Lexapro withdrawal

Hello: I have been on 10 mg of lexapro for 4 months for anxiety and ocd. It is not working (very unmotivated, anxious, etc) thus I am currently weaning off of it. Lowered the dose to .5 for 2 weeks the. 2-5 for another two weeks It has been torture even after having been on it for such a short period of time. Anxiety is through the roof. My doctor wants me to try Zoloft but honestly I hate the thought of even going on another SSRI. Any thoughts, words of encouragement, etc......please help.

[wildhoney1214]

Hello,

[wildhoney1214]

Hello,

I totally understand what you’re going through. I was advised by an integrative dr to start taking magnesium because it helps a lot with those withdrawals. You might want to try fish oil too. Definitely speak with your dr about those, but they are superb for managing anxiety (and depression) without the use of drugs.

[Hidden in reply to wildhoney1214]

Thank you very much. This is encouraging as honestly this is just awful. Crawling out of my skin...wish I never started with this stuff. May I ask, have you continued to be successful not taking any drugs...assuming you are affected by anxiety and/or depression. Thank you again.

[wildhoney1214 in reply to Hidden]

Yes I am doing well. But I’m doing other things like mediatation, yoga, and I am seeing a therapist to help with my negative thinking. Honestly, if I would’ve known about supplements/vitamins/herbs and how they helped anxiety, I never would’ve started Lexapro. Remember, we are all different, so you definitely want to get tested by your dr. but magnesium is a Godsend for me.

[Hidden in reply to wildhoney1214]

Thanks...I need to find an alternative to this madness. Negative, obsessive thinking is also a problem I have. The lexapro seems to be making it worse. I have seen a therapist and will continue to do so. I will also try the magnesium. Thank you,

[MariaLove123]

I’ve been on both. Lexapro withdrawal is awful. Are you weening off with your doctor’s exact instructions. You might want to take a full one if you’re feeling so bad. I liked lexapro but it wasn’t doing anything for me after 10 years. I loved Zoloft. I don’t know why it worked so well for me. I kept going up a dose and felt great. Unfortunately, that ran its’ course too. Concentrate on getting off the lexapro first. Tell your doctor how you’re feeling. It might take a little longer to go off of it completely than you think. Keep us updated! Wish you the best!! 🙏🏼

[Hidden]

Yes...I am weaning off according to the doctors instructions. She then wants me to start the Zoloft. Fearful of Zoloft also. Wish I could get by with nothing. Sometimes I think I was better off with nothing...I just don’t know anymore. Thank you.

[Hidden]

I have similar thing like urs

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi: were you on Lexapro and now going to Zoloft?

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I texted u

[eXyle]

Hey there. Saw your post this morning. Just want to say up front the following is only from my own personal experience with Lexapro and Zoloft, do I obviously can't say it would be the same for you as everyone's body chemistry is different. However, that being said, there are some generalities I can speak to that I unfortunately learned the hard way. So flash back to 13 years ago. I had never been on any kind of meds and probably never would have. However I was going through an extremely stressful divorce, and long story short my mom revealed to me that she had been on Zoloft for several years for depression. I had noticed a positive difference in her but didn't know why. I knew I had struggled with some depression off and on but usually just used exercise to cope. With her revelation, I thought maybe I should speak to my doctor and see if he felt I might be some genetics involved with how I was feeling. Biggest mistake I ever made in my life. Here's the problem, and I didn't know this then (obviously) but you really need to speak with a thorough professional who understands the subtle differences in conditions before sticking this stuff in your head. Biggest can't stress enough how bad of an idea it is allowing family practice doctor's to go through a little checklist about your personality and emotional issues and then randomly prescribe you something. Long story short, he decided to prescribe me Zoloft as that's what my mother was on. Problem was, depression was only a co symptom of my issues. Turns out I had always suffered from a bit of OCD and anxiety disorder, but I didn't realize that's what it was. I just thought of myself as being a little bit ”weird" or easily bothered by certain things. But it was never enough to prevent me from leading a normal life. So I take the Zoloft prescription. Two huge mistakes were made here. One- Zoloft works great on pure depression as it is an energizing antidepressant. This is NOT what you want to take if you have any type of anxiety disorder as it will only exacerbate the symptoms. Problem two, family doctor just took a shot in the dark on the dosage. As I came to find out later from an actual psychiatrist, the dosage he gave me was twice what the psychiatrist would have safely prescribed to start with. What ended up happening, within 3 days I ended up in the hospital feeling like I was having a psychotic break, my entire body was shaking uncontrollably, etc. Turns out I had seretonin poisoning. I could not stop shaking like a leaf for at least 10 days and it caused a permanent change in my brain which took what had been a mild case of OCD and turned it into a nightmarish condition where my brain never stopped racing and obsessing and would lead to full blown panic attacks. After being examined by real psychiatrists at this point, it was explained to me that number one, I was misdiagnosed and Zoloft was not a medication they would give to someone with anxiety type disorders because of the overstimulation, and two, obviously I was overdosed as well. Now at this point damage had been done and my brain was no longer the same. Simply stopping Zoloft did nothing to allow me to return to normal. They wanted to try me on a calming SSRI, Celexa (the precursor to Lexapro). I took it for about two weeks but saw little improvement and in anger at the hellish situation my life had become,vi was determined to get all of this junk out of my system for good. I tried for several months with no meds,band on every natural supplement I could research, but nothing could quell the incessant OCD and panic attacks I had been left with. Finally some research I read stayed that Lexapro was more effective at treating my disorder than it's predecessor and with far less side effects. So I asked if I could try it. On 10mg, I felt the first signs of relief I had felt in months. The OCD faded some and my anxiety decreased. But it wasn't quite doing the job. I had somewhere that OCF sometimes required higher doses of Lexapro, 20 to 30 my...30 my being doctor specific approved of course as the largest standard dose is 20mg

I moved up to 20mg and for the first time since all this happened, I felt some hope. The OCD faded to a background noise and anxiety decreased greatly. Vthe one final thing the psychiatrist suggested was a very small amount of risperdal, .5 my, as an adjunctive therapy which he had success with. This combination did prove to work well in my case.

I won't bore you with the 13 years of details after that, but suffice it to say, the body did adjust to this regimine over time, however the main side effects were weight gain, drowsiness, and some general feelings of apathy. I have learned to cope with diet, exercise, etc. Also have to watch hormonal balances as it dropped my testosterone through the floor. I currently supplement for that with products from Purus Labs.

Here's the bottom line for me. Lexapro and risperdal gave me life back...cuz I am so bad without them I literally might need to be on government disability. I could barely function, let alone hold a job. In fact the company I worked for at the time laid me off during this struggle after 13 years of service to them. But it was for the best, as I now hold s programming job with a fortune 100 company...but only because I refused to give up, even when thoughts of suicide crossed my mind almost daily.

If I could go back and do it all over, I would obviously never take the Zoloft and none of this would have happened. I'd love to be med free, but for me it isn't a choice any more, so I make the most of it. So if I were to give any advice, number 1, obviously if don't need the meds don't start them, cuz once you start messing with your brain chemistry you can't just up and quit. Number 2,big you need the meds, I'd avoid Zoloft like the plague if you have anxiety/OCD related disorders. Do some research on that. And for God's sake if you must try it, don't let them start you on 40mg. Number 3, I would talk to your doctor about trying 20mg of Lexapro and maybe the .25 or .5 mg of risperdal. Obviously if your dealing with a family practitioner vs a mental health professional,vI would suggest changing that as well, at least until you get your regimine sorted out. One last thing of note, the generic Letter apro does not work well for me, Escitalopram I believe it's called. They tried giving me that when it came out and it felt like I was taking half my normal dose of the real thing. So I had to get my doctor to fill out paperwork with the insurance company for a brand necessity waiver. I still have to pay about 200 for a 90 supply, but at least it's a discount.

Again, just want to say, take caution in whatever you try. Results are different for everyone and I can make no gaurantee that what worked for me will work for you, but I hope it may give you some direction in speaking with your health care provider about options to try and improve your situation.

Best of Luck.

-J