ARGORAMA!!!

Ok, so let's see if I can put this plainly. I've been on Lexapro for almost 2 years now. I was curious to see if I could be ok without it as I am also on my Concerta. I've done a lot of growing and maturing mentally and emotionally in this time, so I wanted to be able to finally not need the anti-depressant to get by. So.....

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to ween myself off of it. Now, mind you, I was only taking the 10 mg pill once a day. So, I noticed that I had like, 4 pills left. So, I halved each of them so as to take only 5 mgs a day.....and that was fine while that lasted.

I took my last dose this past Sunday....4 days ago. I was ok then.....and was for a day or so....

But NOW, I am irritable like crazy and it's really upsetting me. I'd been doing really well lately, and now I have been in like a 3 day slump that I want to get out of, but it feels kinda hard right now. At least I know that it's probably due to the meds leaving my system...and doing my darndest to keep my composure, etc....but I feel like I have a small dose of adrenaline constantly pumping through me and it doesn't feel good.

I did go to this link provided elsewhere in the forums... http://www.lexapro.com/pdfs/lexapro_pi.pdf to see what it might say about discontinueing. Page 5 had the info...and it did say that there could be some irritablity, etc, experienced when discontinueing.

So, with all of this in mind....I am doing the best I can, but I am so not liking this. I would guess that I'll be ok soon as I get over the meds leaving my system...and am looking forward to being free from the med. It's helped me a great deal while I was on it, but I feel the need to move past it. I just dunno what to do with myself in the meantime. Arg, I don't wanna bite anyone's head off! LOL and I came close to it earlier with hubby. But at least I have learned that there's no need for that...but arg my body FEELS like doing so. I hate this feeling. I just want it to go away...but I have to ride this out. I know that I have let certain duties of mine fall to the wayside this week because of this (haven't exercised, cleaned house, etc) and I know that as soon as I get over this, I'll be rarin' to go again...but arg...it's THIS moment, THIS time that I don't know how to get through. Arg, do I make any sense?

Anyway....anyone have any advise?

Thanks a bunch,
Your friendly neighborhood ADDoot....Jaime

Wow Jaime! You're a brave one to taper yourself off this fast, on your own.

All the information I've seen has recommended a slower taper schedule (i.e 1 week @ 10 mgs, 1 wk 7.5 mgs, 1 wk 5 mgs, 1 wk 2.5 mgs). However, given your particular scenario, I understand that you didnt have enough meds left to do that.

Some of the complaints that I've read up on, for those that have been weaning themselves off Lexapro have included: Anxiety, irritability, nausea, headaches. But the one thing I would add is, you should talk to your doc, if at all possible. Its almost NEVER adviseable to self-wean yourself off a med, let alone an antidepressant, without a doctor advising and monitoring you.

All that said, hugs to you, Jaime...I know its tough right now. Hang in there, and lean on your friends :)

Um, well I go see my doc in a couple of weeks, but she's kinda onnery (however you spell it), so she probably would have fussed me about wanting to get off meds, but then, she'll fuss anyway :P OH well....

Ack, I didn't know dat stuff about that kinda slow taper, I thought I was ok :p

Arg oh well, I did it anyway...SO......it's like what now. lol

Thanks, biggydoot. :D

OH, one more thing.....

Even if I didn't taper slowly....SHOULD I be ok after it's all outta my system?!??!

Well...There was a reason you were on the Lexapro in the first place, correct? I would love to say that you'll be perfectly fine off anti-depressant meds, but that's really a question to discuss with your doc, Jaime.

As for physically being off Lexapro, you were on this med for 2 years...from my understanding, your body will go through the typical withdrawal symptoms until it adjusts to not having it, and the meds are completely out of your system. My guidance to you would be to leave a message for your doc that you've stopped taking the Lexapro, and ask her advice, on the phone (if you can).

If it's unbearable, ask for a small amount of Prozac to wean off with. Sounds not too bad so far though. But keep an eye on things & be careful!

No telling where you will land when it's over. Could be fine so go ahead and follow through & be patient, it'll take as long to adjust to getting off as getting on these meds... like 2 weeks to a month or more.

Hugs Jaimejoot.....Mesa would call doc instead of waiting for two weeks and tell her what going on...Just precaution.

Well...I had some insurance issues in the past month which screwed up my prescription coverage. To make a long story short I was with out my Lexapro for about a month. The fact that I took the Lexapro for anxiety really didn't help when I didn't have the meds to to help me deal with the whole insurance issue.

I survived not being on the Lexapro this past month but my anxiety is still there. I was able to handle things a lot better than I had in the past. I guess it's nice for me to know that I can survive with out the meds but I want to do more than just survive.

Wow, Tara.

That truly sucks that you had to go through that!

Sheesh.. Tara that is so bad! So what happens if you are not supposed to quit cold turkey? Wow is right. I can't believe there is so little wiggle room. It makes me grateful to be living where I am.

Jamie I hope you are watching closely. I'd hate for you to hit the ditch but I do understand your desire to be off the medication. I was tempted to taper off the lorazepam but changed my mind. I'll wait a year on meds and evaluate it all then. Good luck with the grumpies. Exercise might help some no? I guess seeing a doctor isn't as easy for you as it is for me. Listening to everyone here has made me more aware of how lucky I am to have such good health care. Most people here just gripe and complain about it but I think they lack perspective now.

Take it easy Jamie.
ian

Thanks everyone...I am feelling a little better today...still hoping and praying for the best..... :D

AND, to the person who in a PM told me I was rambling in my initial post up here.... I didn't NOT appreciate such UNSUPPORTIVE feedback. Just because I rarely make such long posts does NOT mean I am "rambling". I was simply explaining my whole situation. And if YOU or ANYONE else can't understand this....ESPECIALLY when a person is going through what I am going through, then YOU have no place in a support community such as this.

Sorry to everyone else, but I feel like I had to say this as part of my healing process, AND to remind people that this IS a support forum, NOT a place to criticize others for what they go through.

Thanks and have a nice day.

Bravo Jaime...No Right what so ever to criticize anyone.....It is hard going through this and I say get it all out of your system and don't worry about the doots who are just tooooo Lazy to read!

Weaning yourself off of an SSRI should be a slow process, if you want to avoid as much suffering as you can. I know how you feel - I have several times quit taking anti-depressants more or less "cold turkey" (I used to take them only in the winter and stop in the spring). I found that, for me, it wasn't as bad as it sounds for you - with the exception of Paxil.

I have more or less come to the conclusion now that I am simply happier when I take them, even if I am not depressed or suffering from high anxiety, and so I keep taking them (Remeron is what I take, btw). I don't have insurance, but since I live in Canada, meds aren't bankrupting me, and it costs me nothing to see my Doctor, so money doesn't really enter the equation - I'm lucky there.

I'm sure that the withdrawl you are suffering from will get better fairly soon - 1 or 2 weeks I would think - but you may then find that the benefits of the drug were greater than you first thought - I know I certainly came to this conclusion myself.

If I were in a similar situation, I would probably try a lower dose for a month or two first - to see how I felt, and gauge how much the drug was currently helping me, before quiting altogether. My $.02, for what it's worth.

I hope you get over the SSRI withdrawl soon!

Regards,
Greg

I have been taking Paxil CR 25's once a day and my insurance got canceled :( so I stopped taking it cold turkey. I feel pretty ok. Just headaches. They were bad but now they are tapering off. Just mild now. I can function again. But I don't think that it is antidepressents that I need, I think it is ADD meds but I don't have the $ to get diagnosed. But I feel pretty good. I have ALOT MORE energy now :D . That I love.

Well, I am happy to report that I was feeling more like myself today...until about an hour ago...I think I drank too much caffiene and am feeling kinda jittery now..... BUT I think I am over the worst! :D

I'm still feeling the effects from withdrawl off effexor (brain zaps & still sweating easily). It's been [checking my journal...] two weeks. Not a big problem but quite noticeable.

I just had to report...I'm STILL off of da lexapro and things still going good :D

I hope you are doing good still! Is it completely out of your system? Hugs:p

You are to be commended for trying to get off the anti-depressants:) Does anyone truly LIKE taking this stuff?? I'm sure your brain is just confused right now and trying to replace those chemicals, not to mention hormone reactions. Even though it may be hard, please try, try, try to get some type of aerobic exercise, even if it's just ten crunches in the morning; anything, even walking or taking 2 stairs at a time. And water, water, water, water, water:) Hang in there! Our bodies are very resilient. And by the way, you made perfect sense to me. I didn't think you rambled at all. Deep breathing, getting the oxygen all the way to the bottom of those lungs might also help:)

LOL I posted the original post a month ago!

but thanks!

:o Hi... my name is Tiffany. I was perscribed to lexapro 20 mg. and at first i felt 100% better, but after about 6 months it did a complete 180'.... i felt anger, extremely irrtable, and realized i was starting to isolate myself from everthing i knew.... i just didn't feel like myself.... so stupidly, i went against what i was told to do and went "cold turkey" off it.... bad bad idea! I haven't heard of "zapps" but i will say my head itself felt extremely heavy... i would go to stand, and would feel as if i was going to faint.... i was well aware of the fact that i would have some side affects coming off of the meds. cold turkey so i didn't panic... it's been 2 weeks now that i have been off it.... i feel better.... no more dizzy spells.... i do feel a little irritable at times but i just try to calm down .... my next DR. appointment mid FEB. so i myself am a little nervous about giving my doctor the news, but over all i think i made the right decison..... hope this will help some... feels good to know i'm not the only one going through this experience.....
feel better.....