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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Mandybella on December 18, 2003, at 9:48:13
My dr said to stop 20mg of lexapro but he did not say if I should taper off and I cannot reach. Does anyone know if I can just stop it or if I wean. I have heard of horrible effects from stopping paxil abruptly and would like to know if this is the same. Thanks
Posted by Mariposa on December 18, 2003, at 11:30:31
In reply to Can lexapor be stopped abruptly, posted by Mandybella on December 18, 2003, at 9:48:13
> My dr said to stop 20mg of lexapro but he did not say if I should taper off and I cannot reach. Does anyone know if I can just stop it or if I wean. I have heard of horrible effects from stopping paxil abruptly and would like to know if this is the same. Thanks
DO NOT STOP COLD TURKEY!!! I have read many posts here on the subject and the side effects can be pretty bad if you stop suddenly, better to taper off gradually.
May I ask why are you supposed to stop?
Good luck and keep us posted!~~~8|8
Posted by nicky847 on December 18, 2003, at 11:34:00
In reply to Re: Can lexapor be stopped abruptly » Mandybella, posted by Mariposa on December 18, 2003, at 11:30:31
Mariposa is right, do NOT stop cold turkey...you need to taper slowly, and your doc should know this...talk to the doc about a tapering schedule and if you can't get one out of that doc go see another one..
> > My dr said to stop 20mg of lexapro but he did not say if I should taper off and I cannot reach. Does anyone know if I can just stop it or if I wean. I have heard of horrible effects from stopping paxil abruptly and would like to know if this is the same. Thanks
>
> DO NOT STOP COLD TURKEY!!! I have read many posts here on the subject and the side effects can be pretty bad if you stop suddenly, better to taper off gradually.
>
> May I ask why are you supposed to stop?
>
> Good luck and keep us posted!~~~8|8
Posted by Wildflower on December 18, 2003, at 12:23:17
In reply to Can lexapor be stopped abruptly, posted by Mandybella on December 18, 2003, at 9:48:13
DON'T DO IT! I actually tried to stop cold turkey (20 mg) a few weeks ago and it was horrible! (There are a few posts from it if you do a Dr. Bob search.)
I felt so dizzy, confused and irritable after 36 hours that I had to give in and take 1/2 a tablet. I spoke to my pdoc and he said that at the very least taper to 10 mg for 7 days before stopping although the ideal situation would be to go from 20 to 10 to 5 to 0. I suppose it depends on why your doc wants you to stop. If you're switching to something else, you may be OK.
Good luck! Hope this helps.
Posted by Mandybella on December 18, 2003, at 14:50:06
In reply to Re: Can lexapor be stopped abruptly, posted by nicky847 on December 18, 2003, at 11:34:00
The reason I am stopping is that I am on Well butrinXL 300mg and Lamictal 100mg bid and Seroquel 400 hs and Klonopin 1 mg bid. I wanted to get off so many meds and the dr thought it was reasonable to stop lexapro and see if sex urge would come back. My dr is world renowned so I guess he knows what he is doing--he said I am a bipolar 1 instead of depression and mostly need the lamictal and seroquel. It all gets so confusing, but anyway the tapering was something he never addresssed. Thanks
Posted by socialdeviantjeff on December 19, 2003, at 2:32:32
In reply to Re: Can lexapor be stopped abruptly, posted by Mandybella on December 18, 2003, at 14:50:06
I was on it briefly and the cold turkey withdrawal effects were not too fun. Since you're still on the other meds, try not taking lex at all for a couple days and see how you feel. If you get bad withdrawals, then call your pdoc and get some clarification.
Just a thought, good luck!
Posted by Mats on December 19, 2003, at 7:31:09
In reply to Re: Can lexapor be stopped abruptly » Mandybella, posted by Wildflower on December 18, 2003, at 12:23:17
I stopped abruptly 200MG zoloft. Did have some electric shocks and mild flu-like syndroms for 2 weeks. nothing bad at all.
Posted by Sebastian on December 19, 2003, at 12:10:35
In reply to Re: Can lexapor be stopped abruptly, posted by Mandybella on December 18, 2003, at 14:50:06
If you realy don't like the med, you can stop cold turky. Thats probably why he said to. You could try, if you withdraw badly just take a little bit, what ever it takes, and you are willing to put up with.
Posted by Interject79 on December 19, 2003, at 16:35:17
In reply to Can lexapor be stopped abruptly, posted by Mandybella on December 18, 2003, at 9:48:13
Would seem to be inadvisable, as Lexapro can produce nasty WD. Maybe it's not as bad if you're taking Seroquel + a mood stabilizer, but I sure wouldn't swear to that. Seroquel is an antagonist for at several serotonin receptors and dopamine receptors, but it's not too much of an anticholinergic drug, which means it might not help with some symptoms of WD.
If you're going to have the WD it'll probably occur after close to 48 hours. If it does, you have the option of taking a lower dose of the Lexapro or treating the WD symptoms another way. You could go with the lower dose if you have WD, then taper, with your rate of tapering dependent on how bad the symptoms of withdrawal were. And since we're fast approaching the holidays, it might not be a bad idea to keep some of that Lex handy :) just some thoughts...
Best of luck,
interject
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