@ancl123 it’s called “kindling” and I’m reading about it on StoppingAntidepressants.org

“ Hypersensitivity and Kindling

What causes hypersensitivity?
Some people may experience minor difficulty in stopping a psychiatric drug one time, but the next time they start, startup symptoms are much worse, and the next time they stop, the withdrawal symptoms are worse. The nervous system can become destablilzed or sensitized from repeated adverse drug effects and withdrawal events.

If someone goes on and off multiple psychiatric drugs, they may be in a state of overlapping withdrawal reactions and often a persistent hypersensitivity.”

“ What is kindling?
Kindling is a neurological reaction that comes about after repeated withdrawal or adverse drug reactions cause hypersensitivity. When the same drug or a different drug is introduced, there is a hyper-reaction. That is the kindling response: An exaggerated adverse reaction to exposure to a drug, due to pre-established hypersensitive.

You may be vulnerable to kindling if you have a history of repeated rapid taper or cold turkey withdrawal and / or a history of heavy or chronic alcohol use, especially binge drinking -- in effect, going on and off the drug, with hyper-reaction when the drug is taken again.

Generally, kindling is an activation reaction -- a sense of overstimulation, which may be an inner electrical feeling, anxiety, nervousness, panic, or at the extreme, akathisia, which includes an urge to move to relieve intense inner agitation.

Here is an excellent explanation on the Benzodiazepine International Coalition website: Benzo Kindling.

While the exact mechanism of kindling is unknown, some of the details on kindling have been written about in papers on alcohol withdrawal, which like benzodiazepines, affects GABA (here is one such paper - Kindling in Alcohol Withdrawal).

While this phenomenon has been documented in the scientific literature for benzodiazepines for a long time, any drug that effects the nervous system and causes dependency can have a traumatic impact on the nervous system when changes are made often and abruptly. Research is now also pointing to kindling in antidepressant use.”

@ancl123
I’m wondering if your symptoms might stabilize if you stay on the same dosage and take the Trazodone just now for sleep? Or try the Ashwagandha for sleep? Then wondering if our systems would stabilize again on the Lexapro if we’re not changing around doses?