Withdrawal or Anxiety

I have had anxiety my whole life, not knowing.  I have been diagnosed with severe depression and even bi-polar. Finally I was diagnosed with GAD.  I have been in therapy for 2 years and on Lexapro for about 15 months.  My doctor weened me off of Lexapro over a course of 4 months and said that I was doing great and he didn't see the need for me to have therapy any longer.  I really felt as though I do have the tools to handle the anxiety on my own without the help from Lexapro or so I thought.  When he took me down from 10mg to 5mg, I noticed a change in myself that I was a little more emotional and irritable, however I thought that I was under a little stress and this feeling shall pass.  March 7th was my last dose of 5mg. and since than I am not sure if I am having withdrawal symptoms or my anxiety is back full swing.  I am crying all the time. I am angry and irriatable. Cant sleep. Dont want to eat. Dont care what I look like. I'm winded, tired, restless and the butterfly anxious stomach. I'm not having any brain zaps or electric shock sensations or anything else like that.  Just alot of crying and irritability. Can you tell if it is withdrawal or Anxiety that just wont leave me alone?  Thanks for any help you can give me.

[mammo]

It appears you were weaned off correctly. It may also be that you still have anxiety, so I would call your doctor who took you off the meds and tell him what is going on. You also have symptoms of depression which can go hand-in-hand with anxiety.  I would definitely contact the doctor and go from there.  Take care..

[anxietynomore]

Sounds to me like you were weened off correctly too! Although, I took myself off of Paxil a year ago and I have done nothing but spiral since. Hence I just started back on Paxil. At the time I took myself off of it, I didn't think it was working anymore. Little did I know. I have been so debilitated that I can't even work. It is awful. Panic attacks came back full swing too. However, there has been a tremendous amount of stress in my life so I don't know if I would have been okay or not, without all the stress. I hate to submit to believing that I will need something for the rest of my life but.......

[Paxiled]

I'm going to say that, although your psychiatrist did a good job of weaning, that doesn't mean this was the right pace for you or that weaning properly prevents withdrawal.  Because you did suffer from ailments that could bring on this kind of emotional response, there's no way for me to tell, but you probably can, if it's your original condition returning or something quite different.  If different, then it's probably withdrawal.  What you're describing are the classic things described by those of us who've gone through bad withdrawals and extended withdrawals -- the crying jags, the emotional falling apart.  The way to tell is to go on the last dose of Lexapro at which you felt fine; if you fell better within a couple days, you'll know it's withdrawal and that you either have to wean off more slowly or do something else to control the withdrawal or just suffer through it and hope it goes away.  What one person experiences won't be what another does.