Stopping Lexapro

I have been on Lexapro for 5 years and have been trying to get off it. I am now on 20 mg. and have been trying to cut back to 10 mg. but had crying jags and emotional swings and headaches! I finally decided to cold turkey three days ago and yesterday I was extremely hyper so much so my adult daughter was worried and my boyfriend seemed puzzled. I was having trouble sleeping, when before all I wanted to do was sleep. I woke up last night about 4 a.m. and was so dizzy I had to wake up my boyfriend and have him help me to the bathroom. I was afraid I was having a stroke and that I was going to pass out. I went to the bathroom and felt nauseas and then went back to bed but had to sleep propped up on pillows and the woke up again extremely dizzy and had the dry heaves for a while. I have been laying around with flu like symptoms. I finally give in and took 10 mg. about 6 a.m. and have decided to see the doctor tomorrow and continue on 10 mg. for a month and then trying 5 every day for a month and then 5 every other day, unless my doctor tells me differently. I was so glad to find out it was a symptom of lexapro I had assumed it was this morning when it subsided when I took the drug. But now I know I have to get off it forever. Thanks for everyone's comments I feel better not being alone in this thing!!!
gma 8-|

hi iv been on lexapro for just over 6 months 10mg i quit taking it this last saturday and just started getting side effecets this friday. my face feels num and my head feels like im sick but the rest of me feels fine. i had gained 15 pounds since i started taking it and i didnt origanly think it was from taking lexapro until i started reading this page. how long will my head hurt??? :-(

In response to the premature ejac. question, I have been taking Lex for a long time and one of the benefits to being unable to ejaculate is being awesome in bed. My guess, your body got used to the dulled feeling and now that you can feel that vagina much more it is more difficult to keep things together. Sucks for her now but you'll get your MOJO back after you get used to the feeling again. If not, a low level dosage of Lexipro (5ml) should help but not mess your mind too much.

BUT I am not a doctor.

Good luck!

Hi, I'm currently on 10mg lexapro, but i'm planning on stopping it soon. i spoke to my doctor and he told me to wean myself off gradually. however, i think i'd much rather go cold turkey and get it over and done with. the only thing is a friend of mine seems to think that going off it cold turkey will reduce the effectiveness of the drug if i ever need go on it again in the future. can anyone enlighten me here as to whether this is true or not?

Thanks!

I agree with your doctor and your friend--past experience and what others have told me. I was on Lexapro for a year and some months and had gained some weight so I took myself off of it. I weaned myself off of it within about a week. I was at 5mgs. to begin with. The withdrawl wasn't too bad, not like with Effexor or Paxil, but I was way weepy, short tempered and anxious. That was from the drug leaving my body and my body adjusting.

A few months later I had to start again because the panic attacks came back and they wouldn't stop like I thought they would. Or had hoped. My Mom had passed in late 2007 and late 2008 was when I stopped the Lexapro. I thought I was keeping the panic attacks at bay myself and I don't like taking meds.

The Lexapro DID NOT work the same the second time I took it. I have learned since that they often DO NOT WORK for you if you quit and try to go back. Think long and hard about quitting. Weigh both sides of it. 'Cause there is a huge chance you can't go back and will have to try another. I have had to use Zoloft now. It works too, but the start up side effects were sucky to go through. All the SSRIs are.

The Lexapro made me more panicky, angry, bad nightmares, suicidal, on edge...and I think it was that akashia that was doing it. I can't recall how it's spelled. Something that SSRIs can do to you that is the reason people commit suicide. It's weird, because Lexapro worked fine for me before I quit and started again. Same dosage, etc. Something about your body chemistry changing or whatever. I don't know for sure. I just know that something changed.

I REALLY did NOT want to take another SSRI but I had to do something about the anxiety (separation from Mom--we were very close), so I am taking Zoloft, after reading a TON of stuff about pros and cons of different meds to try. Hate to admit it, but it works. I am trying to fight the weight gain now. I NEVER have problems with weight, but these meds make it to where it is like we are eating 3,000 extra calories a day. Slows the metabolism down to a crawl.

Good luck to you!

PS--If you take multivitamins, b complex, vitamin c, magnesium and fish oil supplements or some other type of omegas, this WILL help the withdrawls go easier on you. I did not get brain zaps that some people do. The supplements help.

thanks for the reply catnbough!!

i guess the main reason i'm so eager to get off the lexapro is cos i've been experiencing really awful dreams, they vary from being disturbingly real to plain terrifying, and they just stick in my mind the entire day....
i sincerely am not sure what to do though, part of me wants to go off the meds and part of me thinks "hey, this isn't so bad"....
does anyone ever feel that since your on these meds that you're not really yourself?not in the sense that you're in a bad mood, but more so you aren't the real you, nature intends for you to be the way you are without mood altering drugs.



nevermind, i'm rambling.

good luck to all!

Hi again! I would suggest cutting back a bit on the dosage. You said you were on 10 mgs.? Well you could be having the akashia thing going on that I did. I had horrible nightmares too when I went back on Lexapro. Not the first time so bad. But these meds are known to cause odd or bad dreams as a side effect sometimes. I have read of others have them too. But like I said, you have the option of shaving a bit off your pill and sitting on it that way for a few days, see how you feel. If you feel fine, or better, you can either shave a bit more off or stay where you are at.

I found out the hard way that doctors VERY FREQUENTLY prescribe too much dosage on some meds. Maybe it's to "get you better faster" they think. More is NOT always better or work better. The first SSRI I took was in 1996, and was Prozac. The dr. gave me 20 mgs.! That is what a man takes. That's what they gave in the trials. I was cutting on myself, being crazy. A mess. Then they also put me on Paxil, and Luvox! Jeez. I took myself off all of it. Didn't take any others til 2007. Odd how I was able to do it without them most my life, and now...*sigh*

The key is to start low and work up to your "theraputic level". Nevermind what they say in these cases; listen to your body. I am currently on about 18mgs. of Zoloft. The dr. wants me to be on 100 mgs!! When I got up to 25mgs. I got edgy and more anxious, shaky. So I shave off some of a 25mg. pill each night. I eyeball it. It takes the edge of panic attacks. I started at like 2mgs.! Haha...I still felt some side effects of that but not as much as if I had jumped into 50mg. or 100 like he wanted me to. Can you imagine?

I don't feel I am a different person on it, just able to be in public more like I used to. Panic attacks are debilitating and they take away life so sadly, for now, I am on Zoloft. I loathe taking meds and have tried NUMEROUS herbal remedies, as I too believe our natural state is not on meds. BUT, some of us need help in some departments; are born with some less serotonin or GABA or whatever, or too emotional or didn't learn proper coping skills or were brought up in a fear state. So many variables.

Try cutting your dose down just a tad for a few days, see if it helps. Let your body adjust and then see how you feel. You can always go back up if you need to. But going off of it completely will take tenacity to keep going at it you may not be able to go back and have to start another if you relapse.

Good luck to you!

Hey again Cotnbaugh!

your advice has been really great, thanks for all your insights.

at the moment i think i'm leaning towards weaning myself off it, despite how nervous that makes me!! i suppose in the long run, i might have to give lexapro another go until i can sort myself out so that i can cope without the meds.

i'm irish, i find doctors here are quite reluctant to hand out antidepressants, which i think is great. i have a lot of faith in my doctor and trust him completely. his advice was for me to stay on the lexapro, but i'm heading away for 4 months and don't like the thought of having to deal with meds when i'm travelling. for instance, one day i was 2 hours late taking my meds and it took me until 2 o'clock the next day until i felt right again. i just find i'm far to dependant on them and it scares me somewhat!!!

anyhow, this forum has been great, it's so nice to chat with people who understand what i'm expericencing.

Thanks again Cotnbaugh, you've been great!!!

talk soon!

I have taken Lexapro 10mg for about 3 years. I have quit successfully on two other occassions. This last time I followed a tapering protocol whereby I decreased my dependancy over time. I could never have anticipated how hard it would be. At first I felt like I had been at sea for months. MY sense of balance was off. Then when I shook my head or turned quickly it was as though my eyes stayed behind and caught up moments later - I was constantly dizzy. Loud noises and voices was extremely aggravating. Waking up a night with extreme anxiety. But - more importantly all I could think about was when I could get my next dose. Its been 3 months now and am finally feeling relatively normal. I am not depressed but my emotions - particularly crying - seem to happen spontaneously - much to my horror - I watch TV and I cry - someone else cries - I cry with them - I think of something sad - I cry. I ride it out - but it is very disconcerting. Plus - I'm kind of snarky!

So I wrestle with - do I take Lexapro again so I am lulled into serenity - or do I live my life out loud and just go with it. For now I'm on the roller coaster - learning to cope without my crutch - and each day - I am finding my self again. Its finally begun to abate.

I think Lexapro is a miracle. My time for it had ended - but its grip on me has been fierce. I would say beware and approach with caution - dont take it unless you are truly down. I was and it helped me get through a really dark time - now though I know I can survive without it - but when those days come where its nothing but raw emotion - I think of how nice it would be to have it back.

THe best way to get off Lexapro is to wean down slowly by 5 milligrams every 8 days. So from 20 go to 15 for 8 days, etc. When you get to 5 mg go every other day for a while before you stop. Good luck!

I just want to encourage everyone to be in close communication with a doctor about using meds such as Lexapro. It's important to know that Lexapro is not a drug that has immediate effects; skipping your dose on Friday and Saturday so that you can drink is not the way it works. This is also why it takes 2-4 weeks to notice a change after you first start taking the drug. And it's why it is SO important to be very intentional about gradually easing off of it, if that is what you and your doctor have agreed upon.

I've experienced these same withdrawal symptoms after (foolishly) running out of my prescription. The big ones for me are racing heart, paranoia, this tingly energy jolt thing, messed up appetite and digestion, and random flu-like symptoms. What helps me is to remind myself that these are the natural results of changing my dosage (no, my life is not falling apart) and that although I feel different, my body needs me to continue my normal habits (eating, social activities, not sleeping too much, etc.) to stay healthy. Simple things like taking deep breaths, positive self-talk (cheesy, I know), and eating yummy fruit help for me.

Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences. We are not alone!

I was taking 10mg for 6 months and cut the dose it half for a week. then quit. Four plus weeks later I'm still having bouts of dizziness, sweats, ED and lack of concentration. I hope this goes away soon its affecting my work and relationship. I don't know how they can legally give this stuff to people. The side effects are worse than the reason for taking it! My issues started when I noticed my blood pressure was a little high. The doc put me on Liposol for it and I started to get vasovagal reactions ,which I thought were heart attacks. So they put me on Lexapro to calm my nerves that comes with not knowing whats wrong with me. One med after another just madre things worse. We they found out about vasovagal reactions they put me on valium which worked. I decided to get off all the meds because it seem the root cause of all my issues. Now I have to deal with the withdraw problems.

I have been taking lexapro for about 3 years now at 20mgs. I recently decided it was time to move on from the medicine and start feeling myself again. I quit cold turkey about 5 days ago, mainly because i am impatient, and am experiencing some horrifing side effects. I am having extreme heart palpitations and it is worrying me. Has anyone else had this side affect???

Hi I have only taken Lexapro for about 2 1/2 weeks, and I decided to quit cold turkey( due to having suicilde thoughts which I have never had before). I was on it because I am 25 with four kids my husband is military and I have alot of stress, and I feel up tight alot. Anyways I haven't taken the pill in 3 days now and I thought I was getting the flu or something because I have been weak and I am really dizzy and light headed and I feel like I cant concentrate on anything, I have had a couple spasams in my neck and my brain has felt like its been shocked a couple times. I am glad to hear everyone elses stories because I didnt put two and two together about withdrawls. I was thinking I was sick or something. I hope this feeling goes away soon! Thanks everyone for your help:) And good luck to all!