Hello Fellow Taperers! I've moved over from SA. Link to my story is: https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/forums/topic/31949-peppermintmocha-want-a-successful-escitalopram-taper/

I became destabilized around October 2025, and then made changes to my dosage that only made things worse. I've been holding at 1mg of lexapro for the last few months and feel stable. I recently made a very small cut. From 1mg to .95mg and am going to stay here for probably a couple of months. I doubt I'll go faster than 5% per month for this last 1mg taper.

It's hard to taper slowly when I just want out of a broken mental health system. I can't even be honest with my prescriber because she refuses to hear me that even small dose changes causes symptoms. So I sit through my useless telehealth appointments that last all of 10 minutes, lie about my dosage, and get billed $450. I deny any and all symptoms because that generates yet another suggestion at additional psych meds.

My daily functioning is normal. I exercise, work, and socialize. I can feel gratitude and happiness. My sleep could probably be better. I get a solid 7-8 hours. I tend to wake up at 3am, but then I am able to go back to sleep. I probably won't make another cut until these 3am wake ups go away. All in all, I'm doing well. I feel resilient and fragile at the same time. Resilient because I know I can handle the ups and downs of daily life. On the other hand, I know how quickly a big cut or a major health event can destabilize from past experience.

Edited August 12Aug 12 by SarahMc

Welcome to the forum!

 

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I'm so sorry to read about the tough time you've had recently you will find plenty of support here for sure.

51 minutes ago, Wildflower said:

I became destabilized around October 2025, and then made changes to my dosage that only made things worse. I've been holding at 1mg of lexapro for the last few months and feel stable. I recently made a very small cut. From 1mg to .95mg and am going to stay here for probably a couple of months. I doubt I'll go faster than 5% per month for this last 1mg taper.

I'm glad that you were able to stabilize after a harder period. Tapering the last 1 mg slowly is definitely a good idea, escitalopram in particular is very potent at low doses. Just be patient and listen to your body. Some folks need to go even slower than 5%, especially right at the end.

55 minutes ago, Wildflower said:

It's hard to taper slowly when I just want out of a broken mental health system. I can't even be honest with my prescriber because she refuses to hear me that even small dose changes causes symptoms. So I sit through my useless telehealth appointments that last all of 10 minutes, lie about my dosage, and get billed $450. I deny any and all symptoms because that generates yet another suggestion at additional psych meds.

I think almost everyone on here has had similar experiences with health care providers. The system is still very much broken. You're taking the right approach -- just get your meds and be on your way.

58 minutes ago, Wildflower said:

My daily functioning is normal. I exercise, work, and socialize. I can feel gratitude and happiness. My sleep could probably be better. I get a solid 7-8 hours. I tend to wake up at 3am, but then I am able to go back to sleep. I probably won't make another cut until these 3am wake ups go away. All in all, I'm doing well. I feel resilient and fragile at the same time. Resilient because I know I can handle the ups and downs of daily life. On the other hand, I know how quickly a big cut or a major health event can destabilize from past experience.

Sounds like you're doing really well, all things considered 😊. That's great to hear. We've all learned a lot on this journey, but you've come really far and you're getting close to the end! Slowly but surely, you will get there.

 

In the mean time this is what I would do if I were you:

 

-Stay Hydrated 

 

-Eat a good clean whole food diet, avoiding processed foods and sugars.

 

-Stay away from caffeine, alcohol and antihistamines and any other psychoactive substances.

 

Supplements are to be avoided initially, as they often irritate our nervous systems. Try to get your nutrition through food.

 

Down the line, you may wish to introduce Fish Oil and Magnesium. Those who can tolerate them have found them calming to the nervous system. Be careful try one at a time and start low and see how you get on should you choose to try them.

 

A daily walk is very important as much as you can manage, if you can manage it. Gets you your fresh air and Vitamin D does wonders for your mind!

 

You are very welcome here and I hope you find the site supportive.

Welcome to the forum.

How have you been feeling since the last small cut?

1 minute ago, Luke said:

Welcome to the forum.

How have you been feeling since the last small cut?

I haven't had any symptoms except the 3am awakenings. It's possible that's not even from the dose cut. We've had several out of town guests and that tends to increase my stress.

Welcome to the forum @Wildflower nice to have you here, I read you made a cut from 1mg to .95mg, how has that been going for you. Good idea in your post about not telling the Doctor more than they need, because they seem to always wanna give you something else and your absolutely correct on them not understanding that a person can go into PTWD while tapering. Sounds like you have a handle on things and are doing well. Like we say here, "Slow is the new fast" no reason to disrupt our Cns. Again welcome, this is a very informative, caring and compassionate place to be with wonderful supportive people.

1 hour ago, Bernadette said:

Welcome to the forum @Wildflower nice to have you here, I read you made a cut from 1mg to .95mg, how has that been going for you. Good idea in your post about not telling the Doctor more than they need, because they seem to always wanna give you something else and your absolutely correct on them not understanding that a person can go into PTWD while tapering. Sounds like you have a handle on things and are doing well. Like we say here, "Slow is the new fast" no reason to disrupt our Cns. Again welcome, this is a very informative, caring and compassionate place to be with wonderful supportive people.

I'm happy with how the cut went. Virtually no symptoms except maybe slight sleep disturbance. I will resist the urge to make another cut for a few weeks.

Your doing wonderful, listen to your body and you'll do great.

I'm glad to hear the cut went well.

I would suggest thinking about what a "successful" taper is- I would say that it's not going fast, but that a successful taper looks like minimising symptoms, and tapering in the background while you live your life.

By that measure, if you take it slowly and carefully as you have been, it sounds like you're doing the right thing and working through what will hopefully be a successful taper.

Welcome to the forum @Wildflower I am glad to hear things are going fairly well for you from what I read. I think being very careful with your taper is a wise move. Protect that sleep and live whilst tapering, no need to rush off. Lex is a potent drug and as you go lower it has a very outsized effect on the brain which means you need to go nice and careful, sometimes unreasonably so. Body sets the pace.

5 hours ago, Chippy said:

Welcome to the forum @Wildflower I am glad to hear things are going fairly well for you from what I read. I think being very careful with your taper is a wise move. Protect that sleep and live whilst tapering, no need to rush off. Lex is a potent drug and as you go lower it has a very outsized effect on the brain which means you need to go nice and careful, sometimes unreasonably so. Body sets the pace.

I’ll be honest, I was a little discouraged yesterday when I set up my signature and realized I have been tapering for 2 years. I probably have another 2 years to go.

17 hours ago, Wildflower said:

I’ll be honest, I was a little discouraged yesterday when I set up my signature and realized I have been tapering for 2 years. I probably have another 2 years to go.

I know, it can be frustrating we understand. Main thing is to focus on the day, getting stable and being stable whilst tapering is best, regardless of the time it takes.

It’s the first of the month, which means a dosage drop. I’m going from .95-.9. The only symptoms I had last month were two brain zaps. I’m feeling really good mentally. I almost don’t want to rock the boat and stay here for awhile, but I’ll never get to zero if I don’t continue.

I consistently have sleep scores above 95 on my Apple Watch. I’m eating normally. I’m exercising regularly. I’m giving too much focus internally on things like heart rate, breathing, etc when I’m exercising. I think it’s because I had major surgery with complications in June. I will probably feel weird and wiped out for a bit. I signed up for two group tennis classes and one private tennis lesson every week for the next month. I’m hoping I can manage that without an increase in withdrawal symptoms.

Wishing everyone a good September :)

@Wildflower Thanks for the update, sounds like things are going well for you. Good luck with the cut, think that is a sensible rate at this dose. Looking forward to reading your success story soon enough.

Hello @Wildflower , I just saw your thread. Great to have you here on the forum!

I have also been tapering escilatopram since October 24. I’m happy to hear that you are doing so well and hope for you that things will go smoothly in the future.

I’ve been taking different SSRI s for 10 years and until right now I made it to 0.23 mg but I’m struggling … I had a time of holding for 100 days and nothing changed to the better. Then I resumed my tape on February. Right now I started holding again and I am not sure if this will help me or if it will just prolong my suffering.

I was wondering about your experiences with holding, maybe you can tell me about that?

5 hours ago, Nemina said:

Hello @Wildflower , I just saw your thread. Great to have you here on the forum!

I have also been tapering escilatopram since October 24. I’m happy to hear that you are doing so well and hope for you that things will go smoothly in the future.

I’ve been taking different SSRI s for 10 years and until right now I made it to 0.23 mg but I’m struggling … I had a time of holding for 100 days and nothing changed to the better. Then I resumed my tape on February. Right now I started holding again and I am not sure if this will help me or if it will just prolong my suffering.

I was wondering about your experiences with holding, maybe you can tell me about that?

I just came off a long hold of several months. I was doing well and then my husband had a stroke and I became dysregulated. Unfortunately, I panicked and started adjusting my dose and then the wheels fell off. I managed to stabilize and I've held since. I feel great now, and that makes it even harder to move forward. Tapering is not easy, but I'm getting better at challenging my body in a way I wasn't comfortable with even just several months ago. I've managed to rewrite my inner dialogue. I used to really lack confidence in what I could handle. I know I can handle the worst of the worst day at this point because I've been through it.

.23 is amazing progress! You are so close to the finish line. I don't have a good answer on when to hold and when to move forward. What I do know is that you should celebrate being at .23mg after 10 years of use. That's really incredible.

Thank You my dear. I hope that you will make good Progress now that you have stabilized. It is very hard to decide when to hold when to taper and how much… always such a shot into the dark.

3 hours ago, Nemina said:

Thank You my dear. I hope that you will make good Progress now that you have stabilized. It is very hard to decide when to hold when to taper and how much… always such a shot into the dark.

Yes, always such a shot in the dark. I held for as long as I did because I had a hysterectomy in June and I wanted to be as physically and mentally well as possible. Now that's behind me, it's time to resume my taper. I'm ready to embrace the suck, as my daughter says :) I'm not physically where I was before my surgery so I'm taking it slow.

I’m almost 3 weeks into my drop. I went from .95-.90 so it was about 5%. My most annoying symptom is that my visual and vestibular systems are out of synch. I move my head, stop moving, and then it still feels like I’m moving for a second. I’ve also had tinnitus, which I’ve not had before. I also broke out in hives. This happened before when I stopped mirtazapine so I’m pretty sure it’s somehow related to the drop.

I’ll be probably hold until the symptoms simmer for at least a couple weeks of weeks. I’m still sleeping, eating, working, exercising, and socializing like normal. I am surprised at how this small drop caused symptoms when I was feeling pretty solid with the last drop.

I joined a social/charity organization last week. I don’t usually get nervous in new social groups, but I’ll be glad when I get to know more people. I’ve wanted to do more hands on charity work so this will be good for me.

22 minutes ago, Wildflower said:

I am surprised at how this small drop caused symptoms when I was feeling pretty solid with the last drop.

the lowest doses cause the most effect due to the hyperbolical curve so it does make sense, take it easy ❣️

Woah, rough 24 hrs. Time to be brave and work on my tolerance for feeling uncomfortable. I’ll get through it.

Great mindset, @Wildflower . I hope that things will settle soon for you. You definitely are brave.

On 9/25/2026 at 12:18 PM, Nemina said:

Great mindset, @Wildflower . I hope that things will settle soon for you. You definitely are brave.

Thank you 😊 My attitude is the one thing I can control right now. My nervous system is very sensitized. Even positive feelings like joy and excitement are triggering adrenaline. I absolutely believe that this will improve in time.

I did a small cut just to test the waters. Have gone from .9 to .87. If I handle it fine, I’ll move to .83 in 2 weeks. Slow and steady!

@Wildflower your doing wonderful and definitely listen to your system it will and always does let us know when to hold and when to drop in dose. Slow and steady as to not disrupt things, your doing great.