Pezglobo: Lexapro constant burping

[Pezglobo]

Hi! Thank you for including me here ❤️
I have been taking lexapro since April 2021 (went from 5 to 10 in March, then to 15 in September and increased to 20 in October). In December I realized the sedation and headaches I had been having might be due to lexapro, so I tapered off it quite fast (in 10 days from 20 to zero). Inmediately, I had huge GI issues, so I went back to lexapro 7,5 mg. In January I tried to switch to Prozac and cross tapered in 2 weeks. My GI became awful and (sorry for the detail 🙈) I begun burping nonstop, constantly, uncontrollably, every 2 seconds. I thought it was due to Prozac so after a week on Prozac (completely off lex), I quit prozac and returned to lexapro 7,5. However, my GI symptoms continue after a month and especially the burping is horrible. 
I have read that both lexapro and lexapro withdrawal can cause this symptom, so I don’t know whether it may be caused by having reduced the dose or by being on it… I wonder whether to wait and give my body more time time to adjust to this dose, or to try and lower the dose / taper off. 
Please, I would really appreciate if someone could help me. 
THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE

[Frogie]

@Pezglobo

 

Welcome to SA. We are a volunteer ran site with member such as you tapering or have tapered off antidepressants and benzodiazepines.

 

This is your introduction page where you will receive information, ask any questions you may have, and meet other members. 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 page. That would be great and very helpful.

 

Instructions:  Withdrawal History Signature

 

After reading your introduction, you have been up and down and changed a couple of times relatively quickly. At this time you should probably hold for a while and let your system stabilize before beginning a taper.

 

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

Keep it Simple, Slow and Stable

 

Digestive problems:  Nausea, Diarrhoea, Bloating, GERD

 

Please reach out to us with any questions you may have.

 

Edited February 27, 2022 by Frogie

[Pezglobo]

Hi Frogie,

thabk you so much for your time to reply and support. 

Sorry about the signature (I have now updated it). I will try to stabilize as you say before tapering.
I have a few questions:

- How long would you wait before doing the next lowering?

- Do you think it is a good idea to taper caffeine at this moment? I am used to taking 3 coffees per day. On one hand, it might calm my nervous system. On the other hand, it would be tapering 2 substances at the same time (less stability)… 

thank you in advance!

 

[Pezglobo]

Pezglobo: hypothyroidism

 

Hi,

I just received my lab test results and I have huge TSH values and low T3 and T4. This would clearly explain all my symptoms: fatigue, GI issues, cold…

My question is, as lexapro can cause/ aggravate this, should I continue with a gradual taper or try to do it a bit quicker?

 

Thank you in advance 

 

Edited March 5, 2022 by ChessieCat
added topic title before merging with intro topic

[ChessieCat]

Q:  Will you be starting on medication to treat the new diagnosis?

 

Generally it is suggested that you only make one change at a time.  In this case if you are starting a new treatment for the new diagnosis then it might be better to not continue tapering until you have the new medication sorted out.  When there are two variables it can make it difficult to know what is causing any issues.

 

With regards to the taper rate, it is generally recommended to listen to your symptoms and taper according to those.  If you go too quickly and bring on bad withdrawal there is no knowing how long it would take to stabilise.  For some member it can take a long time and for some they never get back to how they had been before.

 

Also, we have SA members who have tried to go too quickly and it has ended up taking them longer than if they had just stuck to a nice steady (approximately) 10%/4 week taper.  Some have ended up changing to a different drug (which is not always successful) and some have ended up on an additional drug which they will then have to taper.

 

So you will need to weigh up the pros and cons.

 

This is SA's topic:

 

thyroid-symptoms-hypothyroid-hashimotos

[Pezglobo]

1 hour ago, ChessieCat said:

 

Q:  Will you be starting on medication to treat the new diagnosis?

 

 

I still have to visit my doctor and show her my lab test results. I suppose she will make me check for antibodies as well. I will keep you informed. 
Thank you so much for your help 🥰🥰

[Pezglobo]

GI pain

 

Hi,

 

Do GI symptoms eventually improve? I am so desperate. Since I went CT from lexapro in December, even after introducing it again in a lower dose, I have terrible abdominal pain. Everything I eat hurts and it even hurts with touch. 

i am wondering whether to increase my dose of lexapro because I can’t live like this. I have 2 small children and sometimes I can’t even stand up straight because of the pain. 

If I am patient and stay at this dose, will I eventually improve?

 

Thank you in advance 

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by ChessieCat
added topic title before merging with intro topic

[Pezglobo]

When to start weaning after re-installment

 

Hi,

Update: my digestive issues were hard to deal with so I had to up my escitalopram dose to 10 mg 5 weeks ago. I have been feeling better only recently. 

I am so scared of my stomach pain due to WD that I sometimes think of taking this med for the rest of my life… 🤦‍♀️

However, I would like to get pregnant (off lexapro obviously). I plan to do a really slow taper. How long should I remain stable on this dose before starting a tiny tapper? (Maybe reducing 5% of the dose)

 

thank you in advance!

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by ChessieCat
added topic title before merging with intro topic

[ChessieCat]

I've moved your new topic to your Introduction topic which keeps your history in one place.

 

Dr Joseph Glenmullen's WD Symptoms Checklist

 

Stability

 

WDnormal

 

And Brassmonkey talks more about it here:

 

tao-of-the-brassmonkey

 

Instead of doing a taper of 5% reduction each month you might consider doing a 10% over a 6 week period which will be a little bit faster than the 5%/4 week but a little bit slower than the 10%/4 week rate but it will give you more control over your taper because you can hold for longer at any time during the reduction cycle.  As a comparison, the 5% per month = 10% over 8 weeks.

 

Brass Monkey Slide

[Pezglobo]

Thank you very much!!!! 
I will read everything slowly 

congrats on your successful taper from pristiq by the way!! 🥳🥳

[Pezglobo]

Lexapro during pregnancy?

 

Hi!

sorry if this is off topic, please erase the post if you consider it. 

I am thinking of getting pregnant and I currently take 10 mg of lexapro. It helps with with my depression and anxiety, as well as my GI issues. My Obgyn and psychiatrist say I could be pregnant on it and it is safe. However, seeing the W/D symptoms it causes and how potent it is as an SSRI, I’m afraid of exposing a baby to it and then risk their withdrawal symptoms. 
could someone please share their thoughts on it?

thank you in advance!

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by ChessieCat
added topic title before merging with intro topic

[ChessieCat]

47 minutes ago, Pezglobo said:

Lexapro during pregnancy?

 

Hi!

sorry if this is off topic, please erase the post if you consider it. 

I am thinking of getting pregnant and I currently take 10 mg of lexapro. It helps with with my depression and anxiety, as well as my GI issues. My Obgyn and psychiatrist say I could be pregnant on it and it is safe. However, seeing the W/D symptoms it causes and how potent it is as an SSRI, I’m afraid of exposing a baby to it and then risk their withdrawal symptoms. 
could someone please share their thoughts on it?

thank you in advance!

 

 

antidepressants-withdrawal-during-pregnancy

 

[Pezglobo]

Thank you!!! Very helpful

[Pezglobo]

Can I reduce lexapro by 10% every 2 weeks?

 

Only if I don’t experience any WD symptoms in those 2 weeks…

 

I want to get pregnant so I want to speed up the process as much as possible as I am already 40 yo 🙁

 

Edited June 7, 2022 by ChessieCat
added topic title before merging with intro topic

[Onmyway]

Hi @Pezglobo

It is up to you how you reduce your medicine. Our advice is above no more than 10%/mo but it's only advice, you make your own decisions based on your situation.

 

ADs do increase the risk of birth defects and autism (I think by 30-50%) and the baby can get withdrawal symptoms and more serious effects persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn can be life threatening but is rare. Note that birth defect risk in the general population is about 3-5% so you're increasing that by 30-50% to 4-7.5% - this is my reading of the literature, there are lots of studies with varying estimates - some lower, some higher. Some of the articles make the argument that it's the underlying condition rather than the drug causing some of the issues but it's hard to know from these studies.

 

Hypothyroidism medication should not impact withdrawals as long as the dosage is correct. If too much, you may get jittery and get palpitations. So important to watch symptoms and get regular tests.

 

omw

 

Edited June 8, 2022 by ChessieCat
made correction to taper rate

[Pezglobo]

Thank you very much Onmyway. Yes, I plan to wait and be completely off before getting pregnant. 
what do you mean by “above 10%/mo”?

[Pezglobo]

Can you experience W/D symptoms one day after tapering 10%???

 

I went from 10 mg to 9 mg 3 days ago and am starting to feel more stomach pain again.. could it be withdrawal or just anxiety causing my stomach pain?

other times I tapered my symptoms started after 4 days of reducing the dose…

 

Edited June 8, 2022 by ChessieCat
added topic title before merging with existing topic

[ChessieCat]

It is very hard to know what is causing the increase in symptoms.  You have made a lot of drug changes over the last year and many of them since the beginning of this year.

 

It might be that you have started tapering too soon or made too large of a reduction.  I know that you want to get off the drug quickly.  However, there are SA members here who tried to go too fast and it has ended up taking them longer (and in some cases a lot longer) than if they had done a nice steady tapering and listened to their body/symptoms.

 

It takes about 4 days for a drug to get to full level/strength in the blood and a bit longer for it to register in the brain.  The idea of waiting for 4 weeks after making a reduction is to allow the brain to adapt to getting less of the drug.

 

 

Being worried about reducing can cause symptoms similar to WD symptoms:

 

 

 

 

[Pezglobo]

Switching SSRIs???

 

Hi,

Sorry if this is not the place to ask this Q…

My doctor wants me to switch from lexapro to Zoloft and suggests doing a cross taper (reducing lexapro from 10 to 7,5, while adding 25 Zoloft for 2 weeks; then to 5 lex and 50 Zoloft for another 2 weeks; the 2,5 and 75 and then finish at 100 Zoloft). 
I am scared of doing the change because I fear getting withdrawal symptoms from lex even though I add another SSRI. I imagine they don’t work exactly the same and my body might react badly to the change. 
the reason for changing is that I am very sedated on lexapro. I take it for functional dyspepsia (terrible pain) and have tried doing a really small reduction (from 10 to 9,5), and even that makes me get pain. 
my gastro says I have to take AD all my life. I am not fan of that idea but I am conscious that I cannot live with the pain I had before taking lexapro. 
the other alternative my doctor suggests if I don’t want to switch to Zoloft is to take Wellbutrin together with lexapro 😩

I will very much appreciate your opinions 🙏🏻
thank you so much for reading me 💙

 

Edited August 1, 2022 by ChessieCat
added topic title before merging with intro topic

[Altostrata]

@Pezglobo we cannot make decisions for you about drug switches, that's between you and your doctor.

 

Rather than a switch, you might want to gradually reduce escitalopram down to a level where you're not sedated. See Tips for tapering off escitalopram (Lexapro)

[Pezglobo]

Thank you for your reply. 
unfortunately, I cannot reduce lexapro as reducing I tiny bit makes my abdominal pain come back. 
I understand you cannot make a decision for me. I just wanted to know if switching SSRI produces withdrawal symptoms…

 

[ChessieCat]

There is no way of knowing if changing to a different SSRI or SNRI would work.  You might still get withdrawal symptoms from reducing/stopping the first drug, you might get side effects/adverse effects from the second drug, and you will not be able to tell what is causing the issues because of there being more than one variable.

 

SA is a site for tapering and withdrawal of psychiatric drugs.

 

Post #1 provides information about the possible risks involved in changing to a different psychiatric drug.

 

Please note that I am not making the suggestion that change to Prozac. 

 

the-prozac-switch-or-bridging-with-fluoxetine

 

[Pezglobo]

Thank you very much! The post you mention was very useful!

[ChessieCat]

3 minutes ago, Pezglobo said:

Thank you very much! The post you mention was very useful!

 

I just want to be sure that you read the following:

 

1 hour ago, ChessieCat said:

Please note that I am not making the suggestion that change to Prozac.

 

[Pezglobo]

No worries, I don’t plan on changing to Prozac, I already tried it and felt terrible. 
thanks!!!!

[ChessieCat]

Please also be aware that the effect on the nervous system of changing drugs and changing doses is cumulative.  We have SA members who have changed drugs and doses multiple times with no issues and then the next time they do the same thing, everything gets worse.

[Pezglobo]

Yes… that’s why I’m overthinking it so much…

[Altostrata]

If your central problem is sedation from Lexapro, suggest you take it in the evening.

 

If I were you, I'd look into possible other reasons for your stomach pain.

[Pezglobo]

I’ve done every possible exam and everything is ok. Apparently, my pain is cause by my nervous system, so SSRIs are the only thing that helps. I have suffered 14 years these horrible pains and I only found relief with lexapro. I hate to take meds but I really can’t even stand up without them. 
Thank you very much for your generous work and advice 💙

[ChessieCat]

2 minutes ago, Pezglobo said:

I have suffered 14 years these horrible pains

 

Q:  Have you ever done an elimination diet?

[Pezglobo]

Yes, every kind of diet in the world 🙈 low fodmap, paleo, vegan, gluten, dairy and sugar free… I also tried physical therapy, all kinds of natural remedies, herbs, probiotics, amino acids… but nothing helped. 

My problem is functional dyspepsia and 80% of people with functional diseases respond to AD medication. I would really love to find an alternative but I have tried everything before this. 
thank you so much for you interest 

[ChessieCat]

You might find it more helpful to join a forum for functional dyspepsia.

 

https://www.facebook.com/Functional-Dyspepsia-support-group-373962782763073/

 

https://forum.whole30.com/topic/19380-has-anyone-dealt-with-functional-dyspepsia-or-know-someone-who-has/

 

https://crohnsforum.com/threads/functional-dyspepsia.45329/

[Pezglobo]

Thank you!!!! ❤️

[Pezglobo]

Hi,

I have decided to try again to taper lexapro, and see if I can manage my pain. I have enrolled in a program for pain management that I hope might help, so I can do it while I taper. 
I wanted to ask if you know a way I could get personal guidance in this process please. I am afraid of doing it on my own.. I live in Spain. 
thank you in advance 

[Ariel]

@Pezglobo

Hello,

I just want to say I think you are very brave. 
I admire and respect your decision. 

I believe that you can do this, with the right guidance and support and a lot of patience and courage.

It may take a long time, it may be necessary to go very, very, very slowly -- and for sure it will require effort and hard work.

Still, I trust that it's possible.

You are very brave and strong and I believe in you!

In solidarity and support,

A. 

[Pezglobo]

Thank you very much for your kind words Ariel! ❤️ How lovely to receive support here. 

I hope you are doing well and all the best for your journey