Mysteo91: escitalopram, ringing ears

[Mysteo91]

Hello! Please help me! My little story : 

1 month ago i moved to new apartments. But i can't sleep good in new home , and there was a fear that I would lose my job due to lack of sleep. Also i heard a little noise in my haer My doctor assigned me Escitalopram. After 7 days 0.5mg  I completely lost my libido  and my ears are always ringing strongly. Doctor said that is good , and after few weeks my health will be good and side effects will be gone.

And i eat drugs 5 days 10 mg , but ears ringing more loadly, and libido still at zero. After this i used this drugs 3 days 2.5 mg and stop use it. 

i stop use this drug 15 November and now my erection function  and libido are recovered , but my ears still ringing , i can't sleep good and working. if i can sleep i wake up 30 minutes later from a nightmare. 

I also have a effect " brain zaps" , but it is not horrible like ringing in ears. 

I'm 29 years old , basketball player and programmer, but now i look very bad.

Edited November 20, 2020 by Gridley

[Mysteo91]

Now I'm in hospital , where give me dexamethasone 8 ml for try to help my ears and some vitamins B

[Gridley]

Welcome to SA, Mysteo91.  

 

To give members the best information, we ask them to summarize their medication history in a signature -- drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-24 months particularly.

 

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

 

If I'm reading your post correctly you were on some dosage of Escitalopram for 15 days before stopping it.  With the increased ringing in ears (known as tinnitus) and loss of libido, it appears you had an immediate adverse reaction to the Escitalopram, which means the drug was poison to your system, and you were wise to stop it.  The symptoms of an adverse reaction are similar to those of withdrawal.  Tinnitus, brain zaps and loss of libido are typical adverse reaction/withdrawal symptoms.  These symptoms have been caused by the drug, are not permanent and will fade in time without adding more psychiatric drugs to try to "fix" them.

 

Daily Checklist of Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms (PDF) 

 

There's not a lot we can do for you while you're in the hospital, except to advise you to be calm and try not to let them give you any further psychiatric drugs such as Escitalopram, or  another antidepressant or an antipsychotic..  Tinnitus is annoying (many of us, include myself, have it) but it is not dangerous and when you throw psychiatric drugs at it, the cure is worse than the disease, as you have found.  

 

Dexamethasone is a corticosteroid, and these can be agitating when you have had an adverse reaction.  Similarly, vitamins B can be agitating in this type of situation.  We can be of more assistance to you once you've left the hospital.

 

For when you get out of the hospital: We don't recommend a lot of supplements on SA, as many members report being sensitive to them due to our over-reactive nervous systems, but two supplements that we do recommend are magnesium and omega 3 (fish oil). Many people find these to be calming to the nervous system. 

 

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker 

 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 

 

Add in one at a time and at a low dose in case you do experience problems. Get supplements that are single ingredient (not mixed with other types of supplements).

 

This is your Introduction topic, where you can complete your drug signature, ask questions and connect with other members.  We're glad you found your way here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 20, 2020 by Gridley

[Mysteo91]

Thank you for fast reply. There is no psycho drugs in hospital.  I not understand what mean "supplements on SA" 

now i use Omega 3 + vitamins E 

Omega 3 (300 mg) + vitamins E 10 mg. 

[Mysteo91]

I don't know how to be keep kalm with loadly tinnitus. When it started i sleeping near my fish bank (aquarium) and i no hear tinnitus. After 1 week escitalopram it start so loadly and for sleep i had to turn on the rain sound on my phone. But now it is useless for me. I hope tinnitus will gone 

[Gridley]

7 minutes ago, Mysteo91 said:

I not understand what mean "supplements on SA" 

We don't recommend a lot of supplements on the site, which is named SurvivingAntidepressants.org (SA is the abbreviation.) Examples of supplements are the vitamin E and Omega 3 you use.

[Mysteo91]

Every night i see nightmares , and sleep only 30-60 mins. how many days can nightmares happen

[bijay]

@Mysteo91  I am so sorry for what you’ve been going through lately.  Dexamethasone may cause nightmares and insomnia, so you can ask your doctor if you can reduce the dose.  Do not stop taking it suddenly as it can cause serious withdrawal symptoms.

 

It sounds like you had mild tinnitus made worse by the escitalopram, which is also a drug known for causing tinnitus.  There are actually many common drugs that can do this, such as aspirin, antibiotics, ibuprofen, diuretics.  Were you taking anything at all when the tinnitus first started?

[Mysteo91]

I'm used ceftriaxone 1 mg 5 days and had COVID 19 , but only after escitalopram small noise was converted into ringing

[bijay]

There have been some reports of COVID 19 causing problems with the ear, including tinnitus.  That could account for the small noise initially, made much worse by the escitalopram.  I hope you get some relief from the Dexamethasone. 

[Mysteo91]

Hello! Today I feel a little bit better. I don't have nightmares anymore. But I still have superficial sleep and I wake up at 6 a.m. every day, regardless off when I went to sleep. Previously I waked at 9 a.m.
I still have libido's problem. I even took Viagra but it didn't help me. Before I took antidepressants I could easily be sexualy aroused by a thought about a woman. Please give me some advice on what might help?
 It is almost one month since I stopped taking "Cipralex" but  i still have problems. And I still have ringing in my ears.

 

I have be been taking radices Araliae mandshuricae , omega 3 and magnesium citrate already 3 weeks now

[Sunnyday]

Hi @Mysteo91. It's very good to hear your nightmares went away and that you're feeling a bit better. 

 

As Gridley said the symptoms will go away eventually, it might just take some time. The best way to handle it is usually to not try too many different substances. This would mean any drugs or supplements, alcohol as well. If you decide to try any supplements, I'd recommend to always try it at a very low dosage since we are usually more sensitive than we're used to in this situation. So things that we could handle before we can't always handle as well now and might make the symptoms worse.

 

Issues with libido is very common and that can also take some time, like with the other symptoms. Physical therapy in different forms have been mentioned related to that on this forum, so that could be worth trying. Examples of that could be massage or physical exercise.

I think the main thing is to give ourselves enough time to heal though, and try to accept that it might take longer than we'd like. Some people heal in a few months, but for some it takes longer.

 

Take care.

 

Edited December 12, 2020 by Sunnyday

[Mysteo91]

Hello my friends!  I recently reported that I started to sleep a little bette without nightmares and awakenings. But this week is so bad again. I wake up every hour 4-5 times and I can't sleep anymore. 
I read about recovery windows and I understand that this is normal. But I'm tired of living this way.  2.5 months ago I was a big healthy guy with 205 pounds and happy smile. I cursed the day of visiting the doctor.  

Now I weigh 185 pounds and looks like a guy after torture and hunger strike. My appetite is as good as before, but I'm losing weight.  Attempts to go to the gym are unsuccessful  , because my strength is not enough . I look at my old photos and worry that I will never be the same.

 

Today I visited the doctor again and he wants to give me Fluvoxamine to restore my sleep. I don't know the right way now

 

[bijay]

@Mysteo91  You just had a toxic reaction to one SSRI antidepressant, so it would be very, very risky to try another.  You were making progress with your sleep, so don't let the past week get you down.  You were sleeping better before, and you will again.  Drugs can provide quick relief sometimes - but as you have found they can be dangerous.  I know that from my own experience with a drug that helped me sleep.

  

When people see their doctors because of sleep problems, the automatic reaction is to prescribe a drug.  But there are other things to try.  Make sure the room is quiet, cool, very dark.  Don't use blue light devices (phone, tv, computer) before bed.  Develop a routine before bed.  There is lots of information on this site and on the web about good sleep habits.  These are not quick fixes, but they will help. 

         

How is the tinnitus?  Are you still taking anything for it?  Remember dexamethasone can mess with sleep too.    

 

Please accept the fact that this will take time, and that healing doesn't happen in a straight line.  You will have setbacks.  Probably everyone on this site can attest to that.  If your appetite is good, start eating more (healthy) calories to gain back your weight.  You have probably lost some muscle making your old gym routine a problem, so do easier things like biking and walking - cardio can also help sleep. You are pretty young (love the photo!) and it may be hard to accept that you cannot bounce back quickly and go all out with weights right away, so do what you can and don't push it.  Your priority now is to sleep and heal, and you will get back to the gym later.

 

Hugs from the U.S. (it's cold here too!)          

 

[Mysteo91]

7 hours ago, bijay said:

How is the tinnitus?  Are you still taking anything for it? 

 

Yes it is . I recently flew to Moscow  , but the neurologist do not found pathology in brain and the audiologist found no problems with the ears.

 

the neurologist said the muscles in the neck, jaw, and shoulders are overstretched now. most likely if i get my sleep back tinnitus will go away.

 

 

I can change the volume and tone of the ringing if I move my ear.
but that doesn't work with the other ear.

If I'm in bed and relaxed, then the ringing becomes quieter.

[Mysteo91]

I tried to solve a problem with low libido and weakness and passed hormone tests:
A terrible picture is testosterone at a minimum level  11 nmol / l    and cortisol is 800 nmol / l . 
 

 

 

[bijay]

It is good you had some tests done.  High cortisol drives down testosterone levels and also cause insomnia.

 

For non-drug approaches:  Massage therapy has shown to reduce cortisol on average by 30%.  I have also found TRE (Tension Release Exercises) very effective for stress in general, and you can learn and do them on your own.  They have been used a lot by the military for stress control and ptsd.  There are a lot of youtube videos on it.