I have been on Lexapro for years dr changed me to Doxepin...withdrawal or side effects ?
- Posted:
- 25 Sep 2011 by MDK68
- Topics:
- lexapro, irritable bowel syndrome, esophagitis, anxiety, erosive gastritis, pain, fibromyalgia, generalized anxiety disorder, doxepin, withdrawal, side effect
Details:
Ever since March of this year I have been having terrible stomach and chest pains... was finally diagnosed with esophagitis and erosive gastritis... doc thought it was related to stress... So i upped my Lexapro to 20 mg after being on it at 10 mgs for years and years... I also started taking Clonopin .5 or 1 mg because my stomach issues made me so upset.
Well, here it is Sept and the dr thinks that I have "worn out the usefulness" of Lexapro so he put me on Doxepin..I started by taking 10 mg of Lexapro and 25 of Doxepin for 3 nights... I was exhausted and sleepy for those 3 days. Then I took just Doxepin for the past 2 nights and I am a disaster. Shock feelings through my hands or feet, slightest noise makes me feel shocked, indigestion of the highest magnitude... Also through this my tongue has felt all weird and metallic. My doc on Friday said it was Doxepin
side effects. Woke up this morning feeling like absolute hell and called the on call doc who said it was Lexapro withdrawal and to stop taking Doxepin AND lexapro and call my doc on Monday about what to do. In the meantime, he said to take Clonopin to relax... So, which is it ? I dont want to take any of these meds anymore... Scared and a mess...
25 Sep 2011
Hey MDK,
I agree with the doctor on call to a certain extent. Most of your symptoms do sound like Lexapro withdrawal including the shock sensations and stomach discomfort, but the answer is not to stop the Lexapro altogether. You need to taper off the Lexapro over several weeks not days. I would stay on the Lexapro at 10mgs and call the doctor on Monday. The Doxepin is probably what is causing the metallic taste and definitely causing the sleepiness as it is used for insomnia. Not sure I understand the switch from Lexapro to Doxepin, but I'm not totally fimilar with your situation. As far as the gastritis, I take omeprazole (Prilosec) with excellent results. Might give it a try.
Best wishes,
Laurie
27 Sep 2011
Just wondering. Why would your doctor take you off an antidepressant med. and put you on something that is recommended as a sleeping pill?
I hope doc.is taking good care of you, but not knowing that Lexapro is an SSRI and that the withdrawal symptoms are terrible if not slowly tapered, makes me wonder.You have had brain zaps etc. and it is from stopping the Lexapro quickly. I hope you have a psychiatrist, not just a G.P.
Good luck and better health in the future.
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MDK68
LaurieShay
juie
MDK68
juie
Thats exactly what I did last night ! I took 10 mgs and a little clonopin and feel so much better. I was on Prilosec for a long time but I think it was starting to bother my stomach. I am off it now and stomach feels better... I think the heartburn was a withdrawal symptom because I never had heartburn like that... THANK YOU , Laurie !!!
You are welcome and please taper off the lexapro slowly over several weeks, reducing your dosage to 5 mgs for a couple of weeks before discontinuing.
Thanks again !!! I love this site and the fact that people have been thru the same thing ! Have a great day !!
:) You too!!
Prilosec- you have to take it every day and you can't miss a dose-the problem with that is that you might not need it every day and that causes many problems in your body. I don't know anything about your current meds, but I understand the GERD problem. Have you tried Zantac, also called ranitidine? You take it as needed for heart burn. It takes about an hour for it to work, but it reduces the side effects of constipation, dehydration, etc. If you don't get complete relief in an hour you take another one or two. They are in 150 mg dose. They are OTC, but if you have a prescription plan, they're much cheaper. The VA prefers to use zantac because of the reduced side effects, and most disabled vets take a lot of different meds. When my X was abusing me, and I left for a shelter, my dr. had me taking 2100 mg of zantac a day-It kept me on my feet. Now I have many days where I don't take any-nothing for heart burn GERD.
Expand this post...
2 weeks ago, my son was in a wreck-totaled his truck-i was taking 300 mg of zantac a day. He's okay-but I was stressed out. For what it's worth-I dehydrated so badly from prilosec that I ended up in the ER with collapsed veins-They used a needle for new borns to start an IV. My tongue had sores from being stuck to my teeth-and my inner cheeks had sores for the same reason. Thats one reason I prefer to tough it out, waiting for zantac to work.
I'm certainly not an expert, but maybe you might want to think about attacking your problem in a different way. Good luck whatever you do-
I am so sorry about what has been happening to you. I was on Zegerid (prescription) since March and I think it helped but continued usage made it worse so I stopped. When I stopped the stomach pain stopped... Iwas told that sometimes it can backfire. Yes, I was dehydrated and constipated as hell on that stuff. I had heartburn the last two days )I think) because I was going thru withdrawal. I took 10 mg of Lex last night along with some clonopin and feel better... Stlll having a little of the shocks but I think that will go away.
I hope things get better for you and thank you for your response and caring.
Sounds like you were taking a gastric acid reducer-the problem is that it reduces all fluids in the body. Sounds like the advice to reduce the amount of the med is absolutely correct. With the healing your body didn't need so much medication. Because my body is so flakey-I didn't need a reduction of acid, but a good neuturalizer. I see that you have IBS too. When you say that it bothered your stomach, is that from IBS cramps or something with IBS? I know the acid from GERD irritates the intestine. My son-a disabled vet-has a new truck, so things seem to be going good right now. let me know how it works out with you-Hope you have the best.
I was on Lexapro for a while and stopped taking it without consulting my Doc.. HUGE MISTAKE!!! I agree with Laurie, taper off slowly. Hope all goes well for you! =)