Will I ever stabilize??

[Mummyto2]

Hi,
I have reduced my dose of Lexapro twice the first being from 20- 15mgs and I stayed on this for 4-5 weeks. I then dropped down to 10mgs and after 10 weeks on this dose my moods are all over the place I am snappy and extremely irritable with my three year old and feel flat and exhausted most of the day. I have probably been like this for the last four weeks or so. We have been going through some major finacial stress in this time and I am having a hard time working out if it is just stress causing my low mood or the drop in medication. My anxiety has also returned somewhat but no way near what it was originally. I have been walking up to an hour a day which used to give me a huge lift but lately (since starting these meds)- nothing.... if anything it just makes me more exhausted! My question is should I wait this out and then continue to wean more slowly or will I need to return to 15 mgs before thinking about doing any more weaning. I hate being on these meds they make me someone I am not- I find it hard to even be loving towards my kids as I am completely emotionless
Please help? Will I ever stabilize on this dose?

[texgirl]

It's great that you're taking so long between dose drops, but your drops are WAY too big. You dropped 50% in 4-5 weeks! The recommended taper here is 10% of your current dose every 3-6 weeks. I think if you go back up to 15mg and stay there you'll feel better pretty quickly. After you feel stable again (it may take a few weeks), you can start dropping again, in smaller increments. This is totally doable, but you really do need to take it slow and protect your quality of life.

[subrata101]

You are already at 10mg. for 10 weeks and although you are not well, it seems that the problem you are facing is tolerable. If you have to increase dose, why jump to 15mg.(which is 50%), you may try increasing the dose to 12mg.(20%) and see whether you feel better.

Best regards,

S.Biswas

[texgirl]

Originally Posted by subrata101

If you have to increase dose, why jump to 15mg.(which is 50%)

Because 15 mg is a decrease of 25% of her original dose, while 12 mg is a 40% drop, which is too large for most people to handle comfortably.

[Songbird]

Originally Posted by Mummyto2

I am having a hard time working out if it is just stress causing my low mood or the drop in medication.

It is probably a combination of both. As the others have said, your dose drops were far too big. If you're managing okay, you could try staying at your current dose for a while longer to see if things begin to improve and move towards stabilising. Otherwise you could try updosing to 12mg or 15mg as others have suggested.