Posted by orbital on August 17, 2010, at 7:17:41
In reply to Re: Update - off Lex » orbital, posted by ed_uk2010 on August 16, 2010, at 15:04:15
Thanks, Ed. I agree with your opinion. My doctor gave me Prozac, I'll take 10mg for a week, then taper off that and see how it goes.
I hope to be done with SSRIs. I wouldn't hesitate to take them again if needed, but I do think my doc should have revaluated me ages ago instead of continuing to dispense them indiscriminately. My mood has been stunted for so long, I can't believe she never made the connection and that I had to *beg* to come off the AD. I'm tempted to switch doctors, as I'm still on Klonopin and Lamictal, but unfortunately I'm pretty sure they're all pretty much the same.
Oh well.. Thank you so much, I really do appreciate your interest. Take care :)
> >Well, at this point, my reasoning for taking Prozac is to keep any possible post-SSRI rebound depression at bay. Do you think I'm being overly cautious?
>
> How long were you planning on taking Prozac for, and at what dose?
>
> >I'd slowly weaned myself down to 5mg of escitalopram during the past few weeks before quitting....
> >I don't seem to be suffering from any major W/D symptoms.....
>
> Given that you tapered fairly slowly, I don't think you're likely to experience rebound depression ie. depression as a withdrawal symptom. If your depression starts to return in a few weeks' time, that would be a relapse, not a rebound. Rebound depression normally refers to a depressive episode which occurs quite quickly after stopping an antidepressant, and is often accompanied by pronounced withdrawal symptoms. Gradual tapering can prevent rebound depression, but it can't prevent a relapse from occuring several weeks or months later.
>
> Before you decide whether or not to take Prozac, I think you need to be clear in your mind about what you are actually taking it for.
>
> A short course of Prozac at a low dose (eg. 5mg/day) might reduce your withdrawal symptoms. A very low dose of Lexapro (eg. 2.5mg) for a couple of weeks would probably have a similar effect. Since you're not experiencing much in the way of withdrawal symptoms anyway, I'm not sure that this would be worthwhile. If you're finding the nausea and disturbed sleep to be a problem, it might help.
>
> A short course of Prozac isn't likely to affect your long term risk of relapse. Only if you take Prozac on a long term basis will it achieve this.
>
> If I were you I'd probably ask for a small amount of Prozac and put it away in a drawer. If you notice any signs of your depression returning, you can start the Prozac straight away. Otherwise, you might not need it. The thing about Prozac is that it can cause all of the typical SSRI side effects. All SSRIs have the potential to cause emotional numbness, even though some may be worse than others. I think it makes sense to have Prozac on standby rather than Zoloft, since you mentioned above that you had to stop taking Zoloft due to weight loss. You didn't mention any problems with Prozac.
>
> Take care.
poster:orbital
thread:957856
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100811/msgs/958905.html