Lexapro Withdrawal Unwanted Side Effects (Page 2) (Top voted first)

I have been taking Lexapro 10mg once a day for about a year. I have had many unwanted side effects which according to my doctor there are very few side effects from Lexapro. He says it is a clean drug. Wrong. It did nothing to help me and I want off. My doctor refused to give me anti-anxiety meds to help with the withdrawals from Lexapro because once again, there are no withdrawals from Lexapro. Why do doctors lie about this. Why do pharmaceutical companies lie about this? I have read so much about people just losing it while trying to stop taking Lexapro. I have not taken it in about ten days after weaning off for about two months from 10mg to 2 mg a day. My nerves are a wreck, I am extremely irratable, and have slight headaches. This is a horrible drug with many long lasting withdrawal symptoms. The makers of Lexapro, Forrest Pharmaceutical, should be ashamed of themselves. Do not lie to so many people just to increase the market strength of your company.

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I have just been put on Lexepro 10mg and have taken it for 3 days. Should have done research prior to taking it but after researching withdrawal symptoms I do not want to proceed with this drug. Is it ok to go cold turkey since it has only been 3 days or should I ween off? Any help is appreciated.

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I have terrible withdraw. On lexapro 10 years 10 mil. I feel like I am so tired walking is tiring. I have dizziness sharp headaches and just feel like it takes a lot of effort to do anything. I went on it 10 years ago after my mom passed from a long illness 10 I just did not feel like it was helping anymore. It is tough. I just hope I get my energy back soon I am so exhausted all the time

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my husband has been taking this lexapro drug now for 3 years and was trying to wein off it. however they also added a drug called clonazepam for the reduction of the lexapro. well my husband got down to a 10 mg of lexapro and the 5mg of clonazepam. well now he refuses to take either one of these drugs and i am nervous. he is dispalying odd behavior as well as very sick like you hear about with junkies...this lexapro is an addiction beyone belief.and its legal go figure. please any advise would help. (just not the advice to restart taking the meds.)

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Thanks for mentioning that! My prescription ran out on the 21st, and I don't have the first cent to revisit my doctor until June. I was freaking out that I'd have the same dizzy, out-of-body feelings like I did the last time I went days between pills, but now I have hope!

I'm already on Vitamin B Complex with the Lexapro, Vitamin C, and fish oils. I'm going to try the Noni juice and, above all, keep hydrated. I'm also going to try and be more active exercise-wise. I'm sure it won't be roses for the first few days, but I'll deal with it if it means I'll be off those drugs for good.

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I have been off Lexapro for a month now. I was on 10 mg a day for ten years. I can't imagine how long it is going to take for me to feel somewhat normal again. I feel like I have the flu or a horrible stomach virus. The nausea is the worse. My family has had enough and has lost patience with me. I cry over everything and am very irritable. I stay in bed a lot and my work is suffering. My doctor said there were no side affects and to just cut back for a week and go off completely. That is what I did and I feel like I am loosing my mind and I feel awful. Has anyone else been on Lexapro for this long and gotten off? I can't live like this much longer and so want just to see improvement.

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I am at 13 weeks with no Lexapro and have had two good days and nights in a row. I am excited that someday I will be drug fee and feel good again.

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if you want to come off of this drug, then you should know that what you are going through will stop.. you will get through it. i did. i went through the same thing and it took me about a month. don't get discouraged. if this is what you want, i have been there. i have no symptoms now and am doing well. you will get there just hang on. it will be tough though.

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Hey - an update - end of week 2 coming down from 20 - 10mg - and still feeling good - I've been having heaps of nausea and brain zaps - I've found ginger tea to work for the nausea and fish oil for the brain zaps. In addition I've been really tired - so I've been sleeping a lot too. Already I've found my energy levels have really lifted and I'm running and riding and at the gym a lot more. I've always been an active guy and I found lexapro and my depression (of course) ripped my mojo away. So that's good eh? Also my brain is clear and more settled.

I'm now moving to 10mg every 3 days - wish me luck!

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another update, over the short relapse, feeling really good. Still have some of the speeding but I can deal with it because I feel so much better.
"living ad dying in 3/4 time" I see the end of the tunnel !!

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I'm so sorry you seem like you are really suffering. Being on Lexapro for 8 years is a long time and I would think you would need about a year to get off. Weaning very slow. I also felt better being on Lexapro with my anxiety but, my hair was falling out by the handfuls. I gained over 20 lbs in a few months and I have no libido. I still take a 1/2 a pill a day, 5 mgs. and now my hair is okay. I still have the weight. I think when you start feeling better with your life, it's only natural to want to get off your meds. Suicide ideation and life feeling blah is very depressing. These meds really mess up your mind. I would probably have stood on this medication if the side effects weren't so bad for me or getting off of it wasn't hell. I want to lower my dose still but my anxiety level has been high and I am afraid to. There is a lot of stress in my life.

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after taking the 5htt, wouldn't you become hooked on this also. Is it not like another ssri. let me know, because I'd like to know more information about the 5htt.

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I had to taper down to 1 mg due to those exact withdrawal symptoms...my thought was there was no rush to end the meds might as well go as slow as my body needed...it really helped to taper down to a tiny amount daily rather than a larger amount skipping days

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Seriously, the only thing I know to do is tuff it out, and this is where I am, in my personal desire to get this crap out of my system. I am consciously watching everything I do and say, in order to help me get my old self back. I am watching my diet, and actively trying to control my behavior through vigorous walking and taking deep breaths. I think before I speak, and try to keep my roller coaster of emotions in check. I do have a lot of personal will power, but realize that not everyone can muster up courage and will power on demand. You must believe that you will get through this. Think of yourself as a fighter, and you at war. Be determined to win! Do not allow yourself to go to any dark places in your head. Shake it off, walk around the block a few times. Focus on "winning".

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I have been on Lexapro 10mg for probably about 10 years now! Im 28. I tapered off very slowly but still getting the nasty side effects. Very dizzy and getting those 'brain zaps' in the begining, that has now subsided after about 3 weeks! Im still very irritable and my emotions are on a rollercoaster. Some nights i have restless legs and find it difficult to sleep, feel strange. The past few days have been pretty bad mood wise. I feel very sad and hopeless and just want to cry all the time. I just can't go back to feeling like this. Lucky im off work until end of next week. Can anyone tell me when it starts to get better? I refuse to go back on it! I know it's just my brain adjusting to the different levels of seratonin but it still sucks! It's probably going to be a long road as I have been on this drug for so long. I have tried going off it numerous times in the past and I couldnt deal with the side effects. Im proud to have come this far.

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its the Lexapro. You started at 20 mg? Which is very strong , than you dropped to 10mg which is too big of a drop. Your central nervous system is going haywire. Your doctor has no idea what hes doing. This drug is very strong so even a suggested 10%taper per month would induce withdrawal symptoms. My guess is that it will take a few weeks or a month for your system to get used to being on 10mg again.

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Lexapro is a brilliant drug helping many to get through the days. It took me about 3 weeks to adjust to it and by week 4 I felt human and week 5 I wondered if this is how ordinary people feel every day. (Ie great and normal and calm).
Now it is 2 plus years later and I want to experience life without the weight gain and fatigue that were my side effects of this otherwise great medication. I went a week on 5 mg from 10 mg and now am starting the 2.5 mg. I don't mind the occasional dizziness or the difficulty now falling asleep but worry my crippling anxiety will return. I am eating regularly and doing breathing exercises and focusing on my half full glass. I just want my own self back drug free but can't bad mouth this drug (yet) because it saved my life. Everything is a trade off.

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I strongly suggest MUCH longer than 10 days at 2.5, especially as you are feeling withdrawal effects already from your recent reduction. Do 3-4 weeks, then every other day. It won't hurt to ease your system into the reset. I tried 10 days,at 2.5 then nothing. BAD. I had to start again it was so awful. Physically and mentally, emotionally. So now I am going to go SUPER SLOW and see if I can get oral Sutton to go down to less than 2.5 as my final dose. Best to you!!!

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I was on 10mg the went to 5mg for 3 weeks. Then 2.5ml for a week. The every other day for a week. Really didn't feel to many side effects from the taper

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It is so frustrating to gain weight, feel lazy and have sexual side effects YET have the depression and anxiety go away leaving you in a bind to chose. It is a hard choice. I am only on 5mg and it works for me, and I want to go off it but I am nervous about my anxiety and depression returning. I tried to go off before and had hellish withdrawals, even with a slow taper. My Dr. agreed to prescribe liquid for when I decide to try again. It is a tough choice, quite the gamble.

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I started taking 10mg of Lexapro about 6 years ago at the recommendation of my OBGYN in my early 40s. I was extremely fatigued all the time and my blood work came back totally normal. She thought I might be perimenopausal. After about a week on Lexapro the fatigue was gone and I felt great again for years. Then real menopause hit and I started having depression and all sorts of bad symptoms. With the addition of hormones I was good again for a while. Then I had a hysterectomy and all hell broke loose, so I changed hormones and my OBGYN upped the Lexapro to 20 mg. All was good again for a while.

However, I realized over time that I have some other weird symptoms that I never attributed to Lexapro. I have problems concentrating, especially when reading. My eyes just won't focus on the words. I have trouble focusing on what I am doing because my mind is always wandering to other things. As a result It takes twice as long to complete a task. The worse symptom is I feel drugged at times where my eyes feel heavy and I'm really fatigued. Last but not least, I have non existent libido. I was worried it was all from getting older.

The light bulb went off when a few months ago I started taking a drug called Accutane to help permanently treat a lifetime of acne breakouts. I figured at 50 yrs old enough was enough. Accutane comes with tons of warnings but no one seemed to be concerned about the fact that I was on Lexapro. I was also put on Losartan, a blood pressure medication around the same time. Well to make a long story shorter, the cocktail was devastating. After about a month I was having periods of each day of feeling horribly drugged. I couldn't concentrate on anything, had weird vision changes and I was exhausted. My Dr. took me off the Accutane immediately and I quit the Losartan immediately as well. It took about 2 weeks and then I felt a lot better again.

Then I started to notice though that I still had the concentration issues and fatigue and it all came to me that they were there before starting the other drugs. I realized that I really hadn't felt that great for years now, but it just happened so gradually. The additional drugs just brought it all to light! So I decided to get off the Lexapro as well. I had heard that you shouldn't do it cold turkey. One of my Drs. said to cut the dose in half for a week, then take half every other day and then every few days until none at all. She said it would only take a few weeks. No big deal.

When I first quit Lexapro I felt amazing. Huge energy surge for the first week. I think it was a honeymoon period. Now I have been completely off it for about 2 weeks and all hell has broken loose again. I have headaches, huge anger problems (not normal for me), crying at the drop of the hat, constant irritability, fatigue, body aches at the end of the day and depression. I'm thinking I did not taper off the drug long enough. I had no idea how bad it would be. I have not had any of the brain zaps you all refer to. I read on another site that fish oil helps with that. As it turns out I have been taking Omega 3 fish oil pills all through this. Try it! Also heard to try magnesium and vitamin B. I just started the two other vitamins. Hoping it helps.

At this moment I just feel like my brain is in a fog. It is similar to how I felt on the drug only worse. It makes me so tempted to just go back on the drug but I just want my brain back. I'm terrified by all the stories I hear about the withdrawal symptoms never going away. Does anyone have any success stories after going through this?!

I am hoping my story helps some of the woman my age understand what they are experiencing. DON'T let your doctors put you on Lexapro. It was amazing for a long while but there is a huge price to pay. Also it's crazy how easily your Drs. will prescribe additional medications. You have to protect yourselves. Don't just blindly do what they tell you. Do your homework first. I moved recently and had to get new doctors. I was telling my new OBGYN some of my symptoms and she wrote me a prescription for Wellbutrin to accompany the Lexapro!!! She said it would be great for the fatigue. I hadn't figured it all out at the time and actually filled the prescription but thank god never took it!!! Good luck everyone. Keep the info coming. So helpful to know we're not alone.

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