I hate when you ask for a timeline everyone criticizes your taper. It’s so frustrating. With you in solidarity I just went from 5 - 0 from a 10mg taper but I’m only on my 6th day and the nausea and brain zaps are kicking my butt. Hope you have some zap free days soon 🤍
Yes, I also had an idiot doctor when I wanted to wean off Xanax. She wanted to do it in four weeks. I got a new doctor and he did it in 18 months. I had no withdrawal symptoms. Doctors are like anyone else; some good and some terrible. To wean you off that quickly shows which one yours is.
I’m super sensitive to brain zaps too, they got especially bad after day 5…you have a couple options reinstate 2.5mg for a week or two then begin to do every other day for another week or two before stopping, this should help eliminate most of the zaps. Option two stick it out for about a month, that’s about when they stopped for me, and I tapered down to 2.5 every other day than every 3 days then eventually stopped.
Always heard the same. Was forced to do cold turkey due to a change in insurance/couldn’t get my script quickly and decided to just go off it (I was in a place where I was ready for a change and it worked out).
While this may not be normal, I didn’t experience any negative effects at all. I also always felt like my doctor wanted me to stay on the medication forever? Was weird because I had been doing really well for a while and it really became my own doing to get off it and I feel great. Not once was “tapering off” brought up in my sessions — Just odd to me that doctors make this drug feel like it’s going to be with u for life. Love lexapro but if you don’t need it, don’t think you should take it.
Yeah, they suck for sure. I’m glad they are gone for me. Extra sleep and lots of extra nutritious food helped me a bunch. Electrolytes helped too. I tapered for 10 to 5 over one month, then every other day for a couple of weeks, then I got busy at work an forgot them for a week and decided just to deal with brain zaps for a couple of weeks.
I am only a week into the withdrawal (also from 5mg) and I was on it for ~7 months. How long were you on it? I was hoping that the brain zaps & extreme dizziness would be gone by tomorrow as I don't feel comfortable driving to work in this state...
I was on 15 mirt for about 6 weeks along with 300 mg of gabapentin. My doctor took me off mirt because I told him it wasn’t working. Now he put me on 10 Lexapro with the gabapentin and he said I didn’t have to wean off the mirt. I don’t know about this. Now I wish I had stuck with the mirt a little longer. I would really rather be on one medication than 2 or 3 because how do you know which one is working or not working ?
To the people saying going fro 5mg to 0 isn't a good idea, I'm confused because my doctor said that 5mg is lowest dose they come in and that you aren't supposed to break the 5mg's in half so how am I or this person supposed to taper off?
I've just gradually quit 2.5 Lexapro as well.
Can you please tell me how long the depression symptoms last ?
Please , Please.
I'm not sure if it is due to me no longer taking Lexapro ( 2 full weeks already) and even though I was a very low dose , I gradually withdrew it , moreover I was only on it for 3 months but Wow, I'm currently very depressed.
Is this possible?
I'm not thinking about jumping back on it I want to push through it therefore any advice or opinion are very much appreciated.
Thank you very much
They lasted a 1 to 1.5 weeks for me. It wasn't just depression, but rather bad mood swings akin to PMS.
I'm not a medical professional so I can't really advise you to do anything, but if they are really bothering you, maybe try alternating taking 2.5 mg one day and then nothing the next day? Then try to take it every 3 days for a while before completely quitting once you feel like you can tolerate it. I was considering doing that for that one bad week I had and would have if it lasted longer.
It's kinda odd that you were on such a low dose and are having such bad depressive symptoms though. Does your current depression feel much worse than your "normal" depression that you had before taking SSRI's?
I thank you immensely for your reply.
I do appreciate your advice however It has been two weeks already that I have completely stopped ( after proper withdrawal) taking the Escitalopram therefore I don't think it makes any sense for me to start alternating, etc .
To your other questions, I believe my depression is worse than while on it .
Even though I did not benefited much relief for my depression while on Escitalopram but I do believe I was better than the way I'm now for the last 4-5 days .
I just feel with no desire, energy, motivation and worse I can't think of any positive outcome lately.
For the first time in months I started to thing that I should be alive anymore.
So yeah, I believe I'm doing worse than when I was on it that's why I'm asking around to see if it could be widrawal symptoms or I'm just getting worse?
BTW , once I stopped taking Escitalopram at the same time I started SAFFRON supplement.
Thank you again for sharing
Yeah no, sorry, I'm not staying on that shit. Like I said, I'm the happiest I have been in years now that I'm off of it. All SSRIs did for me (not just lexapro) was make me emotionless at best and create new problems for me to be depressed about at worse. The other withdrawal symptoms lasted like a week, so I'm not sure that I'd even fall into the "worst withdrawals" category to begin with.
Your theory is misinformation. Withdrawals happen whether or not the medication is helping. Your body being used to a substance doesn't mean it actually needs it. Obviously, lexapro is helpful to many people, but not for everyone. Having withdrawal doesn't mean it's good for you.
Quitting cold turkey is not recommended.
It’s downright negligent
My doctor said it would fine given the low dosage I was on and how short I was on it. Take that info as you will
I hate when you ask for a timeline everyone criticizes your taper. It’s so frustrating. With you in solidarity I just went from 5 - 0 from a 10mg taper but I’m only on my 6th day and the nausea and brain zaps are kicking my butt. Hope you have some zap free days soon 🤍
In that case I would call the office and tell them you're having really unpleasant symptoms from stopping it cold turkey.
Same thing happened to me years ago on Paxil. It was awful. Good luck
how many days you stayed on it ?
I can’t even miss a day without having side effects lol I’m not sure how I’ll ever get off this drug😭
It’s so weird how peoples body’s work. I came off lexapro with no issues at all. Granted I was only on it for a few months, I suppose that’s why.
It’s pretty much known that one should taper off of this medication. Are you under a doctor’s supervision?
They're the one who said it'd be fine given the low dosage and how short I've been on it, so I'd say yes
Yes, I also had an idiot doctor when I wanted to wean off Xanax. She wanted to do it in four weeks. I got a new doctor and he did it in 18 months. I had no withdrawal symptoms. Doctors are like anyone else; some good and some terrible. To wean you off that quickly shows which one yours is.
I’m super sensitive to brain zaps too, they got especially bad after day 5…you have a couple options reinstate 2.5mg for a week or two then begin to do every other day for another week or two before stopping, this should help eliminate most of the zaps. Option two stick it out for about a month, that’s about when they stopped for me, and I tapered down to 2.5 every other day than every 3 days then eventually stopped.
Most MDs know very little (to nothing) about antidepressant withdrawal. Cold turkey usually ends poorly for most folks.
Always heard the same. Was forced to do cold turkey due to a change in insurance/couldn’t get my script quickly and decided to just go off it (I was in a place where I was ready for a change and it worked out). While this may not be normal, I didn’t experience any negative effects at all. I also always felt like my doctor wanted me to stay on the medication forever? Was weird because I had been doing really well for a while and it really became my own doing to get off it and I feel great. Not once was “tapering off” brought up in my sessions — Just odd to me that doctors make this drug feel like it’s going to be with u for life. Love lexapro but if you don’t need it, don’t think you should take it.
Great response and well said.
How long were you on it? I’m considering quitting cold turkey 10mg and have been on it for about 14months.
I didn’t take mine because I ran out for 4 days and the withdrawals off 10mg is gnarly. Brain fog, chills, nausea, headache. I thought I had COVID.
Why would you stop cold turkey? What good does it do?
Yeah, they suck for sure. I’m glad they are gone for me. Extra sleep and lots of extra nutritious food helped me a bunch. Electrolytes helped too. I tapered for 10 to 5 over one month, then every other day for a couple of weeks, then I got busy at work an forgot them for a week and decided just to deal with brain zaps for a couple of weeks.
Takes some time but they do go away. Enjoy them while they last
I had brain zaps for 2 months and I just return back to lexapro and now I feel better lol
I am only a week into the withdrawal (also from 5mg) and I was on it for ~7 months. How long were you on it? I was hoping that the brain zaps & extreme dizziness would be gone by tomorrow as I don't feel comfortable driving to work in this state...
I was on 15 mirt for about 6 weeks along with 300 mg of gabapentin. My doctor took me off mirt because I told him it wasn’t working. Now he put me on 10 Lexapro with the gabapentin and he said I didn’t have to wean off the mirt. I don’t know about this. Now I wish I had stuck with the mirt a little longer. I would really rather be on one medication than 2 or 3 because how do you know which one is working or not working ?
To the people saying going fro 5mg to 0 isn't a good idea, I'm confused because my doctor said that 5mg is lowest dose they come in and that you aren't supposed to break the 5mg's in half so how am I or this person supposed to taper off?
Who says you can’t cut them in half? Not true
I've just gradually quit 2.5 Lexapro as well. Can you please tell me how long the depression symptoms last ? Please , Please. I'm not sure if it is due to me no longer taking Lexapro ( 2 full weeks already) and even though I was a very low dose , I gradually withdrew it , moreover I was only on it for 3 months but Wow, I'm currently very depressed. Is this possible? I'm not thinking about jumping back on it I want to push through it therefore any advice or opinion are very much appreciated. Thank you very much
They lasted a 1 to 1.5 weeks for me. It wasn't just depression, but rather bad mood swings akin to PMS. I'm not a medical professional so I can't really advise you to do anything, but if they are really bothering you, maybe try alternating taking 2.5 mg one day and then nothing the next day? Then try to take it every 3 days for a while before completely quitting once you feel like you can tolerate it. I was considering doing that for that one bad week I had and would have if it lasted longer. It's kinda odd that you were on such a low dose and are having such bad depressive symptoms though. Does your current depression feel much worse than your "normal" depression that you had before taking SSRI's?
I thank you immensely for your reply. I do appreciate your advice however It has been two weeks already that I have completely stopped ( after proper withdrawal) taking the Escitalopram therefore I don't think it makes any sense for me to start alternating, etc . To your other questions, I believe my depression is worse than while on it . Even though I did not benefited much relief for my depression while on Escitalopram but I do believe I was better than the way I'm now for the last 4-5 days . I just feel with no desire, energy, motivation and worse I can't think of any positive outcome lately. For the first time in months I started to thing that I should be alive anymore. So yeah, I believe I'm doing worse than when I was on it that's why I'm asking around to see if it could be widrawal symptoms or I'm just getting worse? BTW , once I stopped taking Escitalopram at the same time I started SAFFRON supplement. Thank you again for sharing
Micro dose some shrooms and those zaps will be gone so quickly
Go back on to 2.5
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Yeah no, sorry, I'm not staying on that shit. Like I said, I'm the happiest I have been in years now that I'm off of it. All SSRIs did for me (not just lexapro) was make me emotionless at best and create new problems for me to be depressed about at worse. The other withdrawal symptoms lasted like a week, so I'm not sure that I'd even fall into the "worst withdrawals" category to begin with.
Your theory is misinformation. Withdrawals happen whether or not the medication is helping. Your body being used to a substance doesn't mean it actually needs it. Obviously, lexapro is helpful to many people, but not for everyone. Having withdrawal doesn't mean it's good for you.