This is rather uncomfortable....(lexapro withdrawals)

Options
245

Replies

  • SoupNazi
    SoupNazi Posts: 4,229 Member
    Options
    SARGE!!!:brokenheart:

    I'm so glad you have Manda.

    You can beat this bro. You have my prayers. (Manda too:heart: )
  • maestrachistosa
    maestrachistosa Posts: 202 Member
    Options
    Fellow Lexapro taker here...I have heard that withdrawal symptoms are "flu-like", but had no idea they were so severe!

    I am so sorry that you are going through such unpleasantness. It sounds like you were responsibly tapering off too...so I too, would suggest mentioning the withdrawal symptoms to you doctor...just to make sure everything is going as it should. In the meantime...I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Glad you've got Manda there to help you through!
  • BreaNix
    BreaNix Posts: 205 Member
    Options
    Sorry you both have to go through this. I will be thinking of you both and sending good vibes your way.
    :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

    Hey wasn't there a Star Trek kinda like this?
  • TNTPete
    TNTPete Posts: 701 Member
    Options
    prayers your way -- you will get through this. <2weeks to go (easier said then done)
  • stschulz
    stschulz Posts: 340
    Options
    I'm sorry you have to go through all this. Obviously you feel as if you can live without that medication and the fact how severe the withdrawal is also shows you what it really does to your body. I myself hate being dependent on medication, I only take BP medicine.

    You are both in my prayers and I hope you make it through these rough times well.
  • sunbug501
    sunbug501 Posts: 180
    Options
    You and Manda are definitely in my prayers J. I am sorry that you are feeling so much pain. My heart goes out to you both! Trust in God as I know you will and he will give you the strength you need to push through the pain.

    Isn't it amazing to be at the point now in life where you don't need it anymore though?! God has truly blessed you for staying true to Him!!!

    Hugs!
    Jen
  • sgtinvincible
    sgtinvincible Posts: 2,559
    Options
    Hey everyone, I just want to thank you all for your kind words and encouragement. Each and everyone of you are amazing people. I just don't have the words to describe how blessed I am to know you.

    I am feeling somewhat better this morning. I'm not getting the crazy chills and random 'lightning' coursing through me like I was last night. My body is totally exhausted though. It's like my nervous system is competely freaked out, and my body is at a loss for what to do about it. Hopefully yesterday was the worst of it. The really weird thing is how vivid my dreams were last night. I don't remember really dreaming for the last year of my life, so it's odd to wake and actually remember my dreams. Something I have learned from my dreams? I'm a weirdo. Oh well.

    Manda (:heart::heart: :heart: ) has continued to be an amazing source of strength. She has no idea how much help she has been, even just sitting next to me, while I tremor, worry consuming those beautiful eyes of hers. If anything, she has granted me the resolve to make it through this, simply because I don't want her to be sad. It breaks my heart to see her like that. :brokenheart: She's too beautiful to have heartache in her eyes (all the while showing just how beautiful she is on the inside to care so deeply for me....I *so* don't deserve it....)

    Anyway, I love you all dearly. Thanks so much for caring enough to take a moment to pray or even just send a little love my way. Ya'll will never know how much it's helped.

    Hugs to all.

    -Jeremy:heart:
  • shorerider
    shorerider Posts: 3,817 Member
    Options
    Love the new photos of you guys, too! You look so happy and content--

    date.gif
  • cwilson715
    cwilson715 Posts: 130
    Options
    Hey~ I just got off effexor xr for anxiety after having my daughter and because of my old job. I would have anxiety attacks, on my way to work, at work and I would be fine until I thought about going back to work. I stopped working in March of this year and I decided to come off the effexor about the beggining of April lowering my dose, then after 3 weeks took it everyother day. That seemed worse to me I would feel good one day and then next be dizzy, headaches, I was afraid to be alone at home with my daughter because I was afraid was going to pass out or fall and she would be alone. I just stopped taking the effexor on May 2nd and the withdrawl effects stayed with me till the 1st of June. I feel 100% not but I don't ever want to go on medication like that agian. If you can try doing yoga or meditating. I am not huge on it but it helped.

    Good Luck!

    remember you are not alone in this.:flowerforyou:
  • pecksun8
    pecksun8 Posts: 570
    Options
    You will have side effects after getting off lexapro, I had really bad headaches after getting off last year, and then I was fine, with just a few light headed episodes. I did have a few really bad cases of being so light headed that I had to leave work and just go lay down for the day, but it will come out of your system.
    Just remember that you will slip back into depression on occasion. I can't warn people enough to find someone to talk too after they get off an anti depressant.
    One thing that works for me when I do find myself slipping back down into depression, is to give myself one full day of beat-down, low-down, dirty, mean, your-no-good kind of talk to the utmost extreme condition, to myself and most of the time, by the end of the day, I realize just how twisted my thoughts used to be. You really need to over-exagerate your nagging depressive thoughts when you get like this, because sometimes it can be funny when you realize just how much you can skew how your thinking, and then you feel better the next day.
    But you only allow yourself one day of rock bottom overly depressive thoughts, the next day you have to get up and get back on schedule.

    Well, I hope this works for you like it does for me. And good luck with staying off of medication. Please make sure that you have people to tallk to. Stimulation of the brain is key to staying off anti depressants.
    Congrats for getting to where you are at, it's hard, but remember no one can live your life but you, you pay all the bills and wear out your own shoes, so keep your head up and live your life the way you want to live it, it's the only one you've got!
  • mello
    mello Posts: 817 Member
    Options
    Glad you are feeling somewhat better this morning. I will continue to keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

    Try to enjoy the rest of the weekend:flowerforyou:

    ~Melanie~
  • sindyb9
    sindyb9 Posts: 1,248 Member
    Options
    You can make it through this it will get easier everyday. You are sooooooo deserving of Manda and she you. It is amazing when you find someone, I have been with mine for 20 years and we still make everyday together count. You two make a great couple and will be each others rock. :drinker:
  • LandBsdotingchauffeur
    LandBsdotingchauffeur Posts: 237
    Options
    Hang in there, it's rough, but each day gets easier! My thoughts are with you guys. I wish I had something more profound to say but you're in my thoughts!
    Heidi
  • Shannon023
    Shannon023 Posts: 14,529 Member
    Options
    Once you beat this, just think how AMAZING the rest of your life is gonna be! :love:

    Stay strong, bud! :flowerforyou:
  • maureen4949
    maureen4949 Posts: 14
    Options
    Good luck to you J... these message boards are amazing, the support from everyone. You are lucky to have a lady in your life to help you through the withdrawl and good thoughts to you both.

    I do have to agree with several of the posters, contact your doctor and see if there is anything you can do to releive some of the symptoms. Take care and best of luck to you and Manda...
  • jill927
    jill927 Posts: 471 Member
    Options
    You can do it J!

    We have faith in you! You just have to have faith in yourself! You are strong enough to do this! You are! Whoo pep talks! lol.

    Seriously, you can do this. You really can, if you just have faith and strength. We believe in you and we're all here if you need us.
    :heart:
  • FitJoani
    FitJoani Posts: 2,173 Member
    Options
    you are both in my prayers, and try st johns and DHEA both calm you down with out chemicals they are natural and I take just the st johnms cauis its what prozac is made from and although you dont notice when you take it, when you dont take it you know...its a perfect alternative to scripts
  • sgtinvincible
    sgtinvincible Posts: 2,559
    Options
    Welp, time for my daily check in...

    Yesterday was better, though it got a lot worse in the afternoon. I've begun to be fairly lightheaded most of the time, and my body is exhausted from the constant tremors and chills (the fairly intense pain in my fingers and feet doesn't help matters much)...My hands are so weak I have dropped my pen 3 times this morning already. I'm trying not to get frustrated, but admittedly, I am starting to grow pretty tired of this process...good thing I am stubborn.

    I have noticed a few people (not on MFP) making comments about me being irritable and 'not myself' lately. I don't like to admit that I am going through this as I don't want people to worry about me, I told my Mom and she told me to buck up and get tough...that wasn't exactly what I needed to hear as my nervous system completely flips out on me...thanks mom!

    Manda continues to be a dream come true...she's taking such amazing care of me...she's being patient and consumingly loving, God, I love her so much...I hate that I'm adding so much pain to her life right now, it's not like she doesn't have enough...I feel selfish, but I was so so so glad she was there yesterday when I had a series of super painful tremors and all I could do was fetal up...she held me the entire time and whispered softly to me that I was going to be ok...I am tearing up thinking about it..she's my angel...

    I called the pharmacy yesterday (my doctor wasn't in) and asked them if it was normal...apparently Lexapro is known for being extremely hard to come off of...stupid physiological dependencies! He said that if it was really rough to just go back on it...I don't want to be on this stuff for the rest of my life though...if my body is doing this in response to not having it any more, that's all the more reason I don't want it...

    to be honest I am a little scared...I have never really been one (at least in my adult life) to be afraid of anything, so it's a little disconcerting for me....I worry that the withdrawals won't stop (even though I know they will) and that Manda will grow tired of dealing with me (even though I know she won't). My mind feels like it's wrapped in fuzz...more than anything though, I worry that I won't like the person that I was before I was on the lexapro...I mean, what if everyone prefers me better all medicated...what if *I* don't like who I was before the anti-depressants...

    Bah, I'm just rambling now...sorry about all this...it just helps to kinda journal out my thoughts as I go through this...it helps to make it more real for me somehow when I admit what's going on in my mind. You all are just the unfortunates that have to read it (or not, lol).

    Anyway, I love you all dearly, and I thank God for each and every one of ya'll friendships. I would be much more hollow without you.

    Love and Hugs,

    -J:heart:
  • Shannon023
    Shannon023 Posts: 14,529 Member
    Options
    Now I'M falling in love with Manda! :love:

    Soon the worst will be behind you, just stay strong!! :flowerforyou:
  • tparkin
    tparkin Posts: 126 Member
    Options
    DO NOT think of yourself as weak!! It takes a very strong person to realize that they need help in the first place. You and Manda are both in my prayers!!

    STAY STRONG!!

    7508.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

Categories