OT--SSRI Withdrawal | Arthritis Information

 

Blarg.  I was on lexapro since February because i was having super severe anxiety and insomnia (crazy for me) when I was first dx.  I think it all started b/c I was breastfeeding so no aleve/nsaids, just tylenol, and that did nothing so my pain levels were out of control, so bad I couldn't sleep.  Even after I got on nsaids it was lingering.  I took valium as needed for 2 weeks but started lexapro at the same time just to get me through. 

I can say that i had no side effects with it. I had been on zoloft in high school and it gave me dry mouth and made me feel weird, but lex did not.  I was only on 10 mg though.

So my pschyiatrist or however you spell it (MD guy) told me to do half a pill for a while then a quarter.  I think I had it all right and stopped this week.  (now i'm wondering if I did the quarter pill or missed that step...)

Anyway I'm reading about all these crazy ssri withdrawal side effects.  The only one I'm confident I'm getting is stupid electric shock sensations in my head.  When I was in zoloft in high school I quit cold turkey b/c I was irritated the doctor put me on it and didn't want to be (I thought I had add...which I do, have been dx...but she was convinced I was depressed, which i wasn't!)  Anyway from quitting cold turkey I got electric shock sensations in my hands that were bothersome and slightly painful.  The ones I am getting now are neutral...not painful...but distracting!  It's almost like being drunk at times. 

I am going to watch out for other symptoms and just hope they go away in a few weeks or months.  It's very distracting at work! 

Blarg. I am going to look at what i have left...I may space out the rest of what is in the bottle in tiny increments a bit more to try to taper down more easily...but I do want off them...no reason to take them, so I guess I'll deal with side effects

Paxil seems to be the worst with withdrawal problems, because of its short half-life.  You can get the "zaps" if you even miss one tablet!  Zoloft is a bit better, but if you are having problems with it, you might consider switching to a low dose of prozac for a month and then weaning off of it.  Prozac has a half-life of several days, so the withdrawal is much more gradual and you are much less likely to have issues.  Many people can simply stop taking it and not have problems.

As of a few years ago, many psychiatrists didn't even "believe" in the SSRI withdrawal problem - it's easy to dismiss the rantings of "psych" patients and tell them it's all in their head.  Well, yes, the withdrawal problem IS in our heads, because it's a neurological phenomenon taking place in the biggest group of nerve cells in the body... I know!  When I was on Zoloft it was 1995 and there was no info/dr. knowledge about it.  The zaps in my hands started and I had no idea what they were from until I looked back and read about it...but they started right after I went off it and gradually went away...Katie - I saw something on People's Pharmacy about a way to taper.  A reader wrote in that their compounding pharmacy did something with the med where they could inject it in gummie bears.  Each time the patient went in, the dose was stepped down a bit (so less severe than half, like you had to try) and they said they got through it with no withdrawal symptoms. I know of some severe withdrawal symptoms from someone who stopped I think it was trazadone cold turkey.  Be careful how you get off a SSRI.Trazodone is not an SSRI (it has a different mechanism).  It is often used as a sleep aid (it's really good at knocking you out; not so good for depression) and you can get nasty rebound insomnia when you quit taking it. You should probably taper off. I have taken Lexapro and currently take Celexa. When I don't take it for a few days, I get really dizzy. That does go away for me after a few weeks, but its not fun. I was just reading an article that said you should taper SSRI's.
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