Lastisland: advice needed after series of adverse reactions

[Lastisland]

Hello,

Please pardon me for any mistakes as English is not my first language.

 

My encounter with SSRIs started in 2008 when after a severe stomach infection led me to stay at bed for a month and even hospitalized. After recovering from the infection I complained to the doctor about the sleep issue and he recommended me lexapro. At that time I did not even know of anything like depression or anxiety let alone SSRIs. After taking my first dose of 5 mg I felt all the horrible symptoms which I never knew of. I stopped immediately. Afterwards I developed severe off balance problem and could even walk for a few months.

 

Long story short I spent subsequent 2 years of my life in agony. But not knowing anything about these poisons amd horror stories and as ignorance is sometimes a bliss I survived everything. For the next years I studeid as got a job simultaneously and then got a foreign scholarship to complete graduation. It was at the start of 2020 at the final days of my graduation when I felt paresthesia in my arms and legs (which later was found out to be possibly caused by my severly deficient B12 vitamin). Anyway the doctor prescribed paxil 25 mg thinking it was due to anxiety. After my 5th pill of paxil, I had a very severe reaction including panic attacks, tingling burning skin, depression. I immediately stopped the pills.  

 

I went to a number of doctors to who recommended me to take the same pills again. Out of desperation I started taking the lexapro because I was having what i now know is akathisia. I could not sit or do anything and every moment was like a torture for me. However, after taking lexapro for 2 months I was getting worse and worse. It was the time when i though i should do away with all the pills and try to learn CBT for my anxiety (i started endorsing the doctors' views that it was all my anxiety and nothing is wrong with the pills).

 

For the next 4 months I tapered the dosage of lexapro from 10 mg to 2 mg. Meanwhile my akathisia diminished and i was able to control anxiety associated with tapering with some grounding techniques. It is to mention that throughout my taper I never felt stable even though I did hold at one point for a month.

 

Paradoxically, holding the dosage for longer than 3 weeks would give me adverse reaction. However until know i was not aware of the adverse reaction. Thinking that unstability might be due to my rapid taper I upped my dosage from 2 to 5mg to taper very slowly from there. However at my first pill of 5 mg I got such an adverse reaction that was unprecedented and got all the symptoms of serotonin syndrome. Then 5 days of complete derealization after single dose.

 

It was the time when I started learning adverse reaction of lexapro at survivingantidepressants and then i realized what was happeing with me for the past 7 months was either withdrawal or adverse reaction to the drug. I dropped my dosage to 0.5 mg because i was getting severe form of agitation and derealization.

 

Now it has been 20 days from my dosage reduction to 0.5 mg and from the adverse reaction. I am having severe form of agitation, akathisia which is lesser in intensity from the previous episode. I am off balance. Tingly and burning skin. Insomnia, and justt fed up of everything because for the past 7 months i am either in severe withdrawal or adverse reaction and never got a single day of stablility. My question to the repected mods especially sis Alto and other members is that should I hold at 0.5 mg, up my dose or drop altogether? One thing I am sure that i can never get stable on SSRIs no matter how long I hold. My neurology is just not compatible with these drugs? Any advice will be highly appreciated.

 

 

History

Took one pill of lexapro 5mg in 2008 and had adverse reaction.

Stabilised after 2 years

Took 5 pills of paxil 25mg in 2020 and had adverse reaction

Took 10mg lexapro for 2 months

Now holding at 0.5mg after tapering

Edited August 18, 2020 by Altostrata
added line breaks

[Gridley]

Welcome to SA, Lastisland.  I'm sorry you're having these terrible adverse reactions.  It does appear clear that your nervous system is not compatible with psychotropic drugs.

 

As to what you should do at this point, I have brought your situation to the attention of the administrators and other moderators.

[composter]

Hi @Lastisland can you provide us with a drug history signature? The history at the end of your first post here is a good start. I would just reformat it to: Month Year - Drug, dose, and reaction. 
 

For more information on how to format the signature see:

 

To edit your signature click here. 

Edited August 17, 2020 by composter

[Lastisland]

Thank you so much composter and Gridley for the concern and guidance. My history would be as follows

 

December 2008, lexapro 5mg one pill (adverse reaction)

January 2020, paxil 25 mg 5 pills (adverse reaction)

Febryary-march 2020, lexapro 10 mg

March-July 2020, tapered lexapro from 10mg to 2mg

July 2020 updosed lexapro to 5mg (immediate serotonin syndrome)

August 2020 holding lexapro at 0.5 mg

 

 

 

Pardon me if i could not get it correctly.

[composter]

4 hours ago, composter said:

To edit your signature click here. 

Looks good. Go ahead and add this to your signature. Click the link above and it will take you to your signature section where you can add this information. 
 

When you updosed to 5 mg in July 2020 was it just for one day? 
 

What method did you use to taper and get smaller doses? (Weighing and cutting pills, or dissolving and using a syringe.)

[Lastisland]

Hello composter, yes it was just for the single day. After I updosed to 5 mg I got such a severe reaction that I could not think of doing it again. For my tapering I used liquid form of medication and measuring it with the syringe. 

[Altostrata]

Hello, Lastisland. There are some people whose systems simply are not suited to serotonergics such as most antidepressants. We have perhaps 200 members who have experienced this.

 

As you've been on the Lexapro (unnecessarily) for so long, you may get withdrawal symptoms as well as the adverse reactions you've experienced. However, even that 0.5mg might be causing an adverse reaction. If I were you, I'd step off it and not take a serotonergic again, ever. See

 

You will have to let your nervous system settle down from the drug upsets. This will take a lot of patience, probably over many months.

 

Many people find fish oil and magnesium supplements helpful, see
https://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/36-king-of-supplements-omega-3-fatty-acids-fish-oil/
https://survivingantidepressants.org/topic/15483-magnesium-natures-calcium-channel-blocker/

 

You might try a little bit of one at a time to see how it affects you.

[Shelton]

On 8/18/2020 at 2:56 PM, Altostrata said:

Hello, Lastisland. There are some people whose systems simply are not suited to serotonergics such as most antidepressants. We have perhaps 200 members who have experienced this.

 

As you've been on the Lexapro (unnecessarily) for so long, you may get withdrawal symptoms as well as the adverse reactions you've experienced. However, even that 0.5mg might be causing an adverse reaction. If I were you, I'd step off it and not take a serotonergic again, ever. See

 

You will have to let your nervous system settle down from the drug upsets. This will take a lot of patience, probably over many months.

 

Many people find fish oil and magnesium supplements helpful, see
https://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/36-king-of-supplements-omega-3-fatty-acids-fish-oil/
https://survivingantidepressants.org/topic/15483-magnesium-natures-calcium-channel-blocker/

 

You might try a little bit of one at a time to see how it affects you.

Can this happen if I’ve been on SSRI’s before? I got serotonin syndrome after increasing to 30mg Celexa. Stopped cold turkey because of severe symptoms. Then later tried the lowest dose possible to see if I could taper and had mild serotonin syndrome symptoms again. What do I do in this scenario? Just allow my body to heal on it’s own?

[DataGuy]

4 hours ago, Shelton said:

Can this happen if I’ve been on SSRI’s before? I got serotonin syndrome after increasing to 30mg Celexa. Stopped cold turkey because of severe symptoms. Then later tried the lowest dose possible to see if I could taper and had mild serotonin syndrome symptoms again. What do I do in this scenario? Just allow my body to heal on it’s own?

 

Yes, people have varying degrees of sensitivity. If you stop cold-turkey or rapid taper, this can sensitize your system to the drugs. If you cannot tolerate even a small dose your only real option is just to let your body heal by itself. You may also be sensitive to other psychotropic drugs too.