Bonpensiero: Updosing - how much?

[Bonpensiero]

Hello bonpensiero, i want to know how are you feeling these days. I reinstated like you 2 weeks ago 5 mg lexapro, after a fast taper (6 months) and i have goods and bads days, but the bad days are horrible: high cortisol, bad sleep, crying, strange and suicidal thoughts, etc. so that's make be very scared. The good days are normal, i sleep good, very low anxiety, but i feel with no much energy and do not want to have sex (like an eunuch  ). The fact is that as we are both in a similar way it is interesting to see how are you improving.

hugs from raul.

Hi Raul - as you can see from my last reply to Altostrata, I am OK, but only just OK. However, I feel much better on 2mg than on 0mg. 0mg was truly dreadful. I am holding at 2mg for the moment, trying to decide whether to go up to 2.5 or 3 (see my earlier post again). 

Best wishes,

Bonpensiero

[Bonpensiero]

Right. Well, it's all up to you. From this point, you need to listen to your body for your guidance. If you make any increases, make them very, very carefully, by tiny amounts.

 

Noted. But I do sometimes wonder about the advice to reinstate only by very small incremental amounts. I worry that by doing that you are never going to get the full benefit of the drug. It seems to me it would be better to give your CNS the big hit it needs, rather than doing it by drip-feed, and thereby running the risk that your CNS won't really register the fact that you've reinstated, and you will therefore build up intolerance to the drug by stealth.

 

I have read on here that a too-high reinstatement can be dangerous, but then there also seem to be people who've reinstated at full dose with no problems. So I don't know what to think. I keep thinking that, because I tapered too fast, I should go back to the beginning and start again, rather than going back to 10% of my original dose.

 

Best wishes,

Bonpensiero 

[Altostrata]

I can't tell you what's right for you. We have many people here who have done well with reinstatement of small dosages. The risk of adverse reactions from sensitized nervous systems is very real, so we believe it's better to err on the side of caution.

 

Your assumption that a big hit of psychoactive chemicals is just what a sensitized nervous system needs is incorrect, but it conforms to the attitude of many doctors.

 

We've found quite definitively that more is not necessarily better.

 

I've given you the information, you need to decide for yourself. There's nothing more I can add.