Escitalopram withdrawal

[Cherryplum]

Hi, I'm posting this for a friend who has M.E. and POTS and who was taking 2.5mg of Escitalopram for 10 weeks. To start with he felt better but it started to make him feel 'wired up' and restless and brought on more POTS attacks so he had to stop it completely. He didn't have any immediate withdrawal effects but after 3-4 weeks started getting higher anxiety attacks and feeling agitated and a bit of dizziness and headaches. He has now been off the drug for 4 months and recently had small seizure-like feelings that he hadn't had before.

I know his situation is different because of the ME/POTS, but I wondered whether anyone else has had delayed withdrawal effects. He is very sensitive to medication, hence starting on the tiny dose, and it has also been suggested to him that the drug is taking much longer to get out of his system, hence the prolonged withdrawal.

Any advice or comments would be welcome. How long can it take to get the drug out of your system? And is there anything you can do to help detox it out of the body? Many thanks.

[Emphyrio]

I had delayed withdrawal symptoms to citalopram (an older version of escitalopram) - I was on 10mg, just for around 7 weeks, and came off it far too quickly (tapered from 10mg - 0 in around 2 weeks). I decided to come off it because I felt really hyper/restless. I then experienced horrendous agitation and felt like I was losing control around 2 months after stopping - the doctors said it was simply anxiety returning, but now I think it was related to withdrawal. I never had these symptoms before I was on the meds!

I have recently been looking at articles on SSRI withdrawal and how it can be minimised. One of the techniques they say is to go back onto the dose of the drug you were on before - in your friend's case, 2.5mg, and then come off it very, very slowly. Most people can come off medications fairly rapidly but it seems that for some people, withdrawal symptoms can persist long-term.

Of course, there is the possibility that its something completely unrelated, but I'd still consider a slower withdrawal as a possible option...

[karenp]

I had a bad time coming off Mirtazapine but took Citalopram 3 times and had no probs at all, only that I eventually became ill again so wish I'd stayed on my medication at a low dose.

[bab]

I think its that it takes a while to come out of your system completely and its still withdrawals. Having said that. 15 years ago i first started on meds because i begged the doctor. in hindsight i didnt really need them and my real problems started after i tried to come off them. seroxat for 10 years, now cipralex