How long am I going to have withdrawal symptoms?

[AntiLex]

Hello everyone. I was prescribed Lexapro (10mg) for generalized anxiety disorder. After 6 days I stopped taking it cold turkey because of the side affects I was having. My anxiety seemed to intensify. Sleep was affected. On a couple occasions i felt like I was going to faint. After discontinuing the pill I (after consulting my doctor) I was having withdrawal symptoms almost immediately. The anxiety symptoms continued for a couple of days, I had insomnia, but when I did sleep I was having nightmares. The symptoms seemed to gradually subside after a few days, then after having one day of feeling myself again i started feeling the lightheadedness again (5 days after stopping pill). Is there anyone else out there with a similar story? How long did it take you for the withdrawal symptoms to go away?

[Paxiled]

After only six days you really shouldn't be suffering withdrawal.  Of course, with these drugs, anything can happen, but it takes about 4-6 weeks generally for these drugs to start working, though side effects start right away.  Withdrawal is caused by your brain having to learn how to operate again without the drug, but yours never learned to operate with it.  if this is caused by quitting the drug, it should be gone soon.

[whenissomeday]

It's generally not a good idea to quit any SSRI cold turkey, because the withdrawal symptoms can be really severe. I had a period of time last year when I was citalopram (Celexa) 20mg and my prescription ran out, and I was unable to get it refilled because of insurance issues. I had the lightheadedness, the dizzniess, the nausea, brain zaps, and the worst mood swings ever. It lasted for 10 days, and probably would have gone longer if I hadn't gotten a new prescription at that time. It was terrible. Do not advise. Definitely speak to a doctor about a GRADUAL taper off of your medicine, because that will help with the withdrawal symptoms.

Is your doctor a psychiatrist, or a general practitioner? I'd seek someone with more experience with mental health medications to properly monitor your side effects and dosage. I've had doctors with no training in psychiatry or psychology try to prescribe me anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medications, despite having no knowledge of my history with the drugs and my familiarity with them, just because "a lot of my patients take this!"

Anxiety and depression medications can be helpful, so I encourage you to give your medication at least two months to properly kick in, and take note of any side effects or mood alterations during that time. I know many people (including myself) who have tried several different medications throughout the years, basically playing side-effect roulette, until we found one that worked for us. It's a necessary evil of these types of drugs, but well worth the effort.

(FTR, I'm taking 10 mg of escitalopram [Lexapro] and tapering off of it.)

[Aumnachi]

From personal experience I would talk this over with your doctor, tell him/her everything you said here. I've got more anxiety problems that eventually was diagnosed as bipolar when I quit taking my medication one could say I literally went nuts. Growing up I was pumped full of antipsychotics, muscle relaxants, and sleeping pills to calm me down. Tobacco worked wonders to calm me down when I was finally off all the medication. As I'm 35 now and finally giving up tobacco I'll likely be back on all the antipsychotics again. This is from personal experience don't stop taking your medication because your mind is telling you something is wrong. Instead tell your doctor, therapist, neurologist, neuro-psychologist or anyone that will listen everything that's on your mind. Trust me talking about it actually reduces the anxiety, thoughts and concerns over the medication. If it can help try writing it all down too! Whatever pops in your mind even if it sounds embarrassing or a bit crazy it works. Do not let it bottle up because you can hurt someone you love. I've been through what you're going through and a lot worse.