Posted by 1Runningman on March 10, 2005, at 9:49:03
In reply to Re: Getting OFF Lexapro, posted by Marietta on March 10, 2005, at 8:53:14
> I"m glad you are doing so well. YES the side-effects when FIRST STARTING were awful. Like you, i don't think i slept more than 1 or 2 hrs at a time for the first 2 weeks. By then, i was dragging!! I tried many 'suggestions' from the board -- i.e. taking at a differeent time of day, with food, w/o food, even over the counter herbs and Tylenol PM. NOTHING helped but time. Once i was able to sleep the Lex definitely helped me get on a more even keel emotionally. I have been off the Lex cold-turkey for a week now. I think maybe day 3 or 4, i felt slight "hangover" or mild dizzness. I have had a slight 'bitchy" attitude towards somethings but not sure if it's the withdrawl, PMS or just a "woman thing". lol
>
> good luck..you are almost there it sounds.
>
> Marietta
>
>
I wanted to get off this stuff as fast as possible, but after reading all the potential side effects, I decided to take it slowly! I figured since I had already been on it for 6 months, what's another 5 or 6 weeks with a decreasing dosage. Some of those side effects sound really hairy! I can cope with mild dizziness, mild fatigue, and slight anxiousness during the days, especially if I can get a normal nights sleep.I think if I get thru this week with no problems, it will hopefully go smoothly since I'll only be taking small percentages off the dose after that, until I'm completely free of it. If I knew all the symptoms would disappear in a week, I'd just stop, but I don't know that so I'm not taking any chances!
I feel practically normal today, so hopefully it will keep going that direction.
At least I know that this drug will work for me, IF... I ever have to use it again. Although, I'm really gonna have to feel like I need it before I do this again. Plus, I won't be starting out with 10 mg, no matter what the Dr. says! I'd probably start with 2.5 for a week then 5.0 for a week and I probably wouldn't even increase it past that point unless I REALLY felt bad!
I noticed almost EVERYONE said they were gaining weight also! I didn't gain anything substantial, but I found I was having a heck of a time keeping my weight down running 40-50 miles a week!! I actually did gain probably 3-4 lbs, but cut back on any excess snacks and got back to where I was in about 3 weeks or so! It seemed like once this drug got into my system, I felt SUPER hungry most of the time! I would say it definitely changes your metabolism, I'm probably eating around 500 calories less a day than I was before I started taking it, just to stay at the same weight! I'd hate to see what would happen if I weren't doing all this exercise. Fairly intense exercise too... Most of my mileage is between 6-7 minutes per mile, along with 3 upper body and 2 lower body weight workouts a week.
It sounds like you are doing OK... Good luck to you and hopefully, you are almost free!
poster:1Runningman
thread:459551
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20050228/msgs/469181.html