Getting Off Lexapro (Top voted first)

I've been taking Lexapro for over 10 yrs and don't like being dependent on it - has anyone successfully stopped their dependence on this drug?

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Many people have successfully stopped taking it, it's really a matter of doing so properly. If you're not replacing it with a similar medication, it should be tapered slowly to avoid the worst of the withdrawal symptoms and your doctor should be able to help you set up an appropriate tapering schedule.

The FDA lists the typical withdrawal effects as possibly including nausea, dizziness, chills, fever, diarrhea, rebound depression and anxiety.

Is there anything else I can help with?

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Hey there,
I was on 20mg of lexapro a day for 3 years. Went (kinda) cold turkey. So glad I did. The month leading upto it I actually started skipping random days of meds. Sometimes I'd feel a little off but I had a feeling it was what my body wanted me to do. I pretty much made myself go into withdrawal a couple of times a week and as soon as I felt off I would resume my meds.
I had read about people difficulties even with weaning off and it seemed like I'd have to spend a year weaning off if I wanted to avoid months of horror.
When I fully quit I got REALLY sick for 2 weeks... Lots of throwing up. Every day. And food didn't seem to digest properly. It would just sit in my stomach. Yucky!! I was so tempted to get back on my meds or at least wean off them but I figured I'd just get it all over and done with quick as I could. Thought I'd try to shock it out of my system, so to speak. And you know what? It worked! After 2 weeks I was fine. Never got any 'brain zaps'.
It is my (completely uneducated) opinion that perhaps when the brain has any drug-induced seretonin reuptake inhibition occuring at all, even if a reduced amount, that it's still hanging on to that process. I think I prepared (and then shocked) my brain into inhibiting the reuptake of seretonin again all own its lonesome :-) I think it was being fully forced to rely on itself a couple of days a week for that month before I fully quit.. People who go cold turkey often report feeling some euphoria after the withdrawal symptoms wear off. I certainly did. After the two weeks in hell I experienced a very happy month. I found myself pretty moody for a few weeks after that but nothing that I couldn't handle. I just focused on all the wonderful emotions I had back that I didn't even realise I had lost. For the first four months I was definitely moody and had a few irrational moments... to the likes of PMS. Then at month 5 I was back to normal and even better than I was before I started the lexapro.
Success story so far!
My advice: listen to your body... Mine started to feel a little nauseous when I would take my meds... That was my signal to quit.

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