 Lexapro Withdrawl Problems
I've been taking Lexapro (10mg) for about six months now. Generally, my experience with it has been good. I've still had some problems with anxiety and negative thinking during the 6-month period, but for the past 6 weeks or so I feel like I've reached a plateau. I'm more stable, have a better outlook, rarely have suicidal thoughts.
I had a doctor's appt. a few weeks ago in which my doctor said now was not the time to think about going off Lexapro. I disagree. He is the type to want to keep people on medicines forever as long as they're not doing more harm than good. But, it is unclear what kind of effects Lexapro will have on people long-term. It's not been on the market long enough for us to know. I also don't want to get dependant (maybe it's too late - read on). I thought that I'd try just taking 5mg this morning, and I'd see how that goes. I figured that the worst that would happen is I'd be more anxious and/or energetic. During dinner, I started feeling kind of shaky and jittery. I can get that way if I don't eat much, but I've had plenty to eat today. I also felt kind of dizzy and got a few tremors. Could this be from not taking my regular dose of Lexapro? I just don't know what else would do this as I haven't done anything out of the ordinary lately. I took 5mg Lexapro just 10 minutes ago (so now I've gotten my normal daily dose), and I'm starting to feel better. Has anyone else tried to gradually go off Lexapro, and gotten problems like this? It's not like I went cold turkey. I suspect that my weaning experiment is what made me feel this way because one day I forgot to take my dose in the morning (I always take it when I get up). Around noon, I got very jittery and nervous.
How does one go off of an anti-depressant? I'm guessing it's going to be an uphill battle. I feel like I have no choice but to keep taking 10mg until next month when I see my doctor again. Hopefully, he will not say the same thing he did last time.
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