Stopping Lexapro

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if anyone could advise or help with a situation our family are currently going through. I will give some background as it may help, my uncle has had 2 hospitalisations as Doctors believed he had schiczoaffective disorder, on his last hospital admission (2years ago), he was entitled, under new mental health act to a medical tribunal, during which he over turned the decision to be involuntarily kept in the hospital. Since then he went cold turkey to remove the hospital meds from his system (depo injection, anti psychotics etc etc)

The only tablet he maintained was his Lexapro, he was fully functioning, had healthy lifestyle, which clearly indicated he was never in need of ANY other medication. However he has always been caught up in proving the wrong doing of family who signed him in the first time( a guilt everyone carries but it was done with only best interests), he has educated himself on so much with the regards of mental health care in Ireland and all the medications associated. He has been negotiating with legal reps to basically open up the truth of what was going on in the hospital 10 years ago and how it affected his life, severe weight gain, anxiety etc.

He looked into natural ways to help that he could hopefully come off Lexapro so he could be totally drug free......however in recent weeks he has obviously made the decision to stop it cold turkey and as had some adverse reactions to say the least. He has lashed out at his parents, dug up his garden with bare hands leaving them injured, smashed furniture, is hyper, speaking irrationally yet to others can appear fine, spent alot of money on senseless things (40 pairs of insoles, multiple pairs of trainers), he is aggressive in threats to family, the list is endless.....we want to HELP him we want to find a solution to get him through this, we dont want to see him taken to hospital under a Doctors admission or Gardai(police), but we fear this is what will happen as members of the public become affected.

What we would love to know is how do we approach him, how do we speak to him??? As people on here have stopped Lexapro themselves and realised the aggressive, "loopy", irrational, emotional side affects it can have we hope someone can give us some insight.

Many thanks in advance

 

A Concerned Family

 

 

I was taking 20 mg of Lexapro for about two years.  I decided to get myself off the medication and talked to the doctor. He recommended (In my case) to take 5 mg less every 3 to 4 weeks.  I tapered down, and felt the brain zaps and some mood swings in between. I just went from 5mg to nothing, and have worse headaches than during any of the other weaning offs.  I have a super bottomless pit appetite, and have no energy.  This, I assume will go away too. My withdrawal affects tend to go away within two weeks, and knowing that helps me get through it.  I also had read that taking certain vitamins as well as salmon oil help the process.  It can be done, but man that electrical current brain zap feeling sure is miserable to experience! 

I have been on 20mg of Lexapro for 10 years.  I gained a significant amount of weight when I first started taking Lexapro and I have just decided that I would like to spend the summer trying to get myself off of this medication.  I am terribly scared to taper off this medication which I have been consistently taking for 10 years.  I will be following a doctor's advise, but beyond that, can anyone give me any advice? 

I started taking Lexapro a couple/few weeks ago and all I want to do is sleep.  It is really affecting my employment.  After readying your and other's comments I have made up my mind to stop it.  Fortunately I am only taking 5mg a day so maybe it won't be so hard.

I took 20 mg daily of Lexapro from March - June 2012. I was having horrible nightmares along with panic attacks. It's almost been a year, but I still have panic attacks just out of the blue. Nothing has to happen. They just come on at once. My vision gets a little wierd too. It's like everything has shadows around them, like when you stare into a bright light then look away. I thought the side effects would be gone by now. They're not as bad as when I first stopped taking it, but they're still there.

I have been taking 10mg of Lexapro daily for about 7 months, and I am planning to wean myself off of it because while it has not caused me to GAIN any weight, it is completely preventing me from losing any weight. I am 210 pounds, and despite changing my diet and being extremely active (working out nearly every day, often twice per day) for 6 weeks, I have not lost a single ounce. My weight is making me very unhappy, and is the cause of some of my depression, so since I have now become completely committed to exercising daily, I have decided to try the natural route to treat my depression, and more importantly, my anxiety.

To anyone even considering quitting Lexapro cold turkey, DON'T DO IT!!! About a month ago, skipped a few pills (I think it was 3 days). Out of nowhere, I took a nosedive into the most horrible depression and anxiety imaginable. I felt hopeless, and in a matter of a couple hours, I became suicidal. I was crying uncontrollably and called a suicide hotline for help. I took a pill, hoping to "catch up", but it took a day or two to get back to normal. I pray that slowly weaning off will be successful for me.

It's good to hear a positive story about leaving Lex. I was on it for about 6 months and decided I needed to stop it and use Xanax only to control my occasional panic attacks. I am on week six after weaning down by 5mg per wk. from 20 mg. Roughly 2 wks without any meds at this point. I still feel dizzy but it does seems like it is getting better slowly, One question - did you gain weight with Lex and did you lose it once you went off? I too felt like I slept at least an extra 2 hours a days while on it and never wanted to leave the comfort of my bed in the morning. Just being coherent for an additional couple of hours each day would logically burn more calories but I haven't lost a single pound thru the weaning process - in fact I've eaten less and have put on a few more. I'm very frustrated with my weight and trying to have faith that it will normalize soon.

I have been on lexapro for about 3 years. I tried all other avenues to help my panic attacks and anxiety disorder but I finally relented and started taking 10mg. I then went up to 20mg as I felt the 10mg had helped my anxiety but not my moodiness/depression. 3 years later I have decided to wean off of lexapro 20mg. I am in a much better place in my life now and I feel very apathetic while taking it (numb, emotionally unavailable, just drifting through life). Lexapro had a time and a place served its purpose but not anymore. I have weaned off of lexapro completely over a 3-4 month period. I started off dropping from 20mg to 10mg every second day (20/10/20/10 etc). This continued for about 2 months and then for the next month I dropped to (10/5/10/5 etc) I then went from 5mg every other day and then 2.5 every other day for the last month. I have been off of it now for about a week. I won't lie and say I feel fantastic. I feel moody and teary along with bouts of frustration. HOWEVER I am also feeling excitement again, and my libido has returned. I am also feeling more human rather than just existing on auto pilot. There is still a long path ahead for anyone who is thinking of weaning off lexapro. It will not be easy. Just listen to your body and your mind, as we all know that is the most powerful thing we posses as human beings. Remember slow and steady wins the race. Good luck everyone.

I quit cold turkey about a week ago, and thus far have not had any serious symptoms except headaches and decreased appetite, thankfully. I took 20 mg/day for depression for about 1 year. Very glad to be off it; it helped a little, but it caused more problems than it helped me create solutions.

The problem(s) / why I quit? Weight gain, feeling "stupid", hazy memory, being a little too tolerant of bee-ess that I otherwise would never put up with, and constant diaphoresis (sweating) - that last one I experienced over this past summer (of 2013) and was the last straw for me. All of these made me feel less of myself, and even though the depressions seemed to disappear I realized that aspects of who I am also disappeared, or at least were supressed.

I got so fed up with the side effects that I decided quitting was my best option, just to get back to normal, and depression be damned. And upon reading other people's experiences with Lexapro, here and on other sites, "detoxifying" is probably a far more accurate description than quitting or withdrawing. O_o

In light of what I've read so far (which is a lot, and all negative whether what I've read referred to being on Lexapro or coming off it)...

The fact that Lexapro causes so many effing side effects in general makes GLARINGLY obvious (to me) how ridiculous and so very poorly formulated it is. This is the best that the overpaid toads in Big Pharma could come up with (considering all of the billions *we* overpay in health insurance premiums and copays alone)?! Some piece of s**t drug that makes you feel not much better while you're on it, and then makes you feel so awful during withdrawal (even if you're weaned off it "properly") that you feel compelled to stay on it for fear of the side effects?! Really, Big Pharma?! What is this s**t, glorified crack/cocaine?! I'm better off dealing with my issues drug-free at this rate. >:-(

In short, I HATED this damned drug. And I'm upset to read how badly it's affecting others who are/have taken it and/or are/were trying to get off it. Yes, I know there are alternatives, but after experiencing this and reading about what others are going/have gone through, I'm not so sure medication is the best option.

i stopped taking lexapro a couple of weeks ago after taking it for 10+ years. My doctor put me on Wellbutrine... which was horrible so after a couple weeks on it i stopped all meds completely. I am now experiencing dizziness on a daily basis which makes me feel nauseous as well. Fun times! I am happy to read that what i am experiencing is common and should go away eventually! Thank you for your posts!

I wanted to come back to this thread because I got some encouragement from reading other people's experiences from here. I stopped lexapro over 3 months ago after being on it for almost ten years. I first went from 10 mg to 5 mg for about two months and then gradually stopped it completely. My method was vitamin b complex, kalcium, fish oil tablets and daily work-outs (to a real sweat). As with most the beginning was horrible, dizzines, brain shocks, horrible mood (unproportionate aggression and short fuse) and the works. This went on for probably almost two months, but the symptoms gradually started to go fade. For me daily exercise was (and still is) important in controlling my mood. Now after 3 months after stopping I finally feel normal with no withdrawal symptoms left.

My message is don't give up even though it takes a-reeeeally-long time. I got really desperate at some point for not being able to control my foul mood with my kids :). But I was just determined that I wanted this substance out of my system. Now I finally feel normal again, and plan on never going back on it. But one thing I've noticed is that I still need to exercise often to keep my mood positive. Perhaps this is something that's going to stay, but that isn't such a bad thing after all : ).

I also have to say that lexapro initially helped me out of a rough patch, so I'm not saying it's evil. I just think I should have stopped it sooner. In my case it was easier to keep taking it, because life felt "lighter" and easier. But perhaps I should have earlier confronted some things that I don't like about my life rather than medicating myself numb. Anyway, I wish everybody luck in quitting lexapro, it's a hell of a drug to stop, but don't give up if you feel like you want off it.I feel like I'm more "alive" again now that my system has learned to be without it.

Good luck!

 

 

Its nice to hear a positive story. Congrats! I have taken Lexapro for about 8 months now for anxiety. I tried to quit cold turkey before and had the terrible withdrawal symptoms others are describing. I have been weaning off slowly for a few months now and will describe what I've done. I will also come back when I am Lexapro free and share my full experience with getting off of Lexapro.

I started taking 10 mg for a few months initially. After my terrible experience of quitting cold turkey I started back up with 10MG. I took 10MG for another couple of months and then decided to slowly wean off since Lexapro only mildly helped me with my anxiety. I'd rather deal with it naturally than to take a drug and still have it. So, i went from 10MG to 5MG and didn't experience any withdrawals. I took 5MG for about a month so that my body was got use to it. After that I started cutting my 5MG pills in half to 2.5MG. I did that for a month and experienced no withdrawal symptoms. I just started 2.5MG every other day and after the first couple of days that I skipped I have felt symptoms, however, only 1/10 of what I felt when I tried quitting cold turkey. I will continue this until I no longer feel symptoms and my body becomes use to this. After a little while of that I will skip 2 days or so. Until eventually I wean off completely. Of course I am still in the process of weaning, but here are some helpful ideas.

1. Stay positive! Withdrawal symptoms bring out negativity as those of you have read about quitting Lexapro have seen. However, keep a positive outlook on quitting. Think about how great you will feel when you are off the drug and you persevered through the withdrawal symptoms.
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2. Make the withdrawal symptoms easier on yourself and strategically wean off. Even if you are eager to quit cold turkey, like I once was, you will have a much more pleasant time quitting if you slowly wean off.

3. As you wean off, listen to what your body tells you to do. Taking it slow helps your body transition to each step. If you feel the withdrawal symptoms are over bearing, take it even slower. If you don't rush and take things slow, your body will adjust. The human body is amazing, remember how complex and adaptive your physical body can be.

4. Do the things that you know will benefit your mental and physical health such as exercising, drinking plenty of water, and meditating. These are things that can only help in the process.

As I've stated, I am still in the process of quitting and am just trying to share my experience with quitting the drug. Everyone is different and will have different opinions and experiences. Hopefully others will find a positive outlook on an issue where positivity is hard to find after reading this.

Good luck,

L.H. Blire

I sm also in the process of weaning of lexapro 10 mg. all of what has been said is true regarding withdrawal. I did it for zyprexa, and believe me it's worse! My advice, which might be weird for some, is drink red wine when you get suffering, it really helps even every night. Month 4 lexapro withdrawal, overcome everything except brain zaps and empty brain and soul. But I will succeed as I did for zyprexa. Patience, faith and courage and smartness in understanding yourself. This huge exam must be for something...Knowing God maybe...

Not sure if you'll get this as it was a while back but thanks so much for sharing your experience as I'm going through a similar thing. I'm 2 months, one week and 2 days through being off Lexapro and I've had the feeling at sea feeling , accompanied by strong nausea for the last month and my balence went. I've also had the constant dizziness too when I move my head (and when it's kept still actually!). So it's really encouraging to hear that by three months you were feeling relatively back on track. Gives me hope to keep going and not go back! Thankyou x

Oh think I replied to wrong one but yours very helpful too! I got such a rough ride despite tapering over 6 months to prevent it!