withdrawal lexapro (with response)

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

I withdrew from lexapro about 8 or 9 weeks ago. I am having 4 main

problems 1. despair, a sense of desolation and suicidal feelings such

as I have never experienced 2. twitching in my right eye on and off

for weeks. 3. extreme sensitivity to cold ,my body, my fingernails, my

teeth. 4. normal appropriate sexual responsiveness has not returned. I

was on lexapro for a number of years. I came off over a period of

months and the last month I switched to liquid lexapro. No one

supports me in my decision to be off. I read in some of your posts

that I should have come off even more slowly and perhaps should

reinstate the drugs. Before I make a decision of that nature please

tell me what studies or information such advice is based on. Please

tell me what if anything may be helpful with the 4 problems I listed.

I appreciate any advice but it is important to me to know what studies

or information backs up any advice. I need to feel secure that I am

making the right decisions. Thank you.

Raven

** Dear Raven,

In order to give you an idea of what you may be able to do at this point

you'll need to be more specific about the details of your withdrawal from

Lexapro. You do have the symptoms of someone who came off an antidepressant too

quickly. The problems you listed stem from this. It is not easy to mitigate

these symptoms. The best news you could have right now would be that you can

still begin taking Lexapro again in order to bring balance back to your system.

Then you could discontinue the drug in a way that is not going to harm you as

this method has.

Depending upon the particulars of your withdrawal,there can be a window of

opportunity where someone may be able to reinstate the drug and after becoming

physically stable again, slowly discontinue the drug in a way that causes much

less disruption to your health than you are currently experiencing.

What I need in order to ascertain this is more details. Anywhere you used

terms like " number of years " and " period of months " I need actual numbers. It

would also help to know the dose you were taking and the schedule you used to

decrease it. For example -- " I took Lexapro for 5.5 years. I was taking 20 mg.

I began decreasing it in May with the first decrease being 5 mg. I waited a

week,and then decreased another 5 mg... " . I think you understand what I'm

asking.

Please also include at what point you began having symptoms of withdrawal

(like the ones you mention above or others).

Finally, please indicate if you are on any other psychotropic drugs, or any

other prescription drugs. Please also include any OTC prearations you take

regularly and any birth control other than non-drug interventions.

To answer one of your questions, I know that sometimes it is better for some

people to reinstate the drug they came off too quickly because I have been

working for 22 years with people who chose to discontinue psychotropic drugs and

did this too rapidly. Things that were once a guessing game 20 years ago are

now tried and true practices learned from the experiences of the numerous people

who have walked ahead of you on this path.

Regards,

(list owner)