Valkyrie: Escitalopram withdrawal symptoms?

[Valkyrie]

Hello, I am now in the 5th week after stopping Escitalopram, which I took for a week (day 1-6: 5mg; day 7: 10mg, discontinued on 02.04.2024). 
It's still a happy up and down. I walk for at least an hour a day so hopefully the symptoms will subside soon. 
Unfortunately, my brain still feels very worn out. I find it difficult to categorise many things. I can't really be anhedonic if I'm still tinkering with Lego, can I? Nevertheless, I enjoy many things less than before. I think it's more the current situation that's getting me down, which doesn't exactly make the sexual dysfunction any better at the age of almost 24. I started the 4-7-8 breathing exercise yesterday. 
This has also had a rather negative effect on my irritable bowel syndrome. I feel like I have a permanently high cortisol level. My concentration sometimes leaves something to be desired. Even though I have realised that my ability to think coherently is not noticeably or even slightly impaired. I am very concerned that this one week's intake has affected my body so badly. The worst thing is probably the fear that this condition will never go away.

 

Thanks for reading and hope you have a great weekend! 

[getofflex]

Hello, and welcome to SA.  We are a volunteer-run community of people who have been or are getting off of psychiatric drugs.  What was the reason you stopped the Lexapro?  Was it because you had an adverse reaction to the drug?  You are fortunate that you stopped it after only a week.  This is an extremely powerful drug, and it takes many of us a very long time to recover from it.  In your case, since you were only on it a week, it shouldn't take you long, but it will probably take you longer than you would expect.  The brain becomes dependent on the drug after about 4 weeks, and it can be very difficult to then taper off of it.  

 

Have you or are you on any other drugs at all?  If so, please specify in your signature.  Thank you.  

 

4 hours ago, Valkyrie said:

I walk for at least an hour a day so hopefully the symptoms will subside soon. 

This is very good!  The walking should help a lot.  I also walk for at least 45 minutes daily.  

 

4 hours ago, Valkyrie said:

I started the 4-7-8 breathing exercise yesterday. 

This is also very good. 

 

The symptoms you describe sound like classic side effects of Lexapro. It has a numbing effect.  The high cortisol feeling is typical too, as this drug is very activating to the nervous system.  Please rest assured that sooner or later, all this will gradually get better, and go away.  You have time on your side, and are very lucky that you were only on it a week.  

4 hours ago, Valkyrie said:

I am very concerned that this one week's intake has affected my body so badly. The worst thing is probably the fear that this condition will never go away.

This is a really common concern! I can see why you would feel this way, since something you only took for one week is still affecting you a month later.  However, this will subside.  It just takes lots and lots of time.  

 

Here is link with lots of ideas for ways to cope with your symptoms.  Perhaps you will find some in here that can help you. 

 

Important topics about symptoms, including sleep problems

 

Good luck, and keep us posted on how you are doing.

[getofflex]

You might try taking some magnesium, as this can help calm you down when you have that high cortisol feeling.  Try a low dose at first, to see how it affects you.  

 

Magnesium

 

I'm not familiar with pycnogenol or arginin.   Supplements can have an unpredictable effect in people whose nervous system has been affected by psychiatric drugs.  You may want to reconsider taking these.  

 

Managing Supplements

 

Important Topics About Test, Supplements, Treatments, Diet

[Alfred1977]

Hey Valkyrie,

I somewhere heard in an interview that it usually takes 4 weeks for an antidepressant to change your brain and dependency usually occurs only afterwards. I think here is also somewhere a thread about this subject saying that in the first 4 weeks it is ok to stop ADs more abruptly. So I think you can be hopeful that any drug related problems you are experiencing right now will recede soon.

 

Viele Grüße

[Valkyrie]

@getofflex

1 hour ago, getofflex said:

Hello, and welcome to SA.  We are a volunteer-run community of people who have been or are getting off of psychiatric drugs.  What was the reason you stopped the Lexapro?  Was it because you had an adverse reaction to the drug?  You are fortunate that you stopped it after only a week.  This is an extremely powerful drug, and it takes many of us a very long time to recover from it.  In your case, since you were only on it a week, it shouldn't take you long, but it will probably take you longer than you would expect.  The brain becomes dependent on the drug after about 4 weeks, and it can be very difficult to then taper off of it.

Thank you very much for the welcome. I had already written a thread about this, unfortunately I didn't quite manage to link it to this one. 
I stopped taking Lexapro because the side effects were very severe and my GP said ‘it's not worth the irritable bowel syndrome’ and I could only agree with her wholeheartedly. 

1 hour ago, getofflex said:

Have you or are you on any other drugs at all?  If so, please specify in your signature.  Thank you.  

I tried Opipramol sporadically before that, for a week, but as it didn't help at all, I stopped taking it. 

 

1 hour ago, getofflex said:

The symptoms you describe sound like classic side effects of Lexapro. It has a numbing effect.  The high cortisol feeling is typical too, as this drug is very activating to the nervous system.  Please rest assured that sooner or later, all this will gradually get better, and go away.  You have time on your side, and are very lucky that you were only on it a week.

Thank you for your words, they do give me some hope! This evening it is already much better, the anxiety is completely gone. If it wasn't for the headaches and the reduced libido, I would be almost as good as new again. 

 

Thank you for your answer! 

[Valkyrie]

@getofflexI have already tried magnesium for a fortnight. Unfortunately, this made my IBS even worse. 
Pycnogenol has a strong antioxidant effect (second strongest antioxidant after tocopherol (vitamin E), anti-inflammatory and stimulates blood circulation and works with L-arginine on the NO system. The initial idea was to help the body a little and perhaps also help with the reduced libido. But I think I might reduce the dose by half from tomorrow. 

[Valkyrie]

@Alfred1977Hey Alfred, 
I had read that too. Unfortunately, I also read that the weaning symptoms last a maximum of two weeks, but there are now quite a few stories that disprove this. I also have the slow hope that it will hopefully pass. Storms can't last forever.

 

Schöne Grüße zurück und schönen samstagabend!

 

[Alfred1977]

Every individual case is different. Maybe you are more sensitive to the drug than the average person. But I still think you have good reasons to be optimistic. And even if the situation looks objectively grim...never give up on hope. Here are people that have been multi drugged for 20 years and they are somehow healing... 

 

Ich geh jetzt schlafen. Gute Nacht.

[getofflex]

1 hour ago, Valkyrie said:

I stopped taking Lexapro because the side effects were very severe

We call this an adverse reaction.  Here is a link that talks about adverse reactions, and recovery from them.  

 

Immediate Adverse Reaction

 

1 hour ago, Valkyrie said:

I tried Opipramol sporadically before that, for a week, but as it didn't help at all, I stopped taking it. 

I see.  Can you please add this to your signature, along with dosage and dates, as best you can remember?  Thank you.  

 

1 hour ago, Valkyrie said:

This evening it is already much better, the anxiety is completely gone.

I'm glad to hear this!  Many of us on this site have more anxiety earlier in the day, due to the naturally higher level of cortisol in our bodies early in the day.  Because our brains are destabilized, this cortisol makes us feel agitated and anxious, instead of just giving us energy and alertness like it should. This will eventually resolve, but it may take months, so please be patient.  

 

Managing the Morning Cortisol Spike

 

1 hour ago, Valkyrie said:

I have already tried magnesium for a fortnight. Unfortunately, this made my IBS even worse. 

Yes, it can do that, but some forms of magnesium are worse for this than others.  I think the link I gave you should help you figure out which forms are gentler on the stomach.  

 

Hang in there.  This too shall pass! 

Edited May 4 by getofflex

[Valkyrie]

11 minutes ago, getofflex said:

We call this an adverse reaction.  Here is a link that talks about adverse reactions, and recovery from them.

Hey thanks for the link. Interesting to read. I had no real reaction on the drug but my GP saw a QT-prolongation in my EKG. I don’t felt awful on the last day but on the other hand not really good. I would say like other people who instated the drug. The real bad reaction started two/three days after quitting. I noticed that my symptoms started to improve after two weeks. Now I have „just“ high anxiety over the day (in connection with emotional and cognetive problems but they become weaker with lower anxiety) and reduced libido. I became lexapro for IBS so I have no experience with this anxiety over the all day. 
I assume I should stop vaping then. The nicotine helped me over the worst stuff after the second week, but in long term it might be destabilize my nervous system more. 
 

 

18 minutes ago, getofflex said:

I'm glad to hear this!  Many of us on this site have more anxiety earlier in the day, due to the naturally higher level of cortisol in our bodies early in the day.  Because our brains are destabilized, this cortisol makes us feel agitated and anxious, instead of just giving us energy and alertness like it should. This will eventually resolve, but it may take months, so please be patient.  

Good to hear that I am not alone with this symptom. Even though I wish this to no one. There are days when it is just weak, but on next day it is like I get it on top what I miss the day before. 

 

20 minutes ago, getofflex said:

Yes, it can do that, but some forms of magnesium are worse for this than others.  I think the link I gave you should help you figure out which forms are gentler on the stomach.  

Then I will try Magnesium Glycinate next. Might be the less osmotic one. 
 

thank you very much for your help-very kind! 

[Valkyrie]

Hello everyone,

Here I am now 5 weeks (39 days) after the last pill (Escitalopram: 6 days: 5mg; day 7: 10mg). The first two weeks were absolute hell and on average it has improved, but as you can see I'm still here. As you can see I have a significant fluctuation in symptoms. 

Last Tuesday was actually a pretty good day apart from a few milder symptoms, but now things have gone downhill again for several days. It's not as bad as at the beginning but I feel like I have a constant buzzing in my head and that I'm not good at socialising at the moment (I always feel like I have to run away). It's not brain fog, it's more like having three planks in front of your head. Unfortunately, I can't think of a better description :-). Three days ago I started taking Cialis 2.5mg to solve at least one of my problems, but somehow everything has got worse rather than better. 
I still find it difficult to concentrate on things, even though the brain capacity seems to be there.

Initial Symptoms: 

• sleep disorders
• Sexual dysfunction
• Emotional and cognitive problems
• Anxiety/panic attacks
• restlessness
• High stress levels
• Heavy concentraction problems

Current Symptoms (fluctuating):

• Anxiety (varies throughout the day)
• Mild emotional and cognitive issues (sometimes very mild symptoms for a whole day)
• Mild restlessness
• Mild sleep disorders (I guess cause of the anxiety)
• Fluctuating sexual dysfunction
• Concentration Problems

Any advice? I am very worried because I take escitalopram just one week and get all this symptoms.

 

May the force be with you!

[Alfred1977]

Does your genital feel numb? As far as I heard numbness is the most common sexual dysfunction associated with SSRIs, in turn then leading to other problems like delayed ejaculation/inability to orgasm, erectile dysfunction and so on. There are also other internet communities that specialize in PSSD (post ssri sexual dysfunction).

 

If you are not experiencing numbness, you might wanna search for other causes as well. You might wanna do this anyway since any problem can have multiple causes. Not feeling well in general can also be a cause of sexual problems. Fear, anger, stress, guilt, shame can all be powerful inhibitors of sexual lust. Did you go to a doctor and let him search for physical causes of your erectile problems?

 

Viel Glück!

[Valkyrie]

@Alfred1977 Yes i have read about PSSD and I am sure it is from the SSRI, because I had no problem before. It seems we are one of the few countries where PSSD pops out at first when you search for „SSRI and sexual dysfunction“. I am really worried about it maybe this is one reason for it. And I find it really strange because one week ago everything was better. I can not recognize any numbness. Hopefully it is a good sign. 
It is more or less the last problem which remains: so low libido and ED. ChatGPT said it is normal that the sexual function normalizes at last so hopefully it is right. 
 

Thanks for your answer! 
 

Schönen Tag dir! 

[Valkyrie]

@Alfred1977It seems like the moment all my emotions came back a week ago and I became quite stable again mental, this symptom area got visibly worse. And maybe it's just a coincidence but everything got worse with the intake of 2.5 mg cialis. 

[Ariel]

Hi @Valkyrie

I'm sorry you're suffering.

 

52 minutes ago, Valkyrie said:

And maybe it's just a coincidence but everything got worse with the intake of 2.5 mg cialis. 

 

Maybe it's a coincidence (correlation is not causation). 

However, it's best to exercise extreme caution in regards to any other drugs or supplements. While in WD or healing from an immediate adverse reaction our systems can become hypersensitized to any chemical substances, incl. caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, sugar, medications of any kind. 

There are many topics about this on SA, I believe getofflex has given you some good links earlier in your thread.

Here's one more: 

 

 

[Valkyrie]

@Arielthanks for your answer! I quit every supplement without Omega-3. I guess it can’t be that bad. My biggest vice is probably nicotine, which I had actually given up six months before taking the antidepessivas. I started two weeks after quitting and it helped with the withdrawal. Sure i know it is poison, but it is hard to quit. I quit cialis too. Do you think the nicotine could also cause lifelong pssd? 
Today I feel like all symptoms are away, just the SD stayed. 
 

thank you! 

[Ariel]

@Valkyrie

Good you quit the cialis. I'd recommend quitting nicotine, caffeine, and alcohol, too. Also any other drugs such as cannabis. 

Personally, it's been a big help to me to also eliminate gluten, dairy, refined sugar, artificial sweeteners, soy. 

I think of my brain and nervous system as a very sensitive newborn infant. If it's safe for a baby, it's probably okay for my body. If there's anything that I'd think twice about exposing a baby to (substances, stimuli, stress, etc.), it's probably not good for me either. 

[Valkyrie]

@Ariel I have never dunk coffee so no problem. In all this time I just drunk one beer, so hopefully this is not the cause. And good that I quit cannabis 4 years ago 🙂. Wow you seem to have a great experience about it. Any similar experiences with my case? 

[Ariel]

6 minutes ago, Valkyrie said:

Any similar experiences with my case? 

 

I'm not sure what you mean. 

[Valkyrie]

@Ariel Experiences in this forum. It seems you have seen much more people who had this adverse reactions. 

[Ariel]

@Valkyrie

There are many members on SA who have successfully recovered from immediate adverse reactions. 

You will heal, too! 

 

To find success stories, try searching the recovery forum.

Here's one example:

 

 

[Ariel]

This member, Maybe, has recovered from an adverse reaction to escitalopram. 

It seems Maybe is in Germany, like you, so a fellow country-mate. 

(Remember that every person's trajectory is different, these stories are meant to offer inspiration and encouragement, not to be used as predictors of the future.)

 

 

[Ariel]

Member Scrountz has written a brilliant post about non-drug coping skills and techniques for managing an adverse drug reaction: 

 

 

[Valkyrie]

@Ariel

Many thanks for your efforts! I am really shocked that tablets that leave a four-year damage in some people after 4 doses are distributed like Smarties (Hopefully it is not german-genetics :-D).
I'm already feeling much better than a month ago, when I was really a total failure. My emotions, mental, cognitive etc. are 90% back. Compared to others, I'm almost stable again very quickly. But I would hate to spend the rest of my life as a monk. 

[Ariel]

3 minutes ago, Valkyrie said:

But I would hate to spend the rest of my life as a monk. 

Haha, don't worry. You'll be fine. 

I had PSSD and it's resolved. 

I posted about this recently in the PSSD topic:

 

On 5/1/2024 at 9:56 AM, Ariel said:

Hello all,

In PAWS I've experienced both PGAD and PSSD.

 

PGAD is completely resolved. 

PSSD is mostly healed, and I trust it will improve further. 

 

My best advice is: don't think about it, don't keep "testing" it, don't focus on it.

Occupy your mind and your time with anything else. Distract yourself. 

These things take time. In my case it took years, and eventually my system sorted itself out.  

In the meantime, distract distract distract; live your life as best you can; learn and practice non-drug coping skills; expand your toolbox; and Acknowledge - Accept - Float.

 

Healing is happening all the time, even when we don't consciously feel it. 

You got this!

 

Sending everyone patience, courage, faith, and healing vibes --

In solidarity and support,

A. 

 

[Valkyrie]

@ArielYou have given me some hope! I hope as I don't have deafness that it is a good sign. Happy that you fully recover!!

 

[Valkyrie]

Hello everyone, one week later - another update. I stopped Escitalopram 6.5 weeks ago. Dose was 5mg, on the last day 10mg, duration of intake was one week.  Unfortunately, I have no improvement at the moment and my sexual function in particular has deteriorated over the last week. 
It is still nice that it is no longer comparable to the first two weeks after stopping. But the restlessness has turned into exhaustion. Not comparable to CFS but simply a lack of motivation. I also stopped vaping two days ago, so maybe the withdrawal symptoms are additive. 
I also found it strange that the first two days after stopping were good, then it got worse and the 6th day was really good again... Since then I've mostly been on a downward spiral, although there were also a few days that were okay. 
Current symptoms: 
-Concentration problems
-sexual dysfunction 
-Exhaustion 
I think the exhaustion is also a result of the slow resignation that things are not getting better. 
With a request for hope and advice. 
May the force be with you! 

[Onmyway]

@Valkyrie, 

I merged your new thread into this one. Please remember that every member gets only one thread which they update. This is your thread and we read your updates here. You may wish to bookmark it. Pls do not start new threads

 

Hope you start feeling better soon, 

OMW

[Valkyrie]

@OnmywayThank you very much! Ah okay I thought I have just to use the same title and it will work automatically. I will use this thread now. Thank you for your wishes! 

[Alfred1977]

16 hours ago, Valkyrie said:

I think the exhaustion is also a result of the slow resignation that things are not getting better. 
With a request for hope and advice. 
May the force be with you! 

I am sorry to read this. Well about hope...I probably ran out of hope decades ago. Having led a hopeless life very truly, deeply and thoroughly, I sometimes begin to feel defiant about this and think "Never ever give up hope...no matter how absurd and crazy it seems!"

 

I don't have a lot of advice either. You probably cannot do much about the fact that escitalopram f**ed you up, other than holding out and coping. Maybe there are other thing about your situation that you can improve. Why did you try taking escitalopram (sry if you already told us and I didn't notice or remember)? What are your doctors telling you about your situation? Did your adverse reactions get invalidated like so many of us have experienced?

[Valkyrie]

@Alfred1977 Yes I can’t believe that one week intake did that to me. I hope the short time increase my possibility to feel normal one day again. I do not feel that destroyed like 4 weeks ago, but not nice anyway. Got almost all my emotions back, just no motivation and the other symptoms. 
I am sorry to read this! Are you so hopeless cause of withdrawal or depression? 
I took Escitalopram for Irritable bowel syndrome. And it is crazy but these symptoms are almost gone, but my brain is destroyed cause of this. Was a bad change.

10 minutes ago, Alfred1977 said:

What are your doctors telling you about your situation? Did your adverse reactions get invalidated like so many of us have experienced?

It's amusing when doctors try to tell me that it's the depression coming back. If I then say that the medication was for irritable bowel syndrome, they want to tell me that depression can also develop... Yes of course, out of nowhere, within two weeks. And beside the symptoms I am absolutely not depressed, but I assume I will be when the symptoms are still there in 1-2 years. 

[Valkyrie]

@Alfred1977 I read many people with these adverse effects here. Unbelievable. 

[Alfred1977]

32 minutes ago, Valkyrie said:

Are you so hopeless cause of withdrawal or depression? 

This is a good question. I guess one of the problems is that both causes don't exclude each other. I don't deny that I have a history of mental problems and difficult youth. The last ten years were not easy and though I might have made more than one bad decision I was pretty resilient, stood tall and kept going. First cracks appeared with Corona 2020, however first time I got knocked down mentally was Dez. 2022. I guess it was a combination of living situation/stressors and withdrawal. Around October 2022 I realized that my physical health was in pretty bad shape (overweight, high cholesterol, no exercise, unhealthy diet) and that I am too old for simply going on like that. I started a healthy diet and exercise, lost around 6kg in 2 months, no more alcohol (down from 2 bottles beer each evening), few sugar and so on. I am pretty sure that consequently my metabolism sped up significantly which had the same effect as some reduction of Venlafaxine. Avoiding alcohol was probably the strongest factor in reducing the effective drug level in my system.

 

The lower the dose the more sensitive I seem to get to variation in the drug level. I guess I experienced all those years mood instability in connection with alcohol consumption, but now on 25mg I feel 2 bottles of beer could knock me out by first raising my Venlafaxine level and then letting it fall again. This is probably due to this hyperbolic relation between drug effect and dose that is described for SSRIs.

[Valkyrie]

@Alfred1977Hey, sorry for the late reply. But why did you give up hope decades before? In any case, it really hurts me to read that. It's really unbelievable what the psyche and the medication that is supposed to help you can do to you. 
I'm a chemist, so I really should have known better. Long-Covid could also trigger some of your symptoms. Have you ever talked to a doctor about this? There are now potential therapies that could help. 

[Alfred1977]

3 hours ago, Valkyrie said:

But why did you give up hope decades before?

I had a pretty bad day on Sunday and described things in a too negative way. There were also good times. However, in essence it is true. I have a pretty pessimistic personality and a pretty analytic way of thinking. I don't know exactly why, though I have some ideas...nature and nurture, I guess.

 

3 hours ago, Valkyrie said:

Long-Covid could also trigger some of your symptoms. Have you ever talked to a doctor about this? There are now potential therapies that could help. 

I never had Covid...at least not in a symptomatic way so that I would know. Nor was any Covid test ever positive. My trust in doctors was not huge to begin with. In this matter it is basically gone. I told 4 psychiatrists (and I think 2 other doctors) that missing Venlafaxine for only 3 days gives me heavy brain zaps, crying spells and depression. And that retaking the drug restores me in a matter of hours. They had nothing to say about this and gave me the feeling that I was the only person in the world experiencing this.

[getofflex]

On 5/18/2024 at 3:58 PM, Valkyrie said:

I think the exhaustion is also a result of the slow resignation that things are not getting better. 
With a request for hope and advice. 

Unfortunately, it can take months to recover from an adverse reaction, even though you only took the drug for a week.  I know, it doesn't seem logical.  This drug has shaken your nervous system, and since the nervous system is highly complex, it takes a long time for it to readjust and find homeostasis.  Try going to the success stories, and read the ones of people who have recovered from an ADR (adverse reaction). This should give you more hope.  You will recover in time.