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Caapi Microdosing vs. SSRI for Anxiety and Depression

S

Space88

Rising Star
Hi, I’ve been thinking about trying microdosing with Caapi for a while now, but I'm currently on Lexapro 10mg, and I know it's not safe to combine the two. So I'm at a bit of a crossroads, trying to decide if it’s worth tapering off Lexapro completely to give Caapi microdosing a try.

Lexapro hasn’t made a huge difference for my anxiety or depression. Things are slightly better than when I wasn’t on any SSRI or was only taking 5mg, but not by much On the downside, I’ve been dealing with low motivation, fatigue, and a general lack of interest in life - side effects I think might be caused by the Lexapro.

I’m wondering if anyone else here has been in a similar situation: If you were on SSRIs and decided to stop, then tried Caapi microdosing (or Syrian rue), did you find it more effective than the SSRI?

Would love to hear about your experience, thanks!
 
Escitalopram / Lexapro never helped me, but I can't compare with MAOIs, as I didn't take those when I used to be depressed.

One important question, how long have you been taking it for? It takes around 3 months for the positive effects (if any) of escitalopram to manifest, while some of the worst side effects appear from day one and then slowly improve.

If you decide to stop taking it and start taking harmala alkaloids, bear in mind that the half life of escitalopram is 32 hours. You should wait a MINIMUM of 6 half lives from your last dose of escitalopram (no matter how small) to your first dose of harmalas. That is 192 hours, 8 days. Given the danger of that mix, I would probably wait two weeks just to be extra safe.
 
blig-blug said:
Escitalopram / Lexapro never helped me, but I can't compare with MAOIs, as I didn't take those when I used to be depressed.

One important question, how long have you been taking it for? It takes around 3 months for the positive effects (if any) of escitalopram to manifest, while some of the worst side effects appear from day one and then slowly improve.

If you decide to stop taking it and start taking harmala alkaloids, bear in mind that the half life of escitalopram is 32 hours. You should wait a MINIMUM of 6 half lives from your last dose of escitalopram (no matter how small) to your first dose of harmalas. That is 192 hours, 8 days. Given the danger of that mix, I would probably wait two weeks just to be extra safe.
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Hi, thanks for the advice. I’ve been on Lexapro for many years, mostly at a low dose of 5 mg. Last year, I had to increase it to 7.5 mg and eventually to 10 mg. I've been on 10 mg for the past two months, and while there's been only minimal improvement in my anxiety and depression, what concerns me more are the side effects: constant fatigue, lack of motivation, and overall lethargy(I dont care about anything anymore). My doctor suggested increasing the dose to 15 mg, but I’m hesitant because I worry the side effects will become even worse. He also mentioned switching to Trintellix (vortioxetine) as an alternative, which I’ll probably try next.

I am not planning to start microdosing Caapi anytime soon. I believe microdosing with caapi could have some antidepressant and anxiolytic effects, but I haven’t been able to find much information or personal experiences comparing its effects to those of SSRIs. So at this point, I probably won’t discontinue SSRIs completely, it feels too risky. If I will need to go back on them, I’d likely have to deal with the full range of side effects all over again during the restart.
 
SSRIs don't work for everyone. And, even for the people who are responders, they don't necessarily respond to all of them.
Space88 said:
switching to Trintellix (vortioxetine) as an alternative
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I didn't know about that one, or the class it belongs to. Interesting.

Space88 said:
I am not planning to start microdosing Caapi anytime soon. I believe microdosing with caapi could have some antidepressant and anxiolytic effects, but I haven’t been able to find much information or personal experiences comparing its effects to those of SSRIs. So at this point, I probably won’t discontinue SSRIs completely, it feels too risky. If I will need to go back on them, I’d likely have to deal with the full range of side effects all over again during the restart.
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Sounds quite reasonable and prudent.

In my case, the only one that actually helped me at all was bupropion. It producing stimulation instead of the opposite was a welcome change, in my case. However, what actually helped me the most and ultimately lead to me not being depressed anymore was to address the underlying issues through therapy.

All the best in your path to improving :)
 
I tried bupropion, it really helped with the depression, but unfortunately, it made my anxiety and sleep worse, and kind of messed with my thinking too.

Totally agree that meds can be useful, but real change usually comes from digging into the underlying stuff in therapy. Really glad to hear you were able to work through it and come out the other side.

Thanks for the good vibes, wishing you all the best too!
 
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