29 minutes ago, Steve1 said:

Not sure I can recover from this

I feel you're in pain Steve but please give it time, your system has been through a lot and needs a long time to adjust.

Today feels brutal and hopeless but that's the mind playing tricks.

Hang in there, better days will come.

@Fullhealing is your advice to hold the 5mg dose?

Who thinks I should hold dose, updose slightly, reduce dose?

@Steve1

What are your main symptoms?

Do you have better and worse times of day?

3 hours ago, Steve1 said:

@Fullhealing is your advice to hold the 5mg dose?

Given the turbulence your system has endured over a relatively short period and its current state of heightened sensitivity I would say wait at least another 2-3 months before a re-evaluation, however, it might be wise to consult with a specialist such as Dr. Horowitz.

Symptons are like a long heavy wave with weird sensations in body

@Steve1 what are your symptoms? I also Ri a small dose and every time I have a wave I start to doubt wich davil is knocking on the door .. Ri or the WD.

2 hours ago, Steve1 said:

Who thinks I should hold dose, updose slightly, reduce dose?

If I compare it to myself it’s very hard to say. It depends on so many things . What were your symptoms before the Ri ? Are they the same ? Are they improving? If you see a slight improvement.. hold and stabilize..I talked to Mark Horowitz and this is what he recommended. But he was also very honest that nobody can give you insurance what to do.

It feels like my "activation" symptons get better by 1% each day, but my "withdrawal" symptons get worse by 3% each day

9 minutes ago, Steve1 said:

It feels like my "activation" symptons get better by 1% each day, but my "withdrawal" symptons get worse by 3% each day

Only you can feel what is causing what and it’s very hard I know … but maybe if you look at it this way. Where the symptoms there before the the 5 mg? Did they changed ? Listen to your own gut , even though wd is in the middle 🫣 . For more reinsurance, you can talk to Horowitz. But its expensive and I don’t know if he is going to tell you something different than the experience people here.

2 hours ago, Steve1 said:

Who thinks I should hold dose, updose slightly, reduce dose?

I think you need to give us a few days of an hourly journal...every hour from waking to sleep, include when you take your dose. Nothing extravagant, just something like this:

8 am woke-anxiety

9am-felt a bit better ate

10am- took drug, felt....

11am- increasing restlessness

I have mentioned this a couple times . It would help immensely. We can only advise based on information.

Hi @LostinCanada the symptons are pretty much constant from waking up to bed with varying intensity during the day. There isnt a set pattern day to day

7 minutes ago, Steve1 said:

Hi @LostinCanada the symptons are pretty much constant from waking up to bed with varying intensity during the day. There isnt a set pattern day to day

If the symptoms are the same but with varying intensity, rate them hourly through the day as mentioned...we can only help if we have all the info. It is difficult to differentiate between WD and activation so doing the hourly notes would help. It's obviously up to you but for me, I can't advise whether to increase, decrease or split without it.

The other way to know is do a small increase or decrease, wait a week (if there is no immediate reaction) and go from there. Small increases or decreases means 0.1 mg. Or you could try a split dose as mentioned. As mentioned, without notes it is difficult to access.

39 minutes ago, Steve1 said:

Symptons are like a long heavy wave with weird sensations in body

12 minutes ago, Steve1 said:

Hi @LostinCanada the symptons are pretty much constant from waking up to bed with varying intensity during the day. There isnt a set pattern day to day

If you could just jot something down in real time, a play-by-play, if you will.

If symptoms are constant, you could just list it and then the next hour say _______continues

Edited September 29Sep 29 by Finni

16 hours ago, LostinCanada said:

If the symptoms are the same but with varying intensity, rate them hourly through the day as mentioned...we can only help if we have all the info. It is difficult to differentiate between WD and activation so doing the hourly notes would help. It's obviously up to you but for me, I can't advise whether to increase, decrease or split without it.

The other way to know is do a small increase or decrease, wait a week (if there is no immediate reaction) and go from there. Small increases or decreases means 0.1 mg. Or you could try a split dose as mentioned. As mentioned, without notes it is difficult to access.

@Steve I couldn't have said it better myself. If you can add in daily notes we can read them and see if anything you say stands out to us. Asides from this all you can do hold or try a small dose change to probe for clues. We are here for you mate.

Ok here goes....based on last few days...

Go to bed 10.30pm - takes a while to get to sleep. Wake up 3/4 times during night.

Wake 6.30am - feel instant body tension

Take 5mg pill 7.30am

Morning 7.30am -12pm - physical tension perhaps intensifies. Weird body sensations like nerves misfire, pulsations.

Afternoon 12pm - 5pm. Tension plateaus. Try to keep busy doing jobs, go for swim etc. Lots of physical pain.

Evening 5pm - 7pm Intensity of symptons momentuarily breaks up at times

Night 7pm- 10.30pm - Symptons maybe less intense, but still bad. Struggle to focus on tv etc

10.30pm bed

Thanks

Its definitely getting worse every day

Is the advice still to hold?

@Steve1 We suggested making daily symptom diary entries to see if there was something we can spot that might help you to make a further decision.

Beyond that it’s up to you to choose. Hold or make a small dose change to test the waters.

Sorry mate wish we could be more definitive.

I added a sympton diary above for the last few days. Thanks!

1 minute ago, Steve1 said:

I added a sympton diary above for the last few days. Thanks!

Sorry didn’t see that

@Steve1 keep that coming for a few days. It’s better to see multiple days rather than one average day. Maybe we will see something obvious. There it looks like wd fairly typically. There is some sense the dose worsens you. But overall seems quite like wd to me.

Yeh my gut is saying majority of symptons is withdrawal now, with maybe some residual activation

Any advice how I approach the GP next week? Who says withdrawal wont last longer than 8 weeks max.

I need him to give me another sicknote so dont want to pi$$ him off too much

25 minutes ago, Steve1 said:

Any advice how I approach the GP next week? Who says withdrawal wont last longer than 8 weeks max.

I need him to give me another sicknote so dont want to pi$$ him off too much

Dealing with doctors in withdrawal can be pretty tricky, especially when you're trying to strike a balance between needing the sick note but also wanting him to continue your lexapro prescription. Others might have ideas, but if I were you I'd likely focus on describing your physical symptoms and how they limit you (sounds like you're experiencing a lot of physical pain, for example), but not be too insistent that it's withdrawal. It doesn't really matter what he calls it as long as he understands that you're suffering and you can't work. And be sure to say that you think the lexapro is helping in some ways.