GreenFlanelBeaver95: Lexapro for OCD

[GreenFlanelBeaver95]

I suffer with ocd like behavior and panic disorder. For me it's constant counting, checking my breathing, and a fear that I'm in the constant state of having some sort of serious illness. (Usually made worse by television commercials and loved ones with serious illnesses). Furthermore I too wash my hands to the point of drying them out.

 

I finally broke down in this year of covid-19 and explained my lifelong struggles to my PCP. She prescribed me lexapro and told me utterly nothing about it not did the pharmacist. After a week of taking the loss of emotion, constant heart palpitations, hyper arousal followed by inability to finish, and gastrointestinal distress.

 

It became overbearing after two weeks and no helpful advice offered by my PCP, I quit cold turkey. However After about a week of not taking it I felt like my head became a gong. My gi tract is in utter cause From burning sensations, to constant urination, to complete loss of appetite, ever changing bowl movements I feel like my gi tract has gone to war with itself. Also ocassional heart flutters, and mild to moderate panic episodes almost nightly which I've found some relief from with chamomile tea and zzzquil. I was just wondering how long does it take to return to some form of normalcy. Thanks for accepting me to this forum.

 

 

 

[Shep]

Hi, GreenFlanelBeaver.

 

Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants. 

 

It sounds like you suffered from an adverse reaction. You were wise to discontinue. For more on adverse reactions, please see:

 

Immediate adverse reactions to an antidepressant or within a few doses? How long for recovery?

 

Please be careful with the Zzzquil, which contains Diphenhydramine HCl. Please see: 

 

Antihistamines for withdrawal insomnia (diphenhydramine, doxylamine, hydroxyzine)

 

We don't recommend a lot of supplements, as many members report their nervous systems are simply too fragile to handle them. However, magnesium and fish oil tend to be calming to the nervous system and many people report they do help. Please only add in one supplement at a time and at a small dose. For more, please see:

 

 King of supplements: Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil)

 

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker

 

You may want to start with a bit of magnesium and see if that works and stop the Zzzuil. 

 

As you start to heal from the adverse reaction, you may feel up to exploring non-drug ways of handling OCD-type issues and anxiety. Please see:

 

 

Withdrawal causing intrusive or repetitive thoughts, rumination, and increased panic?

Health anxiety, hypochondria, and obsession with symptoms

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD: Repetitive, intrusive thoughts, compulsive behaviors

 

Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms

 

Please note that some of the narratives on the forum are about dealing with withdrawal-induced OCD-type behavior and thoughts, not issues unrelated to withdrawal. So if you don't find what you need on this forum, you may want to seek out online forums that deal with this issue holistically or work with a therapist who can't prescribe drugs. 

 

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Please continue to use this thread to post questions and let us know how you're feeling. 

[GreenFlanelBeaver95]

Thanks for your swift response and helpful resources.

[GreenFlanelBeaver95]

Prior to this experience with lexapro I took occasional omeprazole 20mg otc for acid reflux I've always had mild hypochondria several members of my family suffer from this as well and panic disorder my resolve weakened this year as I had several close friends and family get severely I'll with covid-19 some didn't make it that coupled made me decide to try antidepressants after the first dose of lexapro 5mg I didn't feel quite right after four doses I felt like I went insane and thought about attempting to end it all. Altogether I almost took two weeks worth before stopping cold turkey I'm about three weeks out from my last dose suffering ocassional shortness of breath tingling ocassional heart flutters and panic episodes that feel almost like I go into primal mode detaching my emotions from things and just trying to survive I feel like a cornered animal increased aggression it's like everything becomes fight or flight response which is different from my pre- lexapro panic attacks which only happened occasionally before lexapro. I'm wondering is it possible I'm having a build up of histamine in response to everything because certain foods really mess up my gi tract and make all other withdrawal symptoms seem worse.

[Shep]

10 hours ago, GreenFlanelBeaver95 said:

I'm wondering is it possible I'm having a build up of histamine in response to everything because certain foods really mess up my gi tract and make all other withdrawal symptoms seem worse.

 

Yes, many people report food intolerance as a result of these drugs. Please see:

 

Histamine food intolerance

Elimination or exclusion diets for reactions to food (food intolerance)

 

10 hours ago, GreenFlanelBeaver95 said:

Prior to this experience with lexapro I took occasional omeprazole 20mg otc for acid reflux

 

Depending on how often you were taking this, it could have led to vitamin B12 deficiency, which can cause symptoms that doctors will see as so-called "depression" or "anxiety disorders." It's unfortunate that they do so instead of looking for root causes. Please see the first post in this "tips for tapering off" thread because it contains information on the way this class of drugs blocks the absorption of B12:

 

Tips for tapering off stomach acid blockers or PPIs...

 

Please add a signature. This helps members and staff see your drug history so we don't have to re-read your thread before responding. 

 

Please summarize your withdrawal history in your signature

 

A direct link to your signature is here:

 

Create Your Signature in "Account Settings". 

 

Are you feeling like you're improving any since your last dose? 

[GreenFlanelBeaver95]

Mornings and afternoons feel fairly normal for me now but every other evening I feel knee pain hot flush feeling minor shortness of breath And a slew of gi issues mainly increased stomach acid noisy digestion gas and bloating stools seemed to have balanced out some not diarrhea nor constipation I guess somewhere in between.

[GreenFlanelBeaver95]

Forget to mention regular neck pain and pain in my upper back shoulders area is pretty constant and was not present before I stopped lexapro.

[Shep]

You may find these threads helpful:

 

Non-drug techniques for dealing with body pain

 

Digestive problems: nausea, diarrhoea, bloating, GERD

 

Your omeprazole use of taking it every other day for 3 years may have caused you to be dependent on it. Since you recently stopped taking it, you may be getting some withdrawal symptoms. 

 

In the Tips for tapering off PPIs, a recommended taper rate of 25% is suggested. If your GI symptoms are severe, you may want to reinstate this drug and stabilize, and then reduce by 25% a month. 

 

Please post your thoughts on this. Also make sure you're eating as healthy as you can and making the appropriate dietary changes to live a drug-free life, if this is the path you choose. 

[GreenFlanelBeaver95]

Thanks! I've found when I take benadryl 25mg otc I'm able to eat with little to know issues from my gi tract and the shortness of breath feeling seems to subsides can ad withdrawal cause development of food sensitivities?

[Shep]

I would be careful of using Benadryl this way. There is a connection between anti-histamines and anti-depressants. Please see:

 

Antihistamines for withdrawal insomnia (diphenhydramine, doxylamine, hydroxyzine)

 

Specifically, this post by Alto:

 

On 6/5/2012 at 9:18 PM, Altostrata said:

The SSRIs evolved from antihistamines.

 

It's better to adjust your foods than to adjust your body to tolerate the foods. If a certain food is causing problems, then you can eliminate it. 

 

Elimination or exclusion diets for reactions to food (food intolerance)

 

You may want to ty an elimination or exclusion diet to see what's good and what's not for you at this time. As you heal from the drug, you'll be able to slowly add foods back in. Of course, you'll want to add in the healthy foods and avoid the unhealthy ones. 

 

The Beyond Meds site has some great articles on gut health you may find helpful:

 

Beyond Meds - Gut health articles

 

You also may need to reinstate the PPI and then do a slow taper, especially since you just came off it a few days ago. 

 

Please post your thoughts. 

[Altostrata]

21 hours ago, GreenFlanelBeaver95 said:

Thanks! I've found when I take benadryl 25mg otc I'm able to eat with little to know issues from my gi tract and the shortness of breath feeling seems to subsides can ad withdrawal cause development of food sensitivities?

 

You may wish to go on a simple exclusion diet to see if you're eating something causing a food intolerance or allergic reaction.

[GreenFlanelBeaver95]

I found I can handle eating two meals a day. However I had to severely limit caffeine and sugar intake on account of them cause terrible dizziness and blurring vision Ive had a full cbc metabolic blood panel and lipase test both came back great my lipase test was even a little low and an A1C test came back negative for diabetes. I've also found eating nuts cause symptoms similar to allergies but I've never had food allergies before lexapro WD. Just hoping I can began to eat normally again as I've lost weight (not that i didn't have extra weight to shed).