Does anyone have any experience from withdrawing from Lexapro?

Hi,

I am sorry to hear that she is feeling miserable and hopefully she can make it through these times and come out stronger.

I took a SSRI (Prozac) for about eight months (40mg a day) and one day just quit...cold turkey so to speak. This happened many years ago but I really can't remember having any "after effects" associated with just stopping. Maybe it's the way that the drug is depleted from the body that might make a difference on how a person reacts to not getting it anymore. Of course, each SSRI has it's own way of "interacting" with a person's brain and ridding itself from the body, so each person's experience is different.

Have you had her visit her doctor and see if they can get her onto a "different" SSRI that might help with the withdrawls she is having? I have read that some SSRI's can "get along" with each other, but it's when SSRI's are mixed with MAOI's OR tricyclic antidepressants that there can be a BIG PROBLEM!

There may possibly be other drugs that can help with the anxiety she is having. I would HATE to say it since you are replacing "one evil for another" but how about a low dose of Xanax or Ativan for a short time? These drugs have helped many but as usual, there are multiple risks involved (let alone addiction) with taking Benzo's.

OF course, I am not a doctor and have no medical training whatsoever but from reading these and other forums, I am "pretty positive" that there is "mutual understanding" that can be had between her "withdrawls/anxiety" and her wanting to live life to it's fullest.

Good luck and keep us informed.

Thank you. We do have specialist helping with tapering off the lexapro. I do believe her family doctor made an error putting a 15 year old on 20 Mg Lexapro for TMJ pain due to clenching her teeth.

She has decreased the Lexapro by only one milligram the last month, she is now on 19 Mg and has had flu like symptoms that kept her out of school for several days.

She has had excessive sweating, then chills, horrible temper outburts, anxiety, restless leg syndrome. Last night she had no side vision, but vision in front was OK. Today while going up steps at school she was unsteady because the steps appeared to curve upward.

Tonight she is manic again, talking a mile a minute and nervous.
Also since I started the reduction, her appetite has increased.

I have been on Lexapro for about 2 years. I was taking 10mg a day. My doctor said to wean off slowly. I decreased from 10mg a day to 10mg ever other day for about 4 months. On Monday I went to see him and he said I could stop. For the first two days I was fine. I'm having problems sleeping, I just don't feel tired. Every once in a while I have some dizziness. I didn't realize until reading this form that the sweats I keep getting are from that. I thought it was menopause because I'm 47!! Boy, this is funny. I don't think the withdrawals are that bad. I'll see how long it lasts.

If you daughter is having such severe problems, I would suggest that she go back on it and wean off more slowly. Good Luck.

Hi,I took 20mg of Lexapro for almost a year, and was switched to Wellbutrin XL by my Dr. right before Christmas. For the first week I took both, the second week, I took the Wellbutrin, and Lexapro every other day, then took a half dose every other day, until I was taking only a half dose every few days. I still had side effects, but they were nowhere near as bad as stopping all together. It has been about 3 weeks since I have stopped taking it, and I am still having some side effects, although they are pretty minor. My advice is to wean her off gradually, it will make it less noticeable. Good Luck.

I think I may be having problems from stopping Lexapro.

I was taking 10 mg everyday then I went to 1/2 pill every day then 1/2 pill every other day. I thought that would be ok. Well, last week, I stopped them altogether. Since then, I am getting palpatations, dizziness(all the sudden dizziness) and I feel lousy, and tired.

I am wondering if it's the meds, and I wonder if this will go away. I feel like crying. I was taking Lexapro for anxiety attacks and I feel just horrible. I'm glad I found a place for support, but will I ever get past this??

I've been lowering my lexapro dosages from 30mg to 0 by 5mg per week. I've been experiencing shocking sensation to my head and then to my arms and feet with dizziness to. Iwas wondering if anyone else who is lowering their dosage is experiencing the shocking sensation to their head. Could this be the dizziness everyone is describing?

To all with Lexapro withdrawal problems, I am currently experiencing what I unlovingly call "Stage Two" of withdrawal. This is the stage when the dizziness becomes only a haunting echo and the sweats and chills diminish. However, the emotional withdrawal has begun. I am prone to crying spells, thoughts of self-harm, and hopelessness, especially at night.

Overall, I have been on Lexapro for a year and a half, and don't think I should ever have been put on it. Psychotropic drugs are very easily prescribed these days, especially to teenagers who experience mood swings due to hormonal fluctuation. Usually you don't even need someone who specializes in psychology to prescribe you, just a fifteen-minute physician's visit and two weeks of samples.

Also, while clinical studies have guaranteed no serious short-term side effects, long-term side effects are generally unknown. My doctor also thought Lexapro was the least-addictive, best-ever anti-depressant she could have put me on. And sure, maybe she didn't do her homework, but most likely she thought it would be okay: because it was relatively new at the time, and no one knew much about it.

The best thing to do is look to our own inner strength and the help of professional therapists to solve one's depression and anxiety. No one knows how artificially increased serotonin levels will effect us in the long run. No one even really knows that much about neurochemistry and serotonin to begin with! Neuroscience, much like medicine in general, is vague and semi-scientific. And the brain is such an important organ to preserve that I recommend strongly one waits until some years in the future when man understands the chemistry of the brain better.

So, from one who is suffering from a desire to 'fight back against the madness,' kudos to those doing the same. It is difficult, and I will update if anything new occurs related with withdrawal.

And advice for those tapering---please do it more slowly. Let your body be your guide. On the second day you experience the side effects of dizziness, take your usual dose. Over a period of two weeks you should be able to cut your dose in half. Your body adjusts itself, but it takes time. Remember that it took at least 2 weeks for Lexapro to work in the first place. Do not put yourself at risk by tapering too quickly. At this point I've been tapering for a month and the dizziness is nearly gone. I take a 10mg dose a little less than twice a week (about every 4-5 days).

Remember that, although psychotropics are an easy answer, sometimes the most lasting changes in life are the hardest. And please don't put your teenager on Lexapro---it is NOT SAFE AND CAN CHANGE THEIR BRAIN CHEMISTRY PERMANENTLY. You do not want to saddle them with a life-long addiction. For those who unwittingly put their children on the drug, seek a professional rehabilitation center (there is usually one associated with your local hospital). Don't let their doctors psychoanalyze your child, just ask them to help him/her get off the drug.

Hope some of this helps.

"A man of clear-cut convictions is impervious to anyone's influence." -A.R.

Shocker, the symptoms you are experiencing are not the dizziness, they are separate symptoms that make you feel like you are recieving a jolt of electricity, going from your head to your extremities. These are rare side effects of SSRI withdrawal, but they are symptoms. Be careful of tapering too quickly, you could plunge yourself into SSRI Withdrawal Syndrome, which consists of flu-like symptoms that can leave you bed-ridden for weeks.