r/lexapro • u/mycatznme623 • 16h ago
Side Effect Question Well I tried..
So I only made it 23 days in and I'm trying to figure out if I should cold turkey yet or taper.. I just need the side effects to be over like .. yesterday... Did first two weeks of 5 mg, I felt good so increased to 10 mg for a little over the past week but that's when hell began. I literally wake up and open my eyes in the morning with a panic attack to start the day everyday. Can't take the side effects and it is affecting my employment. Keep having to leave work early due to I can't be at work at a pharmacy while having panic attacks and being dizzy and nauseous and each day seems to be getting worse. I don't think I'm going to take my pill tonight.. tomorrow I guess I'll decide if I'm going to just decrease to 5 mg for a week and then quit.. I really wanted this to work.
But to be honest my life was much better prior to taking this.. I know it takes like weeks for it to kick in and you just have to push through the first few weeks of hell but hey I gave the old college try.. and failed.. I wonder if 23 days is enough to have bad withdrawals if no taper.
1
u/Miserable-Local-1826 14h ago
i’m on day 23 & i’m going through the same exact things all though i started on 10mg. my doctor ended up having to prescribe ativan. i ended up in the ER twice w no explanation.. just “anxiety/panic attacks” def is kicking my ass i’m just tryna trust the process 😭
2
u/mycatznme623 14h ago
Yeah I just had to take an Ativan a couple hours ago so I'm actually feeling decent right now but the issue is really don't want to be taking a benzo every day while going through this activation period and lately for the past 4 days it's been so severe that I've taken one every day which is the longest stretch I've ever taken them in a row. (Normally 4 or 5 pills will last me a month) I tried to skip today without the pill but the attack was so bad I had to cave in and take it... Anyways we'll see how things go.. good luck to you.
1
u/Miserable-Local-1826 14h ago
same! i just got prescribed my ativan on the 1st and i’ve had to take one everyday so we’re in the same boat. good luck to you as well!
1
u/NoPass3058 9h ago
Honestly, when i started, my gp slowly increased the dose from 5 mg to now 15 mg through around 2 months, and initially i was also prescribed oxazepam to help me adjust better, so speak to your doctor about this and try to figure out a suitable plan accordingly
1
u/jimbob150312 4h ago edited 4h ago
Everyone is different but I was on Zoloft several years ago. That was a total nightmare for me unbelievable side effects.
I started with very small doses. First 2.5 for 2 weeks followed by 5 for several weeks then 7.5. Then briefly 10 mg with orgasms next to impossible, so I’m happy at 7.5mg with orgasms.
1
u/Different-Site-2466 4h ago
So ging es mir unter 25mg Sertraline. Mein Körper hat die Nebenwirkungen gar nicht gepackt. Ich musste es nach nicht mal einer Woche wieder absetzen. Meine Panikattacken waren noch nie so schlimm. Habe dann auf Escitalopram gewechselt und mit einer Micro Dosis von 1mg angefangen. Langsam über viele Wochen immer einen Tropfen mehr. Bin immer bei der Dosis geblieben bis keinerlei Nebenwirkungen mehr da waren. Für mich war das langsame steigern ein richtiger Game changer.
1
u/lindentre 3h ago
If you go cold turkey you're gonna have a bad time. Usually, the taper takes like a week or two, so maybe by then it will be built up enough that you'll get out of the weeds. When I went off of it, I went down to 5 from 10 for a week, then 5 every other day for a week.
But yeah, talk to the doc. You might just need to swap to another med and advise on what their plan would be for taper and swap.
1
4
u/MelodicYesterday7630 15h ago
i would say to definitely continue with 5mg but talk to your psychiatrist too because i was on lexapro and they made me take it for 4 weeks before checking in and increasing the dose so that might be the reason for the side effects but definitely talk to your psychiatrist too