1 minute ago, overthepill said:

I expressed to her that my main fear right now is going into protracted withdrawal because I discontinued the Lexapro at 2mg due to the adverse reaction.

Did she give you any coping skills to use and practice

5 minutes ago, Bernadette said:

I'm not sure if you told me earlier but do you work? Do you have any intrests/hobbies? I did work the entire time during my tapering and WD, not by choice but because I had to, but in reality I was grateful for it, even though it was extremely difficult my first year, it kept my mind from ruminating, and kept me distracted. I did try some coping skills, self tapping, some yoga, humming, which sounds kinda like your saying the letter R , a lot of time it was mainly distracting myself with anything and everything, cooking, gardening, mowing lawn if I tolerated the noise from the mower, knitting, word finds, my flower bed. And of course reaching out to my sister and daughter, and sometimes just crying my eyes out, just the soothing sound of her voice calmed me on many occasions, she has stood by me through this whole ordeal and never left my side, even though she lives in Ohio, find that 1 comfort person close to you that you can learn on and doesn't judge, but listens a supports. And but the thing that has helped also is my faith in the Lord my God who has carried me even at my darkest moments. He has truly given me the strength to keep going. I know this is difficult @overthepill but honestly there is no time frame in the healing process, because as I have mentioned before everyone heals differently and some quicker and some take longer. Hugs for now xxxx Bernadette, you will get through this.

I had just gotten an amazing dream job making 6 figures doing what I love before all this happened, I have since lost the job, and due to the majority of my symptoms being brain fog and cognitive impairment and dizziness and just this paralyzing dread that doesn't let me do anything but think about how I'm feeling im really not doing much these days. I'm really hoping to recover and pick up the pieces at some point but if how I'm feeling at the moment is any indicator of how long this is going to take that won't be for a while.

6 hours ago, overthepill said:

had just gotten an amazing dream job making 6 figures doing what I love before all this happened, I have since lost the job, and due to the majority of my symptoms being brain fog and cognitive impairment and dizziness and just this paralyzing dread that doesn't let me do anything but think about how I'm feeling im really not doing much these days. I'm really hoping to recover and pick up the pieces at some point but if how I'm feeling at the moment is any indicator of how long this is going to take that won't be for a while.

I’m sorry to hear this. I too experience this and I think everyone experiences wd differently. I think that if you would be able to work or practice some hobby’s, you would. Listen to your body and listen good and you body will show you what it’s able to handle. I myself are at 3 months now and ri 1 mg. I’m on my 5th day . Who knows what will happen. Some days I’m ok some days are terrible. Then I can’t for anything but stay in bed and scroll through my phone. It’s not even a choice. My current problem is my depression and the lack of motivation that is so strong tat doesn’t allow me to do anything. I hope you will have some good windows. Lots of love ❤️ Sarah

@overthepill how are you this afternoon my friend? Have things settled down for you a bit?

53 minutes ago, Bernadette said:

@overthepill how are you this afternoon my friend? Have things settled down for you a bit?

Been having trouble sleeping the past couple days, this morning I woke up all sweaty and clammy and with really bad nausea. I have no appetite lately and the nausea is definitely not helping. My head symptoms are still going strong, hoping for some relief soon.

11 hours ago, Saar8srl said:

I’m sorry to hear this. I too experience this and I think everyone experiences wd differently. I think that if you would be able to work or practice some hobby’s, you would. Listen to your body and listen good and you body will show you what it’s able to handle. I myself are at 3 months now and ri 1 mg. I’m on my 5th day . Who knows what will happen. Some days I’m ok some days are terrible. Then I can’t for anything but stay in bed and scroll through my phone. It’s not even a choice. My current problem is my depression and the lack of motivation that is so strong tat doesn’t allow me to do anything. I hope you will have some good windows. Lots of love ❤️ Sarah

Thank you for the well wishes, I hope you start feeling better soon as well!

@overthepill what you are describing are normal WD symptoms in the early stages. I try to keep my room as dark as possible, I literally put black out blinds and a dark color blanket over my windows as to not let any light in, I also keep it as cool as possible in my bedroom, I even have a fan running all the time when I sleep, for 1 I like the hum of the fan and also to drawn out any other noises. Others here my have more ideas they could share as far as sleeping. As far as the nausea that would be part of the wonderful cortisol morning's we all dislike, and yes they can be challenging but this to shall pass given time. Hugs for now xxxx Bernadette

2 minutes ago, Bernadette said:

Others here my have more ideas they could share as far as sleeping

I bought a light-blocking eye mask with integrated speakers. I Bluetooth it to sleep videos on YouTube when I go to bed. It really helps with focus and shutting out the racing thoughts.

10 minutes ago, Bernadette said:

@overthepill what you are describing are normal WD symptoms in the early stages. I try to keep my room as dark as possible, I literally put black out blinds and a dark color blanket over my windows as to not let any light in, I also keep it as cool as possible in my bedroom, I even have a fan running all the time when I sleep, for 1 I like the hum of the fan and also to drawn out any other noises. Others here my have more ideas they could share as far as sleeping. As far as the nausea that would be part of the wonderful cortisol morning's we all dislike, and yes they can be challenging but this to shall pass given time. Hugs for now xxxx Bernadette

It's just I'm almost a month off the medication and it seems like new symptoms keep popping up and my current ones keep getting worse, is this normal?

7 minutes ago, mstimc60 said:

I bought a light-blocking eye mask with integrated speakers. I Bluetooth it to sleep videos on YouTube when I go to bed. It really helps with focus and shutting out the racing thoughts.

I had been sleeping fine and then the last couple days I feel like my sleep was snatched from me 😔

11 minutes ago, overthepill said:

It's just I'm almost a month off the medication and it seems like new symptoms keep popping up and my current ones keep getting worse, is this normal?

Truthfully @overthepill yes, this is part of the healing process, it my not always be kind be each and everyone of us here has experienced this at so degree.

13 minutes ago, overthepill said:

I had been sleeping fine and then the last couple days I feel like my sleep was snatched from me 😔

Yes your sleep will fluctuate from time to time, some better as some not so much, but sleep is a critical part of the healing it get just enough to help us through. Some my say this is when the body heals the most.

It's just I'm almost a month off the medication and it seems like new symptoms keep popping up and my current ones keep getting worse, is this normal?

I can't comment directly on your situation as I'm not fully up to date, but FWIW in my convoluted situation, when I jumped to zero at what I believe was a little too high a dose my symptoms got worse for the first 6 months. Then I had a new baseline and things improved from there fairly rapidly over the next 6 months, but it was certainly darkest before the dawn.

Unfortunately I never found any easy answers to my questions about what was best for me to do while tapering. I had to find my way through trial and error.

11 minutes ago, j1290 said:

It's just I'm almost a month off the medication and it seems like new symptoms keep popping up and my current ones keep getting worse, is this normal?

I can't comment directly on your situation as I'm not fully up to date, but FWIW in my convoluted situation, when I jumped to zero at what I believe was a little too high a dose my symptoms got worse for the first 6 months. Then I had a new baseline and things improved from there fairly rapidly over the next 6 months, but it was certainly darkest before the dawn.

Unfortunately I never found any easy answers to my questions about what was best for me to do while tapering. I had to find my way through trial and error.

Yes @j1290 I absolutely agree,with you everyone has ther own was of coping with the sleep issues

4 hours ago, Bernadette said:

Yes your sleep will fluctuate from time to time, some better as some not so much, but sleep is a critical part of the healing it get just enough to help us through. Some my say this is when the body heals the most.

This is deeply personal, but I guess there is no better place to share this. I had an emotional breakdown today and started crying, like sobbing. This is so weird for me because I never cry. Is this part of the process?

Edited August 14Aug 14 by overthepill

Ooh yes, by crying our body releases oxytocin and endorphins, which is a very normal thing to do @overthepill during this process. I found crying, a really good cry made me feel better afterwards, so by all means let the tears flow don't hold it in. During this process you'll cry here and there and this is very natural just let it flow. Stay strong my friend. Hugs xxx Bernadette

16 minutes ago, Bernadette said:

Ooh yes, by crying our body releases oxytocin and endorphins, which is a very normal thing to do @overthepill during this process. I found crying, a really good cry made me feel better afterwards, so by all means let the tears flow don't hold it in. During this process you'll cry here and there and this is very natural just let it flow. Stay strong my friend. Hugs xxx Bernadette

Well that's good to know, I thought I was having some type of nervous breakdown or something haha

Crying is a good thing ❤️ were all human man or woman. I call it Gods tears cleansing my sole.

6 hours ago, Bernadette said:

Crying is a good thing ❤️ were all human man or woman.

100%!

10 hours ago, overthepill said:

This is deeply personal, but I guess there is no better place to share this. I had an emotional breakdown today and started crying, like sobbing. This is so weird for me because I never cry. Is this part of the process?

@overthepill I have cried more during this experience than I had probably in the previous 10 years combined. You're certainly not alone! 💜

Been having the worst stomach cramps today, my appetite is non-existent and I feel so out of it and fatigued. I really feel like I have just been declining, each day is harder than the last. Is this normal as I approach the end of the first month?

So sorry @overthepill I just got back online, been pretty busy today with work and made a zucchini carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for my daughter Kelly and her husband Cullin. To answer your question, yes this is very normal during WD as far as stomach issues/pain. Mine was probably the worst my first few months, don't get me wrong there will be stomach problems throughout this process, but what I'm trying to say is mine were more intense in the beginning. I'm currently having a few issues with the stomach since I got back from camping but is starting to calm down. When I find myself in a bit more stress it likes to ack up a bit but in time if I listen to my body and be gentle to it and not push to much it settles. So what yourexperiencing is absolutely normal. The gut and brain are connected wit one another. Eat simplefood if you can tolerate them, of course clean is always better. Everyone is different in what they can tolerate so just listen to your body. So sorry my dear friend your going through this. Bat as a lot of us here know, the bigger the wave the bigger the window. Hugs for now xxxx Bernadette

3 minutes ago, Bernadette said:

So sorry @overthepill I just got back online, been pretty busy today with work and made a zucchini carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for my daughter Kelly and her husband Cullin. To answer your question, yes this is very normal during WD as far as stomach issues/pain. Mine was probably the worst my first few months, don't get me wrong there will be stomach problems throughout this process, but what I'm trying to say is mine were more intense in the beginning. I'm currently having a few issues with the stomach since I got back from camping but is starting to calm down. When I find myself in a bit more stress it likes to ack up a bit but in time if I listen to my body and be gentle to it and not push to much it settles. So what yourexperiencing is absolutely normal. The gut and brain are connected wit one another. Eat simplefood if you can tolerate them, of course clean is always better. Everyone is different in what they can tolerate so just listen to your body. So sorry my dear friend your going through this. Bat as a lot of us here know, the bigger the wave the bigger the window. Hugs for now xxxx Bernadette

A zucchini carrot cake sounds delicious right about now, and yes these stomach cramps today have felt excruciating. I feel like someone is tying my stomach in knots. This just started today, I feel it weird that symptoms keep popping up at almost a month but I guess all of this is unpredictable. I really hope my body decides to settle soon because I feel like it's attacking me from all angles 😔

I absolutely understand, I was were you are and it does get better in time, and your absolutely correct with different issues popping up, but like they say, when in doubt check it out. I've went to the Doctor from time to time and it usually was just the WD symptoms, many of us here have done this, if anything to give a piece of mind. Your system is in the process of stabilizing and regulating itself. Hugs my friend.

3 minutes ago, Bernadette said:

I absolutely understand, I was were you are and it does get better in time, and your absolutely correct with different issues popping up, but like they say, when in doubt check it out. I've went to the Doctor from time to time and it usually was just the WD symptoms, many of us here have done this, if anything to give a piece of mind. Your system is in the process of stabilizing and regulating itself. Hugs my friend.

I'm glad to know this is all normal, although I'm sorry you went through this, I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy.