Just started taking lexapro again but want to stop

I was taking Lexapro (20mg) for a year or two and stopped about a year ago (cold turkey, which was horrible but for insurance reasons/etc I couldn't get refills to taper).

Anyway, due to an upcoming cross-country move and all the stress associated with it (getting a house prepared for showings with a 4 and a 2 year old, moving 3000 miles and being away from my wife and kids while we try to sell the house, etc etc) my doctor recommended I go back on Lexapro and he gave me Xanax for the time being until the Lexapro settled in.

I've only been taking the Lexapro for 3 days now, but I'm having side effects that are (in my particular case) I feel worse than the stress/anxiety that is causing me to take it in the first place - headache, twitching of my left thumb, night sweats and difficulty sleeping.

So I want to get off of it and either try something else or just see if I can control the stress/etc on my own.

Anyway, can I just stop cold turkey after taking 20mg once a day for 3-4 days? Or do I have to taper? Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

When I went off Lexapro, I was only on 10mg but my doc told me to taper off of it to avoid the side effects.  When I started it I had night sweats, jitteriness, & couldn't sleep at all for about 2 weeks. I would run it by your doc as well; I personally believe it is not good to stop any drug abruptly.

Maybe you can lower the dosage a bit. Can you cut the pill in half? Take that for a few days. See if you feel less of the side effects but get some relief from the other stuff. If you still want to go off of it, then go to every other day for a few days. I would give it a chance to work before going off of it completely. If you still have time to talk to the doctor about it then I would maybe call the office and express your concerns. You can probably get a script for something else to take after you wean yourself off the Lexapro.