Posted by mellow on May 11, 2011, at 15:07:48
In reply to Lexapro Withdrawal, posted by Butternut on May 9, 2011, at 23:25:46
SSRI's can supress your REM stage sleep (Rapid Eye Movement Sleep) so when you discontinue your body can do what is call "rebounding" in REM stage sleep where you will dream a lot because you haven't had a normal sleep density and sleep cycle in so long.
I work at a sleep disorder clinic and believe it or not after 50 years of research our industry still does not know why we dream...but it must be pretty important if our bodies rush back to this stage of sleep when we deprive ourselves of dreaming.
When I discontinued Celexa (Very similar to Lexapro) I had night terrors and startling dreams for a couple of months. I actually went to see my boss at the sleep center, a board certified sleep doctor, and he said the Celexa withdrawal was the culprit without a doubt.
As for the other aspects of the withdrawal, just push through. You CAN do it! Each day it gets a little better. For me I was just very emotional. I would cry during TV dramas or cheesy commercials. I was much more sensitive to my daily coffee and had a lot of rapid heart beat. You will make it though and probably be better off. I am a lot more stable on a cocktail without SSRI's I know I bash them a lot on this board, but they really made me rapid cycle for years and no one ever told me I had other alternatives.
Best of luck
mellow
Bipolar II
Lamictal 150, Topamax 50, Risperdal 2, Cal/Mag, D3 1000, Fish Oil 2400, High Potency Multi"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
poster:mellow
thread:984974
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110502/msgs/985100.html