Quitting percocet and starting antidepressant?

[h12345620]

I had a c-section in December 2011. Was given Percocet for surgery. Then had massive residual pain. Had CT scans, ultrasounds, eventually had a 2nd surgery to burn out any adhesions, etc. It was unsuccessful and the pain persisted. Taking Percocet the whole time. The 5-325's. I would go through about 30 every 7-8 days depending. It's been almost 6 months. I have a small baby (obviously) and a 3 year old and they are very nice kids, but it's busy and I sometimes took them to cope - not solely for pain. The pain is still in play but I have to quit. My doctor (OBGYN) wanted to keep me on until my pain clinic appointment next week. I filled my last script last week and tried to taper. I had this lovely chart taped to my bathroom mirror. And Fail. (: So, now I'm 24 hours in to my somewhat cold turkey detox. It's not pleasant.

But my question is this -- my OBGYN wants me to take Lexapro. It's an antidepressant. And from what I've read it doesn't look like it's easy to get off of either. But she thinks it will help with the pain. I'm also going to acupuncture and restorative yoga. Anyone go on an antidepressant as they were leaving percocet? My OBGYN knows a lot about delivering babies, but at this point I've kind of stymied her so I'm a little concerned she has no clue what this stuff does.

I feel hideous right now. And my side hurts a great deal. Ick.

[h12345620]

Thank you. I appreciate your comment. The zapping sounds frightening. I'm probably depressed. It's been a hell of a year and a half. I threw up for 8 months of my pregnancy. And the last 6 months has been this.

It's day 2 without percocet and it's horrible. It's way worse than yesterday. It's like being pregnant. But worse.

[Wobby65]

Hi, H...

I'm not a "regular poster" on this forum, but I am a chronic pain patient. I do not have experience with Percocet, but I have taken Lexapro in the past. I did not notice any effect on my pain levels while taking it, but it made a marked improvement in my mood (I was diagnosed with Situational Depression). I stopped taking it after a few months mainly because it was very expensive (although it is now available in generic), and I did have what they call "brain zaps"...hard to describe, but it felt as though when I moved my eyes from side-to-side, my brain "jumped"...very strange sensation. It lasted maybe a week and then subsided.

Hope this helps at least a little. I hope you're feeling better soon and I wish you the best of luck!