PTSD and withdrawing from Lexapro

Background: I am now 25 years old, and I have been on SSRIs since 2002. At first I was on Celexa; later on, my psychiatrist placed me on progressively larger doses of Lexapro. The medication worked extremely well. Last year, however, I went through an extremely traumatic event and was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. After the event, the same medication that had worked so well prior to it seemed to lose its effectiveness. I had been on 20 mg of Lexapro prior to that; my psychiatrist decided to try 30 mg. The PTSD symptoms came and went, but gradually the space between the panic attacks became wider. I'd added some vitamin supplements, mainly a Vitamin B complex and EPA, which seemed to work very well.

After last year's incident, I came to realize that I wasn't comfortable with the idea of spending the rest of my life on progressively larger doses of antidepressants--six years seems far too long as it is. My psychiatrist, though generally helpful, believes in antidepressants to the point of blindness and seems content to keep prescribing them to me for as long as possible. Consequently, I began tapering off the medication very, very slowly while ensuring that I was getting enough crucial vitamins and amino acids. I went down to 20, then 15, and finally to 10 mg, which is where I am now. I felt well, no withdrawal symptoms of any kind--until yesterday. Due to the PTSD I am sometimes attacked by episodes of panic, anxiety, and depression, which usually lift after a day or two; yesterday's episode was especially severe, however--I had not felt so bad since the psychological trauma sustained a year ago. My question is as follows: is this due to the PTSD, or should I be concerned that this is a potential withdrawal symptome? Should I go back to a higher dose? Thank you for your advice in advance.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

I do not believe that what you are describing is a withdrawal symptom.  The higher doses of medication may have covered over your response to trauma but the medication alone will never eliminate a specific response.  I would strongly suggest that you seek psychotherapy in order to put the trauma behind you rather than trying to live with the memories of it.