Lexapro withdrawal

Hi, @johnlionheart. I also wanted to welcome you to Mayo Clinic Connect. Some of our other members in the mental health group--@pankaj, @lighthouseceliac, @freefromdrug1, @shoregal45, @ contentandwell and @hopeful33250--may have some further insight on anti-anxiety medications and what has worked well for them. @johnlionheart , are your son's doctors looking a putting him on another medication when he has tapered off the escitalopram (Lexapro)?

@johnlionheart. Your son seems to suffer from severe anxiety, possibly coupled with depression. Lexapro is a very good drug with minimal side effects. If it has worked for your son in the past, it is not clear why it is being tapered. It may be useful to add a suitable dose of Mirtazapine at night to Lexapro in the morning. Mirtazapine has a strong anti-anxiety effect. Also, it might help if an anti-anxiety drug such as Clonazepam is prescribed for a short period till the anxiety and panic attacks stop. It could then be tapered. The bottom line is that Lexapro should not be tapered without a good reason, especially if it has worked in the past. Anxiety comorbid with depression can be adequately treated with skilful handling.

I am currently weaning off of lexapro. Dr took me from 20 to 10. I feel awful. Nauseous, irritable and my head feels heavy. I hope these symptoms don't last long or I'll have to up the dose again and after 9 years, I don't want to be on it

@bradyswife04. You have not mentioned why your doctor is tapering Lexapro. Is it because of any adverse side effects of Lexapro or any other reason? Unless there is a very good reason, it is not advisable to taper the medication. A very large number of people suffer relapse after tapering their anti-depressants. If everything was going well for you and you were stable on 20 mg Lexapro for a long time, it would probably be advisable for you to continue it, particularly because Lexapro has almost no side effects and is one of the safest and best anti-depressants. Many doctors commit the mistake of tapering anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs soon after the patient starts feeling better. That leads to relapse in a very large percentage of cases. And after that, it becomes more difficult to restore your previous condition even if you revert to the earlier dosage of the anti-depressant. The safest course of action is that if you are stable on a particular drug or a combination of drugs, don't tinker with it; simply continue with it indefinitely. Understandably, many patients want to get off the drugs as soon as they start feeling better. Unfortunately, a majority of them suffer a relapse of their illness. Only a small minority do not suffer a relapse. So far, it is not possible to know who will suffer a relapse and who will not. Trial and error is the only way to find that out. Therefore, if your illness is chronic and you have already suffered a relapse in the past, the safest course of action is to continue the medication on which you have been stable. Hope this is helpful. Best wishes.

@ramos06. I can understand your wish to get off medication but there is a danger of relapse, which you appear to be suffering. Please see my response to @bradyswife04 posted a few minutes ago. All the best.

Glad to hear he's got a new doctor. To me it sounds like his first doctor was not at all careful about how he was diagnosing and prescribing. Best of luck to him (and you).

From what I'm reading here (and reading elsewhere), it seems amazing how easily these drugs (in my case, Lexapro), get handed out. Some of the things I read I dare say are criminal. But I think it is up to John and Jane Q Public to become better informed and more wary about doctors quickly handing out meds. I took Lexapro for a year and now weened off. I started the ween and double-checked with my PA that my schedule for the ween would be appropriate. He said it sounded fine. I stuck to it and got off the drug (10mgs) within about 3 weeks. But nobody told me what I was going to experience after being off the drug. This is the reason I ended up here. I got online suspecting some strange things I've been experiencing in the past 7 days or so might be attributable to being off Lexapro. And I'll be damned if what I read isn't exactly what I'm experiencing. Again, I really believe doctors should be more forthcoming about drug experiences. But we as patients I do believe have to take the initiative because they (the doctors) are not going to. In other words, it's the informed consumer that ends up protecting him/herself or those they are guardian of.

I was put on 150 mg of Venafexine twice a day 2 years ago. It helped my depression but I felt drugged most days and so after a while asked to be taken off of it. The doctor refused saying he’d have to put me in the hospital to do that and he wasn’t willing to take the chance that I then would then try to kill myself. I have never been suicidal but I went along with him. Finally, after more time had passed he agreed to reduce me to one 150 mg a day. He told me to just stop taking one pill at night. I did that and had no trouble and felt more like myself after a few weeks with the depression at the same level it had been with double the dose.
After reading about all of you who had serious problems after and with
weaning off your drugs, I have a problem taking it at all. Has anyone experienced any long term problems after taking the drug. .

I would like to ask if anyone has attempted to ween off Lexapro using the oral suspension? I am going do this starting tomorrow. I have been taking lexapro 10mg for 3.5 years. I am more interested in getting off this drug without all the side effects than with doing it quickly. I figure if I reduce the dose by 1-2 mg per day over several months I may not have the severe side effects most experience. I tried once before to ween by halfing the pill or the every other day method and just couldn't function clear headed enough and experienced anxiety (which is something I did not have before the Lexapro). Has anyone tried this method? Thanks

Hello @positivelife and Welcome to Mayo Connect. I am a volunteer mentor on Mayo Connect. I read your post with interest as I have had recent experience weening off different medications. In order us to understand your situation better, please offer as many other details as you are comfortable doing. I have a few questions that will help us give you more assistance :

1. Have you talked with the physician who first prescribed the Lexapro for you, or another physician about weening from the medication?
2. If so, did you follow their instructions previously?
3. Do you take other medications or have other medical issues that might be affected (positive or negative) by your stopping the Lexapro?

The people on Mayo Connect are very open in sharing our experiences with each other. However, please keep in mind that we aren't medical professionals and cannot offer medical advice, only our experience, which I have found to be invaluable. Again, welcome to Mayo Connect.

Warm regards,
Gail, Volunteer Mentor