Lexapro pooping out already????

Maybe try Celexa? I am not a doctor. I am not sure if it helps with the anxiety. Have to really ask your doctor about this one.

Hey Foxie glad to hear from You, "missed You", but I am glad you were doing ok, I never used anything except xanax for anxiety and panic and only used it as needed. Wish I could be of more help. Peace.

Larry ***

Hey Fox,

Have you and your doctor ever discussed Cymbalta or Lyrica?

Fibro pain and anxiety relief...two birds...one stone?

S.C.

Sorry I haven't been on in a while again. There's been so much stuff going on lately. A terrible tragedy has struck my family, and we've all been sticking like glue to one another. My sister's step son was killed, and it was a horrible ordeal, let's just say it wasn't "pretty", the way he died. I don't know what it is, but this is the third child, of either friends or family, that has passed away in the last 3 months. I mean he wasn't a "child" at 32, but he WAS someone's child. I have seen this with 5 of my friends and family so far in my life, and it's one of the hardest things to see. Someone you care so deeply for, going through it. My sister especially, God bless her!

SC, that is what I'm thinking. I would REALLY like to get off of the xanax totally and just use it as needed if I get really bad with the anxiety & panic. It's just that all of the commercials for Cymbalta really freak me out, with all the side effects they tell you about.

As of now, I've decided to try and wean myself off of the xanax, but with my calculations, it could take me the better part of about 6 months to accomplish it. I don't want to introduce anything new during this process.

Just today I signed up on another board all about benzos, and to be honest, I'm not really liking a lot of the stories I've read about the nightmare of the withdrawal these poor people went through. Had I known all of this BEFORE starting on a daily use, I would have NEVER taken it every day. My doc told me to just cut it by .25 mgs every other week, but most of the people on that board said it wasn't realistic to do it that fast.

If anyone else has had experience with the benzo withdrawal, please let me know how it went for you. I would really appreciate it.

Wish me luck on this journey, I think I'm gonna need it, and I think you'll be seeing a lot more of me while going through it.

(((big hugs)))

Fox

Thank you so much Larry! I'm glad someone posted something positive. I've really been bumming out about the possible difficulties with the withdrawal process. I do plan on keeping them for an "as needed" basis though.

Everyone thinks I'm crazy to try this now, but I really don't want to invest too much more time on them. I know for a fact that they really help me, but I would like to be med free one day again. I did it for over 3 years and I felt great, but then BAM! It all came back stronger than ever, so here I am in this "dark" place again. I often pray to God to just take it away, I'm so tired of it all. I've been dealing with a/p since I was 14. I would really like that chance to live a semi "normal" life without so much panic and depression all the time. 27 years is a looooong time to be held prisoner by these disorders I have.

Anyway, I hope you are doing well my friend!

((hugs)) Fox

Hi Fox

Not spoken with you in a long time how are you doing today? Sorry to read about the problems you are having at the moment. I was on Lexapro a while back and did find it to be a good medication but the same happened with me and it stopped working. I am currently taking Cymbalta 90mg and doing well on it at the moment so might be worth having a chat to your doctor about it.

If you are considering stopping the Benzo you do need to do that very slowly over a couple of months and under the supervision of a doctor preferably a proc. I take a Benzo most days but as Larry was saying if it helps then that is a good thing.

Have you ever considered doing Mindfulness or CBT? I have found that Mindfulness has really helped me deal with my anxiety and depression better so might be worth a look into for you?.

I wish you well and do keep posting we are here to listen and support you through this tough time.

Hibee

Hi

That sounds like a good taper to me and a good idea to keep them around incase you need one as I also agree they have there uses. It's always difficult when changing or upping/lowering meds so I agree doing one at a time is a good decision.

Great to see you back posting on the forum you are a valued member, I have not been on here as much as I would like either had a lot going on this last year.

Take Care

Hibee

Hi Fox, just wanted to say that I'm sorry you are going through this difficulty. I can relate as you know. I hope that you get your situation sorted out very soon and that you feel better and better every day! My mom had taken 1mg of Klonopin every night for about 14 years and quit cold turkey, not having a clue that she needed to taper. She complained about feeling a bit jittery and lightheaded for a week, and when I asked her if she was still using her pills to sleep at night, she said no. When we realized what was going on, she went to see her doctor and he wrote her another rx for klonopin and now she only takes a .025 if needed at night. So I guess what I'm saying is that even though she had been on them for so many years at a regular schedule, her withdrawl was not bad, and she is feeling quite fine on a small dose infrequently. I hope that helps your fears a bit at least? Take care, Lisa

Fox 7,

Be careful if you were on real Lex in the past and you are on a generic Lex now. Generics can be +/- 25% of the active ingredient and be considered the same by teh FDA. It messed me up.

Hi guys, sorry it took so long to check back in. Been a bit busy lately.

Larry, I went to the doc last Thursday and we went over a taper plan for the xanax, PLUS she is going to prescribe my other meds. THANK GOD!

I started taking three .25 pills every day instead of one .25 in the morning and then one .5 at night.
I am to take that for 10 to 14 days, (today is day 9) and then drop down to .25 twice a day for the same amount of time. Then drop to one .25 pill, and so on.....
I think that instead of dropping to one .25 a day, I'm going to cut it in half and take .125 twice a day, we'll see. She wants to see me on the 5th of Dec. to check on my progress, so we'll discuss it then.

BobSmith, I started on the generic of Lexapro and never took the brand name so I'm sure that's not the issue. She said I might just need the increase, but after the taper off of xanax. We don't want to do too much at one time.

I am feeling good though, no major withdrawals, just a tad bit of increased anxiety here and there, but nothing I can't handle. I'll keep you all posted.

((hugs)) Fox

Thank you SC. I'm not able to get on as much as I'd like to at the moment, but I AM keeping a daily journal of my progress here at home. I actually feel like I'm getting some of my energy back! I have been feeling so sluggish for what feels like forever, and to have some energy to spare..... it really feels GOOD!