View Full Version : Cipralex Withdrawal?
Hi Guys,
My dr who is a fellow sufferer and in whom I have absolute confidence has been fired for having too much time off work so I'm in a bit of a dilemma.
I've been on 10mg Cipralex (Lexapro) for about 12 mths and feel great but am sick of the weight gain and loss of sex drive so I wanna try getting off them.
Can anyone tell me how slowly I need to do it?
Thanks in advance
Phill
PS No I don't have any confidence in the other drs at the surgery as they've never suffered and I don't feel they properly understand the problem
Don't believe everything you think.
Don't believe everything you think.
Hi Phil, I would say come of them slowly as you can. I am on Cipralex 20mg been on them about 12 months too and not sure if they are helping or not. Here in UK you can get Cipralex in 5mg 10 mg and 20mg, Don’t know if you can get 5s there, but if it was me I would cut down to 7.5mg for a month or so (one and a half 5mg tabs) The slower you come of the less chance of bad side effects. Then if you are fine try 5mg for a couple of months, then half a 5mg for a while, the if all is ok try every other day 2.5 then very two days etc until you are fully off them. Seems a long time to get off then but if you try to come off too fast you could just end up back where you started? And look at it this way being on 5mg for a while is an achievement from 10mg? Hope this helps a bit. Hope you do well with coming off them. Take care. Vernon
Thanks Vernon
Much appreciated. Like yo I'm feeling good but don't know whether its the drugs or not
Phill
Don't believe everything you think.
Know what you mean Phil, as you know with anxiety it comes and goes, sometimes unbearable and others not so bad. So is it just a coincidence that it has eases when we go on meds. Do what I said get 5 mg tabs in place of 10s and try one and a half for a while and see how you get on? But remember you might feel bad, not with withdrawal but thinking constant that you may be bad coming off. I think lots worry so much about coming off meds they create the anxieties that follow. All the best, Vernon
Hi Guys
Just letting you know I've now been on 7.5mg for 3 weeks now and feeling great.
One more week and I'll go to 5mg
Phill
Don't believe everything you think.
Hello everyone,
I have just been prescribed Cipralex and would like to know what I might expect for side effects plus any possible withdrawal symptoms.
I went through a very tough time coming off Effexor, so I am reluctant to continue Cipralex if it is in any form addictive.
Please share your experiences with me. I will be most grateful for your feedback.
With best regards,
Laurita
Laurita,
I'm having real problems coming of the cipralex. I've been on 20mg now for two years. Tried coming off them about a year ago, but felt my aggression problems were really coming back so I started taking them again.
Now I did it more slow. First down from 20mg to 10mg for a coupld of weeks, and then 5 mg for a couple of weeks, 5 mg every second day for a week, and then I quit.
I realize now that it was probably way too quick, since I've been having panic attacks and existential anxiety en masse over the last week. The withdrawal syptoms struck about two weeks after I came off it completely (along with electric shock sensations etc).
I'm back on 10mg now. Will go on with that for six months before I go down on the dose. I really do NOT want to have another of those panic attacks!
Hi! yes, I'm having problems coming off Cipralex too and I have only been on 5mg (!) for about 3 months. I thought it was getting better but today the "electric shocks" have been awful, I feel sick and as if I've got a stomach bug :unsure:
Think it may be because I'm also on amitriptyline and Mirtazapine; what a cocktail!
Still, I'm hoping the worst is over.... I'm taking diazepam occasionally to try to help the withdrawal.
Why can't somebody invent a non-addictive, side-effect-free tranquillizer :yesyes:
Definitely come off this drug as slowly as possible - you can get liquid, I think, so you could cut down very gradually.
alwaysanxious
02-09-10, 21:40
hi all i was on cipralex 2 years ago and i kept forgetting to take mine, but all i had was little electric shock feelings and brain zaps for about a month, it didnt really bother me that much...but never had any anxiety at all. was very normal till about 3 months ago when i had to go on them again due to alot of stress and i feel fine now.. this is my 3rd time on cipralex and apart from the awfull side effects when u 1st go on them , the last 3 times ive come off them ive been good... i think it depends on whats going on in your life when u come off them i was feeling really happy the the times i came off them before so didnt notice anythink.... hope this helps.. its my 3rd month on cipralex this time and i still get the odd freak day but im a trillions time better , plus its helping with my therapist and having C B T .
LISA X:)
Hi Guys,
My dr who is a fellow sufferer and in whom I have absolute confidence has been fired for having too much time off work so I'm in a bit of a dilemma.
I've been on 10mg Cipralex (Lexapro) for about 12 mths and feel great but am sick of the weight gain and loss of sex drive so I wanna try getting off them.
Can anyone tell me how slowly I need to do it?
Thanks in advance
Phill
PS No I don't have any confidence in the other drs at the surgery as they've never suffered and I don't feel they properly understand the problem
Don't believe everything you think.
Don't believe everything you think.
If your symptoms have gone away and you have not had a relapse within the last six months you are prime to try and come off them and see what happens. Not everyone needs to be on them long term. Sex drive will start to come back eventually so if you need to be on them don't let that put you off. Weight gain, yeah it seems to be a problem but it's better that the symptoms that put you on cipralex in first place I guess. I do believe many opinions are better than one but I know that some doctors just dont get it! Good luck!
Hi Guys,
My dr who is a fellow sufferer and in whom I have absolute confidence has been fired for having too much time off work so I'm in a bit of a dilemma.
I've been on 10mg Cipralex (Lexapro) for about 12 mths and feel great but am sick of the weight gain and loss of sex drive so I wanna try getting off them.
Can anyone tell me how slowly I need to do it?
Thanks in advance
Phill
PS No I don't have any confidence in the other drs at the surgery as they've never suffered and I don't feel they properly understand the problem
Don't believe everything you think.
Don't believe everything you think.
I have been on 20mg for a few years with a few breaks in between. I find that whenever I start coming off them when I get down to 10mg I get anxiety. I once came off them a couple of years ago quite quickly and I was fine but it was a really happy successful time. The unsuccessful attempts have been at the same time as stress so maybe that has a lot to do with it.
Sex drive was normal for me after 12 months but was affected at first and it's always a temptation to come off them to see if I am
Hi.
First post and hope you don't mind me jumping in :)
I have been on 20mg for about 6mths (10mg for quite a while prior) and doc wanted me to reduce back to 10mg which I am doing.
I am getting the normal headaches and nausea, but I also keep feeling very hot, then cold, especially hands and face.
Is this just part of the withdrawal? typically how long does it last?
I also noticed a comment about weight gain. Is this due to increased appetite or the drug effecting digestion or whatever?
I am convinced I have put on weight since I was on it but not felt I am eating more.
Ta
Andrew
I was on Cipralex for a month at 5 mg then 6 months at 10mg. I decided that i had had enough with weight gain and was feeling mentally sound so it was time to get off the pill. I took 5 mg for a month and then stopped cold turkey. It's been 1 week and I feel REALLY good. No tingles or electric shock like some people experience. Today I am feeling like a little kid before Christmas morning, kinda weird to be excited about nothing, kinda jumpy in a good way. I hope this doesn't last I've been so happy about about how things have been going. Haven't told anyone I'm off my meds so I guess I'm still of sound mind and not attracting any attention, LOL. I'll share my news after 3 weeks of being med free, this way if I do do anything "crazy" it would have happened by then. We shall see, keep ur fingers crossed for me, for a good withdrawal to a happy life. :yesyes:
Well it's been just over 2 weeks, my withdrawal symptoms.....INSOMNIA!!!!!!! UGH!! and super bad restless leg syndrome, was bad on cipralex feels worse now. The dry mouth is gone, the weight gain hasn't changed but it also hasn't increased. But no anxieties or paranoid feelings about the decisions i've made during the day at work or otherwise. Feel good and positive just want a good nights sleep.
hi all.
coming off cipralex; i just did it at the end of the recommended treatment of 18 months.
people around you can be very unkind and that makes it hard, it is 7 days now.
first few days all many of the warned systems.
anxiety: just worried i don't even know about what, and i can't seem to do the things i need to.
balance issues, i can sit up in bed but standing even the thought of standing make me ill and dizzy
brain zaps brain just switches from subject to subject even when the brain want to stop it i can't seem to.
concentration impairment its like i'm a 3 year old who ate a jar of candy
almost crying spells, sometimes i just almost broke down and cried. very funny.
depersonalization; very very odd, thought/think i was being cranked about negative things said about a friend ( a few people i barely know cursed a dear friend because they are very private person on the day i first stopped. and i associated it wrongly) then i believed what was said and started a fight with said friends and worked it out that i didn't;t believe the things being said, (i'm still getting crank calls, doesn't help) he now thinks i have mood swings!!!!! and i'm still upset with him, i don't know why and need space, even though he is innocent, and a few when i take about this to others they tried to take advantage, and have a little sport by filling my head with more wired and odd half truths.
diarrhea lots of cleaning... :(
dizziness. very
fatigued can't find the strength to fill in a from
flatulence, reducing now.
flu-like symptoms, high temps, cold sweets, hands feet icy cold, body cold and head
hot.
hallucinations, lots
hostility, lots not talking to many people
highly emotional, yep
indigestion, yeah some
impaired speech, like i'm drunk and in real life i never touch the stuff
insomnia, why i took thig thing in the first place, i found that when my family was around me i slept. but on my own i don't.
j
umpy nerves, up very
lack of coordination, yep very but improving
lethargy, yep
nausea, a little but if i eat say a dry tea biscuit, or toast then its cool
nervousness, yeah, i think my friends and family will hate me for putting them thought
this, won't meet new people and i won't leave the house.
over-reacting to situations,
paranoia, very
repetitive thoughts or songs, yep
sensory & sleep disturbances, yep
severe internal restlessness (akathasia), round round round in my head
stomach cramps, yep like i ate stones
tremors and my heat beating to fast and breathlessness
troubling thoughts, yep
visual hallucinations / illusions, yep
vivid dreams, yep
speech visual changes, yep
over all its cool nothing worse then being pregnant. :-).
with all this, i feel great, I'm eating and wanting to sleep at least. being very very kind to myself and asking people to help when they should anyway instead of doing everything myself. i'm glad i just came off then, but i wouldn't recommend it, i was over medicated anyway and they had started to poison my body (body spasms and couldn't pee properly and was high and sleepy for the whole of the 18 months) why i can't wean off them, although i have been told if it gets to bad then to see the doctor again.
cya xx
Hi, I'm new here.. just coming off cipralex myself. Took my last dose on Thurs Dec 23. Today is Wed Jan 5. So I'm a day short of two weeks out. I've had some days where I felt okay, but yesterday was awful mentally. I felt depressed the whole day. I've felt worse other days, but usually only for half a day at the most. Today I'm feeling a little better mentally, but was hit with strong nausea on my way into work this morning, and am feeling weak overall. I know I'm not pregnant.. is it normal to have this happen this far out? I've felt a little sick a few other days, but nothing close to this; I actually thought I might throw up (although managed not to).
I should also point out that I did take quite a few pills this morning: folic acid, cranberry pill (I take those daily), just started taking a multi-vitamin today, and fish oil. I also took two Advil Cold & Sinus Daytime tabs as I've been having a minor sinus infection (but looked it up and nausea isn't a symptom of that apparently). I also was drinking a tea that has St. John's Wort in it (trying to help get rid of the depression of yesterday!). So could it just be from all of that?
And just a bit of background: I started on Cipralex in about mid-June of last year. Started at 10mg, the doctor had me go up to 20mg after the first week or so even though I was fine on 10mg (I think he got confused about the regular maintenance dosage for Cipralex and was thinking of something else..), got a psychiatrist who had me taper back down to 10mg in about August. Experienced very little side-effects; about two weeks after I was down to 10mg I had a slightly anxiety-ridden day and that was it.
To come down off of the Cipralex I followed this pattern for each decrease, starting in November:
Week 1: 10mg Mon/Wed/Fri, 5mg the rest of the days
Week 2: 10mg Mon/Thurs, 5mg the rest
Week 3: 10mg Mon, 5 mg the rest
Then I did it for 5mg to 2.5mg, and started for 2.5mg to 0mg, but found that going on and off was throwing me into withdrawal and bringing me back out, so I only did weeks 1 & 2 and decided not to prolong the withdrawal anymore and skipped the last dose.
Aside from that crazy nausea that happened this morning, the symptoms I've experienced have been:
-General "not good" feeling, usually in the evenings, but sometimes in the day
-Feeling like I'm drunk or in a memory.. hard to describe, but just that I'm not quite in my normal reality
-Sudden short dizzyness, off and on throughout the day. Seems to be worse with sudden head movements, as well as going up & down stairs. This seems to have stopped in the past few days. Not sure if it's gone for good or not.
-Increased heart rate. It's still in the "normal range", but my pulse normally sits around 60 when I'm walking around, and I've counted it at 80bmp when I'm lying in bed, so it's high for me (I actually had a pulse of 106bpm this morning as I was getting ready for work!)
-Diarrhea most mornings, and sometimes at other times, as well as some light nausea sometimes (although after this morning I can't say I'd describe this other feeling as nausea.. more like upset stomach)
-Occasional depression/hopelessness
-Some anxiety with a couple of small almost-panic attacks (I'm getting good at not letting those happen through self-talk, but I can feel that they've tried to come on)
-Twice I've had some twitching as I try to fall asleep. The first time it kept me from sleeping most of the night, but the second time (last night), it only happened a few times and then I slept fine through the night
I guess this seems pretty run-of-the-mill, but not sure why I'm suddenly having worse symptoms. Does this mean I'm getting close to the end (like with withdrawal from an actual addictive drug rather than just "discontinuation".. I believe they have a big bad "hump" and then you get better after that?), or should I be concerned that I'm getting stronger symptoms?
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