How do you wean off Lexapro?

Answer 1

Weaning yourself off any anti-depressant without the direction of your doctor can be a horrible experience.
My doctor advised me to stay on the drug for 9 months, but the weight gain was fast and steady.
I weaned myself off Lexapro under his supervision by cutting my 10 mg tablets in half, and took 5 mg's a day for 2 weeks. I have been doing very well with this. I cried for a couple days while my emotions came back. What I mean there is anti-depressants can put a person in a monotone state as I was in. Not happy, not sad, and I was definitely numb.
Answer

Don't EVER wean off this drug or any such drug on your own!!!!! See your family doctor and they will go throught the process with you. It's usually a very few mgs. less every two weeks. Again, I can't stress you are playing a very dangerous game if you decide to do this on your own. Lexapro alters the brain chemistry and if you wean too fast you sure won't like it!

Good luck Marcy

There are no hard and fast rules about "never" doing something such as weaning yourself off a med. It depends on the person and how informed he or she is about the medication. This first response above told me that this person has good information that works for this particular individual. Someone else may not feel comfortable doing this on one's own, so the second approach, proposed by Marcy, is called for in such a case. And, Marcy: Don't think that a doctor is the best informed person in every case--I could cite for you cases on all my fingers and toes (plus more) where the doctor gave advice that was ill conceived, but was followed simply because the advice came from a doctor. A well-researched plan by a well informed person, whether the information comes from a doctor or not, is really what we all want in such a situation. I am a person who prides myself on being self-educated on a variety of subjects, not just what I studied in school. My self-education made me realize that edcation is a lifelong process--not a degree and a diploma. There are many doctors who consider the practice of medicine to also be a lifelong pursuit, and they stay abreast of the latest information. But with so much information "out there" now, no one can keep up on everything. Ther more I learn, the more I realize that I do not know. Specialists today are becoming "microspecialists" due to the plethora and depth of information and study which allows a woman or man of science to focus on one particular area of expertise.

Answer 2

as with all anxiety or depression you need to do it slowly with that amount to start you could either stop cold turkey or cut the pill in half and take for five days then don't take any. that's how i did it

Answer 3

Honestly....I started taking this drug with NO IDEA of the withdrawal side effects...I had no effects from the drug really so when I felt like I wanted to stop taking it ( don't really like to have a lot of meds in my body) I was REALLY unpleasantly surprised when I was sick as a dog a week following my cold turkey quit of 20mg a day.

I'm one day past my week mark...and for the past three days, I've been very naseated, dizzy, have heart palpitations, that lead to a "squishing" sound in my ears, running to the bathroom pretty much constantly and had night sweats and violent dreams for a couple of days....anyways NOT fun and don't reccommend the cold turkey approach....if I were still in the same town as the doc who persribed it I would def wean off of it, although, from what I've read the final "off" is still not fun.....

for me....here's what I do....I'm good for about 2 hours in the morning, try to get as much done then as I can..drink lots of water and eat a bannana....about 11 I'm pretty sick...so I take 1 .25 (very small) pill or xanax and then wait 30 min while a cook a HOT meal (very important) by that time the nausea is fading and the hot meal really helps me feel better....that usually helps me hang for the rest of the day until my symptoms start to completely disappear around 5. If I get too dizzy It helps to either take a hot shower or lay down underneath a bunch of blankets...heat really does seem to help with this....anyways hope it helps someone else...today is the third day of the really bad symptoms and it feels better than the last two..hopefully I'm on the downhill slope....

Answer 4

I did this once. Say you are taking 10mg of Lexapro daily. Do a week first of 10mg one day, 5mg the next, 10 mg, 5, 10, 5, etc. Then, do a week of taking all 5mg. Then, do a week of taking 5mg, 0, 5, 0, 5, etc. Then you will likely be ok being off it!

I had really bad side effects during the 0-5-0-5 week. To make it easier, I added another week of 0-0-5-0-0-5. That helped me! To get 5mg, either get a pill-splitter or use a knife and cut them in half.

Good luck and take your time! :-)

Answer 5

NEVER wean yourself off these medications without working with your doctor on this. By not seeing the doctor to try and save a little money you can get yourself into some hot water. There are side effects coming off of these types of drugs so it's to your advantage to have your doctor help wean you off of them.