lexapro withdrawal

[whitecat78]

has anyone here ever withdrawn from lexapro?  i am 4 days clean but i am having very bad irritability and a burning sensation in my nerves.  i can control my irritability when i am alone in a quiet room. this may sound bad but i cant stand being around my family it makes my irritability go through the roof.  they dont seem to understand what i am going through either. i stopped seeing my psychiatrist and i am going to see a therapist soon. i just want to be drug free and learn how to control my anger without medication.

[gr8guymemphis]

Although I'm not a physician, I do know from experience about Lexapro withdrawal -- here is what I found to be HIGHLY effective:  5-HTP / St. John's Wort / B-Complex supplements.  I PROMISE YOU, although it will take time, YOU WILL GET BETTER.  Looking back, it seems like it took a month or more to get over the majority of the symptoms -- some residual symptoms even longer.  BUT HANG IN THERE!!!!

[x89rt]

im glad you are feeling better. :)

[whitecat78]

thanks for the responses, i am taking a small dose of prozac to wean off it, because it has a longer half life. it seems to help a lot. i think without it, it would be too unbearable.  it has been 6 days since i took the lexapro, i think i am finally starting to feel better.

[x89rt]

yep. i ran out of my lexapro one day and the weekend after the following week (weekend before school started) i had a really hard deppresed episode. granted, there were other things in my life that were bringing me down already. i barely ate anything and i went to sleep early. spent most of the two days in bed, the whole time on the brink of crying. i wasnt watching tv or playing games or anything. just in bed covered thinking of bad things.

[yarrow]

I have been on various SSRIs for longish periods of time, and the advice I always got from my psychiatrist I always got was to taper off them very gradually.  The word was that quitting suddenly could produce pretty nasty effects, and it sounds as though you are feeling that kind of thing.

If you stop and think about it, it usually takes a few weeks to get the full effect from SSRIs when you start up.  It should take about the same length of time to withdraw.

If I were you, I'd probably ask my psychiatrist's advice on this, because you could have some bumpy times ahead, no fun for you or those around you, either.