3 minutes ago, Rekonum said:

@Chippy I had twitches and teeth chattering last night and went to ER even after taking 0.5mg of xanax.. I’m wondering am I withdrawing from xanax whilst dealing with this stabilization of lexapro..

It can be hard to unravel what is what. You have to choose if you think not taking the Xanax is an issue from a wd perspective. The main thing is to not take it because you think it helps you cope with your injury.

5 minutes ago, Rekonum said:

I don’t want to just cut the xanax out because I think it’s heavy hitting me later when it wears off into the next day..

In which case, if you are going to take it daily to hold back wd, split the dose to even out the drug in your system roughly 11/12 hours apart. Xanax has a short half life splitting the dose should help with this.

6 minutes ago, Rekonum said:

I know you don’t like introduction to new meds, but would using klonopin and slowly tapering on klonopin ease the blow of these xanax withdrawals ?

No I would 100% not take both. 100%. You’ll end up choosing to poly drug, that’s just not what we promote here. Could cause you all sorts of issues. Less drug is the way.

7 minutes ago, Rekonum said:

I have been taking my 5mg dosage splits for 3-4 days now though.. not noticing much of difference, but like you said.. kind of hard to tell with the xanax in the mix… cold turkeying the xanax i think is just hard right now considering i took it off and on for 3-4 weeks..

Ok have you scales now?

I’d keep the 5mg for a couple more days, if you are going to take the Xanax regularly split the dose and then let’s see how you go.

4 minutes ago, Rekonum said:

I know you don’t like introduction to new meds, but would using klonopin and slowly tapering on klonopin ease the blow of these xanax withdrawals ?

I get you're insanely desperate. It's a very shitty situation and feeling to be in, I know. But you would want to taper off the Xanax rather than adding something else to taper off it. It just doesn't make sense. You wouldn't treat caffeine withdrawal with alcohol, would you?

I can't speak if you should taper off Xanax but DO NOT ADD ANYMORE DRUGS INTO THE MIX. You are reminding me of myself and I got myself extremely ****** up. You don't want the fate I'm in at the moment.

@Chippy What I was saying is cut the xanax completely and just use klonopin since it is longer lasting relief and i could taper down off klonopin.. I wouldn’t be taking xanax and klonopin at same time because they serve the same purpose in the brain; the klonopin would just be a cleaner taper than continuing a xanax taper and it’d give me longer relief

I’ll try to do the scales but I have been just cutting the pills in half; My parents are monitoring my meds right now which I have no say over considering they pay the bills and my insurance is under them..

I can get my father to do the 5mg accurately tho.. is there a video tutorial on how to do this? Do you crush it into powder or what?

Edited August 22Aug 22 by Rekonum

11 hours ago, Rekonum said:

@Chippy What I was saying is cut the xanax completely and just use klonopin since it is longer lasting relief and i could taper down off klonopin.. I wouldn’t be taking xanax and klonopin at same time because they serve the same purpose in the brain; the klonopin would just be a cleaner taper than continuing a xanax taper and it’d give me longer relief

The only reason I was suggesting you keep taking the Xanax is because of depedance to it, not to help your Lexapro RI issues, if you think you are getting syptoms of WD from the xanax then you may want to consider taking it every day, splitting the dose to help with interdose WD and then tapering off it once you are more stable. Adding in other drugs is a very bad idea as we have said before.

11 hours ago, Rekonum said:

I’ll try to do the scales but I have been just cutting the pills in half;

Don't try the scales, use the scales.

Weigh 10 pils, divide that weight by 10, that will give you an average pill weight which you will use from now onwards. Divide that weight by 2 and that will be the weight of 5mg of drug. Use a pill cutter to cut a pill in half, weigh it and adjust the weight using a sharp blade or file until it reads as it should do. Accurate doses are really important, don't skip this step.

11 hours ago, Rekonum said:

My parents are monitoring my meds right now which I have no say over considering they pay the bills and my insurance is under them..

This is not acceptable, you should be in control of your health, this behaviour needs challenging imo and is detrimental to your health and wellbeing.

11 hours ago, Rekonum said:

I can get my father to do the 5mg accurately tho.. is there a video tutorial on how to do this? Do you crush it into powder or what?

There was full instructions in the link I send you, my brief instructions above are all you need right now.

Let us know how you are.

16 hours ago, Rekonum said:

@Chippy What I was saying is cut the xanax completely and just use klonopin since it is longer lasting relief and i could taper down off klonopin.. I wouldn’t be taking xanax and klonopin at same time because they serve the same purpose in the brain; the klonopin would just be a cleaner taper than continuing a xanax taper and it’d give me longer relief

@Rekonum you should not be switching drugs right now while you are so unstable. IF you think you are experiencing withdrawal from the Xanax then you should do what Chippy said and split your dose so that you have consistent coverage throughout the day, but don’t taper right now. Keep everything steady until you stabilize. DO NOT take extra Xanax at any time for symptom relief, this will lead you down a very bad path.

@Chippy I think he’s going to try to go a little under 5 and consistently stay there so we don’t have to discard the other half trying to get exactly 5… is this idea okay?

He thinks it’s stupid and thinks your brain can’t tell that small of a difference, but he’s doing it for me anyways which at least that’s good..

Now for the xanax.. is it safe just to attempt to cut it out and take as needed if it gets too bad or better to take everyday and eventually taper off?

42 minutes ago, Rekonum said:

@Chippy I think he’s going to try to go a little under 5 and consistently stay there so we don’t have to discard the other half trying to get exactly 5… is this idea okay?

Not ideal but if it’s close and you take the same every time then sure. Your dose will have been all over the place until now anyway.

43 minutes ago, Rekonum said:

He thinks it’s stupid and thinks your brain can’t tell that small of a difference, but he’s doing it for me anyways which at least that’s good..

Well, I’m glad you’re doing it now. I’ll say no more.

44 minutes ago, Rekonum said:

Now for the xanax.. is it safe just to attempt to cut it out and take as needed if it gets too bad or better to take everyday and eventually taper off?

The only reason I’m suggesting you take it is if you think you are having wd from it. If that’s the case then take it same everyday split in half, 11 hours apart from each half. This is to hold back the wd. Once you’re stable you can taper off it whilst holding the Lexapro.

If you don’t think you are having wd then don’t take it at all, we are not suggesting it as a way of helping you cope with Lexapro wd.

@Chippy Lexapro withdrawal? I think the withdrawal was way more tolerable than the kindling.. I’m now a month in and have seen little improvement.. been at 5mg for about a week now (cant get the exact weight on scale sometimes but within like .02 every time)

How do you guys know for sure I’ll stabilize here eventually? Is it possible that you never stabilize at a rejected dose? How do I even know this is for sure what is going on with me rather than just not being the correct medication?

Psychiatrist had me take genesight test and I sent it back in but I’m sure yall are going to say hold dose or just drop lexapro even more and to never switch drugs.. I just don’t know how you 100% know if it’s kindling, adverse reaction, or wrong med for u in general.. seems like a game of guessing

Also, I havent taken a xanax or any benzo in 4 days so that’s a plus

Edited August 27Aug 27 by Rekonum

4 minutes ago, Rekonum said:

Lexapro withdrawal? I think the withdrawal was way more tolerable than the kindling..

This is exactly how I felt as well. Kindling is the worst ****. As someone who went through (and got worse because I had added stuff), the best thing to do is just follow what these guys say and ride it out. Don't add anything more to cope.

Hey @Rekonum thanks for the update. It’s good you aren’t taking additional drugs.

There is no such thing as the right drug for you. This is nonsense that gets spouted unfortunately by psychiatrists sometimes. They love to switch you around and it just kindles you more.

You could hold the dose here, i think that’s too high still for you, I would say if it were me I’d reduce further to around 2.5-3mg and hold that dose for a week and assess.

I think i do get a little worse 4-5 hours after taking my dose.. I start feeling like I had 1000mg caffiene and feel weak at same time.. muscles get really tight in neck and shoulders and sore as rub them, same with chest too in certain pinpoint spots..

Just scared if I drop dose it’ll get worse or stay here and remain struggling

@Chippy

Edited Thursday at 08:51 PM5 days by Rekonum

10 hours ago, Rekonum said:

I think i do get a little worse 4-5 hours after taking my dose.. I start feeling like I had 1000mg caffiene and feel weak at same time.. muscles get really tight in neck and shoulders and sore as rub them, same with chest too in certain pinpoint spots..

Just scared if I drop dose it’ll get worse or stay here and remain struggling

@Chippy

I wish I could tell you 100% what to do, my gut say drop, so Ill share that if that helps. I think the dose was too much from the start and getting it down would be a good idea. Unfortunately there are not certainties in WD.

23 hours ago, Rekonum said:

I think i do get a little worse 4-5 hours after taking my dose.. I start feeling like I had 1000mg caffiene and feel weak at same time.. muscles get really tight in neck and shoulders and sore as rub them, same with chest too in certain pinpoint spots..

Just scared if I drop dose it’ll get worse or stay here and remain struggling

@Chippy

As someone who did reinstate at 5mg, I did notice my physical symptoms disipate after a week or 2 of stopping completely. However, my mind was still very anxious. I really think a drop would be good.

@Chippy @Kahran

I haven’t dropped yet.. still at 5mg as of today but haven’t taken xanax at all in 5 days; done with xanax, but I had to take klonopin today for first time.. it’s been rough… desperate for relief and I’m not getting it; sometimes just better to take it than to literal feel like you’d rather be dead than how you feel physically.. which I’m not one to ever give up so if I have to take something that may not be good long term maybe it’s better than feeling like **** 24/7.. I don’t think I’ll be on either lexapro or any benzo long term tho.. hoping to drop the lexapro more starting tomorrow maybe

As someone with a benzo withdrawal history, I urge you to stay away from benzos. Withdrawal from them can be very serious.

I totally understand how horrible you feel. I’m in the throws of kindling and withdrawal myself.

This will pass. Survive the minutes and then the days.

Hold steady until you hear from Chippy or Kahran. Take exactly the same amount of lexapro each day until you reduce the dose. Don’t do anything different until you hear back.

Your nervous system needs to have the same input/signal in order to start calming down. ❤️

@Rekonum I'm not gonna blame you for trying it out despite us telling otherwise. I know the discomfort is immense and you are desperate for relief. But please make that the last dose cause things can truly get worse on a path like this.

@Kahran I truthfully don’t understand how it can get worse than right now lol

10 hours ago, Rekonum said:

haven’t dropped yet.. still at 5mg as of today but haven’t taken xanax at all in 5 days; done with xanax,

Ok, that is good to know.

10 hours ago, Rekonum said:

but I had to take klonopin today for first time.. it’s been rough… desperate for relief and I’m not getting it; sometimes just better to take it than to literal feel like you’d rather be dead than how you feel physically..

Unfortunately this isn't a good idea, and you have to consider the long term additional harm from taking extra drugs. I would not take anymore.

10 hours ago, Rekonum said:

I don’t think I’ll be on either lexapro or any benzo long term tho..

No, you will need to be off all this eventually. These drugs are not good for us anyway, once the cns is harmed, there is no long term prospects staying on these drugs indefinitely imo.

10 hours ago, Rekonum said:

oping to drop the lexapro more starting tomorrow maybe

I would drop asap if you are going to do so which I think you should, the longer you stay on this dose the less likley you will be able to reduce it successfully imo.

@Chippy This pill cutting with a razor on gem 20 scale isn’t really working effective.. just keep messing my pills up.. sometimes u cut it and it weighs more than before u cut the little piece off

I’m consistently trying to take 5mg bc I’m kind of scared to drop to 2.5 but maybe i should make the jump.. I can’t get the exact weight every time for 5mg

Do doctors/psychiatrists prescribe 1, 2.5, and 5 mg pills?

18 minutes ago, Rekonum said:

Do doctors/psychiatrists prescribe 1, 2.5, and 5 mg pills?

The smallest you can get is 5mg. But you can also get a liquid.

13 hours ago, Rekonum said:

@Chippy This pill cutting with a razor on gem 20 scale isn’t really working effective.. just keep messing my pills up.. sometimes u cut it and it weighs more than before u cut the little piece off

I’m consistently trying to take 5mg bc I’m kind of scared to drop to 2.5 but maybe i should make the jump.. I can’t get the exact weight every time for 5mg

Do doctors/psychiatrists prescribe 1, 2.5, and 5 mg pills?

Hey @Rekonum

Try putting the weight that came with the scale on and then zero/tar the scales again. This loads the table and gets in back into it's operating range and can help with accuracy.

Yeah it can be tricky to weigh such a small dose I can understand that. Try what I said and then also do a 'dry run' of weighing the 2.5 or 3mg and see if you can get it right. Also make sure there are no open windows, or air movement around the table. Mainly, put the pill on the scales, let it settle, take the reading and don't worry too much about it. You'll never be perfect with it imo.

When we get people to RI on 1mg we get them to make up a DIY liquid. You could do this however the transition can be destablising so I would be keen to try to find a dose you can weigh if we can. Worse case we could make the dose up with a liquid if you felt the benefit of reducing the dose and improved accuracy was worth the penalty of the switch.

Be cautious about delaying reducing the dose, the longer you leave it the more dependance you are building up.

I know you find yourself in a less than ideal place atm, unfortunately thats true for many of us on here, we just have to get assertive and make some informed choices and move forwards.

Chippy