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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Diabetes / May 2008I'm completely off Lexapro!
Started it last August (20mg) to deal with depression. A few months ago, I decided to go off it as it had served it's purpose and I felt like I didn't need it anymore. I weaned myself from it slowly, dropping from 20mg to 5mg over the course of 2 months. That part was easy. Going from the last 5mg to zero, I started having mild side effects which lasted until last week. I'm happy to say that the side effects are gone, there's been no reoccurance of depression and I feel fine. The drug served it's purpose well when I needed it but DAMN, I love eliminating another med! John C. Congratulations, John! I take Lexapro for anxiety and would love to be able to stop one day but not yet. What's great to know is that weaning yourself off it is doable without major problems. Take care, Kitty. > Started it last August (20mg) to deal with depression. A few months > ago, I decided to go off it as it had served it's purpose and I felt [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > John C. > Congratulations, John! I take Lexapro for anxiety and would love to be > able to stop one day but not yet. What's great to know is that weaning [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > - Show quoted text - Kitty, I was very concerned about both side effects and the Lexapro withdrawal syndrome when I reluctantly started the drug. There are hundreds of accounts of people who had great difficulty getting off this drug. Luckily, I have a very good GP who instructed me to go off it slooowly. The weird thing is that I had no withdrawal symptoms stepping down from 20 to 15 to 10 to 5. Nothing. When I went to zero, I had the classic brain zaps, although milder than I'd heard reported and an occasionally spacey feeling that wasn't entirely unpleasant :oD. After three (or is it four?) weeks without it now, I feel completely normal. John C. >Congratulations, John! I take Lexapro for anxiety and would love to be >able to stop one day but not yet. What's great to know is that weaning [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] >> The drug served it's purpose well when I needed it but DAMN, I love >> eliminating another med! One way of reducing the withdrawal effects, apart from doing it slowly especially at the end, can be to switch to something with a longer half life like Prozac, which is easier to taper off from. Congratulations anyway. You know if the depression should recur you now have a way to deal with it. > On Mon, 5 May 2008 10:09:26 -0700 (PDT), catherine > [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > - Show quoted text - And THAT'S a nice thing to know too. If I ever have to go back on it, there'll be none of the fear of side effects etc. to worry about. I was aware of the Prozac method, but the withdrawal effects were so minimal, I just dealt with them. John C. >> On Mon, 5 May 2008 10:09:26 -0700 (PDT), catherine >> [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] >I was aware of the Prozac method, but the withdrawal effects were so >minimal, I just dealt with them. When I switched from Paxil to Effexor I had to reduce the dose, which just as you found was quite easy at first but became less comfortable at the end, then start the Effexor at minimal dose (helps to avoid projectile vomiting and other things which *may* or may not occur, but like ramping up Metformin too fast you really don';t want to find out the hard way if you're going to have a problem) Initially the withdrawal effect from the Effexor was quite useful as it served to remind me how quickly to titrate the dose up and when to stop. It was a bit less useful when I missed my evening dose and didn;t realise until I was in bed. You know that bit in Trainspotting where the guy overdoses on heroin then sinks down through the floor, wrapped in the carpet? That's exactly how it felt, soon I was unable to get out of bed and go downstairs even if I wanted to. The interesting thing is that over time the withdrawal effects went away to the effect that now should I wish to I can stop and restart it with almost nothing happening. It's all very YMMV, but one constant factor seems to be that the shorter the drug's half life the fiercer the (potential) withdrawals, hence the invention of the "Prozac method", one of the active metabolites of Prozac has a half life measured in days so it sort of tapers itself off. Woo-hoo! Way to go, John. Seems to me you took a very practical approach, one that was most-assured to provide success. You're a pretty smart cookie. :-)  SignatureBest regards, Michelle C., T2 diet & exercise BMI 21.5 > Started it last August (20mg) to deal with depression. A few months > ago, I decided to go off it as it had served it's purpose and I felt [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > John C. >Started it last August (20mg) to deal with depression. A few months >ago, I decided to go off it as it had served it's purpose and I felt [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >John C. Hello John. Did your depression coincide with your diabetes diagnosis? There are a number of gents in here named John, so I get some of the back stories confused. Are you the one who is also recovering from a heart attack as well as getting the hang of the diabetes diagnosis? If so, was the depression concurrent with the two events? I'm very happy to hear that you are off the medication and that it caused relatively little backlash on you. Congratulations. Both for recognizing that you needed the help an anti-depressant can offer, but also for being able to decide that it was time to give going med-free a try -- and that that has been successful for you. Laura On May 5, 9:16 pm, La...@notmy.com wrote: > >Started it last August (20mg) to deal with depression. A few months > >ago, I decided to go off it as it had served it's purpose and I felt [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > attack as well as getting the hang of the diabetes diagnosis? If so, > was the depression concurrent with the two events? Yeah, I'm the lucky one who had a heart attack (thankfully a small one) at age 45 and was Dx'd with diabetes the next day. After about 2 weeks at home, I started walking and was feeling great. I was suffering anxiety attacks, but they subsided. My cardiologist warned me that depression was very common after a heart attack and it hit me pretty suddenly a few weeks later. After seeing a therapist, I was officially diagnosed with adjustment disorder, not actual major depression and was put on Lexapro. John C. > I'm very happy to hear that you are off the medication and that it > caused relatively little backlash on you. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Laura Thanks Laura! >On May 5, 9:16 pm, La...@notmy.com wrote: >> [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] >me that depression was very common after a heart attack and it hit me >pretty suddenly a few weeks later. Also not uncommon with some forms of heart failure and other cardiac problems. And with diabetes. You got the double whammy! >After seeing a therapist, I was officially diagnosed with adjustment >disorder, not actual major depression and was put on Lexapro. So now you're readjusted? > >On May 5, 9:16 pm, La...@notmy.com wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > > - Show quoted text - Not according to SWMBO. But then again, I never was.... John >The drug served it's purpose well when I needed it but DAMN, I love >eliminating another med! Well done! I'm impressed! Nicky. T2 dx 05/04 + underactive thyroid D&E, 100ug thyroxine Last A1c 5.6% BMI 25 |
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