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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 17 of 17. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Trepanist on July 5, 2010, at 21:51:25
Not that I'm complaining, but it's been a full month since I've stopped taking 20 mg of Lexapro, and I've had NO withdrawal symptoms. in fact, I still feel the benefits from the medication without taking the pill. Am I cured of my OCD? Is withdrawal hell waiting for me around the corner or am I just lucky? I was fully expecting some kind of consequence. Any other similar experiences?
Posted by Phillipa on July 5, 2010, at 21:56:18
In reply to Stopped Lexapro Cold Turkey NO Withdrawl, What Giv, posted by Trepanist on July 5, 2010, at 21:51:25
Yes remeron after a month and cymbalta after three months. Never got it. Did you start another med? Phillipa
Posted by Phillipa on July 5, 2010, at 21:57:00
In reply to Stopped Lexapro Cold Turkey NO Withdrawl, What Giv, posted by Trepanist on July 5, 2010, at 21:51:46
Double post. Phillipa
Posted by Trepanist on July 5, 2010, at 21:59:46
In reply to Re: Stopped Lexapro Cold Turkey NO Withdrawl, What Giv » Trepanist, posted by Phillipa on July 5, 2010, at 21:56:18
> Yes remeron after a month and cymbalta after three months. Never got it. Did you start another med? Phillipa
No, I am going off all meds. I've been on Lexapro and klonopin for 5 years. Maybe my brain wiring has been permanently re-wired for the better - i hope. Thanks for your posts.
Posted by Phillipa on July 5, 2010, at 22:12:20
In reply to Re: Stopped Lexapro Cold Turkey NO Withdrawl, What Giv, posted by Trepanist on July 5, 2010, at 21:59:46
No more depression, no more anxiety. Was this your first? Phillipa
Posted by Trepanist on July 5, 2010, at 22:17:18
In reply to Re: Stopped Lexapro Cold Turkey NO Withdrawl, What Giv » Trepanist, posted by Phillipa on July 5, 2010, at 22:12:20
> No more depression, no more anxiety. Was this your first? Phillipa
Not sure what you mean, but I tapered off Lexapro 10 mg about 8 years ago with no problem. I've lifelong severe OCD, but has been successfully managed by meds, but recently the side effects became overwhelming plus concern over chronic use so am stopping.
Waiting for the other shoe to drop, but I will just be thankful!
Posted by Phillipa on July 5, 2010, at 22:20:24
In reply to Re: Stopped Lexapro Cold Turkey NO Withdrawl, What Giv, posted by Trepanist on July 5, 2010, at 22:17:18
I think it's fabulous!!!! Phillipa
Posted by Trepanist on July 5, 2010, at 22:21:26
In reply to Re: Stopped Lexapro Cold Turkey NO Withdrawl, What Giv » Trepanist, posted by Phillipa on July 5, 2010, at 22:20:24
> I think it's fabulous!!!! Phillipa
Thanks!
Posted by Lou PIlder on July 5, 2010, at 22:55:29
In reply to Stopped Lexapro Cold Turkey NO Withdrawl, What Giv, posted by Trepanist on July 5, 2010, at 21:51:46
> Not that I'm complaining, but it's been a full month since I've stopped taking 20 mg of Lexapro, and I've had NO withdrawal symptoms. in fact, I still feel the benefits from the medication without taking the pill. Am I cured of my OCD? Is withdrawal hell waiting for me around the corner or am I just lucky? I was fully expecting some kind of consequence. Any other similar experiences?
Trepanist,
You wrote,[...NO withdrawal symptoms...around the corner..lucky?...]
What you are describing is important here. you see in order for there to be a withdrawal syndrome, there would need to be a dependence established by the nature of taking the drug. Without me going into how a dependence is established, it is possible for one to take a drug and not establish a dependence, hence there would be no withdrawal. I have heard of cases where a man took a drug for years and had no withdrawal on discontinuation. It was later found out that the wife substituted the drug of her husband and he thought it to work and she knew it was the placebo effect. There was not a dependence established. I have heard of cases of one being lucky due to their chemical make-up that prevented dependence, some type of imunity to the drug in relation to establishing dependence? Then I have heard of cases where the person never took the drug and wanted others to think that they did take the drug. And there could be doctors that dispense placebos, hence there would be no dependence established.
I have also heard of cases where a withdrawal syndrome started months after discontinuation. I can not tell you here why that is possible, sorry.
But be of good cheer and I would like for you to keep an update here...
Lou
Posted by Lou PIlder on July 5, 2010, at 23:18:33
In reply to Lou's response-ehynomo » Trepanist, posted by Lou PIlder on July 5, 2010, at 22:55:29
> > Not that I'm complaining, but it's been a full month since I've stopped taking 20 mg of Lexapro, and I've had NO withdrawal symptoms. in fact, I still feel the benefits from the medication without taking the pill. Am I cured of my OCD? Is withdrawal hell waiting for me around the corner or am I just lucky? I was fully expecting some kind of consequence. Any other similar experiences?
>
> Trepanist,
> You wrote,[...NO withdrawal symptoms...around the corner..lucky?...]
> What you are describing is important here. you see in order for there to be a withdrawal syndrome, there would need to be a dependence established by the nature of taking the drug. Without me going into how a dependence is established, it is possible for one to take a drug and not establish a dependence, hence there would be no withdrawal. I have heard of cases where a man took a drug for years and had no withdrawal on discontinuation. It was later found out that the wife substituted the drug of her husband and he thought it to work and she knew it was the placebo effect. There was not a dependence established. I have heard of cases of one being lucky due to their chemical make-up that prevented dependence, some type of imunity to the drug in relation to establishing dependence? Then I have heard of cases where the person never took the drug and wanted others to think that they did take the drug. And there could be doctors that dispense placebos, hence there would be no dependence established.
> I have also heard of cases where a withdrawal syndrome started months after discontinuation. I can not tell you here why that is possible, sorry.
> But be of good cheer and I would like for you to keep an update here...
> LouI have also heard of a case where there was a withdrawal syndrome where the person did not take a drug to establish a dependence. This I think is important here because of what I know concerning withdrawal and what I would like for others to know to benefit from the education that I could offer them here.
I can not post here a lot concerning that, but I would like for interested people here to look up Charles Benet .
Lou
Posted by Lou PIlder on July 5, 2010, at 23:27:20
In reply to Lou's response-continued, posted by Lou PIlder on July 5, 2010, at 23:18:33
> > > Not that I'm complaining, but it's been a full month since I've stopped taking 20 mg of Lexapro, and I've had NO withdrawal symptoms. in fact, I still feel the benefits from the medication without taking the pill. Am I cured of my OCD? Is withdrawal hell waiting for me around the corner or am I just lucky? I was fully expecting some kind of consequence. Any other similar experiences?
> >
> > Trepanist,
> > You wrote,[...NO withdrawal symptoms...around the corner..lucky?...]
> > What you are describing is important here. you see in order for there to be a withdrawal syndrome, there would need to be a dependence established by the nature of taking the drug. Without me going into how a dependence is established, it is possible for one to take a drug and not establish a dependence, hence there would be no withdrawal. I have heard of cases where a man took a drug for years and had no withdrawal on discontinuation. It was later found out that the wife substituted the drug of her husband and he thought it to work and she knew it was the placebo effect. There was not a dependence established. I have heard of cases of one being lucky due to their chemical make-up that prevented dependence, some type of imunity to the drug in relation to establishing dependence? Then I have heard of cases where the person never took the drug and wanted others to think that they did take the drug. And there could be doctors that dispense placebos, hence there would be no dependence established.
> > I have also heard of cases where a withdrawal syndrome started months after discontinuation. I can not tell you here why that is possible, sorry.
> > But be of good cheer and I would like for you to keep an update here...
> > Lou
>
> I have also heard of a case where there was a withdrawal syndrome where the person did not take a drug to establish a dependence. This I think is important here because of what I know concerning withdrawal and what I would like for others to know to benefit from the education that I could offer them here.
> I can not post here a lot concerning that, but I would like for interested people here to look up Charles Benet .
> LouIt is Chearles Bonnet.
If you explore what you can concerning the Charles Bonnet syndrom, you might find some things concerning this thread. I can not post a lot concerning this due to (redacted by respondent)
Lou
Posted by weatherfreak on July 5, 2010, at 23:29:35
In reply to Re: Stopped Lexapro Cold Turkey NO Withdrawl, What Giv, posted by Trepanist on July 5, 2010, at 22:21:26
That's great news for you. Quite a few people have no problems withdrawing from SSRI's but I'd be a lot more cautious with the klonopin.
It's very important to find a proper benzodiazepine conversion table, most people find valium the best to cross taper to first because it has such a long half life. You must find the proper amount, but some people do taper off klonopin alone. Valium just comes in easier dosages to deal with when you get down lower towards the end of your taper. Good luck!
Posted by Trepanist on July 5, 2010, at 23:41:42
In reply to Re: Stopped Lexapro Cold Turkey NO Withdrawl, What Giv » Trepanist, posted by weatherfreak on July 5, 2010, at 23:29:35
> That's great news for you. Quite a few people have no problems withdrawing from SSRI's but I'd be a lot more cautious with the klonopin.
>
> It's very important to find a proper benzodiazepine conversion table, most people find valium the best to cross taper to first because it has such a long half life. You must find the proper amount, but some people do taper off klonopin alone. Valium just comes in easier dosages to deal with when you get down lower towards the end of your taper. Good luck!VERY good information, thanks. i will be sure to have it handy when i see my doc this week. I am expecting a protracted discontinuation of klonopin.
Posted by Huxley on July 6, 2010, at 0:52:39
In reply to Stopped Lexapro Cold Turkey NO Withdrawl, What Giv, posted by Trepanist on July 5, 2010, at 21:51:46
> Not that I'm complaining, but it's been a full month since I've stopped taking 20 mg of Lexapro, and I've had NO withdrawal symptoms. in fact, I still feel the benefits from the medication without taking the pill. Am I cured of my OCD? Is withdrawal hell waiting for me around the corner or am I just lucky? I was fully expecting some kind of consequence. Any other similar experiences?
I came of ADs after six months with ease. 10 years down the track its a whole different story.
How long have you been taking it for? Are you taking any other meds?
I have found that Zyprexa eliminates the withdrawal of ADs.
Maybe you are just lucky.
Posted by Trepanist on July 6, 2010, at 1:17:31
In reply to Re: Stopped Lexapro Cold Turkey NO Withdrawl, What Giv, posted by Huxley on July 6, 2010, at 0:52:39
> > Not that I'm complaining, but it's been a full month since I've stopped taking 20 mg of Lexapro, and I've had NO withdrawal symptoms. in fact, I still feel the benefits from the medication without taking the pill. Am I cured of my OCD? Is withdrawal hell waiting for me around the corner or am I just lucky? I was fully expecting some kind of consequence. Any other similar experiences?
>
> I came of ADs after six months with ease. 10 years down the track its a whole different story.
>
> How long have you been taking it for? Are you taking any other meds?
>
> I have found that Zyprexa eliminates the withdrawal of ADs.
>
> Maybe you are just lucky.I've been on Lexapro for 5 years, along with Klonopin. What are AD's?
Posted by weatherfreak on July 6, 2010, at 2:29:43
In reply to Re: Stopped Lexapro Cold Turkey NO Withdrawl, What Giv, posted by Trepanist on July 5, 2010, at 23:41:42
All the best and good luck :)
I've done it a couple of times in the past quite well, but when I was young and clueless I went cold turkey off a high does of Xanax and that was a rather unpleasant experience. I'll never go cold turkey off benzo's ever again. Don't rush it and if you need to stay at a certain does for longer than expected, do it, you have to be quite flexible for the best results. Don't forget the Valium towards the end if you need it either.
Once again, good luck.
Posted by Phillipa on July 6, 2010, at 19:07:55
In reply to Re: Stopped Lexapro Cold Turkey NO Withdrawl, What Giv » Trepanist, posted by weatherfreak on July 6, 2010, at 2:29:43
Ad's are antidepressants. When young I cold turkeyed mephbrobamate sp? and never even knew it was on 5mg of valium three times a day at that time. Phillipa
This is the end of the thread.
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