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Lv 5
? asked in HealthMental Health · 1 decade ago

What kind of withdrawal effects have you experienced in coming off an SSRI?

I'm taking Cipralex aka lexapro and i went from 15mgs now im down to 5mg. And yes of course im having withdrawals. the worst ones are the paresthesia(sometimes painful), muscle spasms, jaw pain, some nausea etc.. so i was wondering what kind of withdrawal effects other people have experienced while coming off or reducing the dosage of an SSRI med. Thanks to people who answer!! :)

Update:

I know thats its a gradual process and I have no intention of going off it cold turkey. I'm going to be on the 5mg for a little while to give my body more time to adjust. I;m very sensitive to side effects so im not surprised about how sensitive im being to the withdrawals..i was just wondering what other types of withdrawals people have felt to see if mine are common. :-)

2 Answers

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  • Paul A
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    You're down to 5 mg right now? I have a "how-to" script for getting off Lexapro, it should work for Cipralex as well. Here it is:

    The key to getting off Lexapro is to get off it very slowly. It took several weeks for the Lexapro to reach full potency in your system - and the same has to happen when you want to get off it. Of course, stopping cold turkey is very not pleasant and you certainly don't want to do that!

    To get off Lexapro, wean yourself to the lowest dose (5mg). If you're on 20mg, cut them in half (to get 10mg) and take those for a couple weeks, then go to the 5mg pills.

    After you've been on the 5mg pills for a couple weeks, cut them in half (use a pill cutter for that) and take the half-pills for a couple weeks, then take the half-pills every other day for a couple weeks, then you can stop. This will slowly remove the Lexapro from your system, and help eliminate the possibility of withdrawal problems.

    If you wanted to add an extra step at the end, and take the half-pills every third day for a week, you can - but I don't think it's necessary.

    I wish you the best of luck :-)

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    I was on Citalopram (Celexa) for 3 years and I had some minor withdrawals. I titrated down slowly. 20 mg to 15 mg for a few days and then down to 10 mg for a week or so then 5 mg for a few days, then 2.5. I basically just felt brain zaps (like when you drop in an elevator) when I was going down, but they would subside after a day or so.

    Source(s): Personal experience
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