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Thread: Restarting Escitalopram

  1. #1

    Restarting Escitalopram

    Hi everyone

    New to this forum but have been an observer for years. However, the time has come for me to finally post. I'm in a bad way right now.

    I've been on and off escitalopram for the past 7 years or so. I've taken other meds in between but nothing ever worked quite as well as the escitalopram for treating my anxiety and OCD.

    About 8 weeks ago I stopped taking it. Not cold turkey - controlled taper over the course of a few months with the doctor's help. The reason for stopping was because I'd been feeling good for a long period and wanted to try life without it. Big mistake, hence me being here. I was off it for 5 weeks, until 3 weeks ago I could take no more and went back to the doctor and he put me back on 10mg. Since then, things have got steadily worse, in particular the past few days when my anxiety and obsessive/intrusive thoughts have been through the roof.

    I want to know if being off it for 5 weeks meant I was completely free of it and so I need to experience all the startup side effects again or that there could be a chance of it never being effective again. Like I said, it's been 3 weeks since restarting and things are still grim. How long should I give it or should I go back to the doctor and ask that I be tried on a new med? I am also taking diazepam to combat the anxiety etc but it's only short-term relief.

    Hope there's someone out there who can help or have had similar experience s.

    Many thanks in advance

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Posts
    1,339

    Re: Restarting Escitalopram

    I know when I stopped Mirtazapine they said it would be out of my blood after a week. But really unsure. You could try googling it or speaking to a pharmacist darl. I never found Escitalopram did a thing for me and Citalopram worked wonders but get such terrible panic attacks when I first go on SSRI's I need benzos or sleeping pills and my doctor refuses to give me them so I'm not taking anythingther than Propranolol too scared. I started on ECit at 5mg and went up to max dose and it wasn't too bad but just really never helped me. xxx

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Posts
    5,156

    Re: Restarting Escitalopram

    Just wanted to say good luck! I am on 20 mg escitalopram and always think about whether or not I should go off it, but have just stayed on. My anxiety has a lot of OCD traits and I think it is a really good med for OCD. It seems to help calm my obsessive thinking. So I keep plodding on!

    I hope you start to feel better soon. I am not sure how long it would be in your system but I would think that 5 weeks would be enough to clear you out. However the second time I started escitalopram my side effects weren't as bad as the first and that was over a year after stopping.

  4. #4

    Re: Restarting Escitalopram

    Hi guys,

    you say you have gone off and on the meds? I am scared because I am about to go back onto celexa after two years off it.

    I have been on zoloft and celexa with good results but now I need a AD the third time im scared it wont work! Does it usually work ok again?

    Thanks,

    Will

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Posts
    261

    Re: Restarting Escitalopram

    Will,

    I've been off celexa before and it worked just as well for me the second time I was on it as it did the first.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Posts
    5,156

    Re: Restarting Escitalopram

    Lexapro worked for me just as well the second time.

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