Lexapro withdrawal help

Thank goodness for this discussion thread!

Lots of G.P s. will tell you Lexapro is the baby of all antidepressants. Not true for so many people! You all have my empathy. My relative ran out while working o/s . 24 hrs later was in horrible w/d physically , the usual ugly flu symptoms with severe head pains . 36 hrs later anxiety hit to the point of a massive panic attack. The person was also really difficult to talk down as long distance without Skype was hard. The person had no idea what had happened. Eventually a prescription was obtained and normality resumed. On returning home a VERY slow taper was started lasting 6 weeks . The last week was taking a tiny amount every other day. This person was taking no other drugs....was maybe a little more susceptible than most but be careful . This w/d was virtually painless .Always taper down with any anti-d it's your safest way and do it slow. The longer you have been on it and the dose as well as other meds/illegals/alcohol use plus your own health-mental,emotional and physical make it different for each of you. Make a plan do it slow and remember only taper one med/drug at a time. Good luck. P.s if you are feeling grotty you are going down too quick or dropping the dose too fast. Take 5-7 days on a four/fifths of your dose . Then drop by another fifth the next week etc. hang in there your real feelings will come back and you will be normal again.

Ok, I have been on some type do antidepressant for 10 years. Started for IBS, then all of a sudden I had fibromyalgia. I think the meds were actually making my muscles ache. I weaned off 5 weeks ago from lexapro and still feel absolutely awful. Dizzy, headache, nausea, irritable...... I am going to go to a doctor to help me wean off of this in a better way hopefully. This is the worst experience I have had but since I have been off my muscles feel much better. I can't wait to get off of this stuff and feel better.

How long did it take you to get back to 'normal' after that list of symptoms?

Weaning off of Lexipro after 10 years of use. I feel like I am dying, thank God for theese posts. The dizzyness is so scary, the anxiety I have is constant, neck tension and tingly feeling in my body is aweful, hot flashes my eyesight is all messed up. How long is this going to last?

 

Yes! I gained 50lbs in about 7months. I had to stop taking it because I couldn't handle the weight gain. I was getting really unhealthy

Hi everyone, I also have stopped taking lexapro 20mg. It happened last Thursday as my chemist lost my prescription and won't give me more pills without another prescription from the doctors. I'm 18 and have been on lexapro for a year and a half now. Last month I stopped cold turkey and had serious mood swings and suicidal thoughts. I'm scared to stop again but it seems like I don't have a choice in the matter, any advice on how to stop and how long it will take to feel better will really help. This post on a forum is kind of my last resort so please please help!!

Hi, I started taking lexapro in 2002. I just stopped taking it about six weeks ago. The major side effect I'm having is uncontrollable crying out of the blue. I might be having a conversation with a friend and for no reason that I can recognize, I just start feeling very sad and cry. At times I have a little electrical shot in the back of my head, that I did not notice before. I plan to see my Dr. this week. I'm sure he will suggest going back on the medication, but I would like to learn to work through my concerns without medication. I should mention that I took Lexapro for 11 years in a 10mg dosage. I stopped cold turkey six weeks ago and started the uncontrollable crying about three weeks ago.

I have been using Homeopathic drops to help ease the symptoms. i am pregnant and they are perfectly safe to use. I don't ever want to get back on lexapro again!!!!

Go4itgirl wrote:

Guest wrote:

I have found GABA has been helping me with increased anxiety and runaway thoughts...get the sublingual type, it helps right away....This withdrawal stuff has been hell on earth and I am glad I have found somewhere to go to see that I am not alone. It has taken me 8 months of weaning from 20mg, I went to 2.5 and had to stay there for 2 months, just couldn't deal with all the symptoms...although, I didn't realize what was going on WAS withdrawal...I am still dealing with neasea (the worst symptom) and panic attacks...I can't believe I had been taking this poison for 13 years and I am just in dispare that I may have completely ruined my nuerotransmitters and will fell this terrible for the rest of my life!! has anyone one this site been on SSRI's for as long as I have?

Hi, I started taking lexapro in 2002. I just stopped taking it about six weeks ago. The major side effect I'm having is uncontrollable crying out of the blue. I might be having a conversation with a friend and for no reason that I can recognize, I just start feeling very sad and cry. At times I have a little electrical shot in the back of my head, that I did not notice before. I plan to see my Dr. this week. I'm sure he will suggest going back on the medication, but I would like to learn to work through my concerns without medication. I should mention that I took Lexapro for 11 years in a 10mg dosage. I stopped cold turkey six weeks ago and started the uncontrollable crying about three weeks ago.

I have been on Lexapro about that long as well and just stopped on the 8th. I am having withdrawals and the same symptoms as everyone else. I am using homeopathic methods right now to ease some of my symptoms. I had to stop because I am 11 weeks pregnant. I weaned but those withdrawal symptoms are still there. I know all of us can get through this! I think this drug is poison. It did make me feel better but the long term effects and the addiction to it is horrible and not worth it. If this homeopathic method works I will be sticking with it. I just hope in the mean time I don't ruin any relationships due to my roller coaster emotions right now. Forums like this are very helpful and I thank everyone who has commented iwth their stories! Thank you!!

I am so glad that I found this blog.  I am having so much trouble now coming off of Lexapro cold turkey.  I am dizzy and in a drunken state at times.  I hope I can make it through how ever long this last, because I am done.  I had no idea this would affect me the way it has.  I am totally donked!

You have to slowly withdraw yourself off the drug not stop. You will have terrible side effects from stopping abruptly. My doctor said, take it every other day for a week, then every 3 rd day for a week, every 4 th day for a week, etc.

I am so glad I found this forum. My name is Jeffrey and Ive been taking this damn Lexapro for about five years now. The damn company just decided this month to raise the price to 125.00 dollars a month. My insurance wont cover it so its time for me to ween myself off it. I have tried before and have been unsuccessful. I get all the symptoms electrical shock, crying nervousness, I never felt like this before I took Lexapro. My doctor told me to do it very slowly. Try taking one half pill twice a week. I had dreams of puking up creamy white. Please help I really want to come off of this any success stories??

I am no genius when it comes to things like this but I was prescribed 20 Mg when I first started this medicine and It helped me out so much however just like you I quit cold turkey last time. However I quit because I no longer needed it. I expereince no withdrawal symptoms however it is good to not I was taking vyvanse 40mg at the time. About a month after quitting lexapro I stopped taking the vyvanse and I have been fine and healthy up until two days ago when I began taking the 20mg pills again because I recently wrecked my car. I have been suffering from all of the major side effects this pill offers and I will be trying to half the dose as my doctor told me to.

Lets hope when I'm done this time I wont quit cold turkey because as you stated and as ive researched it is most definately not a drug that needs to be quit quickly.

Also does anybody know why I might be experiencing these ill effects?

Are you taking Brand lexapro or Generic? Check it out. Many many people have been taking generic and have experienced major bad problems with it. I was on Lexapro 10mg for 10 yrs and recently tried generic. I had a really bad episodic reaction (dr explained it as seratonin syndrome). Too much med entered my body to quickly. The Brand is much gentler on the body. I am currently tapering off lexapro. I am on 5 mg going on my 2nd week, then I will go down to 2.5 mg for 2 weeks and then 1.25 for the last few until the brain zaps and dizziness goes away. I am also on mega doses of B12 and take fish oil 1400 mg. So far no dizziness or brain zaps on the 5mg. Generic is bad, so check to see what your taking.