarius said:

Would showing doctors this support group or credible sources about SSRI withdrawals make them reconsider? Or will they not listen to me bc I don't have a medical degree?

 

I think trying to convince a doctor of anything about these drugs is not only useless for your well being, but can actually lead to very stressful moments when you find out that the "healthcare professionals" are totally misinformed about their own practice and are causing literal brain damage to clueless people, and then telling those people that they are sick and the problem is their own "genetics" or something wrong in their brains.

 

It would be great if we could convince doctors to stop doing this to people but it is a nearly impossible thing, unless you have an extremely open minded doctor (which is very hard to find).

 

Even if you had a medical degree, convincing doctors of how harmful and atrocious these drugs are is an extremely challenging task - some of the people with actual medical degrees who try to put this out there are heavily censored and sometimes excluded from the medical community (Like David Healy who had an invitation to teach at a very prestigious university revoked after he tried to point out that some people were killing themselves after taking an SSRI).

 

They would need to accept that there are very fundamental things they believe in and have been taught by their prestigious teachers at university that are completely false (like the entire chemical imbalance madness). If we put ourselves in the skin of the doctors, it is a truly challenging thing to accept that your entire field of work and community operates from entirely wrong paradigms and is actually injuring or killing millions of people all around the world).

 

So just focus on learning the correct information and practices, your own healing and if you can, helping those near you. If you just tell people around you about the dangers of these drugs and show the info that Surviving Antidepressants puts out, that's already a step towards a better future.

[Sicksagittarius]

18 hours ago, Gridley said:

We recommend reinstating as low a dose as possible.  Your system is very sensitized from your fast taper, and reinstating too much can destabilize it further, something that can take a long time to recover from.  The fact that you're feeling a lot better is a sign that the reinstatement is working, and I wouldn't tinker with success.

 

That would be the way I would recommend.  I crushed the tablet into a fine powder between two spoons, gave it a stir with a toothpick to make sure the active ingredient was evenly distributed, then weighed powder using a Gemini-20 scale available on Amazon.  I then used a bent Post-it to pout the weighed powder into a size 0 or 00 gelatin capsule, also available on Amazon, and saved the remainder for another dose.  It takes a little practice to do the pouring and at first you may spill some powder but it becomes easier as you get used to the process.  I've never seen Escitalopram/Lexapro with a coating but if it does have a coating it doesn't matter because it is not time-release.

 

Is this the right scale? Can you put the link to the correct gemini 20 scale?  Since I am at 2.5 mg, can it accurately weigh this? I read that it may only accurately measure to the lowest of 4 mg? Can you link a chart that explains how much the pill form of 2.5 and below will weigh on the scale? I'm also nervous about the gelatin capsule. is that used for all capsuled pills? I take some capsuled pills including my omeprezole and Ive never had issues are all capsules made of gelatin? I have a lot of food sensitivities due to digestive issues such as gluten dairy, artificial sugars etc. Thanks so much!

 

GEM 20 scales on amazon:

https://amzn.to/3tHyGZp

 

https://amzn.to/2QeKk04

[Yesyes123]

8 minutes ago, Sicksagittarius said:

Is this the right scale? Can you put the link to the correct gemini 20 scale?  Since I am at 2.5 mg, can it accurately weigh this? I read that it may only accurately measure to the lowest of 4 mg? Can you link a chart that explains how much the pill form of 2.5 and below will weigh on the scale ? Thanks so much!

 

GEM 20 scales on amazon:

https://amzn.to/3tHyGZp

 

https://amzn.to/2QeKk04

 

Yes, that's the right scale.

Yes, you can measure 2.5mg on it.

I use a very similar one myself.

 

I am pretty sure that scale can measure down to 0.08mg Lexapro (which is 0.001g pill weight)

 

Check this out:

 

[Sicksagittarius]

3 minutes ago, Yesyes123 said:

 

Yes, that's the right scale.

Yes, you can measure 2.5mg on it.

I use a very similar one myself.

 

I am pretty sure that scale can measure down to 0.08mg Lexapro (which is 0.001g pill weight)

 

Check this out:

 

Thank you so so much! Is there a chart somewhere on this site that has the equivalent of what lexparo mgs are weighed at on the scale? 

[Yesyes123]

4 minutes ago, Sicksagittarius said:

Thank you so so much! Is there a chart somewhere on this site that has the equivalent of what lexparo mgs are weighed at on the scale? 

 

You need to make some very simple calculations in order to make the active ingredient to pill weight conversion.

 

It is a rule of three.

 

You can use this free tool here to do it.

 

https://www.mathepower.com/en/ruleofthree.php

 

I weighed 10 of my 15mg Lexapro pills and divided the total sum of their weight by 10 to find the average weight which is 0.203g

 

We use grams (g) instead of milligrams (mg) because our scales measure in grams (g)

 

15mg active ingredient = 0.203g

2.5mg active ingredient (or any other value you need to measure) = X

 

Then you just hit calculate

 

In this case:

 

 

2.5mg active ingredient (or 2.5mgai) = 0.034g in the scale

 

So in order to take 2.5mg of Lexapro you need to weight 0.034g of powder in the scale

 

It's real simple and easy once you get the hang of it.

[Yesyes123]

It's better if you find the average weight yourself by weighing 10 of your pills and dividing the total sum by 10 in order to be more precise.

[Sicksagittarius]

19 hours ago, Heath said:

Agree with gridley. Your system is very sensitive rt now.  You are feeling better so leave it alone. Just hold for a long time. You will get better as time goes on and every week or so you will notice doing more things or less pain here or there. 
 

It is good to plan and think about taper plan. Try not to think about it too much. You have plenty of time before starting taper. And Right now you have a ton of information coming at you try to focus on getting stable. Remember a small change in these meds - you may not feel the effects for a month or so.

 

As far as being  less complicated you sound like me- so you can also get your dr to give you a prescription for liquid lexapro at 1 mg = 1 ml. And use a syringe. I use a 5 ml and a 1 ml syringe to get my dose. When you stabilize or when you decide to change to liquid you have to change over a month time at minimum. Example your on 10 mg 

1st week 7.5 mg pill 2.5 ml liquid 

2nd week 5 mg pill 5 ml liquid 

3rd week 2.5 mg pill 7.5 ml liquid 

4th week 10 ml liquid

and then I would hold there before starting taper 

 

one more thing on less complicated there are several premade taper charts. I like taperoff.co. Brass monkey I think made this one just type it in your web search bar. 
 

Side effects are unwanted things that are caused by medication while you are taking it some go away some stay as long as you take the med. 

withdrawals happen when the medication is stopped. which gradually go away the longer you are off med.

I believe you said in your first statement that you started decreasing lexapro before you had stomach problems ? So if stomach didn’t bother you for several years until you tapered some then that would tell me it is withdrawals. But you have done the rt thing to get checked out. One of these ssris hurt my stomach severe heartburn and went to gastrologist he said I had gastritis. The lexapro causes me stomach issues only when I change dosage knock on wood! Heartburn , indigestion  almost diarrhea . As far as side effects I have had dry mouth dry sinuses dry eyes, sinus problems in allergy season, dizziness, brain fog, can’t concentrate or focus. Now withdrawals all of above, joint pain, anxiety, cold, hot, sweating, dreams, eye sight, sleep all time, can’t sleep to name a few. 

Oh my god, I think you just helped me realize that my stomach issues are withdrawal symptoms and maybe I don't have a chronic illness like celiac disease, or IBD ulcerative colitis... Am I going to be stuck with stomach issue withdrawals since I never reinstated after dropping down from 20 mg to 15 mg, then staying on 15 mg for 6 months then doing a way too fast of taper from 15 mg to 10 mg for 11 days then 5 mg for 8 days then 0 mg for 6 days and then reinstated at 2.5 mg? Now that I think about it, I believe I started weaning off in mid September and started to have GI issues that were noticeable in mid october about a month later... I stayed at 15 mg from November 2020 until April 2021 and I consistently had stomach pain, cramping, burning when I ate, diarhea, and I had to watch my diet. If I eat certain foods, until this day, I have awful diarhea including dairy, gluten, and inflammatory foods like white potatoes, nightshade vegetables etc. I have lost tons of weight not on purpose due to this as well. I still am having stomach issues that are only assuaged by taking anti-inflammatory medications mesalamine and an antispasmodic hyoscyamine. They found inflammation in my colon and small intestine within the biopsies of my colonscopy but did not see inflammation with their eyes without the biopsy. Are these consistent with withdrawals from lexapro?

[Sicksagittarius]

18 hours ago, Heath said:

When allergies started up this year I started getting dizzy when standing again . It happens every year with allergies since starting lexapro. Over the years I have chased drs for symptoms caused by ssri side effects and withdrawals. Sinus surgery, Ent allergies, dentist for dry mouth, eye dr dry eyes, back dr back pain, rt for chest pain, stomach dr and tests, etc 🙄. But now I know! Read and learn all you can from this forum!

I'm so sorry you had to go through all that trouble and all those doctors just to find out its wihdrawals!! That's so interesting the dizziness is associated with your allergies in combination to taking the lexapro. I have allergies year round and take zyrtec and singular everyday for it. I just started getting the dizziness when I had the stomach pain and my nose started running as well everytime I ate food but has stopped since i started taking anti-inflammatory medication and an antispasmodic. They found inflammation in my colon and small bowel within my colonoscopy biopsies. 

[Sicksagittarius]

 

4 hours ago, Yesyes123 said:

 

I weighed 10 of my 15mg Lexapro pills and divided the total sum of their weight by 10 to find the average weight which is 0.203g

 

We use grams (g) instead of milligrams (mg) because our scales measure in grams (g)

 

15mg active ingredient = 0.203g

2.5mg active ingredient (or any other value you need to measure) = X

 

Then you just hit calculate

 

In this case:

 

 

2.5mg active ingredient (or 2.5mgai) = 0.034g in the scale

 

So in order to take 2.5mg of Lexapro you need to weight 0.034g of powder in the scale

 

It's real simple and easy once you get the hang of it.

Thank you so so so much for taking the time to explain this and do the first round of math for me!! You just relieved so much of my stress. This group is amazing and I'm so blessed I found it. 

[Yesyes123]

53 minutes ago, Sicksagittarius said:

Thank you so so so much for taking the time to explain this and do the first round of math for me!! You just relieved so much of my stress. This group is amazing and I'm so blessed I found it. 

 

You're welcome! I use a bent piece of paper shaped kinda like a paper airplane to put the crushed powder from the pills in a gelatine capsule.

When I first started doing this I was a bit intimidated and scared of messing up.

I can do it very easily now and I'm not afraid of it anymore as I've managed to do it consistently.

 

It's really simple.

[Gridley]

6 hours ago, Sicksagittarius said:

Is this the right scale?

Yes, that's the right scale.  The first link is for the scale I'm using now and may be a later version than the second link.

 

1 hour ago, Sicksagittarius said:

Am I going to be stuck with stomach issue withdrawals

There is no way to predict symptoms.  I would take the attitude of assuming you will be fine.  This attitude is not a pollyanna approach (I'm the last thing from pollyanna) but assuming the best result increases the likelihood that it will happen.  Your body reads your thoughts and mirrors them.  Give your body good, positive thoughts to mirror.

 

2 hours ago, Sicksagittarius said:

They found inflammation in my colon and small intestine within the biopsies of my colonscopy but did not see inflammation with their eyes without the biopsy. Are these consistent with withdrawals from lexapro?

Digestive problems are common in withdrawal, but there is no way for us to tell whether yours are caused by WD or not.  

[Heath]

@Sicksagittarius yes like gridley said we don’t know if those symptoms are from withdrawals for sure . This is only suggestions from my personal experience. I’m am no dr for sure. But the information you are giving is best documented in a journal and then you can go back and look at it . And then it will help you figure out what’s causing what . 👍

[Sicksagittarius]

On 5/11/2021 at 6:25 PM, Gridley said:

That would be the way I would recommend.  I crushed the tablet into a fine powder between two spoons, gave it a stir with a toothpick to make sure the active ingredient was evenly distributed, then weighed powder using a Gemini-20 scale available on Amazon.  I then used a bent Post-it to pout the weighed powder into a size 0 or 00 gelatin capsule, also available on Amazon, and saved the remainder for another dose.  It takes a little practice to do the pouring and at first you may spill some powder but it becomes easier as you get used to the process.  I've never seen Escitalopram/Lexapro with a coating but if it does have a coating it doesn't matter because it is not time-release.

Does this scale also work for small amounts? I'm at 2.5 mg right now, and I've read that they arent very accurate with low doses

[Yesyes123]

16 minutes ago, Sicksagittarius said:

Does this scale also work for small amounts? I'm at 2.5 mg right now, and I've read that they arent very accurate with low doses

 

There might be an extremely small variation in values but as @brassmonkey says that is not going to cause any problems. What matters is taking a consistent dose daily. If it is up or down 0,005g it will not be a problem. There will always be another variable. If you want to read further on this you can do a site search for "AIC" (Active Ingredient Concentration).

[Nomansland]

Hello @Sicksagittarius,

 

here is what Gridley wrote about the scale in another comment:

 

This was about 2 years ago and he is now off Lexapro using the Gemini scale. Same with brassmonkey, he got off paxil. I compared this scale to a lab scale and its very much on point

if you weight carefully and use the same method every time. Also, if they have some error, they tend to be off the same every time, so it evens out.

 

Greetings

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

2021 IMPORTANT WITHDRAWAL SURVEY, PLEASE PARTICIPATE: https://uelpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0AR9IsQ61jsiXBk

[Yesyes123]

10 minutes ago, Nomansland said:

2021 IMPORTANT WITHDRAWAL SURVEY, PLEASE PARTICIPATE: https://uelpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0AR9IsQ61jsiXBk

 

I just filled it out and submitted it. Great to see this going on!

[Sicksagittarius]

On 5/11/2021 at 9:15 AM, Gridley said:

Most people do fine with the liquid but some don't.  The absorption rate is different so initially it there might be some minor symptoms.  Monitor your reactions to the change. We recommend a gradual crossover to the liquid as follows:

 

3/4 dose tablet, 1/4 dose liquid for 3 to 7 days

1/2, 1/2 for 3 to 7 days

1/4 dose tablet, 3/4 dose liquid for 3 to 7 days

all liquid there after

 

This is normally the case.  Please check with your pharmacist.

 

Since Lexapro is an activating drug, it is better to take it in the morning.  To make the change, move your dose 1 hour back per day until you reach the time in the morning you want to take the drug.  You can do this before or after the cross over but not both at the same time; only one change at a time.

 

Ginger is known to help with nausea.  Perhaps a low dose ginger supplement or in some other form.

 

Yes, these are common WD symptoms.

 

Stability is not no symptoms at all and is not the exact same symptoms but rather feeling more or less the same every day with no big swings.

 

Congratulation on getting so low on the Lexapro.

 

 

 

I just realized that I have been unevenly splitting up my doses with pill cutters this entire time, for months, and it never been an exact amount and I hadnt been taking it at a consist time, always an hour or two different each day. Am I going to have more damaging, long standing withdrawal symptoms bc of this? I am now ordering a scale to crush the pills and am working on taking it at the same time everyday. As I wait for the scale to come in, are there any tips on how to make the pill splitter as accurate as possible? I bought an expensive one with a double blade and I try to file down the pill if its not even but its so hard to get it perfect each day. 

[Sicksagittarius]

On 5/12/2021 at 12:24 PM, Yesyes123 said:

 

Yes, that's the right scale.

Yes, you can measure 2.5mg on it.

I use a very similar one myself.

 

I am pretty sure that scale can measure down to 0.08mg Lexapro (which is 0.001g pill weight)

 

Check this out:

 

Awesome thanks so much! I didn't realize I had to list all drugs i'm taking outside of psych meds so ill update my sig but I'm also taking 40 mg of omeprazole, hyoscyamine, mesalamine, and was taking zofran 3-4 time a day for a few weeks. I am now learning the side effects of these drugs. Could you put me in the right thread to discuss how to wean off of these drugs and also their side effects? 

[Yesyes123]

4 minutes ago, Sicksagittarius said:

I just realized that I have been unevenly splitting up my doses with pill cutters this entire time, for months, and it never been an exact amount and I hadnt been taking it at a consist time, always an hour or two different each day. Am I going to have more damaging, long standing withdrawal symptoms bc of this? I am now ordering a scale to crush the pills and am working on taking it at the same time everyday. As I wait for the scale to come in, are there any tips on how to make the pill splitter as accurate as possible? I bought an expensive one with a double blade and I try to file down the pill if its not even but its so hard to get it perfect each day. 

 

To measure specific custom doses you won't be cutting up the pills, you'll be crushing them to powder and weighing that powder. You can crush the pills between two spoons of the same size or use a fancier pill crusher.

[Yesyes123]

2 minutes ago, Sicksagittarius said:

Awesome thanks so much! I didn't realize I had to list all drugs i'm taking outside of psych meds so ill update my sig but I'm also taking 40 mg of omeprazole, hyoscyamine, mesalamine, and was taking zofran 3-4 time a day for a few weeks. I am now learning the side effects of these drugs. Could you put me in the right thread to discuss how to wean off of these drugs and also their side effects? 

 

You should add all drugs you have taken and currently take to your signature and ask questions about them here on your introduction topic.

 

Someone will get to you eventually 

[Sicksagittarius]

3 minutes ago, Yesyes123 said:

 

To measure specific custom doses you won't be cutting up the pills, you'll be crushing them to powder and weighing that powder. You can crush the pills between two spoons of the same size or use a fancier pill crusher.

okay thank you! What are the damages I've done from unevenly cutting them with a pill splitter for months/not taking it at right time each day? Can I still stabilize even from doing this?

[Yesyes123]

9 minutes ago, Sicksagittarius said:

To measure specific custom doses you won't be cutting up the pills, you'll be crushing them to powder and weighing that powder. You can crush the pills between two spoons of the same size or use a fancier pill crusher.

 

You will then put that powder inside empty gelatin capsules

[Yesyes123]

10 minutes ago, Sicksagittarius said:

What are the damages I've done from unevenly cutting them with a pill splitter for months/not taking it at right time each day? Can I still stabilize even from doing this?

 

Are you talking about cutting escitalopram only? I don't think that's a big problem. As long as the variation of dose isn't too big you should be OK. It's best to be precise about the dose though. Taking at very different times of the day can make you unstable. If you focus on taking the precise dose at the same time of the day or inside 1hr difference you'll stabilize eventually.

[Sicksagittarius]

13 minutes ago, Yesyes123 said:

 

Are you talking about cutting escitalopram only? I don't think that's a big problem. As long as the variation of dose isn't too big you should be OK. It's best to be precise about the dose though. Taking at very different times of the day can make you unstable. If you focus on taking the precise dose at the same time of the day or inside 1hr difference you'll stabilize eventually.

Okay that's good to hear. I cannot get more of the 5 mg pill because I ordered the liquid lexpro and didnt know you had to taper onto that so my insurance won't cover me ordering more pills until next week. I only have halves of the 5 mg pill from attempting to split it and I have whole 20 mg pills. How would I go about weighing the 2.5 mg out if I dont have a full 5 mg pill to measure them all and average it to make sure its the right dose? Can I crush up 20 mg of lexapro the same way I would crush of 5 mg of lexapro and weigh it out?