Elio: Lexapro

[Elio]

Hello! New here! I'm going to make my story as short as I can. 3 years ago I started having panic attacks and chronic symptoms of anxiety (depersonalization, derealization, dizziness, light headeadness, burning skin sensations and a lot more). As a result I developed health anxiety, panic disorder and agoraphobia).

After refusing antidepressants for 4 month and getting worse, I finally bit the bullet and took them. My dose was 22.5mg lexapro (one and half pill of 15mg) for around 1 year. My symptoms slowly dissipated after about 2 month and I came back to living normally, I did this in conjuction with CBT therapy and a lot of self-help books). 

Anyway, I never wanted to be on those meds long term as I was very skeptical of how safe they are and they actually work. So with the help of my psychiatrist I tappered off within a duration of around 6 month. The taper was okay at first but the last few doses where hard, a lot of symptoms came back but I pushed threw because I was addamant to being medication free.

4 month later of being free of meds, I started getting worse again, feeling light-headed, couldn't tolerate exercise, dp/dr and feeling generally anxious. At the time i was taking magnesium citrate, vitamin D and k2. I decided to stop the supplements thinking they might making things worse and had the worst relapse ever. Symptoms now were 10 times worse, was having daily panic attacks and disabling symptoms and could barely function. I was very confused of why that had happened. Symptoms were a lot worse than before I took lexapro. The worst symptom that I still struggle with now but on a less frequent basis is the feeling of high alertness (my visual sense is usually stronger, I feel annoyingly awake and keyed up and my body feel like having lots of nervous energy). So i bit the bullet again, this time with a new psychiatrist and went back to lexapro for 8 months (the dose was 25 mg that time). The medication barely helped that time but it made me more functional.

To make a long story short, I tappered again during a duration of 4 months and now have been med free for 2 weeks. I have been seing a functional doctor now who focused on gut issues and has been helping me. My symptoms are a lot better , I am taking magnesium glycinate, probiotics, zink, vitamin d and k2 and something to kill parasites in my stomach. My question and concern is, why is this hyperalertness still happening and why it got a lot worse after antidepressant use? It is brain damage? Will it completely dissappear with time? Although I feel generally better, I still have some really bad days and wonder if there is something I could be doing to help or is this permanent.

So sorry for the long story and thank you very much . ❤

[Frogie]

@Elio

 

Welcome to SA. We are a volunteer ran site helping members taper off antidepressants and other medications, or have tapered off and are now in the healing process.

 

This is your introduction page where you will receive information, ask questions and meet other members. We ask that each member only have one introductions page so we can keep all your information in one place.

 

First, can you please create a signature. Thank you.

 

Instructions:  Withdrawal History Signature

 

I'm glad that your symptoms are better, but you tapered way too fast and that is what is causing these symptoms. We don't suggest more that 10% a month, and some go slower than that to avoid as many symptoms as possible.

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

Dr. Joseph Glenmullen's withdrawal symptom checklist

 

What is withdrawal syndrome?

 

The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

Brain Remodelling

 

What is Happening in Your Brain

 

We don't suggest supplements on here because they can be very stimulating to a desensitized nervous system. We suggest two. One is magnesium that you are already taking. The other is omega.

 

Omega-3 Fish Oil

 

If you do take Vitamin D, take it in the morning as it is called the Sunshine Vitamin because it can stimulate people and cause some insomnia in members.

 

You could try to reinstate a small amount of Lexapro, 0.5 mg and see if that would help to relieve some of the wd symptoms. It takes about 7-10 days for it to reach full stability in your body. You would hold for quite a while and then do a slow taper.

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

 

Tips for tapering off escitalopram (Lexapro)

 

After you have read the links provided please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions you may have. 

[Elio]

Weird symptoms

 

Heyy everyone! I have a cluster of symptoms that happen quite often that I can seem to find anyone suffer from and it's getting me worried. I've been off my meds for about 3 month now.

 

The symptom is basically a state where my nervous system "switches" and I feel extreemly ALERT and my visual senses get stronger, this can be followed by pressure in my brain and is exhausting. Sometime in that state I aslo feel it in the body ( i have muscles twiches and my body feels stronger and stiff). 

 

This feeling eventually "turns off" but can come again especially if I'm in highly stimulated environment or driving.

 

I brought this up to my psychiatrist and he said that it was "hypervigilance" but isn't that a behavioral thing? I mean my behavior doesn't change in that state and I'm not scanning my body nor my surroundings for dangers, it is just my brain and subsequently body that get into that state.

I am wishing for some explanations or if somebody ever felt this. It happens almost every day and  in various degrees.

 

Thank you very much in advance.

 

PS : i asked my psychiatrist if I should see a neurlogist he said no. But I'm seriously reconsidering and maybe even getting an mri what do you guys think?

 

Edited May 29, 2022 by ChessieCat
added Intro topic title before merging with intro topic and spacing

[Elio]

Is this withdrawal?

 

EDIT : I just realised that I posted that in success recovery by mistake. Where can I post it please? Because I'm not getting any answers in the "Introduction" section. 

 

Heyy everyone! I have a cluster of symptoms that happen quite often that I can seem to find anyone suffer from and it's getting me worried. I've been off my meds for a 3 month now. 

 

The symptom is basically a state where my nervous system "switches" and I feel extreemly ALERT and my visual senses get stronger, this can be followed by pressure in my brain and is exhausting. Sometimes, in that state, I aslo feel it in the body ( i have muscles twiches and my body feels stronger and stiff and like I have a rush of energy in me)

 

This feeling eventually "turns off" but can come again especially if I'm in highly stimulated environment or driving.

 

I brought this up to my psychiatrist and he said that it was "hypervigilance" but isn't that a behavioral thing? I mean my behavior doesn't change in that state and I'm not scanning my body nor my surroundings for dangers, it is just my brain and subsequently body that get into that state.

I am wishing for some explanations or if somebody ever felt this. It happens almost every day and  in various degrees.

The only thing that seems to help with is is magnesium and vagus nerve exercises.

 

I will update this post with more information later and should include a signature i know but I'm having a bad day and this is all I can type right now..

 

Thank you very much in advance.

 

PS : i asked my psychiatrist if I should see a neurlogist he said no. But I'm seriously reconsidering and maybe even getting an mri what do you guys think?

Edited July 8, 2022 by ChessieCat
added topic title before merging with intro topic

[ChessieCat]

It sounds like it might be a cortisol spike:

 

early-morning-waking-managing-the-morning-cortisol-spike

 

 

[ChessieCat]

Dr Joseph Glenmullen's WD Symptoms Checklist

[Ariel]

Hi @Elio

I'm sorry you're dealing with uncomfortable symptoms. 

You posted the following elsewhere but since it's relevant to your specific situation I'm re-posting it here in your intro thread. 

This way you will have all your information collected in one place. 

 

4 hours ago, Elio said:

Hello everyone ! I have a question please: i got oral thrush a few month back but can't seem to treat it. I am very sensitive to medication and supplements (they reve me up and give me anxiety). Can the candida infection wait till my nervous system is more stable or can I contribute to my withdrawal symptoms? 

I also did a stool test that showed parasites which I will start treating tomorrow or should I put this off as well? 

thank you very much

 

There are a few existing help topics to be found if you do a search for "candida":

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/search/?q=candida&quick=1&updated_after=any&sortby=relevancy&search_in=titles

 

See also:

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/15490-gentian-violet-for-thrush/#comment-298888

 

 

[Nypeaches89]

On 5/30/2022 at 3:10 AM, Elio said:

Weird symptoms

 

Heyy everyone! I have a cluster of symptoms that happen quite often that I can seem to find anyone suffer from and it's getting me worried. I've been off my meds for about 3 month now.

 

The symptom is basically a state where my nervous system "switches" and I feel extreemly ALERT and my visual senses get stronger, this can be followed by pressure in my brain and is exhausting. Sometime in that state I aslo feel it in the body ( i have muscles twiches and my body feels stronger and stiff). 

 

This feeling eventually "turns off" but can come again especially if I'm in highly stimulated environment or driving.

 

I brought this up to my psychiatrist and he said that it was "hypervigilance" but isn't that a behavioral thing? I mean my behavior doesn't change in that state and I'm not scanning my body nor my surroundings for dangers, it is just my brain and subsequently body that get into that state.

I am wishing for some explanations or if somebody ever felt this. It happens almost every day and  in various degrees.

 

Thank you very much in advance.

 

PS : i asked my psychiatrist if I should see a neurlogist he said no. But I'm seriously reconsidering and maybe even getting an mri what do you guys think?

 

I have the same thing, exactly how you said : it switches. It’s an on and off feeling. It’s the waves and windows described everywhere in this forum, the classic description of withdrawal that no doctor and no psychiatrist believes.

I don’t have much advice except the obvious that’s already been said. Take really good care of your alimentation (CC had to look this up - it means what you eat), this is so crucial. Then exercise. Always remember waves do have an end!!!! I always get tricked, but they always END. Also one thing that helped like crazy was probiotics, natural ones found in kefir, kombucha, yoghurt and cheese. I take that daily. No more sugar. Reducing alcohol a lot, I can not tolerate the very occasional hangovers  like before. And sleep. Hope you’re feeling better today since this post has been posted ? 

 

Edited July 24, 2022 by ChessieCat
added note

[Elio]

11 hours ago, Nypeaches89 said:

I have the same thing, exactly how you said : it switches. It’s an on and off feeling. It’s the waves and windows described everywhere in this forum, the classic description of withdrawal that no doctor and no psychiatrist believes.

I don’t have much advice except the obvious that’s already been said. Take really good care of your alimentation (CC had to look this up - it means what you eat), this is so crucial. Then exercise. Always remember waves do have an end!!!! I always get tricked, but they always END. Also one thing that helped like crazy was probiotics, natural ones found in kefir, kombucha, yoghurt and cheese. I take that daily. No more sugar. Reducing alcohol a lot, I can not tolerate the very occasional hangovers  like before. And sleep. Hope you’re feeling better today since this post has been posted ? 

 

Heyy! Thx for replying. Overall I'm think i'm better but not so sure. This "wired" feeling happened less this week so I'm guessing I'm a bit better. Funny that you mention probiotics, I was taking them for a while and many times they seem to remove this "alertness" but Iater noticed that it sometimes made me worse or gave me crazy anxiety. Maybe I should try from food sources like you instead of pills. I stopped all supplements now I feel they were.doing.more harm than good.

What scares me is that I've never seen someone describe this particular set of symptoms so that worries me that there is something else going on.

May you describe what your feeling in more details so I make sure we are talking about the same thing (unless it is triggering for you). I'm sorry but I need some reassurance. 

I also developed oral thrush ( candida infection) like 3 month ago but unable to treat it with meds or supplements because they "reve me" up. I can go on and on and have a lot.of questions, so if you want we can chat privately or if it's not a problem we can continue the conversation here. 

Thank you for reading and enough about me. How are you doing? 

 

PS: should have I posted this in "symptoms and self-care" because I seem to get barely any answers here.

[Nypeaches89]

50 minutes ago, Elio said:

Heyy! Thx for replying. Overall I'm think i'm better but not so sure. This "wired" feeling happened less this week so I'm guessing I'm a bit better. Funny that you mention probiotics, I was taking them for a while and many times they seem to remove this "alertness" but Iater noticed that it sometimes made me worse or gave me crazy anxiety. Maybe I should try from food sources like you instead of pills. I stopped all supplements now I feel they were.doing.more harm than good.

What scares me is that I've never seen someone describe this particular set of symptoms so that worries me that there is something else going on.

May you describe what your feeling in more details so I make sure we are talking about the same thing (unless it is triggering for you). I'm sorry but I need some reassurance. 

I also developed oral thrush ( candida infection) like 3 month ago but unable to treat it with meds or supplements because they "reve me" up. I can go on and on and have a lot.of questions, so if you want we can chat privately or if it's not a problem we can continue the conversation here. 

Thank you for reading and enough about me. How are you doing? 

 

PS: should have I posted this in "symptoms and self-care" because I seem to get barely any answers here.

It’s basically the waves and windows thing described in this forum a lot. The waves are basically extreme debilitating anxiety, agitation, and basically just suffering. It’s nothing I experienced ever before meds. It’s like an extreme survivor mode, an extreme alertness, almost like an electric current in my brain and body. It’s really hard to focus on anything, really hard to do anything but also really hard to stay still and just try to relax. The only thing I want to do is walk, move around etc. Right now well this strange miraculous thing happened with probiotics. I drank some kefir and ate some yoghurt and I felt a deep relief. Right now I’m super relaxed and chill. I hope it lasts…as for supplements I take magnesium and L tryptophan, then valerian root for sleep. Recently started vitamin D. 

[Elio]

10 hours ago, Nypeaches89 said:

It’s basically the waves and windows thing described in this forum a lot. The waves are basically extreme debilitating anxiety, agitation, and basically just suffering. It’s nothing I experienced ever before meds. It’s like an extreme survivor mode, an extreme alertness, almost like an electric current in my brain and body. It’s really hard to focus on anything, really hard to do anything but also really hard to stay still and just try to relax. The only thing I want to do is walk, move around etc. Right now well this strange miraculous thing happened with probiotics. I drank some kefir and ate some yoghurt and I felt a deep relief. Right now I’m super relaxed and chill. I hope it lasts…as for supplements I take magnesium and L tryptophan, then valerian root for sleep. Recently started vitamin D. 

Thank you for answering. Are supplements helping you? What kind of magnesium are you taking and what brand please.

I am no longer sure about supplements sometimes they help me a lot sometimes they make me worse.

I am having one of those episodes now as we speak. It is morning here and although I woke up okay, it happened when I started moving. I feel really AWAKE and ALERT. I hate that feeling.

I've only taken this drugs for 14 month and tappered of for the duration of 6 month! (Even more because I reinstated for a while). I can't believe that these drugs are legal and millions of people take them.

I hope this nightmare ends soon and we will go back to living our lives like normal people..  

God bless you and keep in touch. I noticed from your profile that you are french I am Lebanese and want to say passe une bonne journee

[Elio]

Is this withdrawal?

 

Heyy everyone! I have a cluster of symptoms that happen quite often that I can seem to find anyone suffer from and it's getting me worried. I've been off my meds for a 3 month now. 

 

The symptom is basically a state where my nervous system "switches" and I feel extreemly ALERT and my visual senses get stronger (even light gets brighter i think) this can be followed by pressure in my brain and is exhausting. Sometimes, in that state, I aslo feel it in the body ( i have muscles twiches and my body feels stronger and stiff and like I have a rush of energy in me)

 

This feeling eventually "turns off" but can come again especially if I'm in highly stimulated environment or driving.

 

I brought this up to my psychiatrist and he said that it was "hypervigilance" but isn't that a behavioral thing? I mean my behavior doesn't change in that state and I'm not scanning my body nor my surroundings for dangers, it is just my brain and subsequently body that get into that state.

I am wishing for some explanations or if somebody ever felt this. It happens almost every day and  in various degrees.

The only thing that seems to help with is is magnesium and vagus nerve exercises.

 

I will update this post with more information later and should include a signature i know but I'm having a bad day and this is all I can type right now..

 

Thank you very much in advance

PS : i posted this in my introduction page but barely got any replies. I guess there isn't much traffic there. I really need help with this so please don't remove it from here

🙏🙏

Edited August 7, 2022 by ChessieCat
Resized font

[Ariel]

@Elio

 

6 hours ago, Elio said:

Is this withdrawal?

 

Heyy everyone! I have a cluster of symptoms that happen quite often that I can seem to find anyone suffer from and it's getting me worried. I've been off my meds for a 3 month now. 

 

The symptom is basically a state where my nervous system "switches" and I feel extreemly ALERT and my visual senses get stronger (even light gets brighter i think) this can be followed by pressure in my brain and is exhausting. Sometimes, in that state, I aslo feel it in the body ( i have muscles twiches and my body feels stronger and stiff and like I have a rush of energy in me)

 

This feeling eventually "turns off" but can come again especially if I'm in highly stimulated environment or driving.

 

I brought this up to my psychiatrist and he said that it was "hypervigilance" but isn't that a behavioral thing? I mean my behavior doesn't change in that state and I'm not scanning my body nor my surroundings for dangers, it is just my brain and subsequently body that get into that state.

I am wishing for some explanations or if somebody ever felt this. It happens almost every day and  in various degrees.

The only thing that seems to help with is is magnesium and vagus nerve exercises.

 

I will update this post with more information later and should include a signature i know but I'm having a bad day and this is all I can type right now..

 

Thank you very much in advance

PS : i posted this in my introduction page but barely got any replies. I guess there isn't much traffic there. I really need help with this so please don't remove it from here🙏🙏

 

What you are describing sounds like a classic WD symptom related to nervous system dysregulation. 

It's temporary and part of healing. It gets better. 

 

Glad to hear you find magnesium and vagus nerve exercises helpful. You are on the right track!

 

You can read more about WD-related dysregulation here:

 

Best of luck to you on your healing journey, 

A.