WL77: Lexapro / escitalopram for 2.5 years - my withdrawal symptoms

[WL77]

Hi all,

 

Long story short I was on Lexapro from October 2018 to April 2021 for anxiety (I never had depression). In late February/early March 2021 I noticed it stopped working for my anxiety for whatever reason, as it wasn't working anymore I made the decision to quit cold turkey. I was okay for a few weeks and then the withdrawals hit, I had overwhelming depression and anxiety to a degree I'd never had before, I tried to get back on the medication but it didn't work, I tried sertraline and that didn't work either. I went through a really rough few months and then went to my doctor (I'd been self medicating up until that point, stupid I know) and he prescribed 10mg citalopram (which I know is basically the same as escitalopram), this stabilised me mostly and I feel kind of better. I believe 10mg citalopram is equivalent to 5mg escitalopram and so I'm on a way lower dose than I used to be which is good.

 

I'm currently doing a slow taper (over the course of a year) on the citalopram and I'm currently at 8mg. My depression is almost gone and my anxiety is halved from the peak of withdrawals but I'm struggling with a few symptoms which don't seem to be budging, mainly stomach issues (I need to go to the toilet 3-4 times a day vs. 1 before all of this), sleep issues (I fall asleep fine most of the time but wake up after about 6 hours and can't get back to sleep) and weird muscle twitching (mostly in my legs and arms, this is the strangest one but is actually improved the most). I'm at a loss for the sleep issue as I refuse to use any kind of medication for that and I don't even know what the muscle twitching is, for the stomach issues I've been using super strength probiotics (VSL#3) for a few weeks and they worked at first and then seem to have stopped. 

 

Does anyone have any experience with these withdrawals (stomach issues, waking up too early & muscle twitching) and are they likely to go away in time? They're not things I've struggled with before antidepressants. I can take the anxiety on the chin and work on that myself as I've basically always had that but having these things going on that I never had before the drug are frustrating. 

 

Thanks all, I've read these forums for a few weeks before signing up and it's been incredibly useful, I really appreciate it all.

[Frogie]

Hi @WL77

 

Welcome to SA.  We are a volunteer site with member like you either tapering or have tapered off medications.

 

This is your page. This is where you will receive information, ask questions and meet members just like you. We ask that each member only have one page so we can keep all your information in one place.

 

First, can you please create a signature. Thanks!

 

Instructions:  Withdrawal History Signature

 

I'll give you some information on tapering off of citalopram . We don't suggest tapering more than 10% a month.

 

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

Dr Joseph Glenmullen's Withdrawal Symptoms

 

Digestive problems:  Nausea, Diarrhoea, Bloating, GERD

 

Fear, terror, panic, and anxiety

 

I've also included a few other topics you might find interesting in your situation.

 

After you have read the links, especially post #1, Tips for tapering off Citalopram, please reach out to us with any questions you may have.

 

Take care.

 

 

Edited January 24, 2022 by Frogie

[WL77]

1 hour ago, Frogie said:

Hi @WL77

 

Welcome to SA.  We are a volunteer site with member like you either tapering or have tapered off medications.

 

This is your page. This is where you will receive information, ask questions and meet members just like you. We ask that each member only have one page so we can keep all your information in one place.

 

First, can you please create a signature. Thanks!

 

Instructions:  Withdrawal History Signature

 

I'll give you some information on tapering off of citalopram . We don't suggest tapering more than 10% a month.

 

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

Dr Joseph Glenmullen's Withdrawal Symptoms

 

Digestive problems:  Nausea, Diarrhoea, Bloating, GERD

 

Fear, terror, panic, and anxiety

 

I've also included a few other topics you might find interesting in your situation.

 

After you have read the links, especially post #1, Tips for tapering off Citalopram, please reach out to us with any questions you may have.

 

Take care.

 

 

 

Hi @Frogie,

 

Thank you very much, I have read all the links and they're very useful, I have made a signature. One thing I will ask (apologies if it is mentioned somewhere in the thread), when I'm getting down to the very low doses of citalopram I intend to crush the pills and weigh the powder in order to dose correctly - is the active ingredient distributed evenly amongst the filler? If not is there a risk I'll be dosing too high or low on a day to day basis?

 

Also, from my understanding the aim is to "stabilise" on each dose before dropping down again. How am I defining "stable"? I guess the intention isn't to feel perfect but just good enough in order to function? Or should I be feeling no withdrawals before lowering the dose? As at the moment I'm on 8mg citalopram and although I feel a lot better than I did when I was on nothing I'm still experiencing WD symptoms (digestive issues, sleep issues and muscle twitching). When I was originally on escitalopram my issue was that the longer I took it the more I needed to eliminate the anxiety, originally 10mg did the trick, then I needed 15mg, then 20mg and then even that didn't work. I wasn't willing to go past the maximum dosage and so I quit. I'm in no way questioning the methods as I can absolutely see it works from a lot of stories on here, I guess I'm just worried that the longer I'm on a dose the less effective it seems to be rather than the more effective. An example being on week 1 on 8mg I probably felt a bit better than I do now (week 4).

 

Sorry, I know that last paragraph turned into a bit of a ramble but I really do appreciate you guys and this site in general, I wish I had read it 3 1/2 years ago!

[Frogie]

@WL77

 

You are on top of things. I admire that. 

 

Thank you so much for creating a signature. It just gives any moderator the information they need if they come on your page to give you more information. As you will learn, we all work together as a team and I love that about this site. Everyone is here to help one another. 

 

Yes crushing and weighing is the best method for evenly distributing the active ingredient in the tablet. You can "stir" the powder around and get it all mixed together, per se. I'll give you a link on using a scale. And don't hesitate to ask me or any other moderator about using a scale. I used mine throughout my Xanax taper. I was lucky enough that my insurance paid for liquid Lexapro to taper off of.

 

 

I can also give you some information on making your own liquid out of the tablets.

 

 

A lot of members find using the Brassmonkey Slide seems to reduce some side effects. You taper 2.5% a week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 weeks.

 

 

"WD normal" is different for everyone. But the way I felt, was I felt good enough to do something, clean the house, grocery shop, laundry, but not well enough to obviously run a marathon. 

 

Withdrawal Normal

 

You might try magnesium and omega. They are calming to the nerves for a lot of members here. Just try a small amount of one before introducing the other.

 

Magnesium

Omega-3 Fish Oil

 

I know how you feel. I was on Lexapro 20+ years when I decided enough was enough. So I can relate to everything you are talking about. I don't want to bombard you with a lot of links. 

 

Please reach out with anything else I or any other moderator on here can help you with🙂

 

[WL77]

I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since I wrote this, I’m really glad I did though as I can see what I was experiencing at the time.

 

Long story short, I’ve just moved down to 2.5mg citalopram, after this next drop I’m going to be at the point where I can no longer split tablets (splitting 10mg 4 ways is already very difficult) and so I will have to start using the methods listed above. The depression is still gone but I feel somewhat anhedonic, I’m really hoping this will subside once I’m finally fully off as I really lack motivation and feel like I’m just floating through life. I also want to be fully off the propranolol but the plan is to wean off that after the citalopram as it does help with the physical anxiety.

 

In regards to the other withdrawal symptoms:

 

Sleep - I now stay asleep fine, it’s actually gone a bit too far the other way where I can sleep for 9 hours easily and wake up still feeling sluggish. Again, I’m hoping once I’m fully off this will go.

 

Stomach issues - Mostly back to normal, I go maybe twice a day now vs 3/4.

 

Muscle twitching - Again, mostly gone, still happens sometimes. 
 

All in all, I’m getting there but maybe not as far along a year after originally posting as I’d hoped. I still can not believe that my decision to self medicate with Lexapro after reading a few reviews on its effectiveness for anxiety would leave me still battling away at this 2 years after originally quitting! Better days are still ahead for sure though.

 

Good luck to everyone, I’ll update again next year sometime.