blenny: feeling scared and frustrated

[blenny]

My psychiatrist told me I'd be fine to taper by cutting my 10mg Lexapro to 5mg for one week, and then stopping.

 

I'd vaguely heard that a slow taper is better (but had no idea how slow) so I did a 6 week taper myself, cutting the pills into 3/4 for 2 weeks, 1/2 for 2 weeks, then 1/4 for 2 weeks. Thought I was going above and beyond in terms of caution 😕

 

Here I am about 6 weeks after fully tapering. I sob multiple times a day at nothing. I'm also so angry and irritable that I'm scared of my own temper and what I might do. I've never felt like that before in my life.

 

Overall, I'm sad, scared, lost. Worried I've been off too long to start it up again. Also not sure how to approach this with my psychiatrist. I'm so scared she's gonna say these couldn't possibly be withdrawal symptoms -- just by Googling, the party line seems to be that withdrawal doesn't last over a couple weeks.

[Onmyway]

Dear @blenny

welcome to SA. I am so sorry that you are struggling with withdrawal. 

A reinstatement is still an option for you but it would be at a very low dose - you can try something like 0.5mg. Reinstatement is risky as our systems are sensitive in withdrawal so that is why we recommend starting at a low dose. If things go wrong you can stop it. Have a look at the thread below and let us know what you think. 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms - Symptoms and self-care - Surviving Antidepressants

 

You can see how to get small doses from this thread. 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/406-tips-for-tapering-off-escitalopram-lexapro/

 

Here are some tips on how to talk to your doctor. 

How to talk to a doctor about tapering and withdrawal? What to expect. - Tapering - Surviving Antidepressants and here are some links to studies that show the importance of gradual tapering. 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/23454-print-out-leaflet-guidance-on-stopping-antidepressants-by-royal-college/

Why taper by 10% of my dosage? - Tapering - Surviving Antidepressants

Why taper? SERT transporter occupancy studies show importance of gradual change in plasma concentration - Tapering - Surviving Antidepressants

 

You don't really need a psychiatrist to prescribe you these medicines, you can have your primary care physician do that for you. Some of our members do not even inform their doctors that they are lowering their doses. This is not ideal but in some cases people have found it necessary to just go on their own. 

 

What are you taking melatonin for? 4mg is a large dose - the recommended dose for sleeping is about 0.3mg too much can lead to paradoxical symptoms. 

 

Pls let us know what you decide to do with reinstatement. 

omw

 

 

 

[blenny]

On 6/21/2022 at 1:15 AM, Onmyway said:

 

You can see how to get small doses from this thread. 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/406-tips-for-tapering-off-escitalopram-lexapro/

 

 

Thank you! This looks super helpful.

 

On 6/21/2022 at 1:15 AM, Onmyway said:

What are you taking melatonin for? 4mg is a large dose - the recommended dose for sleeping is about 0.3mg too much can lead to paradoxical symptoms.

 

A few studies have looked at buspar and melatonin in combination as an antidepressant. They have found 15mg buspar + 3mg extended-release melatonin to relieve cognitive symptoms of depression w/ minimal side effects. I have pretty bad cognitive symptoms -- poor memory, poor attention, brain fuzziness. That's why my psych recommended this protocol. My local grocery store only had 4mg rather than 3mg of the extended-release, hence 4mg.

 

citations for those curious:

Fava, M., Targum, S. D., Nierenberg, A. A., Bleicher, L. S., Carter, T. A., Wedel, P. C., ... & Barlow, C. (2012). An exploratory study of combination buspirone and melatonin SR in major depressive disorder (MDD): a possible role for neurogenesis in drug discovery. Journal of psychiatric research, 46(12), 1553-1563.

 

Targum, S. D., Wedel, P. C., & Fava, M. (2015). Changes in cognitive symptoms after a buspirone–melatonin combination treatment for major depressive disorder. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 68, 392-396.