KristenB: Withdrawal Lexapro

[KristenB]

I've been on 20mg lexapro for 2 to 2 1/2 years. I talked to my doctor about weaning off.  I went from 20mg to 15 to 10.  Each drop I did for 3 months.  Everything seemed OK until,  At the end of my 10mg for 3 months when I was about to drop down. My insomnia started, muscle aches, flu like symptoms. so I'm staying at 10 till I level out 🙏. It's been a week and a half with insomnia, some days glimpses of sleep. If I get tired it's usually an hour or so before I get up. Also Is it normal to start withdrawal symptoms a few months after weaning down some? Will this get better? 🤔 any experience? Hope?  I could really use support, Thanks 

[getofflex]

Hello Kristen, and welcome to SA.  We are a volunteer-run community of people who have been or are getting off of psychiatric drugs.  You have come to the right place.  

4 hours ago, KristenB said:

Is it normal to start withdrawal symptoms a few months after weaning down some?

This is very common.  I've seen many people mention not getting withdrawal symptoms until 2-3 months after a cut. 

 

4 hours ago, KristenB said:

Will this get better? 🤔 any experience? Hope?

 

Yes, it will get better, if you follow the suggestions we give you, and take extra good care of yourself.  However, it is a slow process, and will take lots of time and patience. Please do not make any more changes to your Lexapro until further advised.   To give you hope, we have many people who have come to this forum and have recovered.  You can read some of the success stories here: 

 

Success Stories

 

Can you please give us specific information about your drug history for all drugs you are on and have been on, especially for the past 18-24 months?  It would be especially helpful to have the details of your drugs in a concise vertical list (no symptoms), only drug names, specific dates (as best you can say for example early March if you don't recall the day) and dosages of each medication decrease or increase.  Use this format:

 

Drug name: date, dose, date, dose, date, dose…

Drug name: date, dose, date, dose, date, dose…

Etcetera

 

Please read the link below for instructions.  This will allow us to give you the best guidance.  

 

How to List Drug History in Signature

 

Here is some information about how these drugs actually work.   This explains why we get symptoms from going off of these medications, and why it's so important to taper so slowly and carefully, and be very cautious about changing our doses: 

 

How Psychiatric Drugs Remodel Your Brain

 

 

This helps you understand what withdrawal syndrome is: 

 

Video on Recovery from Psych Drugs

 

What is Happening in Your Brain

 

Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

 

Tapering is best done extremely slowly, and we generally taper by 10% of the current dose no more than once every 4 weeks, so that the taper becomes exponentially smaller.

 

 Why Taper by 10% of my Dosage  

 

Tips for Tapering Lexapro

 

 

Also, as we are recovering, we suggest keeping things slow, simple, and stable. 

 

Keep it Simple, Slow, and Stable

 

Here is a link with checklists of common WD symptoms: 

 

Dr Joseph Glenmullen Withdrawal Symptom Checklists

 

 

Here are some techniques to cope with symptoms: 

 

Non Drug Ways to Cope with Withdrawal Symptoms

 

 

We don't suggest many supplements, but 2 that many of us find helpful are magnesium and omega-3 fish oil. Here are the links for info about those. It is suggested to add one at a time, and start with a low dose to see how it affects you. 

Magnesium

 

Omega 3 Fish Oil

 

I've given you quite a bit of information here.  Please read through it, and feel free to ask questions.   In the meantime, take care of yourself, and take heart.  We in this forum have been through this, and we understand first hand the pain and discomfort you are going through.  Please know that the brain is amazing in it's healing abilities.  It takes time, but healing can and will happen. 

[KristenB]

Thank you for reaching back out so quickly. It's so nice to find a place where people understand/ Have the same experiences.  Thank you for the helpful information.  I find it difficult with my doctor and so do many others. When you say that you're experiencing these things after months of a drop. Then you get told that this shouldn't happen there must be another reason why you're feeling this way. This place gives people hope.

[getofflex]

I'm glad you find SA helpful!  I know I certainly did.  I had no idea how to properly taper my Lexapro.  

 

Please provide a drug sig as requested above, so we can advise you properly.  This way, the drug history is automatically included with each of your posts, and the staff can get a feel for your situation without having to read all the posts.  

[KristenB]

Insomnia

 

Hey all, insomnia is really the worst. So rough for me, very triggering. I'm starting to get anxious wondering if  I'm making the right decision to have weaned to begin with. Wondering if I'll need to be on lexapro forever. Wondering if my sleep will come back.  Like I said previously. I was making drops in milligrams every 3 months. So I was at the 10 mg for 3 months about to drop down.  Stress had came up in my marriage a fight. Triggered some anxiety. Maybe the perfect storm. I just started not sleeping, muscles aches and pains.  So I've stayed at the 10mg.  The stress has subsided at home but My sleep hasn't come back. It's been almost 2 weeks with full blown insomnia.  I've been here before and it makes me feel like I'm going backwards. The 1st time I weaned off lexapro I don't remember having it like this. That was for postpartum depression anxiety insomnia. This past time  I was having physical symptoms from low iron that were really scary.  Took me a year to build-up my iron levels to a healthy state. I had horrible health anxiety from it. Anyways for my sleep Doctor told me to try l-theanine it's an amino acid that may help my sleep at night its coming in today and melatonin. In the past melatonin and all those other things didn't really work but I guess I will give it a shot.  Any words of wisdom. Crying this morning. I want to be a success story guys. ❤  Sorry if I'm all over the place.

 

Edited December 8, 2021 by ChessieCat
added topic title before merging with intro topic

[ChessieCat]

SA's topic:

 

Sleep problems - that awful withdrawal insomnia

 

There are many existing topics on SA.  Before creating a new topic, please check to see if a topic already exists.  Use the site search function or use an internet search engine and add site:survivingantidepressants.org to the search term.

 

[KristenB]

Hi iv been tappering for about 2 years. I went from 20 mg to 0.5mg Iv come so far healing my anxiety.I made a mistake towards the end of my tapper. I was at 0.4mg and stopped  i forgot some days and then I figured it was low enough. 5 days later I started experience withdrawal. Anxiety, fast heart rate, can't sleep well,... now it's been 8 days. I'm looking for advice. I pray to get though this. Thanks in advance.

[KenA]

Hi @KristenB. Sorry to hear that you have had a small temporary setback in your healing. I have moved this post back into your intro topic so that others can see this and give you some advice. Prayers for healing!

 

 

[modelarz71]

2 hours ago, KristenB said:

Hi iv been tappering for about 2 years. I went from 20 mg to 0.5mg Iv come so far healing my anxiety.I made a mistake towards the end of my tapper. I was at 0.4mg and stopped  i forgot some days and then I figured it was low enough. 5 days later I started experience withdrawal. Anxiety, fast heart rate, can't sleep well,... now it's been 8 days. I'm looking for advice. I pray to get though this. Thanks in advance.

Hi. I also have a WD from escitalpram.
It takes about two hours to fall asleep.
Of course waking up and having sleep nightmares. But so far after waking up around 6 o'clock I still manage to fall asleep.
Now I have 0 mg of escitalpram, but I was advised to try 0.1 mg because a month ago I had 0.20mg.
I don't know what to do myself. 

[KristenB]

21 minutes ago, modelarz71 said:

Hi. I also have a WD from escitalpram.
It takes about two hours to fall asleep.
Of course waking up and having sleep nightmares. But so far after waking up around 6 o'clock I still manage to fall asleep.
Now I have 0 mg of escitalpram, but I was advised to try 0.1 mg because a month ago I had 0.20mg.
I don't know what to do myself. 

That's good you tapper till almost 0 I jumped off at 0.4. It has been 11 days since I stopped lex. How many days have you been. Completely off? Everything has to recalibrate again.

[KristenB]

1 hour ago, KenA said:

Hi @KristenB. Sorry to hear that you have had a small temporary setback in your healing. I have moved this post back into your intro topic so that others can see this and give you some advice. Prayers for healing!

 

 

Thank you very much

[modelarz71]

5 minutes ago, KristenB said:

That's good you tapper till almost 0 I jumped off at 0.4. It has been 11 days since I stopped lex. How many days have you been. Completely off? Everything has to recalibrate again.

O mg from around November . I don't know if there is any difference, in any case it is bad.
Maybe on 0.20 mg in the evenings it was better.
Do you have tinnitus i.e. "screeching" in your head when you go to bed or in the morning. do you still dream something if you fall asleep?

[KristenB]

3 minutes ago, modelarz71 said:

O mg from around November . I don't know if there is any difference, in any case it is bad.
Maybe on 0.20 mg in the evenings it was better.
Do you have tinnitus i.e. "screeching" in your head when you go to bed or in the morning. do you still dream something if you fall asleep?

I have had tinnitus in the past from anxiety but not now.  I was having weird dreams. Last night I was up alot. I have struggled with insomnia in past. Come far with that too. 

[modelarz71]

9 minutes ago, KristenB said:

W przeszłości miałem szumy uszne spowodowane stanami lękowymi, ale teraz nie. Miałem dziwne sny. Ostatniej nocy dużo spałem. W przeszłości zmagałem się z bezsennością. Z tym też zajdź daleko. 

I guess the physical symptoms will eventually pass.
I'm worried about the mental symptoms: serious "depression" nothing makes me happy, it's hard to do anything.
I guess it depends on how someone felt on lexapro when they took it.
I was euphoric at times. It messed me up a lot

Maybe it didn't hurt you so much and will eventually get better

[KristenB]

2 minutes ago, modelarz71 said:

I guess the physical symptoms will eventually pass.
I'm worried about the mental symptoms: serious "depression" nothing makes me happy, it's hard to do anything.
I guess it depends on how someone felt on lexapro when they took it.
I was euphoric at times. It messed me up a lot

Maybe it didn't hurt you so much and will eventually get better

Dr clair weekes hope and help with you nerves and the anxiety helped me alot. Alot of acceptance instead of fighting it (the anxiety and depression) easier said than done. You can heal. Do not give up.