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Untethered: Delayed withdrawal from Lexapro or benzo tolerance?

Untethered

By Untethered
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Untethered Contributor

Untethered

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I haven’t posted in a while due to some stressful life events. I don’t know if there is any point to my starting up again an hourly log as my prescriber refuses to stop my benzo taper. I’ve searched every possible avenue for alternative providers and have come up empty. So I don’t have the option of tapering the Wellbutrin or Seroquel first. 
 

it’s been a year in July since I stupidly CT’d Lexapro. My Dr keeps pushing me to reinstate. From what I’ve read on here, it seems to be a bad idea this far out. Plus, the symptom checker says there are interactions with all the other meds I’m currently on. I don’t understand how Dr’s and pharmacists just fill these combos. In moments of despair, I still consider reinstating it though. Has anyone here ever reinstated after a year? As the title of my thread shows, I’m not sure if my symptoms are from the ct, benzo tolerance, or both. I wish I had found this site earlier. I feel hopeless and alone. I know I was stupid to ct, but I can’t undo it. 

Effexor XR: 1998-2000, 2003-2008. Pooped out. 

Celexa: 2004-2007, Topamax: 2004-2007, Lamictal: 2004-2006. 

 

Cipralex 20mg: 2008-2021. Foolishly ct’d July 2021. Had delayed withdrawal. 

Bupropion 150XL 2004-2006, 2013-present, taken at 6am

Seroquel 25mg: 2008-present, taken 9pm

Alprazolam 0.5mg: 2014-2022. Crossed over to 10mg diazepam for tapering as per Ashton. 
Diazepam: 3.5mg at 6am and 5pm (as of Dec 31, 2022). 

 

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Untethered Contributor

Untethered

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The reason for my request for advice is that I would possibly reinstate at a smaller dose of lexapro and then taper the more “harmful” drugs before tapering the Lexapro again. Does anyone have any thoughts? I would appreciate any advice. Thank you. 

Effexor XR: 1998-2000, 2003-2008. Pooped out. 

Celexa: 2004-2007, Topamax: 2004-2007, Lamictal: 2004-2006. 

 

Cipralex 20mg: 2008-2021. Foolishly ct’d July 2021. Had delayed withdrawal. 

Bupropion 150XL 2004-2006, 2013-present, taken at 6am

Seroquel 25mg: 2008-present, taken 9pm

Alprazolam 0.5mg: 2014-2022. Crossed over to 10mg diazepam for tapering as per Ashton. 
Diazepam: 3.5mg at 6am and 5pm (as of Dec 31, 2022). 

 

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Untethered Contributor

Untethered

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Lexapro is so scary. Does anybody know of anybody ct’d off at 20 mgs and survived. 

What have I done? 
 

13 months out and I’m really scared. Especially since im polydrugged. I know I haven’t participated here much, but I could really use some support. I will try to be better about participating and interacting with other threads. I feel so alone. 

Effexor XR: 1998-2000, 2003-2008. Pooped out. 

Celexa: 2004-2007, Topamax: 2004-2007, Lamictal: 2004-2006. 

 

Cipralex 20mg: 2008-2021. Foolishly ct’d July 2021. Had delayed withdrawal. 

Bupropion 150XL 2004-2006, 2013-present, taken at 6am

Seroquel 25mg: 2008-present, taken 9pm

Alprazolam 0.5mg: 2014-2022. Crossed over to 10mg diazepam for tapering as per Ashton. 
Diazepam: 3.5mg at 6am and 5pm (as of Dec 31, 2022). 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Untethered Contributor

Untethered

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I realize that this site is run by volunteers and there are many people that need help. Have I done something wrong? Broken a rule or something? Please tell me and I’ll apologize and fix it. I could really use some support. 

Effexor XR: 1998-2000, 2003-2008. Pooped out. 

Celexa: 2004-2007, Topamax: 2004-2007, Lamictal: 2004-2006. 

 

Cipralex 20mg: 2008-2021. Foolishly ct’d July 2021. Had delayed withdrawal. 

Bupropion 150XL 2004-2006, 2013-present, taken at 6am

Seroquel 25mg: 2008-present, taken 9pm

Alprazolam 0.5mg: 2014-2022. Crossed over to 10mg diazepam for tapering as per Ashton. 
Diazepam: 3.5mg at 6am and 5pm (as of Dec 31, 2022). 

 

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wantrelief Contributor

wantrelief

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Hi @Untethered:  I am so sorry for what you are going through.  If you have a question for a moderator you may need to tag someone as I am not sure any have seen your posts. You might want to tag Alto as she had been responding to your thread before.  To do that you have to put the @ sign and then type her name and select it.  It should look like how I tagged you.  Hang in there, Untethered.....you are not alone.

-1/06 - 3/07 Cymbalta. Fast taper (essentially CT); withdrawal symptoms after 4 mos (didn't realize was WD)

-10/07: 100 mg Zoloft; 1 mg Klonopin - tapered off Klonopin after 4 mos. Several unsuccessful slow tapers of Zoloft; went up and down in dose a lot

-Spring 2013 back on 1 mg Klonopin to counter WD symptoms; switched over 5-6 mos from Zoloft to 35 mg citalopram
-Two attempts at slow tapering citalopram, always increased dose due to WD; also increased Klonopin to 1.25 mg in 2014, then to 1.5 mg in 2015

-8/17-9/17: After holding one year at 20 mg, feeling withdrawal symptoms due to stress - slowly increased to 25 mg. No change in symptoms after 6 months (? tolerance ?)  - decided to start citalopram taper February 2018 (still on Klonopin 1.5 mg).

Supplements: fish oil; magnesium; vitamin D3; curcumin

Citalopram taper:  2/2018 - 12/2019: 25 mg - 11.03 mg I 2020: 10.89 mg - 7.9 mg I 2021: 7.8 mg - 5.26 mg I 2022: 5.2 mg - 3.36 mg I 2023: 3.3 mg - 1.47 mg 2024: 1/5/24: 1.44 mg; 1/19/24: 1.40 mg; 1/26/24: 1.37 mg; 2/2/24: 1.34 mg; 2/9/24: 1.31 mg; 2/23/24: 1.28 mg; 3/1/24: 1.25 mg; 3/8/24: 1.22 mg; 3/15/24: 1.19 mg; 3/29/24: 1.17 mg; 4/5/24: 1.14 mg; 4/13/24: 1.11 mg; 4/20/24: 1.09 mg

 

 

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Vasherr Contributor

Vasherr

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Posted

I am not a moderator so sadly I can't provide any advice, but I know what You are going through, not knowing which drug is the cause of Your problems.

 

I was stupid enough to smoke weed almost every day for 10 years up to the point it has turned on me when I've gotten Covid and all hell broke loose, I had to ct it and now I don't know if my wave is from AD WD, weed CT or benzo WD as I was using benzo to cope with symptoms...

 

As said by wantrelief, maybe try to tag a moderator, as they are very busy, I haven't gotten an answer from the team for quite some time 😜

 

Hang in there, I'm sure there is hope at the end of this journey!

 

Wishing You a lifelong window!

V.

Duloxetine 2016/17 - 30/60mg/30mg, c/t, light WD.

Sertraline June 2019 50mg ADR

Clorazepate June 2019 20-15-10mg for 3 weeks then sparsely until 2022, 2 times per month max and very low dose (5mg)

Clorazepate Jan2022 10mg 5 days 2,5mg 2 days then off

Venlafaxine June 2019 75mg ADR, 17,5mg, titrated to 37,5mg

Venlafaxine Jan 2022 Covid, hard ADR on 37,5mg, reduced to 20mg ADR, tried ct, crash,

Venlafaxine 22Jan22 reinstated 9,4mg, too low/ 01Feb22- 12mg/ 12Feb- 11,25mg/ 16Feb- 11mg/ 20Feb- 10,8mg/ 24Feb22-10,575mg/ 16Mar22- 10,46mg/ 26Mar22- 10,35mg/ 26Apr22- 10mg/ 01Oct- 9,9mg/ 13Nov- 9,7mg

01Jan24-7,5mg

MAR24

Due to another sudden intolerance had to fast taper venlafaxine to 1,14mg 

Seems like all of this time I was in benzo withdrawal, because when I took it now in desperation to help it made me feel worse, tried reinstatement first 1mg, then 0,05mg both made me feel worse.

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  • 1 month later...
Untethered Contributor

Untethered

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On 9/9/2022 at 7:56 AM, Vasherr said:

I am not a moderator so sadly I can't provide any advice, but I know what You are going through, not knowing which drug is the cause of Your problems.

 

I was stupid enough to smoke weed almost every day for 10 years up to the point it has turned on me when I've gotten Covid and all hell broke loose, I had to ct it and now I don't know if my wave is from AD WD, weed CT or benzo WD as I was using benzo to cope with symptoms...

 

As said by wantrelief, maybe try to tag a moderator, as they are very busy, I haven't gotten an answer from the team for quite some time 😜

 

Hang in there, I'm sure there is hope at the end of this journey!

 

Wishing You a lifelong window!

V.

Thank you, V. How are you doing?

Effexor XR: 1998-2000, 2003-2008. Pooped out. 

Celexa: 2004-2007, Topamax: 2004-2007, Lamictal: 2004-2006. 

 

Cipralex 20mg: 2008-2021. Foolishly ct’d July 2021. Had delayed withdrawal. 

Bupropion 150XL 2004-2006, 2013-present, taken at 6am

Seroquel 25mg: 2008-present, taken 9pm

Alprazolam 0.5mg: 2014-2022. Crossed over to 10mg diazepam for tapering as per Ashton. 
Diazepam: 3.5mg at 6am and 5pm (as of Dec 31, 2022). 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
Vasherr Contributor

Vasherr

Posted
Posted

Hi, @Untethered,

 

terribly sorry that I am answering so late, sadly I can't say that I am better, I was, at least a little, but right now I have gotten sick and all hell broke lose again.

 

I am hoping that it won't be like at the start of the year when I have gotten covid and it did something to my brain which made me not able to tolerate my venlafaxine dose, that is really scary for me as I haven't really been able to go back to pre-covid state or even anything close to that.

 

Enough about me, tell me how are You doing, any changes? 

 

Wishing You a lifelong window!

V.

Duloxetine 2016/17 - 30/60mg/30mg, c/t, light WD.

Sertraline June 2019 50mg ADR

Clorazepate June 2019 20-15-10mg for 3 weeks then sparsely until 2022, 2 times per month max and very low dose (5mg)

Clorazepate Jan2022 10mg 5 days 2,5mg 2 days then off

Venlafaxine June 2019 75mg ADR, 17,5mg, titrated to 37,5mg

Venlafaxine Jan 2022 Covid, hard ADR on 37,5mg, reduced to 20mg ADR, tried ct, crash,

Venlafaxine 22Jan22 reinstated 9,4mg, too low/ 01Feb22- 12mg/ 12Feb- 11,25mg/ 16Feb- 11mg/ 20Feb- 10,8mg/ 24Feb22-10,575mg/ 16Mar22- 10,46mg/ 26Mar22- 10,35mg/ 26Apr22- 10mg/ 01Oct- 9,9mg/ 13Nov- 9,7mg

01Jan24-7,5mg

MAR24

Due to another sudden intolerance had to fast taper venlafaxine to 1,14mg 

Seems like all of this time I was in benzo withdrawal, because when I took it now in desperation to help it made me feel worse, tried reinstatement first 1mg, then 0,05mg both made me feel worse.

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