Misc Lexapro withdrawal

[TMNPothead]

Okay so a buddy of mine just informed me he quit his lexapro cold turkey a little over a month ago without consulting his doctor. He said for the past week or so he's been going through withdrawal and it's been pretty bad but today he feels like he is going crazy. He told me he just had an out of body experience and having severe memory loss. He's starting to freak out a bit and doesn't wanna be left alone and keeps asking me if he should go to the hospital or just tough it out, i really don't know what to tell him at this point. Can anyone please give a lil advise. Thanks in advance.

 

[monstanoodle]

My advice would be to tell him to see his Dr, to get back on Escitalopram and to start a slow taper if he really wants to be off it.
It was a bit silly to stop cold-turkey but I can appreciate if he didn't know how bad it would be then yea...

So yes, if he still has some Escitalopram tabs around, I would suggest he take one and go see his doctor ASAP.

 

[TMNPothead]

My advice would be to tell him to see his Dr, to get back on Escitalopram and to start a slow taper if he really wants to be off it.
It was a bit silly to stop cold-turkey but I can appreciate if he didn't know how bad it would be then yea...

So yes, if he still has some Escitalopram tabs around, I would suggest he take one and go see his doctor ASAP.

He says he actually started taking 10mg daily again 3 days ago and his symptoms have only got worse. He called his family doctor but they wouldn't see him for his condition which I though was very odd. Should he go to the hospital anyway?

 

[monstanoodle]

It may take time for his blood-serum levels of Lexapro to get back up to what it was before he stopped.
Was it helping him when he was on it previously? And do you know if he suffered from any side effect akin to what he's going through now when he'd just started?

It's likely that his serum levels aren't up yet - It's only been 3 days and Antideps can take 2-4 weeks to begin having a positive effect.
If things don't get better in a week then either make sure his doctor fuckin listens to him (!!!! Grrrr ), if that fails then get him to see another doctor and, if that fails then yes: go to the Hospital (though you'll likely have to wait quite a few hours unfortunately)

I hope things go alright with yer mate and he stays safe.

 

[brutus]

The safest thing to do would be to take him to the hospital or to his doctor. I have been in the same exact boat, but I just couldn't quit the Lexapro until I was in rehab a few years ago.Just talk to your friend and be there for him.

 

[Cone]

I cold turkey'd off of 20mg's/day of this stuff and didn't really feel normal till about a month off of it.

After a week though I was definitely in much better shape...

Not sure what the deal is. Perhaps he should just stick it out rather than go through the taper and prolong the shitty experience.

Does he have any experience withdrawing from recreational drugs?

I'd say he's overplaying it a little bit and working himself into a state. Especially if he's going online and reading about how "terrible" the withdrawals can be on health forums or whatnot.

 

[jlcb24]

From personal experience, going cold turkey off SSRI's can be detrimental. After about a week, I started experiencing nearly unbearable anxiety, "brain zaps", and emotional instability worse than before I'd started taking it in the first place. My advice is to get back on the original dosage and follow a doctor's advice while attempting to taper off the medication. When I did this, I noticed minimal (at most) withdrawal symptoms.