Bogdan: Introduction

[Bogdan]

Hello, everyone 👋

I'm Bogdan from Romania. I'm here because I've been struggling with constant heart palpitations after getting off of Cipralex (escitalopram) 20mg, which I was taking for 1.5 years for social anxiety (panic attacks at work). The doctor recommended the "slow tapper" strategy of 25% every 2 months (which I've now found is not slow at all). I've been off of it since 8th of June 2021, but have since had constant heart palpitations, dizziness at times and maybe somewhat bad memory.

My only real problem now is the constant heart palpitations, which by the way, I've never had before. This is one thing that's very depressing to me, because I took Cipralex for social anxiety (panic attacks at work) and ended up with these heart palpitations which I never ever had, after getting off of the medication.
The first few weeks I had some really bad heart palpitations, every single day, at times I had to just go and lay in bed, I couldn't work or do anything. After a few weeks they went completely away, then they came back again for 1-2 weeks, then they went away again, after the first 3-4 months they went away completely again and I believed that was it, I got rid of them for good. I had no problems for multiple months and then, somewhere at the beginning of March this year (2022), around the same time I got Covid, they came back. Since then they never went away again. It's been 3 months of heart palpitations, the first 2 months I had them every single day again, and afterwards I did have some very easy days, almost no palpitations, but not more than 2-3 days in a row (I believe only once it went more than that, for a week). They intensity and frequency of the palpitations has decreased, I would say maybe they are at 60-70% of what they where in the beginning, but still enough to make me not enjoy life anymore, make me cry at times and make me more depressed than ever, because now I can't see the end of it and I don't know what to do.

Needless to say I went to cardiologists and had all tests done (endoscopy, EKG, plus I had EKG holter on me for 24 hours) and the palpitations are indeed recorded, but there's nothing wrong with my heart, the doctor even went to suggested it could be from Covid, but I had them long before I got Covid and right after getting off the medication, which is very clear to me.
Otherwise I'm having the best period of my life, which I find ironic, because I had some really rough times growing up and now when I got everything together, got married in January and are content with my life and have good family/friends relationships at last, now I got these palpitations which make me not able to enjoy life.

I went back to my doctor last year, after the first 3 months off of the medication and he recommended going back on the last dose of Cipralex that I was stable on, that is 5mg, but then my heart palpitations disappeared and I decided not to, I didn't feel good about going back either, I felt like I've suffered too much for 3 months to go back on it.
Now I'm here, I am 1 year off of it and feel like I've suffered even more than enough to go back on it now, but I'm losing hope at this point and wonder if I shouldn't just go back on this 5mg dose for a while and tapper even slower from there, because this seems never ending.

Did anyone experienced the same with Cipralex/Lexapro (escitalopram) and can give me an advice what should I do? Should I go back on the dose I was stable on (5mg) after 1 year not taking anything, or it's too late now and I should just try to be patient and wait for the heart palpitations to go away, is there any hope for them to go away even?

I'd greatly appreciate your advice, as I'm troubled and a bit hopeless at the moment.

Thank you for reading, God bless.

[getofflex]

Hello, and welcome to SA.  We are a volunteer-run community of people who have been or are getting off of psychiatric drugs.  I'm sorry that you are dealing with ongoing heart palpitations.  This is actually a common symptom of withdrawal.  It's good that you had it checked out by a doctor, and the tests are negative.  

 

Have you been on any other drugs or supplements other than the ones you already listed in your signature? 

 

Here is some important information about how these drugs actually work.  This explains why we get symptoms from going off of these medications, and why it's so important to taper slowly and carefully:

 

How Psychiatric Drugs Remodel Your Brain

 

 

This helps you understand what withdrawal syndrome is: 

 

Video on Recovery from Psych Drugs

 

Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

 

Here is a link with checklists of common WD symptoms: 

 

Dr Joseph Glenmullen Withdrawal Symptom Checklists

 

 

Here are some techniques to cope with symptoms: 

 

Non Drug Ways to Cope with Withdrawal Symptoms

 

Stability is really important when we are tapering off psych meds.  Please read the link about stability:

 

Keep It Simple, Slow, and Stable

 

 

We don't suggest many supplements, but 2 that many of us find helpful are magnesium and omega-3 fish oil. Here are the links for info about those. It is suggested to add one at a time, and start with a low dose to see how it affects you. 

Magnesium

Omega 3 Fish Oil

 

I would not suggest a reinstatement at this point in time, because you have been off the drug for a year, and you indicate this is your only troublesome symptom.  When we taper off a psych drug too fast, our nervous system tends to be very sensitive, and so getting the COVID probably caused this symptom to return.  I'm sure that this would be quite discouraging.  Since our nervous systems are so complex, full healing tends to take many months to even years, and we can have setbacks from things like alcohol, mind altering substances, other medications, getting sick, intense exercise, high stress, major changes in routine, etc.  Please be aware that eventually, this will go away, with gentle self care.  Here is what our founder, Altostrata, says about heart palpitations: 

 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/1868-irregular-heartbeats-palpitations-tachycardia-bradycardia/?do=findComment&comment=18037

 

 

 

Edited June 16, 2022 by getofflex

[getofflex]

Here are some success stories of people who had heart palpitations from drug WD, and recovered: 

 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/22055-coldturkmama-recovered-after-paxil-cold-turkey/#comment-463895

 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/23452-sunnyday-recovered-from-lexapro-and-wellbutrin/#comment-503167

 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/11586-missmellie-lexapro-recovery-story/#comment-214097

 

[Thombs]

You have fast heart rate or "skipped beats"? 

[Bogdan]

@getofflex Thank you for taking the time to reply, appreciate it!

And thank you for all the info, it's very encouraging to read stories of other people that where able to recover.
I'm going to have to check all your links.

Thanks again!

[Bogdan]

@Thombs

It's the "skipping beats" for me, though technically they are "extrasystoles", meaning the heart had some extra beats, premature beats, my cardiologist recorded with the Holter device around 200 over a period of 16 hours (and that was a good day for me).