Lexapro withdrawal symptoms?

I myself am a recovering addict and have been through heroine withdrawals years ago "cold turkey" several times and I could not stand the thought of my child having to go through any thing like that. I wish I would have never put him on this stuff in the first place. But 10 weeks and it'll be O.K.. I showed his Pediatrician the schedule and he said it was great. Maybe someone else can use it. Lori Mc. 7.5mg- 2 weeks 5mg.- 2 weeks 2.5mg. - 2 weeks 2.5mg. - every other day for 2 weeks 2.5mg. -every 4th day for 2 weeks

WRONG! When I began to research "SSRI discontinuation", I was totaly floored! I felt SOO betrayed, like, how could doctor's not know about this? I was angry to say the least. Actually, the idea to look into withdrawl came to me as a result of a class I was taking. At the time I had a class on substance abuse which, of course centered around "mind altering drugs", SSRI medications were included in the textbook under this category; I was SHOCKED! I spent some time talking to my professor about the "mind altering" part of the SSRI's and it was a rude wake-up call. I felt like I had been punched in the gut! That was 2 years ago, and this is where I am today; working toward living antidepressant free. There have ALWAYS been alternatives to antidepressants, for hundreds of years people have relied on natural remedies. The problem is that medical science had not been re-searching that angle, at least, not in depth and the knowledge of the natural alternatives were culturaly centered. Think chinese medicine, etc! The good news is, that mainstream mecial practices are changing and medical science is shifting toward herbal and nutritional research. The shift has been subtle so far but, it is changing. As more and more people are becoming aware of the risks impossed by antidepressant use and the public is railing against "big pharma" we are seeing a "call to action" for alternatives. In the meantime it sucks feeling like a guinea pig but, change is comming! Hang in there, it is a slow process but, you will heal. Oh, I am addicted to cigarettes and coffee... ICK... hard habits to break for sure and, ironicly, both habits only make the panic and SSRI withdrawl symptoms worse... Stupid, I know and self defeating... None of us is perfect my dear, that is all part of being human! Keep in touch and good luck on your finals, mine were tuesday and I am glad they are over :rolleyes:. Peace and hugs... Erin

I don't want to dwell on the past though..just the fact that i am on 20mgs now and i am ready to start tapering again very soon. My Dr. said there was no need for the liquid lex which pissed me off because he also said when i break the pill that it doesnt have to be exact..from what i hear that is not true. I guess it is all trial and error ... guinea pig style!! I am gonna try to go down a few mgs after finals on Tues and hopefully i can live with myself and my boyfriend can too!! Hope u are doing well. Hey and good job on ur progress ur are really an inspiration and help to me. Ur advice and experience helps out alot!:p

paxil for 6 yrs and have tried the others as well) I had thought that I should be seeing a psychiatrist to moniter my taper and progress to get off SSRI's... BIG MISTAKE... He interviewed me and decided that I had RLS and had me stop lex cold turkey and switch to requip... BAD,BAD,BAD! that was aweful so, he put me back on lexapro, 10 mgs which was half my original dose of 20mgs. Then had me take 5 mgs for a week, then stop. Well, I was convinced that I was going completely insaine from all of the withdrawl symptoms. The psychiatrist told me "It is all in your head" "these drugs do not cause those symptoms" etc... That is when I found this forum... last October... I managed 4 and a half weeks off of SSRI before I had to re-instate or get locked up in a nut house! I re-instated to only 10mgs of lex and within 2 days the ulcers had flared up and the reflux was unbearable. I remembered that I did not have those problems with celexa so, I switched back to it... It has taken a few dosage increases over the past several months to stableize but, now I am beggining to taper again, only the right way this time. Currently I am on 30mgs celexa which is equal to 15 mgs lexapro. For the many years that I took one or the other of these meds my effective dose on lex was 20mgs and 40mgs on celexa so, my current dose is progress for me. I have never taken more than one SSRI med at a time although, dr has switched me directly from one med to another med many times... Thats the story... Peace and hugs..Erin
I was put on SSRI's for panic/anxiety disorder in January of 1997. I have had some depression in recent years but, I firmly believe it is because of the medication.

Well, u can imagine i visualized slamming his head against the wall..scary right, but i am pissed off!! It's been 9 days and i just started REALLY feeling the withdrawl yesterday. I wonder how long it will be before my brain "heals." Poor brain! I am so angry with the Dr's and drug companies. It's really sick. Thanks for listening. My head is killing me so I'm gonna go lay down.

The general rule is that you must taper at least one month for every year that you have been on SSRI's. Keep in mind:that is a generalization, some must taper longer and some can do this faster. Your body will let you know if you are dropping your dose by to much or to quickly. There are other considerations as well, such as: what you were put on lexapro to treat, panic, anxiety, deppression, etc... these are important things to consider as going off of the lexapro can make you feel as if you are having a relapse of the original condition being treated; it is not, it is withdrawl or discontinuation syndrome. (which ever you prefer). Disregard your physician, psychiatrist or whoever treats you, telling you that "withdrawl" does not exist or any other such rubish! Numbers don't lie and there are hundreds if not thousands of people who are having the same "withdrawl symptoms". If you ask your dr if he/she has ever taken these meds to know anything about them first hand, the answer is likely to be no. I do not personaly know ANYONE who has been able to stop taking an SSRI med by tapering the ridiculous way that the doctors reccomend... EVERYONE who posts on the other thread have all had similar experiences with doctors and psychs so, you are not alone there either. Lexapro is available in liquid form but, you may not need to switch to that. Liquids are reccomended mostly for when you get down to low doses or for ease of measuring reductions, as the lowest dose of lex available is in pill form of 5mgs. Example:trying to measure 2.5 mg from cutting pills is not exact and is difficult. Also a few reccomendations on supplements, I personaly take these and swear they help with symptoms. Many of these supp's will also help with the weight. Oh, the weight gain is likely do to reaised cortisol levels in your body, that is common with lexapro and promotes weight gain. (more about that if you ask)
fish oils, magnesium, calcium, lecethin and a good quality multi-vitamin to start. There are others that will help with specific symptoms to, if you need that just ask. I think I have covered most of your questions in this post, if not; just ask :). Good luck to you, keep me posted and I will help any way that I can... Peace... Erin

If you check the lexapro withdrawl thread started by Auntybiotic, you will find the proper taper scheduales and recomended supplements to help your brain heal as you come off lexapro. Many of the supplements recomended also help with weight loss so, they work double duty to help. If I can help you in any way, please let me know... Good luck... Erin