JJ002: Does facial paresthesia eventually go away? I re-instated Lexapro

[JJ002]

Hi, 

 

This is my first post here! I was prescribed Lexapro due to a bout of severe physical anxiety and panic attacks that were non-stop. 3 months after starting Lexpro my life went back to normal and I only had my usual mental anxiety. I was on Lexapro 10mg from October 2020 until December 2021. My doctor had me taper off too quickly and I went down to 5mg for a month and stopped. After stopping I had terrible dizziness, vertigo and wooshing sounds when I moved my eyes for 5 weeks. At the 6 week mark these sensations went away but I got hit with other symptoms. I started getting headaches, head pressure, insomnia and my heart started racing a bit. I developed a new foggy visual floater that would appear when I moved my eyes left and right. My face also began feeling numb, oddly dry and strange. Due the traumatic experience I had with severe anxiety in 2020, I called my doctor and agreed to re-instate Lexapro. I was re-instated at 5mg 34 days ago and have been on 10mg the past 24 days. Re-starting Lexapro made everything worse the first 4 weeks. I started waking up with severe anxiety and it would last all day, my heart was racing more and my numb face turned into a burning sensation. I held out because I had a very rough start the first time I took it in 2020 but things got better afterwards. 

 

So right now almost everything has subsided except the face paresthesia. This is my biggest concern and worry right now and if it resolved itself tomorrow I would be feeling great. The past 3 days I felt like it subsided a little bit and my face almost felt normal but today it's back to feeling terrible. It ranges from feeling like numbness, dryness, pins and needles or rug burn. I'm very stressed right now and I'm thinking the stress is making it worse. It's super uncomfortable when it gets bad. I re-instated Lexapro and my goal is to just re-stabilize and stay on 10mg consistently. I didn't stay off because my symptoms were too terrible. I had an MRI done and it's normal. Does anyone have experience with this getting better? I understand my nervous system is very sensitive right now and it needs to time to stabilize. I hope it gets better in a matter of weeks or a few more months. Right now I'm terrified it's going to last forever and my thoughts keep spiraling. What do you all do to calm yourselves when you feel this? 

[Altostrata]

Welcome, @JJ002

 

On 4/5/2022 at 4:07 PM, JJ002 said:

My doctor had me taper off too quickly and I went down to 5mg for a month and stopped. After stopping I had terrible dizziness, vertigo and wooshing sounds when I moved my eyes for 5 weeks. At the 6 week mark these sensations went away but I got hit with other symptoms. I started getting headaches, head pressure, insomnia and my heart started racing a bit. I developed a new foggy visual floater that would appear when I moved my eyes left and right. My face also began feeling numb, oddly dry and strange.

 

This is classic acute withdrawal followed by protracted withdrawal syndrome. Usually, this is relieved by reinstatement of the drug. It is not a psychiatric disorder and does not require continued life-long drug treatment.

 

I understand you intend to stay on 10mg Lexapro indefinitely. Ordinarily, withdrawal symptoms tend to fade over time. At this point, no one can tell if the symptoms that concern you are from your experience with withdrawal syndrome or adverse effects of the drug itself (or trazodone or something else you might be taking); psychiatric drugs can have neurological effects. 

 

This is a site for going off psychiatric drugs. As you are under a doctor's care and intend to continue to take Lexapro indefinitely, please discuss your symptoms with your doctor. Let us know if we might help you taper off a psychiatric drug.

[JJ002]

I know this is a common withdrawal symptom and I have insisted this is what I’m going through to all my doctors. All of my doctors are no help and don’t believe it is withdrawal. I want to taper off and be med-free but I need to re-stabilize because of the horror I went though when stopping. I completely lost my ability to sleep and I was mess. I still am a mess with the painful paresthesia. Right now I only care about feeling better and then I will re-evaluate trying to taper off in the future. I’ve browsed this website for a long time before creating an account and posting, I know what the purpose of this site is. I was hoping this community could offer some insight through experience rather than brushing me off like my doctors have. I will look for support and advice elsewhere. 

[ChessieCat]

15 minutes ago, JJ002 said:

I want to taper off and be med-free

 

Post #1 of this topic has links to information, including links to various drugs and how to get non standard doses, for when you are ready to start tapering:

 

Important topics in the Tapering forum and FAQ

[Altostrata]

On 4/6/2022 at 12:07 AM, JJ002 said:

So right now almost everything has subsided except the face paresthesia. This is my biggest concern and worry right now and if it resolved itself tomorrow I would be feeling great. The past 3 days I felt like it subsided a little bit and my face almost felt normal but today it's back to feeling terrible.

 

Generally, we see these withdrawal-related symptoms gradually resolve, slowly and haltingly, in The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

Many people find these to be helpful:

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 

 

You might try a low dose of one at a time to see what it does for you.

 

On 4/6/2022 at 12:07 AM, JJ002 said:

I re-instated Lexapro and my goal is to just re-stabilize and stay on 10mg consistently.

 

Please let us know when you want to taper again.