I want to quit Cipralex after 6 days of 5mg! ADVICE PLEASE :D

Hey friends,

So i've been put on Cipralex, because of school induced "depression". I just started my master's degree in september so this has been a very challenging time for me. I honestly just felt like i needed someone to talk to, so i went to the doctor at school and she referred me to the psychiatrist for ADHD assessment-not like she just decided to do this on a whim, we had a huge talk and i did a few screens with her. ADHD is something i always felt like i had anyway, whether is a real thing or not. The next day i was so frustrated by the fact that i might have ADHD and just kept on thinking "how am i going to survive school with ADHD-this sucks big time" and so the next day i went to go see my family doctor.

I cried a little bit to her, because it's really frustrating, had i been diagnosed with ADHD before entering a masters degree i would have so many accommodations in place that school would be much more manageable. But you could imagine, the timing of me coming to this realization could not be worse, I'm right in the middle of the semester. I honestly think she over exaggerated my sadness, she talked to me for a couple of minute and prescribed me the cipralex, 10mg, but told me to cut them in half and take 5 for the first week. The next day i went back to the doctor at school and she gave me a note so i don't have to hand in any assignments for two weeks and she said i believe in you, we'll get you through the semester, and i IMMEDIATELY felt better. But i did take the drugs, as per doctors orders.

Its been a week so i went to my follow up appt with my fam doctor today. I asked her if i could wean of these meds in DECEMBER after i finish exams, so that i do it over the holidays which i think would be good cuz id be around friends and family all the time.

She was totally frazzled by this remark, she's like "don't tell me you want to quit the meds after it has only been a week" and kind laughed/smiled at how ridiculous i was to say that.

Anyways, i want to officially start weaning off these meds today. What do you think? I'd be literally cutting a 10mg in half and then in half again. kinda messy, but yeah. i feel like i need to make this decision now since it has only been a week in...

Sorry if this sounds a bit incoherent and I'm probably missing parts of the story, I'm not really great at writing my feelings!!

Thank you so much for your reply. Im want to stop taking them because they are making me feel "out of it", nauseous and honestly i don't feel any better now after taking them for a week then a day after taking one dose when my doctor at the university told me that ill survive the semester and she'll advocate for me and give me medical notes whenever i need them. Honestly, i know thats not a really good coping mechanism, to be getting medical notes. but it gave me SO MUCH relief. i didn't even utilize my two week extension. i handed in my assignments two days after the due date. i just needed some time to relax i guess. Of course, for next semester i plan to have a better plan in place, seeing an educational counsellor and personal counsellor through the school EVERY week. as well as the yoga and meditation seminars through the school. I sound like a hippy don't i? Thinking these non prescription things will work for me. But honestly, i think they will. I never knew how to relax myself, i never really talked about how hard school was for me all these years, and i think finally now that I'm at my master's thats just not going to fly. If it does so happen that during my two week vacation in december, i come back to school and get "depressed" again, ill just take a leave of absence. I just don't want to be taking these meds. And the fact that I'm feeling so much better after just opening up to so many friends, family members, doctors, faculty members and other about what I'm feeling, PLUS the fact that these medications do take several weeks to start working, then doesn't that mean that I'm feeling better NOT because of the meds?

I've read lately that more woman are being diagnosed with ADHD and ADD then ever before. So yes it is possible to go all thru school and not know you or didn't have the symptoms of either then develop them later in life.
It sounds like you have alot of different outlets in place to deal with your issues, that's a good thing. I am happy you are feeling better, but can't say that none of it is part of the meds or not. It might be that you don't need them, of course only you can figure that out. Your doctor is just looking out for you, but certainly can't make you take the pills if you don't want too. I also seriously doubt you would have any withdraw symptoms after only taking them for a week, as it takes a good 2+ weeks for them to get into your system.

I agree with Lisa, it shouldn't be hard to go off after only a week.

I will be on medications for the rest of my life. They really help me a lot.

It is totally up to you if you want to take them or not, and we cant' tell you one way or another. But please don't doubt the therapist, they are trained to pick up on things even if they only see us a couple of times. Some things are apparent to them even though we cant' see them within ourselves. So give her a little credit.

If I were you though, I would give the medications a month at least to see if they are going to work. Side effects usually go away in a couple of weeks. But you know yourself and your body and if something doesn't feel right, then I would think twice. But for the side effects, they are usually temporary.

Talk to the therapist before stopping the meds, they would know best how to taper off if you need to.

Welcome to the depression forum. I hope you have a good day...

Hugs, Karen...

Thank you everyone for being here to read/listen. your responses, regardless how minimal mean a lot to me. I think tracking what I'm going through here is going to help me a lot!

@gettingby I'm not doubting my family doctor...but she is a general practitioner, not saying that's nothing, but she isn't a specialist. most of her patients are infants and people who come in with physical ailments. i just can't put all my faith in her because i don't feel like she has a great deal of experience with mental illnesses.

So im tapering off by cutting the 10mg in half and then in half again. which is not very accurate but I'm seeing the psychiatrist on tuesday and the doctor on thursday so perhaps they will prescribe me 5mgs that i can cut in half so it's not so arbitrary with the doses.

@lesweet1971 how was getting off of prozac after 6 months? withdrawal symptoms? length? etc. i wonder how getting off of cipralex/lexapro (same thing right) would be... I'm just thinking that if i were to quit, quitting now would be the best...

YES the GP at school suggested ADHD meds but she wanted me to see the psychiatrist first. which i will be doing tuesday! The doc at school said i developed depression as a lack of coping skills for my ADHD. family doc is completely resistant to the possibility that i have a learning disability. and her ONLY reasoning for that is that i was able to get this far in my education and that it "doesn't make sense" that i have an LD.


And i must say, school IS the biggest source of my stress/anxiety. I have not been eating like i normally do (low carb, high protein) I've had to resort to sandwiches a lot for taking to school, at home the food i make is still pretty healthy. but yeah, i don't normally eat this many carbs. Also i barely drink any water, i should really get on that :/ ALSO, school has made me be very sedentary. I never exercised in the past, never went to the gym or anything, BUT i worked in recreation with children who have special needs, we went swimming and did other active things in the community, and i was ALWAYS running after them. But i don't work anymore. I swear they should have caused me more stress than school did, they would bite, kick, run away in big open spaces, etc. How was i able to stay so calm for that? I honestly DO hate school, but if i finish this degree ill get to do work that i love! If it gets to the point that i just can't take it anymore, ill quit. Ive heard from a lot of second years that this program has a tendency of putting people in a really crappy mood and hard times. but if thats the price i have to pay, I'm not going to do it. I feel like i had a moment of weakness and I'm going to try again!

There was one particular incident which happened at school that kind of escalated my feelings of stress and thats where it all started... but i didn't think it was depression... i was just REALLY upset. maybe? how can i really know...

Last night i took "approximately" 2.5 mg of the cipralex. feel fine today. better than before actually. going to do the same tonight. fingers crossed.


thanks again!

Just to let everyone know, I was at the psychiatrist yesterday and she said I do NOT have depression. Now I feel less guilty about quitting those meds. Don't know how I am going to break it to my family doctor though, she was SO insistent about that diagnosis. I should just cancel my follow-up appointment with her. I kind of want to rub it in her face though... I'm so mean :/

The psychiatrist told me to get the ADHD assessment through the school done ASAP (if they don't have funding for it then she'll do it for me worst case scenario) so I can have a proper diagnosis for next semester which will help me get the right accommodations in school and stuff like that.

This has been the most frustrating thing of my LIFE.

Thank you all for hearing me out!!

In the meantime i will be looking for an ADHD forum. Thank you for the support you have provided. I might end up finding myself here again, so thanks-this forum was a very valuable resource for me when most people didn't understand what i was going through :(

CHEERS EVERYONE, hope you have a wonderful evening! Let's hope i pass all my courses :(