Tips for tapering off escitalopram (Lexapro)

[ChessieCat]

4 hours ago, indario55 said:

Yes I've read that. I've tried saline too.

 

But if it dissolves in water just fine, then I guess no need to go for extra steps making a saline solution. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know.

 

If it was me I would be using saline.

[brassmonkey]

It's not a matter of the tablet dissolving in water, but rather the chemical reaction that allows the Active ingredient to dissolve in the water. Lexapro is "sparingly soluble" on water which means that only a small amount of the AI will dissolve in the required volume of water. Add a little salt to the water and Lexapro becomes "soluble" making it so all the AI in a normal tablet will dissolve in a workable volume of water.

 

Soluble (S) if 1000mg of material requires 10 to 30mL of solute to dissolve. 

Sparingly soluble (SpS) if 1000mg of material requires 30 to 100mL of solute to dissolve.

 

[Lady123]

Since this drug is proportionally stronger in the lower doses, what would be a conservative percentage to taper below 2 mg?

[Lenaf]

On 3/14/2014 at 7:58 PM, areyouthere said:

I just want to point out here that I found it difficult to make my own solution of lexapro in just water. Even though I ground it to a fine powder using a mortar and pestle, It tending to stick to the sides of the glass of all utensils ( graduated cylinder, eye dropper, pipette etc) making it impossible for me to feel confident in even dosing.

 

I suspect that it is the filling agent used for the particular tablets I use ( Cipralex made by Lundbeck in Turkey… it is brand NOT generic. The tablets are 20 mg. and oblong in shape) but can't be positive.

 

This is very different than my experience with making a solution using the same technique with generic xanax ( alprazolam) .

 

I only mention this in case someone else experiences frustration with trying to make a uniform solution of this drug for tapering.

 

I have decided to go with a combination of 10 mg tablets and a professionally made , brand solution.

 

Because of cost I purchase Lexapro from Sky Drugs & it is a high quality product…at least it works.

 

RU

I realise this is a very old thread but I thought that I'd mention my experience on here in the hopes that it will help someone. I spent a very long time stuck in tapering Escitalopram (Cipralex/Lexapro) because I didn't know that one could successfully and easily make your own solution of Escitalopram using isotonic saline. I started my taper from 2.5mgai with a scale but when I got lower, I couldn't figure out how to do it more accurately because it took me a long time to find a compounding pharmacy that could help me. In South Africa, where I live, we do not have access to liquid Escitalopram. This hindered my tapering progress a lot. The compounded liquid contained some type of flavouring that didn't agree with me (intolerance symptoms and irritating esophagus) and then I started dissolving Escitalopram 1:1 in commercial isotonic saline however the commercial saline caused rapid eye-blinking. I then started making my own isotonic saline at home using 2.5ml salt (I use sea salt) in 250ml filtered water. Stir well and I add 10ml of this saline to a 10mg Escitalopram tablet (I use brand name Cipralex). I use a 1ml syringe graduated in 0.01ml increments to taper. I hope this helps convince someone that they can make their own liquid Escitalopram. Please do note that the Escitalopram itself is soluble in saline, but the fillers do separate, and I don't obsess over it at all. I shake/swirl the bottle with the solution before drawing up the dosage and stir before I draw up but I don't worry about the fallout and I have been doing this for more than a month now - my dosages seem constant. I use a small (20ml size) amber-coloured bottle with a screw top that is typically used for homeopathic preparations. 

[modelarz71]

Hello, how long to reinstall from the last dose of escitalopram? 
Regards

[survivetaper]

@Lady123 were you able to taper at low dose.

 

I am struggling at 5mg

 

I only took this for a month

 

 

[RemTaper]

Excited that I finally took the step to get the liquid 1mg/1ml formulation. I was taking 5mg tablet and today started 4.5mg/4.5ml.

 

Committed to tapering to 0mg however long it takes!! 

[survivetaper]

Remtaper what is your plan to go to 0

 

I am at 1ml and not sure howblong to stop1

 

 

[RemTaper]

6 minutes ago, survivetaper said:

Remtaper what is your plan to go to 0

 

I am at 1ml and not sure howblong to stop1

 

 

Slow roll. I'm going down in 10% increments for 4 weeks at a time. So it's going to take a while:)

[survivetaper]

Ok I will continue 1ml, then plan is .8 after 2 weeks, .6 after 2 weeks....until I reach 0

Sounds good?

[survivetaper]

Remtaper,  how long you were on lexapro?

[Lenaf]

1 hour ago, survivetaper said:

Ok I will continue 1ml, then plan is .8 after 2 weeks, .6 after 2 weeks....until I reach 0

Sounds good?

This may be a little fast. First taper with 10% of the previous dosage and then see how you go along. The idea with tapering is that you will feel minimal or as close to no withdrawal effects with every taper. Minimal meaning mild withdrawal effects that do not last more than 3 - 5 days. If you find that the taper is very disruptive, it may be better to taper a lower dosage at a time or to hold longer between tapers. 

My own experience has been that I can taper 0.01mg every 7 - 10 days. Anything faster or more than that, and I feel the withdrawal too intense and take longer to stabilise. You will need to play it by ear and really listen to your body.

 

For getting down to 0 or taking the jump, please search for "endgame taper" (you'll need to check the spelling) which is a post about how to get to zero. 

 

Good luck. Slow and steady is the name of this game. We all want to taper quickly, but it can catch up with you if you don't hold enough between tapers even if you think you are "fine" - and all of a sudden a fast taper can catch up so take it slowly in the beginning especially if you've changed formulations or medication type like going from a tablet to a liquid. You should be able to judge after a week how the taper has affected you. 

Edited September 14, 2023 by Lenaf
Spelling mistake

[survivetaper]

Thanks 

[survivetaper]

Does tylenol help with withdrawl effect and headaches 

[RemTaper]

3 hours ago, survivetaper said:

Remtaper,  how long you were on lexapro?

It's been a few years, maybe 3-4. Do you think my titration % is too aggressive? I started at 10mg and moved to 5mg with the 10% rule. Each reduction I did for 4-5 weeks before continuing onto the next 10% cut. 

[survivetaper]

I think you are doing well. Some peopke say 2 weeks is also good time to titrate after reduction,  Are you having any withdrawal?

I only been on this drug for 2 months but boy this is very hard

 

 

 

 

 

 

[magentila]

Hello wise minds,

 

I have currently been on 5mg of lexa for a few years. At the start of Sept (about 3 weeks ago), I stopped taking my medication full stop. I know I know this was a mistake, I understand now that I need to do a 10% decrease per month.  I am not coping well and need to decide what to do now.

 

1) Do I start at 4.5mg (10% decrease from 5mg) now, or do I get back to 5mg (that would be a big increase). I need to decide what to do in the short term. 

 

2) I do not have access to liquid lexa, so I would have to ask a compounding pharmacy perhaps to help me out for the whole journey. But now...should I just shave off a slice from my 5mg tab? I do have an accurate jewellery scale.

I do not have the capacity to create my own liquid by dissolving the tabs I currently have.

 

I very much appreciate your support.

Peace, my friends.

[Lenaf]

20 hours ago, magentila said:

Hello wise minds,

 

I have currently been on 5mg of lexa for a few years. At the start of Sept (about 3 weeks ago), I stopped taking my medication full stop. I know I know this was a mistake, I understand now that I need to do a 10% decrease per month.  I am not coping well and need to decide what to do now.

 

1) Do I start at 4.5mg (10% decrease from 5mg) now, or do I get back to 5mg (that would be a big increase). I need to decide what to do in the short term. 

 

2) I do not have access to liquid lexa, so I would have to ask a compounding pharmacy perhaps to help me out for the whole journey. But now...should I just shave off a slice from my 5mg tab? I do have an accurate jewellery scale.

I do not have the capacity to create my own liquid by dissolving the tabs I currently have.

 

I very much appreciate your support.

Peace, my friends.

 

You can search this forum for "reinstating". If I remember correctly, the best approach would be to go back to the previous dosage where you felt stable, and then take that again for as long as it takes to feel stable again before you start tapering again. 

[Lenaf]

I also wanted to repeat a post I had posted a while ago about how I taper. Perhaps it could help you. I used a compounding pharmacy to prepare a liquid formulation for me. I really really wish I hadn't because I had side-effects from the liquid that was used to make the suspension. It also cost me a lot of money that I wouldn't have had to spend had I just made my own liquid from the get go.

In my opinion, for now, weigh 5mg on your jeweler's scale. When you are ready to taper again, only taper by 10% and hold that for a while until you feel stable. You should still be able to weigh that smaller dose on the scale. Only once the weighing starts getting less accurate or too small to weigh on the scale, can you switch to the liquid. Also, once you switch to the liquid, do not taper immediately to the liquid - if your last dose before switching to liquid was 4.5mg, then you would stick to 4.5mg when going over to the liquid, and first ensure that you stabilise on the liquid before you taper more. 

The idea is that you shouldn't feel much side-effects from the taper, nothing lasting more than 3 - 4 days at the most. That would result in the most comfortable taper. If you feel that 10% taper is resulting in too many withdrawal effects, then you will need to taper slower, so the next taper you could taper by 5% of the previous dosage. 

 

Believe me, I get it - it feels like you will be tapering forever. Unfortunately, we don't have much choice; you either do a gentle taper or risk facing withdrawal effects that are too much for your body to handle at one time. Remember, after each dose-adjustment, your body and brain need to adjust physically to the lowered dosage, and it needs to heal, so give it time to heal. If you go too fast, your body might not be able to keep up. 

 

Making a liquid preparation is really easy, see my older post that I pasted below, originally posted on 4 July 2023 (you can also search the forum for "making a liquid preparation"): [mgai is mg of active ingredient]

I realise this is a very old thread but I thought that I'd mention my experience on here in the hopes that it will help someone. I spent a very long time stuck in tapering Escitalopram (Cipralex/Lexapro) because I didn't know that one could successfully and easily make your own solution of Escitalopram using isotonic saline. I started my taper from 2.5mgai with a scale but when I got lower, I couldn't figure out how to do it more accurately because it took me a long time to find a compounding pharmacy that could help me. In South Africa, where I live, we do not have access to liquid Escitalopram. This hindered my tapering progress a lot. The compounded liquid contained some type of flavouring that didn't agree with me (intolerance symptoms and irritating esophagus) and then I started dissolving Escitalopram 1:1 in commercial isotonic saline however the commercial saline caused rapid eye-blinking. I then started making my own isotonic saline at home using 2.5ml salt (I use sea salt) in 250ml filtered water. Stir well and I add 10ml of this saline to a 10mg Escitalopram tablet (I use brand name Cipralex). I use a 1ml syringe graduated in 0.01ml increments to taper. I hope this helps convince someone that they can make their own liquid Escitalopram. Please do note that the Escitalopram itself is soluble in saline, but the fillers do separate, and I don't obsess over it at all. I shake/swirl the bottle with the solution before drawing up the dosage and stir before I draw up but I don't worry about the fallout and I have been doing this for more than a month now - my dosages seem constant. I use a small (20ml size) amber-coloured bottle with a screw top that is typically used for homeopathic preparations. 

[magentila]

Thank you Lenaf, good to know that I can start at first lowering dose with the scale I have. Once I've stabilized, I can think think about the liquid solution you have outlined. Thank you very much🙏

[catmama]

Hello fellow Lexapro/escitalopram taperers. Does anyone have a good recommended jumping off dose?

The End Game Taper section by Brassmonkey recommends jumping to zero once you hit 2.5% of your original prescribed dose. 

 

 

In my case, that would be 2.5% of 15mg, 0.375mg. As I creep below 1mg, I'm understanding just how strong this nasty little chemical is! 

 

Any advice or experiences for jumping off? Should we follow the 2.5% suggestion? Or go as low as possible? Or is it really just a case-by-case type of situation? 

 

Edit: sorry, realized I already asked this. Oops! But maybe someone has new info to share?

 

[Lenaf]

Hi there catmama

 

Are you only on Escitalopram?

I had communicated with BrassMonkey some time in 2022 regarding this exact issue of end dosage. I am posting his reply modified by me:

 

Initial dose X the desired percentage equals target dose. Starting with 10mg makes it super simple [this was my (Lenaf's) initial dosage of Escitalopram]. The target dose is the decimal equivalent of the percentage.  Making 2.5% =0.25mg and 1% = 0.1mg.

 

The resulting doses have, in the past, proved to be too large for many people to make the jump. Through working with people on the site and from my own experience the Target Exit Dose is calculated as "Median Prescribed Dose X 0.00625".  This provides a much lower exit point and causes much less trouble after making the jump to "0".

 

For your initial dose of 10mg that would make a Target Exit Dose of 0.06mg. It will take a while longer to get there, but I really recommend taking the time.

 

I hope that helps you catmama. 

[catmama]

On 1/9/2024 at 8:27 AM, Lenaf said:

Through working with people on the site and from my own experience the Target Exit Dose is calculated as "Median Prescribed Dose X 0.00625".  This provides a much lower exit point and causes much less trouble after making the jump to "0".

 

Thanks so much for this info, @Lenaf. It's very helpful!

Since my prescribed dose was 15mg, that new figure gives me a target jump off dose of 0.09mg. Seems that at 0.98mg, I still have a ways to go. 😕

[Lenaf]

2 hours ago, catmama said:

 

Thanks so much for this info, @Lenaf. It's very helpful!

Since my prescribed dose was 15mg, that new figure gives me a target jump off dose of 0.09mg. Seems that at 0.98mg, I still have a ways to go. 😕

I know the feeling! I am sitting at 1.12mg. I desperately want off this drug, but I also need to function so it's a double edged sword. I currently taper 0.01mg per week or two weeks. I have held for a while at this current dosage because I wanted to have a festive period without upheaval and also I started a new job end of last year so I need to be highly functional. I find that tapering more than 0.01mg at a time, is too much for me although I haven't tried 0.02 for a while. I will probably try again and see how I feel. 

 

What is your tapering schedule and which taper amounts/percentages do you find the "easiest"? I get discouraged sometimes because at this rate, I still have years to go. No other way than through, unfortunately. 

[Viinncceennt]

I'm interested as well : what were your schedule and taper % ?

 

I'm thinking of 1,25% per week for 3 weeks and 3 weeks at 5% (so I'm at 10mg, then first week at 9,875, 9,750, 9,625, and finally 9,500 for 3 weeks).

 

@Lenaf : how do you manage to get 0.01 at a time ? I have made some tests on Excel and this is what I get : 10mg in 1L of water and 1mL only of that 1L water to get 0.01. This seems so crazy small. Margin of error seems really too high without proper equipment ? I want to use syringes because it think it's too hard to use a 0.01 scale for this.

 

 

[catmama]

2 hours ago, Lenaf said:

What is your tapering schedule and which taper amounts/percentages do you find the "easiest"?

 

I took 15mg Lexapro for about five years before tapering, and in the beginning, I went very fast, like dropping 1mg per week. When I hit 3mg I was slammed with symptoms, so reinstated to 4mg, then once stable utilized the standard 10% taper. I alternated with the Brassmonkey taper but found the 10% seemed to be the best. I'd feel mostly-tolerable symptoms around four to five days after a dose drop, but then things would level out  to my "WD normal" for the most part and I could still function, work, exercise, socialize, etc. All this was over about a two and half year span. June 2023 I went through a major trauma and went up and down on my dose (out of desperation) and I think I majorly messed up my CNS. I held at 1mg for six months and just resumed tapering last week, with a 2.5% drop. It's tolerable so far, but just barely.  I never have landed on a comfortable WD normal since my crash in June. Depending how I feel when I hit 0.90mg, I will either keep using Brassmonkey, or I'll switch back to standard 10%. It seems that there is no "easy" taper amounts, so if I can tolerate the 10% drops, I'll do that. This drug is such a nightmare. I still struggle with acceptance of my situation. 

 

How do you feel using a slow, linear taper opposed to the hyperbolic taper schedule?  

[catmama]

23 minutes ago, Viinncceennt said:

I'm thinking of 1,25% per week for 3 weeks and 3 weeks at 5% (so I'm at 10mg, then first week at 9,875, 9,750, 9,625, and finally 9,500 for 3 weeks).

 

This is the same method as the Brassmonkey taper, except you're dropping a total of 5% every six weeks instead of 10%, which is quite a gentle taper schedule. I think the general rule is to go at a pace that you can tolerate. At higher doses, you may be able to get away with the standard 10% taper. From what I've seen, most people run into the most issues with Lexparo when they get to about 2.5 mg, give or take.

 

I recommend tracking your daily symptoms using some sort of scoring metric, to help you see how you react to each drop. You can see on my intro thread an example of how I track mine on a Google sheet. I track my most common symptoms along with dose, where I'm at in my menstrual cycle, diet, supplements, sleep (I use a FitBit), and leave a column for just notes on the day. I've noticed that when I'm in a window, I forget to fill it out, so that's kind of a nice way of remembering I'm in a window and that they do, in fact, occur   Feel free to comment on my intro thread if you want more info. 

[Viinncceennt]

Thanks @catmama !

[Lenaf]

On 1/10/2024 at 11:38 PM, Viinncceennt said:

I'm interested as well : what were your schedule and taper % ?

 

I'm thinking of 1,25% per week for 3 weeks and 3 weeks at 5% (so I'm at 10mg, then first week at 9,875, 9,750, 9,625, and finally 9,500 for 3 weeks).

 

@Lenaf : how do you manage to get 0.01 at a time ? I have made some tests on Excel and this is what I get : 10mg in 1L of water and 1mL only of that 1L water to get 0.01. This seems so crazy small. Margin of error seems really too high without proper equipment ? I want to use syringes because it think it's too hard to use a 0.01 scale for this.

 

 

 

Hi there

 

When I started tapering, I did not know what I was doing at all. It was only when I had been stuck on 5mg for some time and started looking for help, that I read the book "The antidepressant solution by Dr David Glenmullen in 2021. My tapers were scattered and ranged from 50%, 33%, 24% to 1.8%. When I landed here, my strategy was to drop one tablet at a time, meaning I would take 6 x 5mg per week and then the 7th day, I would take nothing, in an effort to taper that way. I found out through this site (around 2022) that it was not the way to go. When I found this site, I was at 1.31mgai (active ingredient). I first tapered using a jewelry scale and would cut the tablet up to weigh out the desired amount. It was tedious.

 

Since then, I've been experimenting to find a taper dosage that would allow me to still function while tapering, which is proving to be a tall order. 

 

A little higher up in the same thread, I have posted how I make my own liquid version of Escitalopram and how I taper using an oral syringe that is incremented in 0.01ml. I even had a compounding pharmacy make a liquid solution of escitalopram for me and I really wish I didn't and just saved time, money and effort and made the solution myself.

 

Tapering 0.01ml at a time is 0.89% at a time - tiny. It is frustrating to say the least, but I will be experimenting with a larger taper the next time and see how it goes. I've had some weird withdrawal symptoms before, and right now I think that my GI tract is influenced the most - swallowing, reflux. I also have a hernia as a result of a twin pregnancy and the drug convolutes things a lot. 

 

The only advice I have is err on the side of caution when tapering. Yes, it is frustrating. Not more frustrating than landing back in the system or having to re-instate. All the best and feel free to reply or DM if you have more questions. 

My older  post below, I hope it helps. 

On 9/24/2023 at 11:25 PM, Lenaf said:

I also wanted to repeat a post I had posted a while ago about how I taper. Perhaps it could help you. I used a compounding pharmacy to prepare a liquid formulation for me. I really really wish I hadn't because I had side-effects from the liquid that was used to make the suspension. It also cost me a lot of money that I wouldn't have had to spend had I just made my own liquid from the get go.

In my opinion, for now, weigh 5mg on your jeweler's scale. When you are ready to taper again, only taper by 10% and hold that for a while until you feel stable. You should still be able to weigh that smaller dose on the scale. Only once the weighing starts getting less accurate or too small to weigh on the scale, can you switch to the liquid. Also, once you switch to the liquid, do not taper immediately to the liquid - if your last dose before switching to liquid was 4.5mg, then you would stick to 4.5mg when going over to the liquid, and first ensure that you stabilise on the liquid before you taper more. 

The idea is that you shouldn't feel much side-effects from the taper, nothing lasting more than 3 - 4 days at the most. That would result in the most comfortable taper. If you feel that 10% taper is resulting in too many withdrawal effects, then you will need to taper slower, so the next taper you could taper by 5% of the previous dosage. 

 

Believe me, I get it - it feels like you will be tapering forever. Unfortunately, we don't have much choice; you either do a gentle taper or risk facing withdrawal effects that are too much for your body to handle at one time. Remember, after each dose-adjustment, your body and brain need to adjust physically to the lowered dosage, and it needs to heal, so give it time to heal. If you go too fast, your body might not be able to keep up. 

 

Making a liquid preparation is really easy, see my older post that I pasted below, originally posted on 4 July 2023 (you can also search the forum for "making a liquid preparation"): [mgai is mg of active ingredient]

I realise this is a very old thread but I thought that I'd mention my experience on here in the hopes that it will help someone. I spent a very long time stuck in tapering Escitalopram (Cipralex/Lexapro) because I didn't know that one could successfully and easily make your own solution of Escitalopram using isotonic saline. I started my taper from 2.5mgai with a scale but when I got lower, I couldn't figure out how to do it more accurately because it took me a long time to find a compounding pharmacy that could help me. In South Africa, where I live, we do not have access to liquid Escitalopram. This hindered my tapering progress a lot. The compounded liquid contained some type of flavouring that didn't agree with me (intolerance symptoms and irritating esophagus) and then I started dissolving Escitalopram 1:1 in commercial isotonic saline however the commercial saline caused rapid eye-blinking. I then started making my own isotonic saline at home using 2.5ml salt (I use sea salt) in 250ml filtered water. Stir well and I add 10ml of this saline to a 10mg Escitalopram tablet (I use brand name Cipralex). I use a 1ml syringe graduated in 0.01ml increments to taper. I hope this helps convince someone that they can make their own liquid Escitalopram. Please do note that the Escitalopram itself is soluble in saline, but the fillers do separate, and I don't obsess over it at all. I shake/swirl the bottle with the solution before drawing up the dosage and stir before I draw up but I don't worry about the fallout and I have been doing this for more than a month now - my dosages seem constant. I use a small (20ml size) amber-coloured bottle with a screw top that is typically used for homeopathic preparations. 

 

 

 

[Viinncceennt]

On 1/13/2024 at 6:11 PM, Lenaf said:

 

Hi there

 

When I started tapering, I did not know what I was doing at all. It was only when I had been stuck on 5mg for some time and started looking for help, that I read the book "The antidepressant solution by Dr David Glenmullen in 2021. My tapers were scattered and ranged from 50%, 33%, 24% to 1.8%. When I landed here, my strategy was to drop one tablet at a time, meaning I would take 6 x 5mg per week and then the 7th day, I would take nothing, in an effort to taper that way. I found out through this site (around 2022) that it was not the way to go. When I found this site, I was at 1.31mgai (active ingredient). I first tapered using a jewelry scale and would cut the tablet up to weigh out the desired amount. It was tedious.

 

Since then, I've been experimenting to find a taper dosage that would allow me to still function while tapering, which is proving to be a tall order. 

 

A little higher up in the same thread, I have posted how I make my own liquid version of Escitalopram and how I taper using an oral syringe that is incremented in 0.01ml. I even had a compounding pharmacy make a liquid solution of escitalopram for me and I really wish I didn't and just saved time, money and effort and made the solution myself.

 

Tapering 0.01ml at a time is 0.89% at a time - tiny. It is frustrating to say the least, but I will be experimenting with a larger taper the next time and see how it goes. I've had some weird withdrawal symptoms before, and right now I think that my GI tract is influenced the most - swallowing, reflux. I also have a hernia as a result of a twin pregnancy and the drug convolutes things a lot. 

 

The only advice I have is err on the side of caution when tapering. Yes, it is frustrating. Not more frustrating than landing back in the system or having to re-instate. All the best and feel free to reply or DM if you have more questions. 

My older  post below, I hope it helps. 

 

 

 

Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer me.

 

Can I just ask where did you find 0.01ml syring ?

 

Good luck with your taper

[Lenaf]

On 1/14/2024 at 7:18 PM, Viinncceennt said:

Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer me.

 

Can I just ask where did you find 0.01ml syring ?

 

Good luck with your taper

Hi there @Viinncceennt. If you're in the US, you should find them easily enough on Amazon. I'm in South Africa so I ordered them from a company named Braun, they're an international company. 

All the best for your taper as well, do reach out if you need support or advice, it helps to know one is not alone. 

[Viinncceennt]

Thanks @Lenaf. I'm in France, I'll check Braun

[Viinncceennt]

Found it

[Lenaf]

So glad you found the syringes. Let me know how you do and how the taper goes. 

[khugsplants]

I plan to start my taper next month, and I've told my provider this. She is very supportive. When I asked about getting the prescription in liquid form she said that my insurance would likely not cover it. She said that liquid medications are intended for children, but since adults can swallow pills, then that is the only form of medication they will cover.

 

Has anyone had their insurance company deny liquid form of Lexapro? 

 

I've read that there is some pushback and denial if you are asking for a combination of pills and liquid, but was curious if anyone was denied when they just asked for liquid form?

 

While I am not opposed to creating my own liquid solution with saline, getting it in liquid form from an actual pharmacy seems much more controlled.
Should I press my provider to write this prescription anyway when I am at that point?

[OffPills]

On 7/4/2023 at 9:30 PM, Lenaf said:

The compounded liquid contained some type of flavouring that didn't agree with me (intolerance symptoms and irritating esophagus)

Interesting topic, although I’m using the liquid form of Citalopram. 
 

I wonder if it was the flavouring that caused your esophagus to be irritated @Lenaf. For months my esophagus was highly inflamed when on 6mg of liquid citalopram. Last week or so it seems to be subsiding a bit (fingers crossed), when on 4mg. I wonder if it isn’t just the liquid-form of the med that’s causing it, or is the culprit of the acid reflux.