Lexapro withdrawal

I am currently weaning from Lexipro because it makes my blood sugar way too low. I have read this could happen. I am diabetic and do know this could happen but before this I was on amitriptiline for 10 years and it never interfered with sugars. I have sudden unpleasant drops. Hate that! Does anyone else have this experience? If you did stop the Lexipro, did your sugars go to normal again. Thanks for any help.

I really would like to know if anyone weaned from Lexipro and didn’t have withdrawal? I only read horror stories and they scare me half to death!

It affected my sugars as well. It took awhile but they’re now back on track. Hang in there! I posted another reply to you I received a message saying it would not post due to me saying something similar. Who knows!

Thank you so much for your reply. I feel so much better knowing someone else had this reaction. I absolutely hate low blood sugar. How long did it take before it went back to normal after you stopped? This is. So helpful to me.

Oh boy ... I’ve just started on 10 milligrams of ecitalopram (generic for Lexapro) for anxiety. If it doesn’t work, I’m weening off very slowly. Sounds like coming off is as bad as the issues we take it for! I’ve also been told stopping abruptly can cause hallucinations. Also, has anyone on this drug experienced nausea as a side effect?

About a week or so. You may want to ask your dr about taking an extra dose of diabetes medication.

It sounds like you have a good plan. My psychiatrist and therapist are thinking wellbutrin or trazodone for me - but my therapist has a strong belief that my real problem is ADD - we've tried Adderall and Ritalin...but haven't found the right dosage...or maybe not the right stimulant. In the end, I may simply need a short acting stimulant for when I can't focus and ideally be done with the antidepressants under the theory that my anxious depression is really the result of unmanaged ADD. But thanks for the insight on Remeron.

@kdo0827 and @youngsally

I've read your posts here in reference to Lexapro and weaning off it. Kdo0827, before you go on Effexor (cymbalta), I recommend that you read through the Effexor / Venlafaxine withdrawal thread. Those who have taken this drug have a lot to say about how bad it was for them. Everyone is different and therefore we all react to drugs differently, but you should at least read what others say about this particular antidepressant.

Second, have you asked your physicians to do a DNA test to see how you will react to different antidepressants? If not, I highly recommend that you do this before starting a new antidepressant. That will save you a great deal of time and misery by identifying drugs that will work for you. I take Citalopram myself, and it has worked better than I had hoped for. I thinking about changing to Lexapro, so would you be willing to share why you are weaning off it? It was recommended for me, but I need to learn as much as possible from those who have used it. I too will be getting a DNA test to see what antidepressants will work best for me. I look forward to hearing from you both.

Nausea is not uncommon with the antidepressants as a whole; it's one of the reasons people up their dosages gradually...and a reason why one needs to get off slowly as well. I don't think hallucinations are common with SSRIs if you stop abruptly...that's more of a benzo issue...but again, your mileage may vary. 🙂

But here's the good news: the rule of thumb is that the more horrible you feel getting on an antidepressant - the more likely it will be drug that works for you. I was sick as a dog getting on both Paxil and then Effexor....but they both worked for me. Got off the Paxil pretty easily...and am almost off the Effexor (next step is going to zero).

Absolutely agree. The SNRI's are tricky - they worked for me (until recently)...but they have a devilish reputation upon withdrawal. I'm three weeks into my Effexor tapering (down to 37.5mg from 150mg) and will be moving to zero this week. But as you say, everyone reacts differently....For me, the norepinephrine (the N in SNRI) seems to be the key.....

When Cymbalta came on the market, it's main "advantage" was that one generally didn't need to titrate on to the drug - which is/was considered one of the disadvantages of Effexor. Cymbalta also sought/received some other approved indications - in part, I recall, because Effexor had such a dominant share of the market that Cymbalta's no-titrate up advantage was not that big an advantage.

My psychiatrist (new relationship) uses genetic testing - although I have such a long history with antidepressants and the same therapist - that at this point it's probably not something we are going to do. Right now the task is finishing the Effexor taper...then we'll look at whether I will benefit from a different medication (my primary diagnosis has moved from anxious depression/dysthymia to ADD). The DNA tests are not consistently covered by insurance - so that may be a financial deterrent to some people.