Long_way_home's Lexapro withdrawal journal

[medsrnot4me]

Congratulations! I am so glad you are feeling well - that is very inspirational for those of us who still do indeed have a "long way home".

Michele

[lenany]

WOW! Way to go! I'm down to 5mg, and anxious to do my next drop but waiting patiently until I feel more stable.

This has been the craziest ride of my life. Can't wait to get off these meds.

[long_way_home]

Thanks Michele and lenany! Lenany- I can understand the urge to drop more quickly, but remember to stay until you feel stable. There were drops where I had to wait for 6-7 weeks before I could drop again, but it's so much better in the long term!

[lotusflower]

Long Way Home,

Congratulations! I've been following you for awhile now and am delighted for you, hope you will keep us updated on how you are feeling.
Also, I remember reading awhile back about your new job...I'm delighted for you!

I'm tapering zoloft after roughly 14 years and am struggling with side effects.
I'm around 14 mg. and this drop has been the toughest so far. I think I'll have to slow down but want to get off so bad....the thought of putting on the brakes depresses me but I know it will be worse later if I don't slow down now.

Thanks for the reminder....and the inspiration, Joanne

[Kay2020]

Congratulations!!!

I hope everything goes great for you! I also want to again thank you for pointing me to this forum, without knowing about the 10 percent method I would have failed for sure for a second time! You have saved me so much pain and grief!

Bless you!

Kay

[long_way_home]

Thank you, Kay! I remember when I read about your story and told you about this board. I am glad that tapering is working out for you!
I am just dropping by to say that things have been going well- I haven't really experienced withdrawal since coming off the meds. When I am very tired I do experience some slight dizziness but nothing like what I was experiencing when I cold turkeyed. I am very busy (I am working two jobs- I work about 45 hours a week) so I haven't been able to visit this site as often as usual. I will try to drop by later and do a much more detailed update and make a post in the general section about my tapering experience and how it worked for me. I remember when I first ct'd and found out about withdrawal I was terrified and I wanted someone to tell me that they were able to get through it. I remember just reading a bunch of posts from people who were in the middle of tapering who were very doubtful that they would ever be able to get off of antidepressants. I feel pretty normal now (save for some mild symptoms) and I am glad that I'm off so I can start the road to recovery. Currently, I am not on any medications, which is great. I am wishing you all the best!

[Gracings]

You give us hope!! Congratulations!!

[long_way_home]

Thanks, Gracings!

[Kay2020]

Long_Way_Home,

I am so happy for you! I am so happy for all of us that will be "coming home"

My last two drops I don't remember feelings an WDs. I actually feel a bit better after every drop.

Congratulations on the job I hope you like it!! This is your time, time to enjoy, recover, relax and heal!!! *hugs*

[long_way_home]

Thanks, Kay! Sorry for replying so late, I didn't realize you had posted here!

[hopewillbe]

Hi long_way_home!

I'm resurrecting your thread, because I noticed your tapering history when you posted in the "raw diet" thread.

First of all, congrats on being Lex-free!!! That's awesome, I'm happy for you! I hope you are still doing well. Did you ever experience Phase 2 after stopping 9+ months ago? (I hope not!)

It was interesting for me to read you story, because I at 0.8 mg now and have no idea how low I should go before stopping completely. My original dose was 5mg. I'm pretty sensitive to drugs, so other people's experience often does not compare to mine.

I haven't had any physical symptoms, but I've had plenty of anxiety/derealization. Did you experience that in the last months of you tapers?

All the best to you!!
Hope

[long_way_home]

Hi Hopewillbe, it was a pleasant surprise to see that someone resurrected my thread! Thank you so much. I have been doing well since I've gotten off the Lexapro. All of the withdrawal symptoms that I had while tapering have disappeared (which includes dizziness, fatigue, derealization, etc). I actually didn't experience phase II after I stopped because I tapered slowly and by the time I had gotten to my last dose, I hadn't experienced any withdrawal symptoms for months.
In the beginning, I experienced phase I and phase II symptoms everytime I would taper, and then they would subside after a few weeks.
To answer your question, it depends on a number of factors. I looked at your journal and noticed that you have been taking some large drops since November. Is there a reason why you are taking larger drops now? Do you wait until most of your symptoms subside before dropping?
I would suggest to stay at 8mg until your anxiety/derealization subsides. Then, you might want to drop to 0.7mg and see how that goes.
As for when you should stop completely, I think it depends on how your body reacts to the drops. If you are still feeling a lot of symptoms from every drop, I would recommend to wait a while and take some more drops before stopping. If you reach a point where you don't feel any symptoms from your drops, then I think that's when it is time to stop completely.

EDIT: I just read some more of your journal and now I see why you are taking big drops. I agree that if you were on Lexapro for a year, you shouldn't spend too much longer than a year tapering. I recommend to stabilize on your current dose. Then, spend about a month on each drop after that. I think that you should stop at 0.5mg because any dose under that amount is probably not effective. I wish you the best of luck, and you are in a good position because you were only on a full dose for a year.

[Kay2020]

Hi! I just finished Lexapro!

[hopewillbe]

Yay for all (Lexapro) quitters

[hopewillbe]

Thank you for your answers and feedback, LWH! So good to see you are doing so well. I'm very happy for you and it's also great news for all of us!

Yeah, my tapers haven't been BAD in a while. I guess compared to some they never were. That's another reason I've been pushing the 10% rule a bit. I feel like the anxiety and derealization is more annoying than it is serious. It's not usually so bad that it affects me, just a slight feeling of restlessness/nervousness (unless there is other stuff going on in my life, like my solo trip to NYC 10 days ago). I guess I've started accepting the slight anxiety as a new companion (booo!) and not as a withdrawal effect.

I don't usually feel any w/d effects after day 14 on taper, and I always waited at least until the 3 or even 4 weeks mark to do another taper, so yes, I was always stable before tapering again.

Again, thank you for taking the time to answer and even read my journal

Originally Posted by long_way_home

Hi Hopewillbe, it was a pleasant surprise to see that someone resurrected my thread! Thank you so much. I have been doing well since I've gotten off the Lexapro. All of the withdrawal symptoms that I had while tapering have disappeared (which includes dizziness, fatigue, derealization, etc). I actually didn't experience phase II after I stopped because I tapered slowly and by the time I had gotten to my last dose, I hadn't experienced any withdrawal symptoms for months.
In the beginning, I experienced phase I and phase II symptoms everytime I would taper, and then they would subside after a few weeks.
To answer your question, it depends on a number of factors. I looked at your journal and noticed that you have been taking some large drops since November. Is there a reason why you are taking larger drops now? Do you wait until most of your symptoms subside before dropping?
I would suggest to stay at 8mg until your anxiety/derealization subsides. Then, you might want to drop to 0.7mg and see how that goes.
As for when you should stop completely, I think it depends on how your body reacts to the drops. If you are still feeling a lot of symptoms from every drop, I would recommend to wait a while and take some more drops before stopping. If you reach a point where you don't feel any symptoms from your drops, then I think that's when it is time to stop completely.

EDIT: I just read some more of your journal and now I see why you are taking big drops. I agree that if you were on Lexapro for a year, you shouldn't spend too much longer than a year tapering. I recommend to stabilize on your current dose. Then, spend about a month on each drop after that. I think that you should stop at 0.5mg because any dose under that amount is probably not effective. I wish you the best of luck, and you are in a good position because you were only on a full dose for a year.

[long_way_home]

Originally Posted by Kay2020

Hi! I just finished Lexapro!

Hey! That's great to hear, you must be so happy that you're off now. How is it going so far?

[Kay2020]

Doing just fine. After the last drop ever with Lexapro, I had a little withdrawal, pressure in head and some muscle pain then then like all the other drops it lifted and that was that.