Mental Health SSRI withdrawals

[Pagey]

Hi,

I need help dealing with my SSRI withdrawals. I've been on 10mg escitalopram daily for about 5 months. I've reacted quite well to them, they've stabilised me and made it easier for me to go about my day to day business. However, I'm seeing my doctor in about 10 days and don't have enough pills to see me through then so I've been taking half-doses to minimise the withdrawals which are still an absolute nightmare. I barely know what day it is, everything confuses me, everything seems alien and distant, I can't walk straight, I break into tears every ten minutes and I've got a ridiculous constant headache. This is a fucking nightmare and I have absolutely no idea what to do. Does anyone have any tips on how to make the withdrawals easier? I'd be so so grateful

 

[Abject]

Here's a tip: don't halve your dose overnight.

Give your doctor a call, explain your situation to the receptionist and your doctor should be able to write you another script without having an appointment.

I don't know what doses they make them at, but since you're going to taper ask your doctor for the lowest dose made.
The taper is relatively easy. You're on 10mg? Try 7.5mg, stay on that for a bit, try 5mg, then 2.5mg, and then 1.25 if you feel the need.

If you get w/d at any time, go back up to the previous dose and stay on it longer before dipping down again.

Sorry to hear you have such bad w/d's, I never got w/d from SSRI/SNRI's even with cold turkey and massive drops in dose.

 

[T. Calderone]

How long has it been since you had your full dose? Is there any way you can see the doctor sooner or go to a clinic to get a few more to tide you over?

The headaches and mood shakiness are common with abrupt discontinuation. Even though you didn't quit them totally, your brain's not liking this one bit. One thing, keep yourself hydrated and don't forget to eat. That might ease the symptoms. If it doesn't get better, I would go ahead and take the other 5 mg today. See how you feel then. Take care Pagey!

 

[Jerry Atrick]

I'm sorry you are going through this. Why is your doctor setting appointments past the time you are to run out of medication? Where I get my meds, I am able to see a nurse for a prescription refill if my appointment with the doc lies beyond the date my medication is supposed to run out. Either way, I would call my doctor's office first thing Monday morning and tell them what is happening. They may be able to give you some samples to tide you over until the appointment. They may be able to get you in to see a nurse prior to the appointment. They may be able to fax an emergency refill to your pharmacy. My point is, if you don't call your doctor's office you are only hurting yourself. Good luck and I hope you feel better soon.

 

[flyhighk]

If you can't get your script earlier, 5 htp should help.

 

[Pagey]

Thanks so much for the answers everyone. My issue was that my GP, who prescribes these meds for me, is in another country which is why I couldn't move the appointment forward since I'm not going back there until the end of the week. Anyway, I managed to call him and long story short, he wrote a prescription for someone else who's sending the meds over to me so they should be here by tomorrow, thank fuck. When I do decide to get off these I'll make sure to make the taper as drawn out as possible. Thanks again for the support.

 

[Jerry Atrick]

Thanks so much for the answers everyone. My issue was that my GP, who prescribes these meds for me, is in another country which is why I couldn't move the appointment forward since I'm not going back there until the end of the week. Anyway, I managed to call him and long story short, he wrote a prescription for someone else who's sending the meds over to me so they should be here by tomorrow, thank fuck. When I do decide to get off these I'll make sure to make the taper as drawn out as possible. Thanks again for the support.

Glad you called your doc and I'm glad you're getting a shipment of meds. Thanks for updating us.