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soso: off Lexapro, need help


Soso

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Hi Soso, if you can get your iron up, it should help you to feel a bit better....every bit of help we can get should enable us to heal, bit by bit....I hope you are feeliing better soon. I am thinking about you....

On antidepressants since October 1997 including: Paxil, Celexa, Cipralex, Effexor (a couple of days only, horrible stuff.....), Pristiq 50 mg.

Started to taper off Pristiq Feb 2011, last pill April 9, 2011

Take the occassional Clonazapam when morning anxiety too much to handle.

Post menopausal - started low dose BHRT 27July10

Reinstated 5mg of Escitalopram (Cipralex), 2 Aug 2010

Stopped taking BHRT 19Aug11

Increased to 10 mg Cipralex 19Aug11

Increased to 15 mg Cipralex 29Aug11

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Thank you Eli :)

My biggest problem is my freezing brain, I can't think , specially the right side, I had a neck problem long time ago

And now after the fever therapy( as a part of the detox program I had) I was shaking for one hour, all my neck and skull muscles are very very stiff And my body is very weak.

Yesterday I had a good night sleep( 9 hours) but wake up with a strange feelings in my neck and my skull.

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  • Administrator

Anemia can be related to low B12 and folate -- the B12 is high in your bloodstream because it is circulating and not being absorbed properly.

 

Low iron is related to anemia. Did the doctor say to do anything about the anemia?

 

It's not a good idea to take herbs -- the ingredients are not clear, and you might be sensitive to something in them.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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Tomorrow I have an appointment with a physical therapist to help me manage the neck pain, he has something called nanotherapy for chronic pain and some other deceases, he said it can also help with my digestive issues, at least it's only a patch so nothing to swallow :)

My blood tests also showed high inflammation levels, I'll check it tomorrow with the doctor, wish me luck

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Alto,

The high b12 is because of all the infusions I got while in Germany, I keep crying and blame my self about going there, I didn't know about the WD syndrome ,I thought it's something else:( I am sooo scared that I will never heel.

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soso, what kind of treatment are you getting for anemia?

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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Alto,

The high b12 is because of all the infusions I got while in Germany, I keep crying and blame my self about going there, I didn't know about the WD syndrome ,I thought it's something else:( I am sooo scared that I will never heel.

 

LoL heal not heel :)
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This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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Do you have any idea about nanotherapy,the doctor said that it will help me to sleep and relax, he said that he treated a girl that had no appetite and now she is doing very well .

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  • Administrator

I have no idea what nanotherapy means, soso.

 

Try Googling these things to figure them out. If you have more questions, post the links and your questions here.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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I talked to my doctor about the WD syndrome and he was very interested, he asked me about more informations and websites so he can learn more, any suggestions ?

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Soso, I think "nanotherapy" is a very general term. So the question is, how is your doctor using it? What does s/he mean, and how will it work?

Before you try any new therapies, please learn as much about the specifics as you can. What is the treatment, how is it used, and how does it work?

I am worried that your current infection problems may be a result of the fever therapy you tried earlier.

 

I understand that you want something that will "fix" this. I do to! But some things I have tried have just made it worse. I'm afraid we may have to just struggle with it and let our brains heal with time.

History is approximate; I didn't track my dosages.

 

1995 - started zoloft/sertraline for depression

1995-2008 - sertraline ranged from 100-200mg, may have gone as high as 250mg

2006 - 2009 - added welbutrin/budeprion SR, 150 mg

sometime in 2009-2010 - stopped budeprion c/t

sometime around 2009-2010, Tapered down sertraline w/o guidance to 50 mg, then 25mg.

~ feb 2010, stopped sertraline.

~ Apr 2010, resumed 25mg low dose (really bad business trip)

Oct 2010, stopped sertraline

Jan 2011 - another bad business trip "breaks" my sleep.

 

current issues include insomnia, anxiety, GI distress, depression.

Taking multivitamins, Vitamin D, fish oil, Chinese herbs, ~ 0.5mg melatonin in the evening.

Going to therapy and acupuncture once a week.

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Hi Soso,

 

I understand your withdrawal pain from Lexapro. I quit cold turkey and didn't last a month before I crashed. I am amazed you have lasted a year! Why are you going to Afghanistan? Are you in the war there? Maybe you are suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome. I hope your infection is doing better. You mention you are "on fire". Is that the sensation you are getting from your stomach? Your head? Your whole body? I ask because I was diagnosed with low thyroid a while back and the prescription Cytomel was given to me. I felt GREAT for 2 weeks, then all of my joints in my body were "on fire". It was a side affect to Cytomel. I now take Raw Thyroid which does not have those side effects. Just hang in there and get as much rest as possible. It sounds like you haven't had a chance to rest at all. Your body needs to heal. Hang in there! Thinking of you!

Age 11-Depressed~14-Use alcohol and drugs~20-Prozac~21-Zoloft~29-Paxil; Used for 2 yrs; took 5 yrs to recover memory back~39-Raw Thyroid for low T3 & take Prilosec~40-Zoloft stops working, so Lexapro; doesn't work; start counseling. Start 300mg Omega 3 Fish Oil & Vit B Complex. Feel better. Taper off Lexapro unsuccessful~41 (5/22/11)-Quit Lexapro, b/c pills at once. Breakdown at work~(6/26/11)-Start 5mg Lexapro to help WD symptoms~(6/30/11)-Feel better; Able to go back to work.~(9/6/11)- Better! Delay tapering.~(11/14/11)-Taper by skipping 4th day.~(11/20/11)-Crashed. Need another strategy.~(1/14/12)-Start 25mg Zoloft w/Lexapro. Taper to 1/4 Lexapro; success.~(2/17/12)-Stop Lexapro.~43 (2/12/13)-Am great; still on 25mg Zoloft.(9/13/14) Off all meds over a year! :)

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My right side of my brain doesn't feels good, my right eye is tyred and I feel I can't think, i have some raspetory symptoms, coughing specialy when I eat..... Is it my digestive system or something? Is this dysautonomia cause I also feel tyred and my blood pressure is low

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No one here can diagnosis what this is. None of us are doctors.

 

I think going to your doctor to check it out would be a good idea.

 

I hope you feel better!

 

 

Charter Member 2011

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Well I did many blood tests, the only problem I have is low iron, and the doctor said that I need to go back on AD, he said it's all in your head, I have an appointment with a neurologist next week to check my symptoms with him. This is all happened because of the fever I had, I blame myself every day, cry and pray god that this will go away soon.

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Soso... blaming yourself isn't going to help anything. Taking care of yourself will! Glad your blood work was okay... and that you will see your doctor next week.

 

Can you go out and take a ten minute walk? That does so much for your mind and body.

 

Try and do one thing you enjoy today... even if it's just for a few minutes.

 

 

Charter Member 2011

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Yesterday I talked to my husband about my feelings, I needed his support, he didt support me at all cause he and i didn't know that what I am going through was AD withdraw, I knew this fact after one year of suffering trying every single supplement and every thing you could imagine, he and I thought that my depression is back, the strange thing is that I was doing ok when I stopped for about 4 months, i only had brain zap one or two times, dizzy and some crying, after 7 months off( through out these seven months I was under lot of stress) I start developing more symptoms, my husband couldn't take it any more and we start fighting every single day ( nerou emotions ), we both didn't know that what I am going through Is WD, finally yesterday he told me that he will leave me and maybe look for another women who is not depressed, he wants a normal life and I am now more depressed and in a very bad situation, is this me or WD ?I keep asking my self why my symptoms got more sever after 6 months and after the detox I had, now I am worse than ever, my three kids want there mom and I am not there for them,, my little son (2 years old) needs me the most, I don't want to lose my family, what should I do ? I pray every day to stay strong but I am loosing my mind.

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This doctor is the only one who know what I am going through, when I first met him he told me that my problem is my fast tapering, he said after four years on AD you need 7 to 8 months of tapering. Even my psychiatric think fast taper is ok. But I met him after the damage was done :(

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You probably increased your wd symptoms due to a too fast taper and the detox, which one should not do while in wd. And yes it is "normal" if your symptoms get worse, especially when you are under stress. Stress is maybe the worst thing that can happen to a fragile nervous system in withdrawl. So try to minimize it as much as possible, to give your system breaks to heal.

 

I am sorry about the decision your husband made wanting to leave you. Under normal circumstances this is the time where he should support you the most. But most humans cannot understand what is happening. All the weird symptoms, changes in behavior (rage) and the long time it takes to heal. Did you show him this forum, did you tell him that the doc knows and acknowledges what you are going through?

End of 2008: Remeron 15mg for around 2 months. Unorthodox taper, no problems.
End of August 2009: Lexapro 10mg for only 4 days. Panic attack after 3 pills. Severe gastro problems in the morning for 3 days after last pill. 2 weeks later strong w/d symptoms set in.

Acute WD lasted around 3.5 years. I am feeling much better today, 5.5 years out, but still have some symptoms left.

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Soso,

 

I know how difficult is going through this withdrawal with small children. The best present you can give to them is to be drug free and healthy even if it takes one more year.

 

Why did you start taking Lexapro? Did it help you?

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Soul

I got sick with sever neck pain and digestive problems which made me panic, I was depressed too and so scared because we had to move to the USA and I was sick and don't know what is wrong with me, i did some blood tests ,so the doctor said there is nothing wrong maybe nervous stomach and gave me effexore he said take it for one month and stop it( he is a GP) back then I didn't know about how bad these drugs are and how to stop them, I felt bad for two days after taking effxore but then I was ok, we moved to USA and I stopped effexore, and as you know WD symptoms, which was evaluated by doctors as retern of depression caused by leaving my family and moving to USA, I kept telling them it's not like that, it's not my first time living in the US and I love moving to the US, it's is somthing else, again did some blood tests and came back negative, so they put me on Lexapro, before taking effexore I had a very stressful year with many illnesses bacterial and viral, took many antibiotics ( more than ten) and I do believe that this what cause all my problems.

Depression and anxiety can be treated without drugs and there is many things that cause depression and anxiety even some vitamin deficiency ,in our religion we believe that depression comes from the heart not the head or the brain

Soso

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Soul

I got sick with sever neck pain and digestive problems which made me panic, I was depressed too and so scared because we had to move to the USA and I was sick and don't know what is wrong with me

 

I was depressed and scared because I was sick and we had to move within two weeks,( I wasn't depressed because of moving ) its just my sickness came in a very bad time which added more stress.

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  • Administrator

That is a very wise observation in your religion.

 

However, it sounds to me like your withdrawal reaction dates from the Effexor, even though you took it for a short time. You had a withdrawal reaction from that, then got another antidepressant to treat the withdrawal, then got withdrawal from Lexapro.

 

Your nervous system has taken a beating from these drugs, it was sensitive when you got the detox and it got more injured from that.

 

You'll be okay, soso. You just have to give it time and do the best you can.

 

As Maybe said, sometimes our families don't understand. I'm sorry you are having problems in your marriage. (We have a Family forum to discuss these problems.)

 

I don't what your doctor meant by the "blaming phase." Perhaps next time you see him, you can ask him.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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  • Administrator

Speaking of the "blaming phase," see this http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1031-a-cats-version-of-the-7-stages-of-recovery/

 

soso, you may be light-sensitive, which can aggravate symptoms. Are you wearing dark glasses a lot of the time, even indoors?

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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  • Administrator

Soso, you may be light-sensitive. To take care of yourself, you may wish to wear dark glasses outdoors and even indoors when the lights are on. Dim the lights in the evening.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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I can't think, everything seems very hard for my brain, even cooking, I am trying to do things at home but I feel scared to touch any thing that reminds me of the past or the future. I tried to reorganize my living room then I felt stressed out couldn't think of anything, I feel like I am a zombi, robot with no brain, it's so scary, my sleep is really bad.

Please help

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  • Administrator

soso, many of us experienced foggy brain and that sense of being overloaded.

 

Have you tried cutting down on light stimulation? That adds to the nervous system load.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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