everythinglive: New here, cold turkey off lexapro

[everythinglive]

Hi everyone.

 

Just a quick note to say this website is amazing! It's great to have such support out there.

 

Ok so I've had depression for a year now and have been on Lexapro for that amount of time.

 

I've recently decided to go cold turkey completely off it as I don't like the side effects I get from it.

 

I also don't have the patience to wean off it.

 

My questions are

 

1) Have any members gone cold turkey off lexapro, and 

 

2) After how many days did you start to feel the effects of the withdrawal?

 

Thanks very much for any replies,

 

everythinglive.

 

[Petunia]

Hi Everythinglive,

Welcome to our forum and thank you for posting an introduction.

 

Please don't go cold turkey off your medication, it can cause some very nasty withdrawal effects, which can sometimes last a long time.

 

How long have you been on Lexapro?

 

I was taking Lexapro for several years and tried four times to come off it by just stopping.  For me, the side effects started to kick in by about day 3, then became worse and worse and by 1 - 2 weeks I could no longer tolerate them and went back on the medication.

 

I finally managed to come off Lexapro in 2010 by tapering, but now I realized I tapered much too fast and have been in protracted withdrawal ever since.  Its too late for me to reinstate the medication and taper slower.  I tried earlier this year, but nothing works now, so I just have to wait to recover, however long it takes.

 

Here are our tips for coming off Lexapro:  http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/406-tips-for-tapering-off-lexapro-escitalopram/

 

Others should be along soon with some ideas to help.

 

Petu.

 

 

[tezza]

Welcome to the group! Your signature says you stopped Lexapro 7/11/13, so that would be four months since CT, right?

 

One of your questions was, how long before WD symptoms are felt. This question would be answered differently by different people. Some people feel symptoms from a missed dose of their med, some feel symptoms in days, weeks, or even months out.

 

Have you had symptoms?

[mammaP]

Hi Everythinglive, I would seriously consider reinstating and tapering slowly. I know it isn't what you want to do but many people have tried CT and ended up very ill. Petu is one of them so knows how hard it is. 

We'll be with you every step of the way with encouragement and support. 

 

Note for Tezza, Everythinglive is in Ireland and dates are back to front so 11/7/2013 is 11th July. And 7/11 is 7th November, so it's just a few days since stopping. It can be confusing!

[tezza]

Thank you for clearing that up for me mammaP. I didn't realize, obviously, I was confused.

 

In that case, i agree with all the above.

[everythinglive]

Hey all, thanks for the replies. Thanks to mammaP for clearing up the dates. Yes I agree that CT isn't the best idea but im just so sick of the meds and want to be off them asap.

 

It's day 5 now and all Ive got is a small headache and a bit of a weak feeling.

 

If the withdrawal effects do get worse I would consider going back on the meds but that thought doesn't go down well with me at the moment.

 

I will update you all on my progress here.

[Altostrata]

Welcome, everythinglive.

 

Everyone who cold-turkeys follows the same thought process. You may or may not be one of the lucky ones who can go off suddenly and not suffer much in the way of withdrawal.

 

On the other hand, the longer you wait, the less likely reinstatement of the drug will resolve withdrawal symptoms. And you will be very, very miserable by that point. The prudent thing to do is to take even 5mg now and taper more gradually.

 

Please look around at the other Intro topics to find out what might happen.

[bubble]

welcome!

i can't see how much you were taking.I went from 5 mg to 2.5 mg and 2 weeks after that.i was off lexapro for 44 very painful days while my symptoms were getting scarrier and after i experienced the worst agony ever, i went back to 5 mg and still recovering slowly.

 

The first symptoms started after 3 to 4 days as irritability and extreme sensitivity to touch that would happen in the evening.gradually it progressed to awful panic attack and eXperience of derealization,like i was outside my body.

 

I guess we all thought we can beat this thing...moreover,our doctors told us it's not addictive so we can just stop taking it...

 

But it's good that you are here

 

best,

bubble

[Jemima]

I hope you'll take a look at my Intro, link below. I went off 10 mg. far too fast in the fall of 2011, ending on December 14th, and I'm not altogether well to date, 23 months later.  I started getting jittery at the very end of my "taper" ( following the usual B.S. we get from doctors about cutting the dose by half every two weeks and then alternating days at 2.5 mg. and quitting), but it was manageable until about a month later when withdrawal symptoms hit with a vengeance. I was almost completely disabled from mid-January 2012 through April 2012 and had a lot of ups and downs for the rest of the year.  It was all I could do some weeks to just get groceries. I'd often go for two or three days without sleeping at all and due to high morning cortisol levels I was extremely irritable up until one or so in the afternoon, flying into rages at the slightest provocation. The side effects from Lexapro are a minor nuisance compared to withdrawal symptoms.

 

By the time I realized what was going on, it was too late to reinstate safely.  There is a window of only about a month.  I hope you'll take our word for it that reinstating even 5 mg. will help to prevent nearly all of the agony of cold turkey withdrawal.

[everythinglive]

i dont know what to do

[Jemima]

Reading this might help:

 

About reinstating and stabilizing

[everythinglive]

Ok so it's day 6 now and im starting to feel the effects of CT. Sore limbs, disorientation, headaches, insomnia.

 

I don't want this to continue so I've taken the sensible approach and gone back on my meds until at least christmas, then i'll try and taper off slowly.

 

Ive learnt an important lesson this last week, thanks for all your feedback.

 

I'll keep you informed of my progress.

[mammaP]

I am so glad you decided to reinstate, withdrawal is a horrible thing to suffer and I hope it isn't long before the symptoms are stopped. . Come back and keep us 

updated when you start your taper, we'd love to hear how you are doing. 

[Jemima]

I think you've made the best choice. Please let us know how you're doing.