Advice on dealing with SSRI withdrawal

I was on Lexapro from September 2005 until earlier this month, along with Lithium, which I still currently take. Lexapro and any other antidepressant I've ever tried has rarely helped my depression and overall cycling. Lexapro was something I merely tolerated more than the others. For about a couple years, it had lost any antidepressant effect at all. I've weaned off of it very slowly for several months, and stopped taking it all together a couple weeks ago. Since weaning, I've experienced brain zaps, which never bothered me all that much. My doctor tried putting me on Cymbalta, and that aggravated my acid reflux. I threw up acid several times a day. So, about a week ago, I decided to try Lamictal after reading studies that it can help bipolar depression in a way that antidepressants can't because bipolar depression may not be as similar to regular ol' serotonin deprived depression as originally thought. I was told Lamictal takes a while to truly work, and that's all well and good. My list of medications does not contain all the meds I've been on -- only the ones I remember. Needless to say, antidepressants have been a collossal failure, and I'm hopeful Lamictal might actually treat my depression in ways antidepressants never could. My mood has never stabilized, at least the depressive episodes never stabilized. I hope Lamictal can help with that.

Anyway, I haven't noticed any benefits of Lamictal at 25 mg and a week into treatment. I am experiencing, however, Lexapro withdrawal. Perhaps you can tell me if these side effects are more of Lexapro withdrawal and not entirely me slipping into actual depression:
- Brain zaps that are stronger when trying to sleep, moving eyes, or moving head
- Random bouts of rage for no reason/stupid reasons and feeling the urge to punch something inanimate
- Little to no tolerance for things I find even remotely intolerable
- Sometimes feel a little more emotional, like wanting to cry when thinking about something that's touching and sweet
- Slight focus on the negatives, which causes slight depression
- Not feeling happy in general, just feeling a lingering aggravation, which I don't remember being typical of my depressive episodes even on Lexapro (and there were many of those)

1. If it is withdrawal, do you have any advice on ways to counteract with it until they eventually wear off / Lamictal kicks in? Supplements or anything, really.

2. Do you think Lamictal will help with the withdrawal when it does kick at 100mg? Lamictal does not target depression in the same way as Lexapro, so I'm not sure if it'll help with the misfiring in my brain caused by Lexapro's absence in dealing with serotonin levels.

I appreciate any advice. If you have any personal experience with this type of situation, feel free to share.

Hey there - I have taken myself off of Lexapro before. It is not the worst offender for withdrawal symptoms, but is still brutal. I never went off cold turkey. I would take apart the capsule and eat a couple beads every day until I was down to every other day, then just stop completely. I don't know of anything to stop the side effects.

I was on lamictal for 3 years first at 100 mg, then 200 mg. It did help significantly with my depression. Right away I noticed less irritability and a decrease in crying when I got to 100mg.

I would recommend a supplement N-AcetylCysteine. I take it now since I got the rash from Lamictal. I felt better the next day after starting 1000mg a day. Mine is from Source Naturals on Amazon.com. I swear by it. There is another lady on here that tried it with me, and she liked it as well.

Thank you so much for sharing! I never heard of N-AcetylCysteine before, but after looking it up, it seems promising! I'll give it a try. I'm reading it does not interfere with lamictal, and some doctors suggest it together. In a week and a half, I'll start 50 mg of lamictal, then 100 mg two weeks after that. I hope it curbs the rage I feel with this lexapro withdrawal. Once again, thank you!

Hey Josullivan,

I was taking cymbalta and was still depressed when my pdoc added lamictal. The two together work very well for my. My bipolar is mostly depression and the two meds keep me mostly in good spirits - my hypomania is now mostly in control too.

I hope you receive some relief soon.

Lexapro is similar to Celexa, which can have nasty withdrawal, though nowhere near as nasty as cymbalta and effexor can have.
From what I have read and discussed with doctors, antidepressant withdrawal can sometimes be helped with taking a low dose of Prozac since it has a long halflife.
I'd talk to a pharmacist about your concerns with the withdrawal, and then you can have an idea what to bring up with the doctor