☼ CFSBoomer: Trying to get off Lexapro

[CFSBoomer]

I'm new here, I'm glad to find this site. 60 year old Male, I've been in SSRIs for 17 years, Paxil for the first 14 years. It all began when I got CFS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome when I was 42. Paxil really helped to get me functional again for many years, but now I am over the CFS but stuck on the SSRIs.

 

Despite being an old man I would still like to have my libido back, which is diminished by the 2.5mg Lexipro I take. But also I'm interested in doing a different kind of healing using psychedelics and plant medicines which are counter indicated in combination with SSRI. Serious brain damage can occur if I combine them.

 

Therefore I must get off the SSRIs, and I intend to take seven months to taper off this 2.5 using liquid as I have read about here in the thread about tapering off Lexapro.

 

 

Despite this apparently small dose of SSRI I still have a completely miserable time when I've try to get off it or even skip a day of my medication. I have the bleakest, worst kind of suicidal thoughts when I try to get off the stuff, every time I try. I'm hoping the slow taper method using the 10% formula over seven months will be my ticket to success.

 

I really appreciate this forum!

[tezza]

Welcome, you've found the best forum on the web, IMHO.

 

You may want to try only a 5% decrease at first, especially, since you already know that you're sensitive to missing a dose.

 

It's best to start low until you find what your system can handle most comfortably.

 

Please add your med history, following instruction in the link below. This will be helpful to anyone reading your posts.

 

Thank you for joining us and I wish you the very best in tapering!

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/893-please-put-your-withdrawal-history-in-your-signature/

[Altostrata]

Welcome, CFSBoomer.

 

Lexapro comes in a liquid for easier tapering. See this topic on tapering Lexapro.

 

Tips For Tapering Off Lexapro

 

I agree with Tezza, you may wish to start with very small decreases, you've been on SSRIs for so long.

[mammaP]

Hi Boomer, old man.......... no way, you are in your prime!  This is the best place to get support for 

tapering SSRIs.  I would suggest throwing away the calender and listen to your body as you taper.

Timings are different for everyone, some can taper faster while others need to take more time

between drops.  I hope your taper  goes well for you 

[Jemima]

I'm 67 and at the tail end of withdrawal from a too-fast taper off Lexapro that ended December 14, 2011.  I was on 10 mg. and "tapered" according to my doctor's instructions.  Wish I had known about this forum before I started!

 

You're very smart to taper off gradually and slowly.  I think you should also know that withdrawal symptoms come not so much from the immediate action of the drugs but from the changes they make in our brains.  Yes, they actually cause a temporary (but a looooonnnnnnng temporary) restructuring of the central nervous system and the brain attempting to right itself is what causes withdrawal symptoms. For this reason, you might want to reconsider using psychedelics and plant medicines. Your CNS will remain sensitive to any substance that affects it for a very long time.  You may also find that once you're off the Lexapro, you may not need anything else.

 

Welcome, CFSBoomer. I'm glad you found us.

[bubble]

I'm 36 and today found the time to confront myself with the fact that I have been on various AD since 2000 and Xanax since 1999. 13 years!

 

I desperately wanted to function to finish my studies, to keep my first job, to keep my second job... I finished studies, never lost a job, bought a flat on mortgage... but at what cost.

 

Will I ever have a child? 

 

I'm sorry CFS that I'm whining in your thread...

 

what I've learnt on this forum is the slower you go, the better. So don't set yourself any time limits. You are lucky to have found this forum instead of followed the doctor's advice as some of us

[CFSBoomer]

Thank you so much for the responses! I'm so delighted, It makes me feel much less alone, finding this forum. It's been so frustrating dealing with doctors who don't care, don't have empathy for their clients, nor have they experienced these drugs themselves. They don't know enough!

 

For instance: it wasn't until I found this forum that I learned Lexapro is, in fact, more powerful per milligram then other antidepressants. So when I told my new psychopharmacologist that I was on 2.5 mg of Lexapro he acted like that was very little.

He said I was lucky to be on such a small amount. He said; "I wish all my patients could be on such a small amount of medication"

"Don't rock the boat" he said. "you've got a good thing going why don't you just maintain things as they are? "

 

Why? Because I can't reach sexual climax, that's why, Because I can't feel MDMA, that's why. Because I'm dulled out and numb.

 

& Bubble, I hope you have a child, if you want one, but you can have a great life anyway.

 

Thanks everybody! I will keep reading and learning here.

[Altostrata]

Oh, please don't take MDMA while your system is sensitized by withdrawal. It's a powerful serotonergic and can make you much worse.

[CFSBoomer]

Oh, please don't take MDMA while your system is sensitized by withdrawal. It's a powerful serotonergic and can make you much worse.

 

Thanks, I wont.  It's a distant idea. A distant dream, born of all the reading I've done recently about those studies with Iraq war veterans. 

[areyouthere]

I hesitate to mention this because it would be adding another drug, but for some of us who experience "sexual dysfunction" , specifically meaning not being able to reach orgasm, wellbutrin at 150 mg CAN help.... It does enable me to reach orgasm when I couldn't before while on Lexapro  alone & was added for that reason. 

 

Just an FYI.

 

RU

[Altostrata]

We must note: Common side effects of Wellbutrin are anxiety and insomnia.

[CFSBoomer]

I had experience with Wellbutrin before, I should have put that in my profile. I was on it for about 4 years, and I I dropped it when I dropped the Paxil, Somehow I never noticed the effects of Wellbutrin, or couldn't distinguish them from the Paxil. I have heard this before about Wellbutrin and libido. For now I'll focus on dropping all meds, but thanks for mentioning it. Wellbutrin seemed much more benign that the SSRIs. 

 

thank you all again, for being here. 

[CFSBoomer]

Here I am 8 years later, checking back in with an update. I successfully discontinued all meds after 19 years. I’m now 68. I’m med free and fine for the last 7 years. My last medication was Lexipro
my biggest advice for anyone tapering off SSRIs is: Go slowly. After a few failures I decided to go even slower and I finally set aside a whole year to do it. I used a razor blade and kept shaving off smaller and smaller piles of dust. I didn’t reduce until I’d stabilized for a month, then I felt safe in another reduction. In this way I fooled by body and brain into not noticing. 
 

Meanwhile you have to open to feeling your life. You have to accept how you feel, I got a therapist and a nutritionist as allies. I ate sardines (on toast, touch of mustard, touch of onion)  for the nutritional benefit of the omega 3s., brain food. I joined yoga class and walked there 3 times a week, 1.5 miles. In short, I ate well and got good exercise. I was determined and not afraid to feel. I read spiritual books and took workshops. 

It can be done and I am so proud of myself for doing it. 
 

not everyone is the same. I’ve come to appreciate “neuro-diversity” meaning we all have different different nervous systems, my story is my story, but hope it can inspire some like I was inspired by what I read here 8 years ago. 
Bless this website.

Thank you. 
a Boomer who had CFS and recovered from that too. 

[Altostrata]

Wow! Thanks for coming back. Because you're feeling better, I added our cheerful "here comes the sun" symbol ☼ to the title of your Intro topic, to show you're recovering.

 

How long did you taper Lexapro, would you say? Did your exercise regimen help you recover from CFS, do you think? Or did the drugs cause it?

 

Do you feel recovered enough to add your story to our Recovery Success Stories? We'd love to see it there.