Shelle. Confused, frightened, need advice

[Shelle]

I am 18 days off of a doctor ordered quick taper off of 10 mg of Lexapro that I was on about a month, before that I was on Zoloft 100 mg for about 2 months. Each time I had medical issues that "could have" been a side effect for the medications. I was later discovered that the medications were not the issue. 

 

Since I have been off over two week I thought I might just get off permanently, however, starting yesterday I'm having major WD including having slight numbing and tingling of the left side of my scalp, face and neck. This has me very concerned. I don't know if I should go back on .5 of Lexapro and wean off more slowly.

 

I should add that I'm also on Trazadone 50 mg and Lorazepam 1 mg twice a day, which I cut in half and take about every 4 waking hours.

 

Feeling terrible and starting to lose hope:/

 

 

[Shelle]

Hi, I hope that I can get my thoughts on paper without it becoming to lengthy and wordy. here we go...

 

On Feb 1st this year my 15 yr old daughter was sexually assulted. As Mom, I went into high gear doing all I can to support my daughter including rape exams, police reports, therapy sessions and pulling her from high school and having her schooled at home through the Homebound program in our school district. It forced me to quit my job to be home 24/7 with her. On May 5th the rapist was indicted by the grand jury and he was arrested. Low and behold that very night I had a massive panic attack.

 

In the past I've had another period of time of panic and anxiety. I was medicated for years and weaning took about a year to complete. (2010)

 

After this latest attack the psychiatrist put me on...

 

*Zoloft 100mg

*Trazadone 50mg

*Lorazapam 1mg 2x a day as needed.

 

While taking the medication I became very ill,after 2 months the psychiatrist took me of Zoloft with a 1 week taper. Ended up that my medical issues had nothing to do with Zoloft but was a kidney stone and a severe case on gastritis.

 

They then put me on

*Lexapro 10mg 

*Omeprazole 20mg for stomach acid.

Other meds remained in same dosage

 

After a month doctors noticed that my blood pressure was very low, they first attributed it to the last new medication change which was Lexapro. So again the psychiatrist did a quick taper of one week and instructed me to start Celexa after 5 days IF my blood pressure has come back up. She then told me that Lexapro and Celexa are similiar and I may have issues with it if Lexapro was the cause of low blood pressure. 

 

QUICK NOTE:  Psychiatrist said that I wouldn't have much WD's because I was on such a short time but that I could expect to have more anxiety and possible panic attacks

 

It has been 18 days off of Lexapro, I never started the Celexa, and in the last two days I have been knocked down with severe WD's. Not thinking that I was having WD's this late I went to my family doctor for more blood test and fears because of symptoms of numbing and tingling of my face, neck, arm and now back. I know realize that Im have WD's from HELL!

 

QUICK NOTE:  My blood pressure, while still low, doesnt appear to be in relation to Lexapro and doctors don't seem very concerned and we are watching it.

 

Should I get back on a small dose of Lexapro or Celexa and then wean of that slowly or do I keep pushing through with these WD symptoms? I'm seeing that Im depending on the Lorazapam more and Im concerned that weaning off Lorazapam may be far worse then the anti depressant.

 

Advice Please. I'm feeling desperate and fearful of all these symptoms. Sometimes I'm afraid that I'm going to lose it and fall over into insanity.

[Rhiannon]

I only have a minute here, have to go to work, but other people will be along soon with more info and links for you. But yes, it does sound like what you need is to go back onto a partial dose of Lexapro, stabilize, let the WD symptoms settle down, and then taper off of it more slowly.

 

You can start right away with half a pill and see how that goes. Later you can see about getting the liquid form so you can get more precise dosing.

 

Don't change your other meds now, just take them regularly and at the same time every day. The lorazepam wears off fast and then can lead to more panic and anxiety in between doses, so take it spread out--you'd probably do better on half a mg every eight hours than on one pill just twice a day. You can worry about tapering that later. If you've been taking it daily for several months you're already dependent and will need to taper so don't worry about it right now. It will be fine, it will need slow tapering but you can totally do it and if you go slow it will be very tolerable.

 

I think there are some drug interactions with omeprazole, someone will hopefully know more about that. That might be something that needs to be changed, not sure.

 

I am so, so sorry about your daughter, and SO glad she has you there by her side in every way.

 

Gotta run, just wanted to let you know you've been heard. Other folks will be along soon!

[Shelle]

Thank you for the response. I'm glad that you confirmed my initial thought to get back on a small dose and after I stabilize begin weaning off. However, I don't think this is going to go over well with my Psychiatrist who thinks I need the meds while going through the court case and all. I have thought the same thing but the side effects are terrible on most every med I get on.

 

I am a little concerned that there maybe an interaction with the omeprazole. Why aren't doctors watching out for this? I'm diligent to give them a list of scripts and changes at each visit. UUUGGGG annoying.

[bubble]

Hello Shelle and welcome from me too. 

 

I'm very sorry about everything you've been through and hope both you and your daughter will recover.

 

Thank you for providing details of your drug history. It would be good if you could add timeframes because now we can't see without scrolling through your thread when you were put on Zoloft, when you stopped taking it, when you were put on Lexapro and when you stopped taking that one.

 

I wanted to comment on what you wrote about your psychiatrists. Unfortunately, we are all here because, as strange as this sounds, a vast majority of psychiatrists don't know the true nature of this drugs.

 

I also started this journey believing in medical science, believing that doctors know best, of course. But what happened then was that I was advised by my doctor to stop taking Zoloft just like that, from one day to the next. I was immeditately struck by intolerable dizziness that made it almost impossible for me to walk. I staggered to my GP who was concerned by my state and I left her office with half a dozen referrals to check my inner ear, take brain scans, etc. Something didn't seem right in that explanation so I googled Zoloft withdrawal and there it was: among other things, dizziness. I took the pill of Zoloft again and my dreadful and serious state disappeared at once. My psychiatrist was simply surprised, nothing else!

 

That's why I decided not to follow her advice and take only half of the pill away instead stop taking the whole as she advised explaining that while benzos cause addiction, antidepressants are completely harmless. This time I wasn't dizzy, I was extremely irritable but it passed after a while. 2 months later after having felt totally stable, I was hit by the worst depression of my life. My doctor was surprised because she saw that after years of therapy I had become a lot sturdier so she was at a loss as to where that depression came from. We spent a few hours trying to identify events which might have triggered that and then concluded that my unconsciousness was still active or something like that. I was put on Lexapro and when after 3 years my doctor concluded that I was again mentalyl stable she agreed that I follow my own method of going slower.

 

The problem was that I knew I had to go slower but didn't know how slow I should go and I thought that 2.5 mg was a very small dose (just 2.5 mg!) so stopped taking it. The worst horror of my life. I wanted to see my doctor just to tell her about it but she was ill. Unfortunately, I knew very well that she was just as helpless and clueless about this situation as me. She felt pretty embarrassed since she is an old and experienced practitioner...She had been following me for over 10 years and saw how I had changed so she didn't say as most other doctors that my "illness" had returned. I went to my GP and asked her if she knew about a doctor who could help me come off meds because I felt perfectly ok and it was only when I stopped taking meds following my doctor's advice that I started feeling worse than ever. I went to see one. He agreed I was doing very well and was "mentally sound" but decided that I would be even better if I tried that one new pill that just appeared on the market...I politely listened to him, thanked him and left.

 

We have here a list of doctors all over the world who understand withdrawal and acknowledge our experiences. There aren't many names on the list.

 

My doctor is still ill so I wasn't able to share with her all the things I learnt here but I told my GP, she saw the logic of the approach, sees that I'm going down but not crashing and she supports me. If she was different, I would again thank her and go and find somebody who would respect that this is my life and health we are talking about and acknowledge my experiences. 

 

I apologise for being too long but I know what a shock to the system this realisation is: I go against my doctor's advice and follow a plan advised by an Internet forum! Yes, I really do that and I feel better than I did in the last 14 years following my doctor's advice.

 

Here is some information we have gathered on acid blockers: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/2533-that-acid-reflux-pill-may-be-causing-your-health-problems/

 

best,

 

bubble

[bubble]

I have also merged the topic you posted in teh symptoms section with this one. I think you will get more advice and suggestions here.

 

Feel free to make any questions you might have.

 

bubble

[Petunia]

Hi Shelle,

Welcome from me too, I'm sorry about everything you and your daughter have been through.

 

 

I am a little concerned that there maybe an interaction with the omeprazole. Why aren't doctors watching out for this? I'm diligent to give them a list of scripts and changes at each visit. UUUGGGG annoying.

 

I checked all your medications for interactions, you can see the results here:

 

http://www.drugs.com/interactions-check.php?drug_list=1488-0,1750-0,2228-0,1013-565

 

There is a possible major interaction between Lexapro and Trazodone and three other possible moderate interactions including one with omeprazole.  Its unlikely that you would experience an interaction if you reinstated a low dose of Lexapro, but its good to know the symptoms for if they occur.  The chance of interactions occurring can often be reduced by lowering dose.

 

Omeprazole is not a good medication for other reasons as discussed in the link Bubble provided.

 

I agree with others that reinstating a small amount of Lexapro may help, maybe as little as 2mg might be enough to stop the withdrawal symptoms.   Here is some information about reinstatement:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/3079-about-reinstating-and-stabilizing-to-stop-withdrawal-symptoms/

 

If you find that the reinstatement helps, and you start to feel better, perhaps you could stay on the low dose through the court proceedings and then start a slow, safe taper when its over.  Or once you have stabilized, go ahead with a slow taper anyway, many people are able to continue functioning in their lives very well, once on a proper tapering schedule.

 

Do let us know what you decide.

 

Petu.

 

 

[Shelle]

Thank you everyone for writing me back. I will try to add dates to my signature, however, I'm having a hard time recalling most things now a days.

 

The last two days have been pretty much symptom free except some numbing and tingling of the left side of my face and, arm and fingers. I have set a steady dose of Lorazapam and I continue with the Trazadone and Omeprazole. I HAVE NOT reinstated Lexapro because I was feeling so well, UNTIL today. I'm struggling with anxiety, racing heart, burning, numbing and tingling of my face, neck and arm. I'm emotional. And after reading the drug interaction page, I'm very pissed off and emotional that these doctors made me feel like i was a hypochondriac when I went in with very low blood pressure. As if I was doing something on the side. I'm to the point of tears that they would play with my life like this. Last visit the psychiatrist office, they told me to up the Trazadone to 4 tablets a night. Heck NO. I'm afraid to take what I'm already taking.

 

I don't know if I'm going to reinstate. I have been off Lexapro 22 days. Is it really going to get much worse then what I'm already dealing with? Or would it be better to be on the lexapro and try to wean off triazadone?  I don't know what to do about the Omeprazole, I had a scope of my stomach and upper intestine and I have acute gastritis and inflammation of my upper intestine. 

 

I'm sorry I'm rambling, I'm stressing about all this today, on top of all the other things I HAVE on my plate.

 

I appreciate all of you!

 

Shelle

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Shelle.

 

What is your daily symptom pattern relative to when you take your drugs? Keeping notes on paper is important for this.

 

Trazodone and lorazapam can each have adverse effects hours after you take them.

 

In addition, you may be suffering from withdrawal syndrome, which comes in waves.

 

Most psychiatrists are worthless when it comes to adverse reactions. You may wish to find a psychiatrist with whom you can communicate.

[Shelle]

Sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner. I'm still having waves of numbing/tingling on the left side of my scalp, face, jaw, neck, left arm and back of my left hand. I'm dizzy and I'm having fairly manageable panic attacks. My heart races and I feel fuzziness in my brain. I'm feeling kinda miserable at the moment. This sucks. I guess next I need to get off Trazodone. What kind of adverse affects are possible with combination of Lorazapam and Trazodone? 

[Petunia]

 

 What kind of adverse affects are possible with combination of Lorazapam and Trazodone? 

 

 

lorazepam ↔ trazodone

Applies to: lorazepam, trazodone

Using LORazepam together with traZODone may increase side effects such as dizziness, drowsiness, and difficulty concentrating. Some people may also experience some impairment in thinking and judgment. You should avoid or limit the use of alcohol while being treated with these medications. Avoid driving or operating hazardous machinery until you know how the medications affect you. It is important to tell your doctor about all other medications you use, including vitamins and herbs. Do not stop using any medications without first talking to your doctor.

 

http://www.drugs.com/interactions-check.php?drug_list=1488-0,2228-0

[Shelle]

Thank you for showing this to me again. My benzo mind is very forgetful:/

 

I do have the dizziness it mentions but that pretty much is a side effect of every medication they have or had me on. Lol. I'm surprised that at this point I can even walk a straight line. LOL