Withdrawals after long term use, will I ever be normal?
Posted , 4 users are following.
I was on lexapro for 7 years at 10mg decided it was a good time to stop at the start of last year. I went down to 5mg for 3 months, no withdrawals, the the doctor said I could stop, I decided to go day on day off, then a few days between, I started to feel anxiety and panic return aswell as tiredness. My doctor said to go back on 10mg, I did, then with in a few weeks I started getting worse, my heart would race I couldn't get out of bed, after 3 weeks the doctor raised it to 20mg i felt so posioned I didn't eat for 2 months straight, I was in bed couldn't even roll over, I kept going to the hospital they kept sending me home, my heart rate was 120-140 I had yellow diarrhea, I had to have people come and help me with my children, i hadn't cuddles them for months. Then I said 3 months later, January this year, its poisining me. It has to be. Even though by then I was out of bed, I was still in such confusion and pain in the head.. couldn't last out of bed for long and the anxiety was horrible.. I went to 15 for 2 weeks, 10 for a week, then tried Zoloft for a week had allergic reaction although the brain burning feeling had subsided.but couldn't continue with the rash from Zoloft, then back on lexapro 5mg for 2 weeks, and every night I took that pill my brain felt like it was burning, 2 weeks later the doctor gave me Prozac. 5mg for a week, I started getting tingling in my feet and feeling spaced out. One doctor said to up the dose. I did once and felt worse. So I seen another doctor who said maybe your to sensitive now and need to stop medication all together, so here I am, 1 months out from lexapro, and almost 3 weeks out from Prozac. My eating came back. I eat now, my diarrhea has gone. The brain burning gone. But as the days go by, I'm feeling more and more brain zaps, dizziness, confusion. Migraines. Like this is 24/7 some moments better then others.. I mean is one month long enough to judge, will it only get worse? Does it take more then a month to feel better, I don't know what to expect. I do meditation, I walk every day now. Don't get much sleep as I wake up every few hours but I try lavender to help sleep. I just want to hear one successful story after horrid withdrawal story's and never get to hear a follow up on how people are going . sad
I'll post every few days as I'm going along.
0 likes, 5 replies
benjamin72483 jamie86509
Posted
Jamie I'm really sorry to hear about this. I was on lexapro for 9 months about 7 or 8 years ago. It made me feel like a zombie and getting used to the drug was terrible so I stopped it. Over time you will feel better it's just a process. The best practical advice I can give you is to track your daily symptoms each day and compare them to the previous day to see any improvements (even if they are small it's still progress!). That can make it easier to endure each day because you know you are moving forward. I think the mistake the doctor made was not reducing the medicine slowly enough. After being on it for 7 years he should've went from 5 to 2.5 mg then 1.25 mg. Then stop it. It sounds crazy slow but that's a long time to be on lexapro and you need to come off those meds extremely slowly. Even though they don't make dosages that small if you buy a pill cutter from the pharmacy you can take smaller doses that way. Switching you to Prozac and Zoloft was not the right move. You were clearly exhibiting withdrawal symptoms and the best course of action was to go back on the lexapro at 5 mg. Jumping back up to 10 probably put your body into shock after the 3 month detox. I just want you to know you are not alone in this and you will make it through, just hang in there. I unfortunately have had bad experiences with psych medicines in the past but over time it improves. One thing to try if it is feeling completely unbearable is possibly reinstate the lexapro at a very low dose and slowly increase it. Start at like 2.5 (a quarter of a 10mg pill) and then increase it slowly. This will help your body to adapt back to it. Then once you feel like you are leveled out, start going down again super slow.
jamie86509 benjamin72483
Posted
Thank you so much for your reply,
At the time I didn't know I had to taper, I listened to a doctor who said I could stop at any time. And I wish I could of gone back and halved the 5mg for a further 3 months. But I can't go back
and then when he reinstated the 10mg then upped me to 20mg is when everything got so much worse, he kept blaming my anxiety, but I kept saying I was being poisoned, no one believed me. And swapping wasn't good either. But I'm scared after a month if I reinstate it, I will feel that poison burning feeling again. But I'm also scared that after stopping after 7 years and with a pretty fast tapper, that my brain has changed forever and I'll only get worse, makes me cry and my baby's get so scared 😭 I went for a walk with them this morning and they wanted to stop at the park but like usual I feel week and dizzy and spaced out and said no baby's I'm not well, so back to bed I am. It's taking a toll on every one. I just want to know there's people that have been on them for many years and tapered to fast, but still come out of the withdrawals. 
I feel like holding on and pushing through is the only option, but not if in 3 months i end up being worse and not any better 😭
benjamin72483 jamie86509
Posted
Ahhh I totally understand what you are saying, I've had bad experiences with psych drugs other than just lexapro and they were all very scary (I'm also a recovering drug addict been clean 7 years now) so I know how much pain these drugs can cause. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like you were at least able to function on the lexapro right? If it were reinstated at a low dose and then slowly increased (and then eventually decreased) you will be able to do normal things like take a walk with your kids. I know it's not ideal but in the short term I think it will alleviate your suffering to an extent. Your body is still craving the lexapro and giving it just a bit may help. I know that's the last thing you want to hear but these drugs can make it feel like "my brain is broken". That's really not true it's just the withdrawal for psych meds is really really weird and it makes you think thoughts like that and does a great job of convincing you that there is no hope when it's not true at all. Maybe also a good idea would be to seek out doctors or rehabilitation centers that have a lot of experience weaning people off antidepressants and see if you can talk to someone over there who knows all the subtleties of this stuff. Your doctor with all due respect, does not seem knowledgeable at all. Talking to someone with a ton of experience will help you feel safe and cared for. I hope you find peace soon, please keep us updated!
Jane2806 jamie86509
Posted
gina01020 jamie86509
Posted
Hi Jamie,
You sound just like me. I don't know what to do either but i'm so far into this that im scared to go back.
I was on Mirtazapine for 7 years and they weren't working at 30mg and the Doc didn't want to up my dose because it would make me gain even more weight so swapped me straight onto Lexapro 20mg. I didn't take 20mg but cut it in half and took 10mg as it says it is the dose for anxiety. Also, I wanted to make sure I had a higher dose to work with if I needed it later.
I can hoestly say I have never felt so bad in my life. There were times I wanted to go to the ER but was worried they would change me again and I'd be worse off.
I had Brain Zaps, hot flushes, terrible prickling all over, My head was so dazed and odd that I couldn't function to do anything at all. Nausea and vomiting, mostly badly constipated but bouts of watery bowel motions. Really stiff neck and headaches and have had rashes and have itchy spots all over the place still. I lost 5 kgs in a week and like you, couldn't eat for over a month. I had to rely on tamazapam for some relief to get a couple of hours sleep at night. It has been 10 weeks of hell.
My biggest worry was not knowing what to do. Was it the Mirt withdrawals or the Lexapro side effects...The Doc hadn't mentioned any of this at all. When I said what was happening, he wanted to change me to Zoloft too. That was about 2 weeks into it and I thought I should stick it out as they say Lexapro has the least side effects so thought I'd come good.
I now have a reasonable day or 2 followed by 2-3 days of dazed, odd brain stuff where its hard to do anything. I sneeze a lot and get sinus type headaches and itch like mad....I just want someone with some good knowledge to talk to but there isn't anyone here unless you can pay big money. Now I'm scared that when I need to come off this down the track, its going to be another night mare of symptoms...If you haven't got mental probs before this, you sure as hell do after..My other worry is I have a sensitive stomach and have had trouble before with anti depressants which was why I was on Mirt as it is the gentlest on the stomach..
Thank you for sharing as I felt like I was alone with all these symptoms. Most seem to find it a good drug. I don't feel normal at all and feel dumbed down and having trouble retaining things.
I hope you find some peace quickly,
Gina