Catzbestfriend: Escitalopram 10 weeks - side effects or withdrawals? Adverse reaction?

[Catzbestfriend]

I started having anxiety attacks in January 2023 (which I believe was related to a hormonal change in BC) it felt like the blood rushed out of my head, a lightheaded feeling and my heart would race. When I would have an anxiety attack, following it, I would get what I would describe as a brain jolt (possibly a brain zap but mine did not feel electrical) – it was like the blood suddenly left my head and I felt lightheaded followed by a wave of anxiety which lasted just a few seconds. I only got these following an anxiety attack for a few days and then they would disappear until the next one. In May, after having another anxiety attack and the subsequent frequent brain jolts followed by anxiety waves - I decided I had enough and went on Escitalopram 10mg.

 

I had probably every usual side effect there is, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, spaciness, loss of balance, tremors you name it... But 10 days in, I had a pre-syncope event, where a burning sensation came over my entire body and I nearly fainted. After that, I was hit with daily waves of brain jolts/zaps immediately followed by a wave of nausea, anxiety and a burning sensation would come all over my body.

I should have come off the medication then, but I wanted to stick it out as everyone said the side effects should pass after six weeks. At week three of 10mg I could no longer handle the constant brain jolts & burning sensations so I reduced my dosage to 5mg. Immediately, I started to feel better within the first two weeks - the brain jolts felt milder were less frequent but then at week 3 of 5mg, things got worse, and the burning sensations began all night long – sleep was impossible, my muscles when trying to sleep also started to twitching & jerking. By then, I was at 6 weeks and my GP advised me to come off the meds. Scared at this point to quit cold turkey, I started reducing the dosage slowly over the next 4 weeks. 3mg for 10 days (the burns stopped at this dose but the jolts & waves continued), then 2mg for 8 days, 1 mg for 6 days and finally nothing. I had all the usual withdrawals or maybe they were still side effects, nausea, dizziness, loss of balance, brain fog, tremors etc., but I noticed a pattern with the brain jolts/zaps. Every time I reduced the dose they got milder and less frequent for the first two weeks and then would get more frequent at the 3 week mark.

 

I am now four weeks off the medication and the same thing happened the brain jolts got milder but at the 3 week mark they got so much more frequent. They are milder in the sense they are not jolts but more like brain shivers/or blips, followed by nausea, and a wave of sometimes anxiety but sometimes it’s a hot sensation…(I have to throw off the covers) occasionally the wave is followed by tremors & a pounding heart.

It seems to come in clusters usually in the evening for a couple hours at a time. I get them every night while trying to fall asleep and especially when waking up. I get a few hours a day now of feeling normal before a cluster hits.

 

My concern is whether this is from the medication as I did experience a feeling of brain jolts before the medication, but they changed drastically once on the medication and only became as severe and as frequent as they are now after Escitalopram. They did get milder coming off the medication and less frequent (than when I was on the meds) but its still a daily battle. I was only on the medication 10 weeks and was almost constantly reducing during that time. I have a hard time finding others that have had similar symptoms as me and feel at a loss as to what has happened to me.

Edited August 18, 2023 by manymoretodays
merged 2nd unapproved Intro topic, name to title

[Catzbestfriend]

I started having anxiety attacks which seemed to come with brain zaps (though mine are not electrical -more like a split second lightheaded moment or a surge of 'something' that makes the head and brain feel like it's 'flooded' it's followed by a wave of anxiety) - I decided I had enough and went on Escitalopram 10mg.

I had probably every usual side effects there is, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, spaciness, loss of balance, tremors you name it... But 10 days in, I had a pre-syncope event, where a burning sensation came over my entire body and I nearly fainted. After that, I was hit with daily waves of my version of brain zaps, followed by waves of nausea, sometimes anxiety and a burning sensation would come all over my body.

I should have come off the medication then, but I wanted to stick it out as everyone said the side effects should pass after six weeks.

At week three of 10mg I could no longer handle the constant burning sensations so I reduced my dosage to 5mg. Immediately, I started to feel better within the first two weeks - the brain zaps felt milder were less frequent but then at week 3 of 5mg, things got worse, and the burning sensations began all night long – sleep was impossible, my muscles when trying to sleep also started to twitching & jerking. By then I was at 6 weeks and my GP advised me to come off the meds. Scared at this point to quit cold turkey, I started reducing the dosage slowly over the next 4 weeks. 3mg for 10 days (the burns stopped at this dose but the jolts continued), then 2mg for 8 days, 1 mg for 6 days and finally nothing. I had all the usual withdrawals or maybe they were still side effects, nausea, dizziness, loss of balance, brain fog, tremors etc., but I noticed a pattern with the brain zaps. Every time I reduced the dose they got milder and less frequent for the first two weeks and then would get more frequent at the 3 week mark.

 

I am now four weeks off the medication and the same thing happened the brain zaps got milder but at the 3 week mark they got so much more frequent. They are milder in the sense they are now like brain shivers/or blips, followed by nausea, and a wave of sometimes anxiety but sometimes it’s a hot sensation…(I have to throw off the covers) occasionally the wave is followed by tremors & a pounding heart.

It seems to come in clusters usually in the evening for a couple hours at a time. I get them every night while trying to fall asleep and especially when waking up. I get a few hours a day now of feeling normal before the cluster hits.

 

Will this ever go away?? Does this sound like an adverse event or a destabilized central nervous system? 

[Altostrata]

Welcome, @Catzbestfriend

 

I am sorry you are going through this.

 

Among our members, we have a small group of people who never did get along very well with the antidepressant. Many have had severe adverse drug reactions (ADR) within a few doses.

 

These people, who are tagged "immediate ADR", have symptoms that are like protracted withdrawal syndrome but they don't have withdrawal syndrome, they have similar symptoms because their nervous systems were upset by taking the drug. Their recovery is slow, with frustrating waves and windows, like people with withdrawal syndrome, but it seems their recovery isn’t as long. Since they had a serious ADR to an antidepressant, they probably should not consider reinstatement.

 

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

 

It's likely these symptoms you get in the evening will very gradually fade in The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization.

 

In the meantime, many people find fish oil and magnesium supplements helpful, see

 

https://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/36-king-of-supplements-omega-3-fatty-acids-fish-oil/

 

https://survivingantidepressants.org/topic/15483-magnesium-natures-calcium-channel-blocker/

 

You might try a little bit of one at a time to see how it affects you. Please let us know how you’re doing.

 

 

[Catzbestfriend]

I am now 1 week shy of 4 months off my adverse experience (my naturopath agreed it sounded much like serotonin toxicity) with Escitalopram. It was the hardest few weeks of my life to say the least. It peaked at one month where I didn’t know how I was going to continue to function on a day to day basis – the symptoms were all day, every day - but that seemed to be the slow and very gradual turning point. Progressively over the next few weeks things began to improve in very slow stages. @Altostrata was right in that the waves (brain zaps/nausea/anxiety/heat sensations I was experiencing) during the evening gradually did lessen. Now I get one or two randomly here and there and are overall much lighter in nature. My original conditions have returned of course, racing heart, palpitations and some brain zaps/ jolts (or maybe my body’s version of anxiety attacks). However, I am learning to manage these with time, CBT therapy and diet - though these are much easier to live with than what I was experiencing on the meds!  

 

I would now describe myself as functional, but not yet stabilized. I get hit with a day or two of lightheaded overall fluey feelings that come and go for a few days. I’ve also discovered alcohol aggravates everything! It seems to bring back the waves of brain zaps and sets me back immediately. I have scoured the internet for how alcohol worsens this condition and why this would be the case but I can't seem to understand it. 

 

Strange symptoms appear and leave after 2 weeks. I randomly developed akathisia in my legs at night two weeks ago, though they have gotten a bit better but are not completely gone. Is this likely to go over time? I have never suffered from this in my life before!

 

I am still battling dizziness/floaty sensations that come for a week or two and then leave for a couple days only to return again. I almost always get a return of dizziness when shopping in stores…is this due to hyper-sensitization –like an overwhelm feeling?

 

Overall, there is sunshine on my horizon even though it will likely still be months for my nervous system to stabilize. 

[getofflex]

I'm glad to hear things are getting better for you!  

 

6 minutes ago, Catzbestfriend said:

I’ve also discovered alcohol aggravates everything!

Yes, alcohol will definitely set you back if you are recovering from withdrawal or an adverse reaction!  I strongly suggest you avoid it completely, until you are fully recovered.  Here is our thread on alcohol, where members talk about how it affected them: 

 

Alcohol

 

8 minutes ago, Catzbestfriend said:

Is this likely to go over time?

Yes, absolutely.  It can take many months to recover from an adverse reaction, as the nervous system is very complex, and there are billions of nerve cells in or bodies.  

 

9 minutes ago, Catzbestfriend said:

I am still battling dizziness/floaty sensations that come for a week or two and then leave for a couple days only to return again. I almost always get a return of dizziness when shopping in stores…is this due to hyper-sensitization –like an overwhelm feeling?

This might be DP/DR (depersonalization/derealization).  This is a very common symptom, and is another sign of a destabilized nervous system, but this, too, will improve over time.  

 

DP/DR

[getofflex]

Check out these links, too. 

 

Video on Recovery from Psych Drugs

 

Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

Non Drug Ways to Cope with Withdrawal Symptoms

[Altostrata]

You might still have occasional spells of symptoms for quite a while, in The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization 

[Catzbestfriend]

Thank you all for these links, I have scoured them with interest. At over 4 months off I feel that I'm at 75% recovery, which is quite amazing. Stopping all alcohol was a game changer for me, started to see significant improvement on a more linear basis after that. I hope this pattern continues! 

I still get symptoms that come and go exactly as in the waves/windows pattern. But the main issue that developed at 11 weeks off out of nowhere is RLS (I think). At first I thought I thought it was akathisia but it actually seems more like RLS. It only happens when I am sleeping, I get an uncomfortable crawling feeling in my right leg and a muscle contraction every few minutes or so, followed by random jerking and twitching. It does get better with movement but comes back. Sometimes I will fall asleep normally and then it will wake me up and I'll be up for hours. Often it goes away in the early part of the morning and I'm able to finally sleep. I also discovered the magnesium bigylcinate paradoxically seemed to make it worse (even though it helped me feel less anxious and sleep better). When I stopped taking Mag it went away for 2 weeks, but has come back again so now I'm not really sure if it was related. I'm thinking of coming off all supplements except DHA again to see if anything is aggravating it. Though my recovery is on an healing trajectory is it normal for random things like RLS (if that's what this is) to suddenly develop weeks after I've stopped the meds? I know this can happen in withdrawal but from an ADR as well?   

 

[getofflex]

Both withdrawal and adverse reactions de stabilize the nervous system. And our nervous systems are intricately interwoven with every other system in our body. So yes, this could happen from a an adverse reaction. Symptoms do tend to morph and change overtime.  I’m very glad to hear that you’re 75% recovered! I think you’re doing great.   
 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/32-akathisia-vs-restlessness-anxiety-agitation/#comment-40

 

Edited December 1, 2023 by getofflex

[Catzbestfriend]

Curious is there any further information on brain zaps? I am 6 months and 2 weeks off now my bad reaction to Escitalopram. I am definitely getting better, but my remaining symptom that is plaguing me daily in the window/wave routine is what I can only describe as brain zaps (not electrical in nature) more like a split second of my 'brain skipping a beat' or shivering, like when a video is buffering. It feels like a mini seizure or a skip-restart-blink experience, almost like a wave passes through my brain and occasionally accompanied by other sensations. I'll get these several times a day in a wave, especially worse at night.

On the website I am mainly seeing brain zaps as a side effect of WD off meds rather than an adverse event. I admit my symptoms seem to be unique. I have had most of the other reactions that I read from others on here as well of course, but they seem to be subsiding now at the 6 month mark, this one is being stubborn. 

[Catzbestfriend]

8 months and 2 weeks off. I would say, on average, I have more 'normal' days now than not. While that is encouraging, it does not mean I have no symptoms at all, just that I can function and even sometimes forget for a while that I even had a reaction. But then I'll get a few days/ or weeks where the symptoms return. As a rule most symptoms, particularly the brain zaps have calmed to a milder version, they are almost like a shimmer versus a zap now - where I feel the sensation of it coming, but instead of a zap, it's more that I just don't feel well and a feeling passes through. Sometimes they manifest stronger and are closer to a zap.  RLS is still an issue on and off. I do get dizzy/floaty feelings come back for a day or two at times. I often wonder if this is my new 'normal' and will be where I stay. 

I read through Immediate adverse reactions to an antidepressant or within a few doses? How long for recovery? but is there an approximate time frame that it takes people to recover fully? I realize everyone is different, but just curious, if there are time frames that are usual?  I can never quite tell when I am in a window or wave either, it's either I have symptoms or I don't for a bit.