Im baaaack!

[CanuckGuy42]

Hi all.. I was an active member on this board back in 2011 when I started my adventures with SSRI's for anxiety - namely Cipralex (Lexapro for my American friends)... In 2012 I felt like he stressors that had me turn to SSRI's had been considerable reduced or eliminated so in July 2012 I weened myself off it after being on Lexapro 15 mgs daily for a year. That process went well and all seemed good going forward.

Here I am one year later with a new set of stressors and all the physical symptoms of anxiety that I recognize oh so well from last time have returned and I am about to go back on Cipralex again.

Has anyone every started an SSRI, gotten off it and then found themselves back on it again? Is the ramp up period different when you go back on it a second time? The 6 weeks ramp up I had last time was tough (I chronicled it daily on this board and almost quit several times) but I stuck it out and everyone was right... everything levelled off. Just wondering if my body will recognize it again and it will be less intense.

[Paxiled]

I should add, as for me, I don't have a clue which theory is correct, so I personally like to believe in number 2 just because the others can't be proven so why not believe in the positive one?

[Paxiled]

There are three theories about this.  First is that mental illness is episodic.  Second is that if you never successfully treated the underlying problem either in therapy or some other modality like that you never solved the problem, you just medicated it.  Third theory is that once you've been on these powerful drugs the brain just has a very hard time functioning without medication anymore.  My suspicion is that each of these happens to some people but not all people, so it's difficult to generalize, but you do have to notice that virtually everyone on these types of forums ends up back on meds.  

[nursegirl6572]

Sounds like you have everything covered, my friend, and are doing well!  Awesome!  Keep up the good work!

:0)

[CanuckGuy42]

DAY 2 - Took my 5 mg dose this morning after a workout at the gym.

Was feeling a bit edgey last night so I went and did an hour of cardio at the gym which at first got me "edgier" but an hour later the edge was off and I slept pretty well last night.

So for now, no Lorazapam. Still got a bit dizzy in the car on the drive in to work this morning but its manageable and not like it was 2 weeks ago when I had the panic attack and had to pull over on the highway. I am avoiding highways for the time being and taking side streets. It's a nicer drive anyway. Less stress and less traffic. That's worth the extra 15 mins on the commute.

Cutting coffee down to 2 cups a day in the morning as I remember from last time coffee is NOT your friend as you ramp up on an SSRI.

Anyway... as I thought this is familiar territory so that is helping BIG TIME
so far. I know what to expect over the next 4-6 weeks....  

[JGF25]

I'm following along too :)  Hopefully your "position of knowledge" will make a big difference this go around.  I know past positive experiences help me tremendously.  

[nursegirl6572]

Good luck!!

Remember, there's a good bit of the side effects that are attributed to anxiety too.  We can psych ourselves out, waiting and worrying for the side effects.  Then, if we DO experience some side effects, we make ourselves more anxious about it.  The best thing you can do is to try not to overthink the process too much, keep yourself busy and distracted.

Fingers crossed that it goes smoothly...definitely keep us updated on this thread.  I'll be anxious (no pun intended, lol) to watch along and see how you do.