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My story is fairly long but I will try to keep it to the basics. Approximately 10 or so years ago I was mistakenly prescribed Paxil for nocturnal panic attacks. I say mistakenly because many years later I was able to determine that I was actually experiencing acid reflux when I went to bed. The problem is that Paxil is often treated off label for reflux, and it solved the problem it wasn’t prescribed to solve. Due to this, I was on Paxil for a very long time. When I finally put two and two together I decided to go off Paxil. I wish I had taken longer to go off, but I tapered over 4 months from 20mg in late 2020. Not a great experience you can imagine. When I was done, I as left feeling in a bit of a state of extended withdrawal, and still am today. I have very minor but noticeable brain zaps at times, and I feel generally nervous, especially in my hands and feet and sometimes my groin. A secondary problem was that I did actually start having panic attacks a few years ago, seemingly tied to a bicycle accident I had, and the Paxil may have actually kept those at bay. Without the medication I’ve had anxiety tied mostly to highway driving and medical procedures (dentist, for example) To add to the complications in April 2021 I started experiencing daily fatigue. I had every test under the sun and everything pointed to this being related to depression/anxiety. I had recently taken on a new job and my wife was recovering from very invasive breast cancer surgery. I’ve even done an updated round of tests recently to confirm I have no heart blockages or breathing issues. Over the last year and a half I’ve been working with an NP to find a medication to help me. Going back on Paxil did nothing and I’ve been through a range of SSRIs and SNRIs that did at best very little and at worst made me feel very unwell as the dosage went up. So right now I am on nothing at all while I am finishing up medical tests, other than an occasional half of a clonazepam. If feeling very lost about what to do next. I was wondering if anyone had experienced this kind of long term withdrawal, and especially if anyone has experience with chronic fatigue. Thank you. Here’s a pretty exhaustive list of what I’ve been on 2010?-10/2020 Paroxetine 20mg (taper 15mg-10mg-5 mg from 7-9/2020) Side effects: some sexual desensitization but acceptable. Positive effect on acid reflux frequency. 7/22/2021 Paroxetine (Paxil) 20mg resumed due to extended withdrawal and chronic fatigue but did not have an effect 9/17/2021 Sertraline (Zoloft) 50mg - replaced previous Side effects: not on long enough to know. Provider switched off due to presumed sexual side effects in men. 10/29/2021 Fluoxetine (Prozac) 10mg - replaced previous 11/10/2021 Fluoxetine (Prozac) 20mg Side effects: brain fog, general “unwell” feeling, fatigue 12/03/2021 Mirtazapine 15mg - replaced previous 12/16/2021 Mirtazapine 22.5 mg Side effects: brain fog, general “unwell” feeling, fatigue 1/11/2022 Escitalopram (Lexapro) 5mg (in addition to 15mg Mirtazapine) (Some missing info here - was on Lexapro by itself for a period and may have been up to 10mg) Side effects: some negative sexual effects 7/31/2022 Duloxetine (Cymbalta) 20mg - replaced all previous 8/12/2022 Duloxetine (Cymbalta) 30mg 9/2022 Duloxetine (Cymbalta) 40mg 12/2022 (Duloxetine discontinued, short course of Fluoxetine 10mg to handle withdrawal symptoms) Side effects: at max dose again had fatigue, brain fog, unease. Positive effect on acid reflux frequency.

Hello everyone, I am trying to fish for some information as to if anyone finds that some waves come and are really light and some come and are almost unbearable. Wondering if anyone has seen a pattern in tapering Lexapro and if they seem to have heavy waves hit even later down the road in the tapering process. I personally have been holding at 5mg for the past month or so and in that time span I have had 3 waves. The first lasted about 1 week and was really intense. (unable to eat, sleep, anxiousness, almost bed ridden). The second lasted about 3 days and was really uncomfortable. (Hard to eat, little bits of insomnia, stomach issues). The last and most recent I am still in and it has been about 4 days of the intense version. Any insights or patterns or general advise would be wonderful. Thanks

My history with medication started when I took a leave of absense from college in 2001, after my first semester. I moved back across the country, lived in a friend's dorm room, got a job, got an apartment, and decided to seek help for depression and trouble focusing. I was prescribed Ritalin. Over the years (see signature for meds), I was given meds for depression, sleep problems, ADHD, and eventually Bipolar II. In October of 2013, I left a job both over ethical concerns and because I wanted to work for myself. I lost access to the medications I was on at the time, though, because of an insurance SNAFU. By mid-2014, I was practically non-functional, though I was also trying new meds and working with a therapist. In 2015, I ended up unable to work, moving to my parent's home, and getting SSDI. Many of the meds I've tried since then (and before) gave me immediate adverse effects, or soon after I started taking them. In 2021, Lexapro was added, and that gave me constant nausea, but I was determined to stick it out. I had to use cannabis constantly in order to not feel like throwing up. Then, when I learned about laws in a couple states passing that explicitly allowed medical providers to deny care for "religious or ethical reasons," targeting queer people (I'm a trans* guy and gay), I threw temper tantrums like a two-year-old at both my therapist and mother for two days, and became extremely activated. At first I was ranting out of terror, and then angry at their lack of empathy. It was both called-for and out-of-line. Then began a flurry of activity. I felt like myself, and like I was developing good boundaries. I told people about many painful things from the past. I was also, in retrospect, not well, but when my APRN told me to stop taking Lexapro because "people say you've been acting out of character," I was livid, because I finally felt like myself again, and it was traumatizing to hear about those laws being passed and have people to tell me to calm down because it wasn't an immediate threat. I told her that sometimes when someone experiences something new, they act in a new way; it's objectively true. I don't know. I developed panic attack symptoms, had trouble regulating my body temperature, had more than the usual variations in energy level, and had a lot of sleep disturbances. My proprioception was often way off. I compulsively spent money, but in a way that made half-sense. A few months into the Lexapro, I developed some movement disorder symptoms, sort of only half-controllable unwinding stretching, triggered also by physical therapy for severe pain and stiffness in the right side of my neck. The stretching felt good, but then I got tight again. That was particularly weird. I often had very firm boundaries over the spring and summer, getting to the point of yelling when my concerns about my safety as a queer person were being thrown back in my face. Some people told me I was hard to follow, but others could follow me fine. All of my emotions were amplified. At one point I hit a wall with my fist in my mother's house, and dented it. I offered to fix it or pay to have it fixed, but that offer was rejected. In the fall, without prior warning, my family changed the locks on my place, and threw away whatever they thought was trash, and I lived in long-term Airbnbs until March. I somehow managed to close on a house in February, and started living in it in March. The place was indeed horrible, in terms of cleanlinees, but advance notice and dealing with it more directly would've been better. Of course, they don't know what my living spaces always look like. Throughout the winter and spring, I had migraines a lot of the time. In March of 2022, things got psychedelic. I've never done hallucinogens, actually. I've also never had any hallucinations or delusions... until maybe this stuff. I was in part wrapped up in fantasies about finding a way back to having my family in my life, and in part seeing patterns and thinking I had outsized influence on the world if I interacted with them right. I saw problems and became fixated on them. I was sometimes, in my thinking, straight-up delusional. I went for lots of drives, exploring patterns - real ones having to do with the development of the highway system - but why? I became very tuned-in to my emotional intelligence, and spent a lot of time dancing and acting to music, and feeling through the layers of meanings in the lyrics. I can't remember if I'd decided to stop/cut back the Xanax before or after this. In late March, I ran out of gas on the highway, without my phone, really only needed a tow truck, but since I didn't have anyone to call for help and was very amped up, I ended up involuntarily hospitalized in another state, with no way to reach anyone. First, I was in an emergency room, and got the bends very bad from something. I was lucid dreaming, and spinning around in the bed. They injected me with something, I don't know what. When I got to the hospital, I half-thought it was all a mistake and someone might come get me. I opted to be there for three days under my own power. Since I had no access to my meds, this lead to my going cold-turkey off of Wellbutrin, Lamictal, Adderall, Xanax, and Lexapro. No one evaluated me there, but they tried to get me to take something (wouldn't tell me what). I felt pretty much fine, but half-believed it must be some kind of elaborate prank, under the influence of drugs, trauma, or both. From then on, things got even weirder. I started to forget to pay bills, I became convinced there was something seriously wrong with the electricity in my home, and no consequences mattered. I had total blindness to how my actions affected others. In May, I again ended up needing a tow truck (the gearshift became disengaged), without my phone. I got extremely sick in the car, got a tow truck instead of a hospital this time, but got kicked out by the driver of the tow truck because of the smell. I had auditory and mild visual hallucinations, very "creative" thoughts, and ended up taking two weeks to get back home. I simply let the car go, bought another car (but got a ticket for driving without insurance and driving an unregistered vehicle, and now have a warrant out for me in another state), worked on it a little but lost focus and bought an even more messed-up vehicle, worked on that, and then stopped caring. I developed bad chemical sensitivity for a month or a few (even my skin barrier was weird), and had movement disorder symptoms spring up after exposure to chlorine, followed by lotion and CBD oil. Could also be psychological, in part. I got a big lump on my scalp, a rash on first the left and then the right side of my neck, ingrown hairs on my knees. I had to re-wash everything I'd washed at a laundromat. I'd have to make movements in response to sounds, or feel prickling or burning in my toes response to seeing certain people, or other unknown causes. It's still happening a bit. I trashed the office space I was renting, because I had increased sensitivity in my nerves, and thought there was something corrosive going on I needed to clean up with salt, baking soda, some natural cleaning supplies, and clean cat litter, but also couldn't focus, and ended up leaving behind a massive mess and giving the owner no notice, after being two weeks late with rent, after the guy I'd hired decided he wasn't going to stick around. I've had a lot of scary physical symptoms that felt like they could become blood clots or heart attacks, but those haven't happened for months. For a while I had so much tension in my trunk area, it felt like my pelvic bones were eating themselves, all prickly. I have more feeling on my left side than my right. Usually when I wake up, some part of one or both of my hands is numb. I had a lot of strong anxiety, on and off. There's a lot I've left out. These days, I'm dissociated and flat, but also have extreme avoidance behaviors, a different kind of anxiety. My frustration/obstacle tolerance is almost nothing. I don't have a temper about it, my brain just short-circuits. Pretty much I sit around smoking hand-rolled cigarettes, and drinking filtered water with ginger in it, thoughts about my family or others swirling around, wishing I could trust new people and/or had local friends. I wish I could hand power of attorney to someone and tell them what to take care of. If I can get started on something, I manage to change my address somewhere, or make a payment plan on a credit card, or do some small thing, like pre-rinse clothes in the sink. The stuff I paid to have packed and stored, whatever was at the apartment that wasn't thrown away, I haven't been able to face and has probably been thrown out for non-payment by now. I've been to a primary care doctor twice, and have an appointment with a neurologist in October. I got basic bloodwork done and was fine; tried to get a toxin or heavy metal panel done but couldn't. Probably what I thought was toxin exposure was in fact withdrawal stuff, though. I've been trying to find a therapist who I can get to without a car and who takes my Medicare plan, but no luck so far. As far as I can tell, what's happening is CPTSD, PTSD, and polypharmacy withdrawal interacting. As weird and bad as things are, it's not like they weren't often like this even before I was ever prescribed anything. For example, I've almost never been able to care about "self-care," unless it's to make sure I'm not judged or otherwise for another's benefit. I can see a lot of "self-sabotage" in many of the things I've done, pathological narcissistic acting-out, some victim/savior/persecutor dynamics, but it all seems a bit extreme for it to be "just" trauma.

Hello, I am new here. I had been on Escitalopram for many years until some life altering events happened Fall of 2021 and 1st 6 months of 2022 when I became severely depressed. I was crosstapered from Escitalopram to Mertazapine in June 2022, I have also taken zopliclone for sleep since about 2007 or 2009. The mertazapine has not worked well for me and doctor has me crosstapering from mertazapine to Escitalopram now. I went from 30mg Mert to 7.5 in 2 months (Dec 1 - Feb 1) and I am on 10mg of Escitalopram for about 10 days and 5mg for about 10 days before that (so 3 weeks). I had bad headaches start in November and trouble sleeping, that was before I started tapering or adding in the Esc. The headaches have gotten better but have them almost daily, the insomnia is awful. I plan on staying at 7.5 mert, 10 Esc until I stabilized. I started only taking 3.75 zoplicone when i go to bed and take the other 3.75 when i wake up during the night in hopes i can go back to sleep. Only done this for 4 nights now. I take clamazapham sometimes, maybe once a week to help get me thru, doc wants me to start taking that instead of zop to sleep but i dont want to make any more changes and am afraid i will get withdrawal from zop. I am so confused. I am really struggling - please someone help guide me....it seems like everything i try it backfires....

Hello to all! I was tapered, over a period of two months w/doctor's help, off of venlafaxine xr, buspirone, trazadone, and abilify. I had taken venlafaxine xr and abilify for 7 years and the other two for 14 years. Prior to the venlafaxine and abilify, I was on lexapro for 7 years. Considering the multiple meds and number of years of having taken them, I believe that my doctor tapered me down much too quickly. What is a real kicker is that when I contacted her to tell her I was having terrible symptoms, she diagnosed me over the phone with allergies and told me to go see my GP for further help. I did that, and he said they were all withdrawal symptoms. He assured me that time will heal me. He advised me to drink a lot of water, get exercise, and a lot of sleep. It's been over 5 months now, and I'm still symptomatic although they have reduced in minute degrees of intensity. I go from always being sick to feeling sicker and then back to being sick. My symptoms include burning, stinging, tingling skin on my arms; hot flashes (did those years ago with menopause); insomnia; lack of energy and motivation; icy-cold feeling hands, lower legs, and feet; brain-freeze feeling in the right backside of my head; and sensations of being stabbed throughout my body. The skin sensations are constant. The only thing I take now is fish oil--nothing else. When I first went off the drugs I also had terrible, intense, insatiable itching. The more I scratched, the more I itched. That has subsided, thank goodness. Has anyone experienced any similar symptoms? If so, did they eventually disappear? Did you ever experience a window? So far, I don't think I've had one. I would appreciate any help.

Hi all - so so I tried to withdraw from 2.5 paxil while increasing my zoloft from 25 to 50. What a disaster! The 50 zoloft made me manic so I went back down to 25 but went off the 2.5 paxil in two weeks. Pure chaos ensued with crazy agitation and insomnia and practically convulsions! then I went down to 12.5 zoloft and after 5 days the crying began. Reinstated to 25 and feeling the reinstatement effects. Just wanted to connect with others!

Hi there! Im here because I am starting my tapering journey from sertraline 100mg to 50mg. Been on 100mg sertraline for about a year combined with 150mg bupropion. Im feeling emotionally stable, by I've got slight sexual dysfunction and problems losing weight. Therefore tapering to 50mg sertraline. If all goes well and Im steady with my new job (which I start januari 2nd) I will start tapering towards zero sertraline. I am using a tapering schedule provided by drugtaper.com using tablets and liquid. My goal is to be at 50 mg at the end of februari 2023. Tapering calculator for antidepressants.pdf

Hello, just going to make this as simple as possible. About 2 months ago I was prescribed Lexapro for anxiety. I have been on it for about 10 weeks now and I also have been on Wellbutrin Xl 300. Was feeling amazing on Wellbutrin but had some anxiety so my doctor put me on Lexapro 10 mg. I’m a male 29 year old, 215lb, 5’10 hight, very into working out. Anyways I have been feeling over the past 10 weeks very very lazy, numb, no motivation and my libido is hardly existent. I felt so much more alive on just Wellbutrin Xl 300 then I did combining these two substances. I felt more alive and up for anything and was doing chores and happy. After feeling this way from being on the Lexapro I went to the doctors and told him all of this, put me on 5mg Lexapro to help combat the low libido and unbearable fatigue feeling. Started taking that about 10 days ago and have not felt any better, if anything more worse. I am getting in contact with my doctor Monday because I’m over it. Over feeling down and out. I literally have no motivation to go to work and I feel numb and I’m just over it. Can someone please help me with a correct way to tamper off of this. I was on.. 10mg Lexapro for 9 weeks. 5mg the past 10 days. I wish I would have saw this website because I feel I already screwed it up jumping back down to 5mg. After doings so the past 10 days I feel nauseous, dizzy and lightheaded. Nothing to major to where I can’t stand it but I just want to come off Lexapro. Thank you in advance!

Hello, wanted to make my introduction! I began ssri therapy in about 2011 with Prozac. I had suddenly developed feelings of what I believe were detealization and anxiety at the age of 27. Not many tests were done and I was given Prozac as a bandaid. It did help some but I haven’t felt myself again since before them. Sometimes 10% “my old self” sometimes 90% but never “healthy” again. I switched to lexapro in 2014 due to weight gain on Prozac. Spoiler alert, the lexapro wasn’t any better really. I have tried a few times to quit the lexapro with no success do to feeling horrible from withdrawal. I finally decided recently in 2022 that I want off this poison and I want to get to the root of my issues without it in my body. I have been on a two week taper schedule, I know too quickly though. 20mg 15mg 10mg 5mg 2.5mg 2.5 mg every other day i have two doses left until I hit zero. these first three tapers weren’t bad. I tried to exercise, stay busy, lots of water, healthy food, lower carb. from 5 and down has been hard. I have mood swings, irritable, dizzy spells occasionally, lightheaded, weakness, adrenaline surges, poor interruption of sleep, and the latest is what I think is reactive hypoglycemia. Scared to death of the Final Cut to zero.

Hello all, My nightmare began in August of last year after hitting my rock bottom. I had a full on panic attack at my place of work which led to agoraphobia for about a week and pretty severe depression. Having been struggling with anxiety and depression for a while I finally decided to seek "medical help". I saw my first psych whom gave me a cocktail of prozac and .5mg clonazepam. I could not tolerate the prozac well and ended up switching providers. The new psych tried me on a series of things over the course of a few months but the ones that stuck was Lexapro and buspar. I was doing well on 15mg Lexapro and 7.5mg buspar for about a month. Then I had another severe panic attack. I have always had side effects with all the SSRI's i tried primarily nausea and dizziness. My provider said it was probably more anxiety related. After diving deep into the mental health sector of the internet I discovered that it probably was not the medication that was making me feel better but probably the DARE response, Anxious truth, hope and help for your nerves technique etc that I had learned and started to implement. That being I decided I want off of these meds and started tapering down on my own without knowing any better. Thats when the severe withdrawl symptoms kick in so I reached out to my psych for a cessation protocol, he said there was no such thing and he's not sure why I am so "sensitive" to the medication. After being my own health advocate I found this forum and learned about the 10% rule. I now know that I did this completely wrong and tapered way too fast. I was on 0mg for about 5 days and could not handle the side effects (dizzy, nausea, headaches) so i reintroduced it back to 2.5mg for 2 days then 5mg which made it worse now I am back to 2.5mg. I still feel completely nauseas all the time and my headaches come and go through out the day. I feel stuck and like I have wrecked my nervous system beyond repair. Also I only take the clonazepam as needed which is very seldom, and I stopped taking the buspar but can not remember when probably 6-8 weeks ago. Please help.

I took lexparo for 1.5 years, I quit taking it regularly a few months ago and started break my 10 mg into 5 mg every other day, [ I know] =/. Then when I attempted to take 10, had a bad reaction , burning allover, quit entirely 11 days ago. my doctor knows, I have an appointment on Monday to discuss what now, I started messing with my dosage because for these few months prior I had alot of heart tests, and I sort of freaked out and thought my medication might be effecting my ekg. In the end, I just have a normal variant difference, with no actual heart issue. My symptoms have been, tired, light headed and sort of sad, I haven't been really bad so far and would like to ask for help in maybe keeping to this being gone from my life. I know it was unwise not to taper. Any opinions would be appreciated, especially if you've successfully cold tapered.

I wasn't sure where to post this question - Moderators, please feel free to move it to the most appropriate forum. I started on a liquid formulation of Escitalopram on 1 Nov 2022. It is a suspension made by a compounding pharmacy since liquid Cipralex/Lexapro is not available in my country. Since starting the suspension, I have noticed that about 2 hours after taking the liquid, I develop akathisia. This lasts for about 4 hours after which I feel okay. Since I take this in the evening, it interferes with my sleep. I wanted to know whether I can move my dosage time to the morning and how best to do this? My initial thought was to do this slowly where I would take the dosage 15 min earlier everytime and then eventually be able to shift the dosage time. Does this sound practical? I think that slow 15-min increments would be best so thought I would shift by 15min, hold that dosage time for 2 days, then shift again, hold 2 days etc. Would this be slow enough to prevent a relative change in dosage-size? Thank you.

Hello, I'm a 21 year old Canadian who was on Effexor for about 1.5 years, until I stupidly tapered off over the course of about a month, and have been SNRI free for about 7 months now. Here's the story on how I got it: After an extremely depressing moment in my life compounded with the COVID lockdowns, I started thinking there was something wrong with me, perhaps Anxiety, Depression or ADHD. I ended up getting prescribed Lexapro but was switched to two pills of Effexor a day after 1.5 months due to having no energy on Lexapro. Effexor made me feel very strange, it removed any anxiety I had but also made me not care about where I'm at in life, and stopped my ego from being in check. It felt like my anxiety was keeping my ego from being inflated, but now with the anxiety gone I was a different person with illusions of grandeur. I blew up 3 semesters of university, withdrawing from my courses two semesters in a row and in my third just taking fat 0s in all my classes that semester. I had a wakeup call then and decided to get off the pills no matter what. I tapered off the course of about 1-2 months, slowly reducing my dosage and then only taking one pill every time I felt ill, until I ran out of pills. I didn't really go through any withdrawals that people describe, but I still feel kind of odd and have been going through weird waves of depression. I went through a whole semester SNRI free and actually got good grades, so I'm happy my academic career is being repaired, but I still kind of feel stunted. There are many things I want to do but I have no motivation to actually get anything done. I also feel like I am exhausted much more easily now and have been sleeping a lot. I'm not really sure if this is a withdrawal or just something because of my daily living habits, but I do feel like I've changed a lot since taking antidepressants for the first time, and then getting off of them. For anyone who has read this far, thank you. It seems many of you were on antidepressants longer than me, and had worse withdrawals. I'm thankful it has gone different for me, but I really appreciate you reading this and would love to hear your insight on what you think. Thank you

First off, my story/background: I was started on 20mg Paxil in 2001 at 16 years old for IBS by GP. Attempted to taper off in ~2010 over many months due to my personal concerns on SSRI use long-term but failed due to terrible withdrawal (no sleep at all, brain zaps, crying fits, etc.) when reaching a low dose and was put back on Paxil at 30mg by GP which I stayed on until January 2021. Around mid 2019 and through 2020 I started having some depression type feelings and maybe very minor anxiety, but it was fairly benign and not particularly often so I blew it off. I had an Ischemic Colitis attack in December 2020 and was hospitalized for ~1 week. At this point Anxiety and significant depression started to occur, and in January 2021 Paxil was cross-tapered to Effexor by GP, reaching a final dose of 150mg Effexor/0mg Paxil after 3 weeks. Effexor did not seem to help me, anxiety actually seemed worsened and I had bad nausea among other side effects so on March 27th, 2021 was direct switched (no taper) to Lexapro 10mg by GP. Lexapro dosage was then upped to 20mg by GP on April 24th 2021 as 10mg didn't seem to be helping much either (some improvement maybe, but barely noticeable if so). On April 27th 2021 I started seeing a Mental Health NP, who added 150mg Wellbutrin XL daily, as well as Gabapentin 200mg at night. After a week or two I started feeling improved, not myself for sure, but at least noticeably better. My Mental Health NP now has me weaning off the Lexapro 5mg down every 5 days starting on May 18th (15mg for 5days, 10mg for 5days, 5mg for 5days, then 0mg) I am currently down to 10mg Lexapro, so my current medications are as follows: 10mg Lexapro, 150mg Wellbutrin XL, 200mg Gabapentin (at night). I'm super concerned about the fast taper of the Lexapro, even though I wasn't on it for very long I have been on some form of SSRI (obviously the Paxil predominantly) for 20+ years now nonstop. I've brought this up to my mental health specialist multiple times, and he swears/assures me that Lexapro has a long enough half-life that no taper is necessarily needed, and the 5mg drops every 5 days is conservative and will be fine. I've been hesitantly following through on his plan, but I already feel like my anxiety is worsening. The hardest part is the anxiety doesn't seem to be about anything in particular, just random feelings that I can't pinpoint any cause on. On top of all this, I was started on a CPAP machine about 1 week ago after being diagnosed with mild obstructive sleep apnea. At the time I thought great, maybe this is contributing to my depression/anxiety symptoms but so far my sleep has been just as lousy (multiple awakenings overnight, difficulty getting to sleep) as it was before. I was also found through blood testing this month to have quite low testosterone for my age, but my GP is hesitant to treat it due to concerns over causing cardiac issues or worsening the sleep apnea. Aside from the mental health (which is obviously terrible at this point) I'm for the most part in good physical health. The colitis is mostly resolved, I'm a healthy weight and in generally good shape (5ft 7.5in, ~165lbs). I'm not sure what I'm looking for out of all this, I guess mostly advice and reassurance - I'm concerned that being on the Paxil so long and from a young age has done serious damage that maybe I'll never recover from. I'm scared I'll never feel like myself again, that I won't be there for my wife and kids. I'm scared I'll be medicated for the rest of my life, my mental health specialist doesn't seem concerned when I bring these things up, he thinks everything will be fine. Anything anyone can offer is greatly appreciated, and I'll happily answer any questions and offer more information. Thank you all.

I’ve been on lexapro for 6 years for panic attacks that usually happened with situations at work. I’ve since left that job. I decided to try to get off the medication. I was on 10 mg. I have tappers to .75 for 4 weeks and 50 for 6 weeks and ready to taper to .25. I have noticed vivid dreams, some fatigue, few headaches and two mini panic attacks. How long will withdrawal symptoms last after last tapering off .25. Also I have had sexual difficulties with climaxing. With this go back to my normal after drug is out of my system? Many thx to any advice.

Hi everyone, just after some advice/knowledge. I first went on Lexapro 10mg for about two years due to a spate of anxiety attacks that were stopping me from functioning. I would’ve preferred to see a psych first but we were in lockdown so it wasn’t possible. The meds worked, I had some strange brain fog and headachey stuff for a week or so, and sexual side effects that persisted for about a month before improving a bit (but not entirely). But I was feeling better so I kept taking the meds for a couple of years. After a while I was feeling fine and fed up of the sexual issues so I stopped taking the meds (no taper, wasn’t seeing my gp, no idea what I was doing). The brain fog and headachey stuff came right back (which I was expecting, as it would rear its head if I accidentally missed a dose). It wasn’t great but it dissipated after a month or so and my sexual function slowly returned. Felt pretty normal again. A year down the track and the anxiety came back in force, so I made the decision to go back on to Lex - again 10mg. I had similar side effects, but this time the sexual stuff persisted indefinitely with little improvement so after two months I packed it in again (cold turkey had been fine last time, so why not again?) This time the resultant brain fog has been present in some form for about three months now, with headaches and pressure similar to sinus pain. I sometimes feel like I’m not quite behind the controls, like I’m seeing the world through a filter or something. At this point it feels like it’s getting worse rather than better. I initially thought I must have an infection or other condition because I wasn’t aware that withdrawal symptoms could last this long. An hour or so on google now has me concerned. Are these normal withdrawal symptoms? Why would my side effects and withdrawals be worse the second time around? Can withdrawal symptoms like headaches and brain fog get worse before they get better? Any help appreciated!

Dec 2019- May/June 2022 - I was feeling a little depressed during the Chicago winters. Someone recommended meeting a Physiatrist and I was advised to take 10mg Lexapro to boost my mood. To be honest, I had little knowledge on how SSRI works. I assume they boost your mood by producing serotonin in your brain. I had assumed people taking it during their lows in life. My doc mentioned that I may feel some side effects when I start the dose, but nothing was mentioned after discontinuation. I missed some months in 2020 but felt no side effects. My last dose must have been in May/June 2022 when I ran out of meds. I was doing well in my life, so I didn't go back for a refill. I was clueless about SSRI withdrawals or Tapering process. Until June 2022, I was living my best life. Ran my fourth marathon, got a new job and moved to a new city. Sept 2022 Life was running smoothly for me until Sept 1st week when I had a panic attack at night, around 2 am. I got over it thinking it was a bad dream. But it occurred again the next week, and again next few nights. I was convinced there was something wrong with my body. I went to an ER, they checked my vitals and said something was alright. but it occurred again, I went to another ER the next day, and they gave me 0.5 mg Ativan, it helped me sleep and I was discharged the next morning. I was fine for the next 2 days, but another panic attack took me back there, I was in hospital for 9 nights, they did all the lab tests, MRI, EKG but nothing. They put me on 10mg Lexapro in the morning and 70mg Seroquel at night. I was discharged and required to consult a psychiatrist and GP. Also, they had noticed that the ammonia in my blood was much higher than the range, so I was advised to take a Thyroid test. October 2022 TSH levels came a little high but not extremely high. (For Thyroid). I met a psychiatrist and she had me continue Lexapro. However, she said Seroquel was not needed for me. So, I discontinued that. However, life after that continued to be miserable. I was sweating during the night, Felt very anxious in the morning, vivid dreams, etc. I requested her that I did not want to be on meds. She suggested a short taper. 10->5->2.5->0mg. I took my last dose on October 26th. November 2022- thru now. I assumed that the worst was over, but little did I know what was coming. I started having vivid dreams, irrational thoughts, restlessness, electric shocks in the morning around the same time. I took a break from living in the US and came to my home country in India. I met several doctors, Physiatrist, Hypnotherapists but nothing gave me any relief. GAD, OCD, Depression, Bad energy attack etc. are different opinions given by experts. It is relapse of depression and OCD is the recommendation from the last psychiatrist I have met. This is when I found SA and things started to make sense. I am probably going through a late withdrawal. Some of the symptoms like sweating at night, brain zaps have left but I am going through anxiety, no motivation, but the worst being the past thoughts and fearful memories. For instance, any time I see a motorbike, a past memory of an accident resurfaces. I am scared of heights, Even looking at tall buildings gives me anxiety, there is a dozen such things that I am afraid of. I am not sure what this exactly is, whether it's anxiety disorder, phobia or OCD thoughts as the last psychiatrist I met mentioned. He advised me to start Fluvoxamine (Luvox in US) and CBT, but I am scared to take any meds after the horrific experience I have had. I have read several success stories; However, I am afraid whether my negative thought pattern would change, or if I would feel like my old fearless self. I can do basic life functions, like eat, sleep but there is no motivation or charm left. For someone who was running 50-60 miles a week, I can barely run 2-3 miles now even though I am pushing myself hard to go to gym. I think about this misery every day and hour, and I can't seem to break the pattern. I am not looking for reassurance at this time, I don't have the courage to go back on any meds, but this for sure is the lowest point of my life. I wanted to document this. I have read several CT success stories, but the story from Aeroman and mandance have struck the most to me Reddit - Dive into anything HISTORY: *Dec 2019-June 2022: 10mg Lexapro. CT *Sept 2022: Reinstated 10 mg Lexapro at hospital *Oct 2022: Fast Taper from 10-5->2.5->0mg Lexapro

Hi I’m new to the form and I’m really glad I found this because it’s helping me , but I wanted to tell you a little about my story on what’s going on. So on December 15 I went to a funeral of a very close friend , after that 2 days later I started having really bad anxiety that interfere with my life for a week , I thought maybe I was suffering from a disease went to the ER twice everything seem to be great . So after I decided to go to a private doctor , after telling him my story he put me on lexapro 10 mg that was December 27 after taking the lexapro maybe a hour later I experience a super burning sensation on my body for like 2 weeks straight my emotions had gone numb completely , I couldn’t think straight I knew something was wrong so I decided not to take anymore. My whole body and emotions were completely numb I had suicidal thoughts which never in my life have I ever wanted to do such thing, after that Pill I now have trouble sleeping 2-3 hours sometimes 1 hour is like my body can’t tell when I’m tired anymore , my private parts and nipples are numb no desire in sexual as well as my stomach and bladder are numb, I feel no appetite was so over, my stomach does growl but I’m still not hungry (like I have no hunger cue), I feel no thirst. I haven’tgotten headaches or pain since the pill it’s like it turn of my sensory receptors, when I hit myself on something by accident or my son bites me I can’t feel the pain like before. My family thinks I’m making things up and I don’t know what to do it’s been a month and I’m really struggling I feel like a zombie.. it’s really interfering with my life . As well as I haven’t been able to sweat at all when I’m hot my body gets a burning sensation or when I’m too cold as well, I have problems with my ears, vision, It’s hard for me to pain attention, my taste comes and goes . There’s been days where I have felt good like maybe 4 times since all this happen, sometimes I can feel joy but Also is like all my negative emotions are gone , like I’m just to clam , no stress , no anxiety, no fear , not being able to cry .. I also have like a numbness on my eyes and neck when I try to swallow is hard but not painful and when I have try so hard to cry and maybe a tear has come out it feels weird it’s a sensation I can’t explain. Can you please help me, am I withdrawing from one pill is that even possible? As to mention I got mri’s on head and spinal and blood work done and everything came up normal . Also before I forget I’m having trouble peeing and pooping , and when I do poop is diarrhea as mentioned before no pain whatsoever , I’m also haveing a lot of shaking randomly.Please help me ..

Hey everyone, just introducing myself here. I've been a LONG TIME member of the benzobuddies.org forums and it literally changed my life interacting with the great folks there. SO GLAD I finally got the opportunity to join the forums here as I've been waiting a while to get in! My quick summary: I was 2 years on Lexapro and klonopin and was able to successfully taper off of Klonopin over the course of an additional year, I tried to taper my lexapro (20mg) over the course of 3 months after that... you can guess how that went 🙄. Six weeks after my last dose I had a massive panic/anxiety attack and found myself back on 20mg of Lexapro and about .75mg of Klonopin again. Oy vay. Regardless, I'm tapering the klonopin again and going into this new journey knowing that I have to wait until I'm off of that first to start my lexapro taper again. I'm going to do it slowly... over the course of 2 years kind of thing (10% at at a time etc), but regardless I'm excited to finally be able to be a part of this community and share in everyone's knowledge as I mentally prepare for that in the future. Benzo buddies helped me so much (and is continuing to do so), and just in my first few days of perusing the forums I can see that this is an awesome community of supportive people as well, so I'm looking forward to contributing and learning with all of you. Happy tapering to all!

Hi All, I haven’t posted on here before but I’ve read posts while I was withdrawing and thinking I was going to die. I’m here to share some hope with you. One of the most difficult things when I was withdrawing was the thought “what if I’m like this forever”. That thought petrified me. I almost didn’t post this because once I was healed I just wanted to get on with my life. But I came back because I felt you all needed to know that you will get through it just like I did as well as to share with you the different things I did. I had withdrawals for two years approximately and in that period had depression, anxiety, an inability to sleep and constant heart palpitations. It sucks. I don’t think I’ve gone through anything harder in my life. It took me to the edge of sanity. The hardest thing with recovery is the constant swinging. I went back and forth between different symptoms. First anxious then depressed then anxious etc etc. What I’ve realised is that these changes are really just something healing in your brain and then the body goes onto the next thing. After a switch I often noticed that my thought process was better than before. It’s not going back and forth but really just around your brain healing you. It does cause a feeling of hopelessness unless you frame it as progress rather than just the body going in circles. The things I did to heal 1. Fasting (tricky one. At different stages this makes you feel better or worse but I’m sure it helps the healing process. It might be uncomfortable for you though depending on where you are. I did both dry and water fasting up to 3 days and intermittent fasting. 2. Keto. If you have anxiety this should help bring it down. You will feal crap for a few days tho. After this depending on where you are in the healing process it could tip you into depression. 3. Supplements Vitamin D, Iron, C, Fish Oil, Lions Mane, B. Once again depending on where you are on the healing curve these will have a different impact. Early on a Fish Oil pill have me anxiety for days. Now it’s fine and relaxing. You need to keep trying different things because your body keeps changing. 4. Worked out about 4 times a week for the 2 years. Weights mostly and some cardio. 5. Cold showers. Good for sleeping. 6. Meditation. Listen to Eckart Tolle. Do your mindfulness meditation. You will be stronger after going through this nightmare if you do. Anyway I wish you all luck. I’m sure I’ve said what other people have said before but make sure you take care of yourselves. Much love A.

Sorry for that English I have been reading posts here and I am very surprised why people have been taking drugs for ten to twenty years. The doctor prescribed me Lexapro for Anxiety, he told me I should drink for 4 months because in 1 month I felt better and I am still better. At first I drank 10 milligrams for one month, then 5 milligrams for the next two months, and in two weeks I reduced the dose. I reduced the dose for two weeks. In short, it's a little weird but since February 15 I have had symptoms of withdrawals. Poor sleep quality, I have difficulty concentrating and I am weak, I have difficulty speaking properly and I have a lack of motivation. Do you know why the withdrawal is so long? Is 4 months normal?

19-years on Lexapro & Wellbutrin. At 5mg, wanted to stop Lexapro because of sexual side effects, constipation, weight gain, dulled feelings ... quit CT in May of 2019 as I didn't think I could taper any lower being it was only 5mg, disasterous results--physical symptoms first, then severe depression, panic, worse than anything I'd ever experienced before taking drugs. Doc put me back on Wellbutrin and Lexapro after 2 wks, increased dosage of Lexapro within a month from 10mg to eventually 40mg since I was still in a terrible state. Gave me Klonopin for panic/insomnia, took that 2+ months, tapered off after 12 days, crashed horribly, ended up in the hospital...doc there gave me 75mg of Effexor in addition to the Lexapro/Wellbutrin...got 10 rounds of ECT...slight improvement after several weeks but not good/off work 6 wks. Eventually able to to function, depression and OCD better but continued feeling of dread and doom which turned out to be from too much SSRI in my brain. Weaned off Effexor Feb of 2020, went fine and actually felt better. Started tapering down Lexapro from 40 to 35 to 30 to 25 to 20 to 15 to 10 with little W/D effects, holding only a week or so in-between. Felt better, less dread and knew I had been taking too much med for my brain. Then once I started going from 10 to 7.5 to 5 and lower (started liquid version after 5), dropping by 1mg/holding only a week or so in-between, bad physical W/D started, plus depression, OCD, agitation, etc. Told my doc but he didn't tell me to stop or back up. Down to about 2mg using liquid Lexapro late August 2020. Huge physical then mental crash. Told my doc but he didn't tell me to stop or back up. Depression/depersonalization/panic/obsessional thoughts/agitation. Some improvement after a week or so. Went down to less than 1mg sometime in September, mental state really bad but did seem to improve slightly after a month or so. Slowly felt like I was starting to see some improvement and holding on, stabilizing, symptoms not horrible and able to function in late Oct/Nov/early Dec 2020. First 2 weeks of December pretty good. Then forgot Synthroid (thyroid med) for 3 or 4 days by total accident around Dec 13. Crashed worse than ever. Deepest depression, depersonalization, irrational/obsessive thoughts, panic of my life and now trying to recover but feel hopeless. Struggling to survive without going back on Lexapro, but not sure I can make it. I just don't know what to do and feel so desperate. The fear and obsessional thoughts are the worst now. Depression has slightly lifted last few weeks. Been walking regularly and trying to eat right, take fish oil, Vit D and B vitamins. Using a sunlamp. Even trying CES Ultra stimulation at home. The fear of what has happened and is continuing has overtaken me at times where I feel I might go insane. I can barely function and fear I will lose my job. Working from home is the only reason I haven't lost it already. Any advice is so appreciated. Thank you for listening.

August 24th, I was still a teenager, and offered a thc (10mg) edible from my mom. Once it set in, I had the scariest experience of my life. The panic was so bad I couldn’t move. My body felt nothing but war, red hot agony burning its way down my throat and scraping against my nerves. I have no other way to describe it other than a “panic attack,” though I’ve never had a panic attack before. The first “attack” lasted for about 4 hours straight, then hourly attacks occurred up to 5 days after. Conveniently I had also upped my Citalopram dose a month prior (from 10mg to 20mg). I can’t pinpoint if this is a “thc overdose” or serotonin syndrome. I told my doctor about what I had experienced but I couldn’t tell her about the thc part because it’s not allowed in my state for underage people. She diagnosed me with serotonin syndrome based on the symptoms I told her, but I’m not sure if that was actually the problem. Symptoms experienced with the attacks were: seizures, huge rush of anxiety and impending doom, throat tightness, trouble breathing, convulsing, burning, shaking/tremor/shivering, sweating/night sweats, paresthesia, numbness, no appetite, mental fog/confusion, heart racing, palpitations, diarrhea, and insomnia. I really wanted to go to the hospital, but I was reassured by my mom I was just having a “bad trip.” After that day, I tried to taper down my Citalopram under the conclusion that it was both the medication and thc. I had also been addicted to caffeine, and using 1 claritin in the morning and 2 benadryl at night. I stopped everything at once. I say it was a “taper” for my Citalopram but it was way too fast. After the first 5 days, I took 20mg. Waited 3 days, took 20mg again. Waited 3 days, split pill in ½ (10mg). Waited 3 days, split pill in ¼ (5mg). Then I went completely off meds by 9/7 (2 weeks after). The reason I was rushing was because the anxiety was crippling. I was scared of everything. Songs, daylight, food, sleep, walking, breathing—any ordinary thing became a trigger for my anxiety. I’d laid in the dark for weeks just trying to breathe. Nothing but breathing. I wanted to stop it and I thought if I changed everything at once it would eventually go away. I was wrong. At the beginning of my withdrawal symptoms (about 1 month later), I got covid so some symptoms are intertwined. Symptoms include: anxiety, hair loss, weight loss, face burning sensation, cramping in hands, night sweats, no appetite, dry mouth, auditory hallucinations (buzzing, staticky or springy sounds), mental fog/confusion/poor memory, dizziness, fatigue, irritability, heart racing, palpitations, diarrhea, insomnia & vivid dreams, throat tightness sensation, brain zaps/electric shock sensations, “sand papery’’ or static sensation in nervous system, feeling like my body is on “backwards,” nausea, bloating, heartburn/acid reflux, irregular menstruation (early, prolonged, & spotting on ovulation), restless legs at night, noise sensitivity/migraines, cold sensitivity, crying spells (when I try to hold back from crying, chest gets heavy & I get a lump in throat feeling). 2 months after, I started having chest pain and my heart rate was in the 110s. I went to the instacare and bloodwork & EKG came back normal (except low potassium). They prescribed me 25mg of Hydroxyzine for anxiety, but it did not work and gave me terrible sleep paralysis. After a few days, the pain got worse and I went to the ER. EKG was normal and they gave me a stomach numbing liquid for heartburn. It did not work. After a few days, the pain went away and I can only suspect it was my anxiety. A week after, I got my blood drawn for a checkup and everything was normal. I also had a brain CT scan. Everything came back normal. The 3 month mark is when I started experiencing weirder physical symptoms. Once or twice a day, I get this prickly sensation in my body. It feels like my brain is shivering and my joints are rusty. I still have this and a strange “flicking” sensation in my brain that comes and goes, usually triggered by moving my head too fast or blinking. Things have been getting back to normal but it is extremely slow. I am 4 months away from that day. I still suffer from crippling anxiety and panic attacks almost daily. I still can’t drink caffeine without panic attacks. Recently I tried birth control but it made my anxiety backpedal and I had to stop after just one week. So I guess now I’m just out of ideas on what to do. I don’t know why I am still having panic attacks when I’d never had them before. I have really bad medical anxiety and I keep telling myself there is something super wrong with me. I had to drop out of college because of my anxiety. Now my parents are pressuring me to get a job and move out but I feel like I can barely function. I can’t explain to anyone what I’m experiencing because I don’t know how to label it. I find it hard to believe all of this was caused by an edible or that I’d STILL be feeling the effects from it. I hope what I’m experiencing now is just withdrawals.

Original topic title before shortening: Need help in reinstating a low maintenance dose of Lexapro after a “honeymoon period” or an unsuccessful taper Hello, Between 2000 and 2005, I took three different ADs in succession - Zoloft, fluoxetine, and then Paxil. I also took Xanax for a few months and then stopped almost abruptly when I started feeling better on AD. I did not quite feel Xanax withdrawal probably because the AD effect kicked in during this time. From 2006, I was switched to Lexapro 20 mg. It worked well for a several years but around 2015, I felt quite detached from the world and did not feel like myself. So I started looking for natural alternatives to ADs. I started fast taper with the help of St. John’s Wort, Niacin, and Vitamin D. It went quite well till 2.5 mg, but after that, I started feeling withdrawal symptoms which were quite intense. I increased the dose a little and tried to taper again but could not go beyond 2.5 mg. I do not remember my tapering schedule but it was relatively fast as compared to the recommendation of SA experts. I did not know about SA guidelines of 10% reduction at that time - I wish I knew earlier. Then I started seeing homeopaths who helped me with the remaining 2.5 mg taper. The remedies that helped were Acid Phos, Aurum Met, Kali Phos, and Avena Sativa. I started feeling really good and slowly got rid of the remaining 2.5 mg of Lexapro. I started feeling myself again and though that Lexapro was behind me. After about two months, I faced an unpleasant event which brought my anxiety and depression back with full force. It could be a delayed withdrawal after a “honeymoon period” as some people have described here. Now I have been trying to reinstate Lexapro but it is not going very well. I have gone back and forth between 2.5 mg and 1.25 mg but I have not been able to make myself stable again. During this acute phase, homeopathic remedies only helped a little like Kali Phos but I guess these remedies don’t work well in a stormy situation. I am occasionally also taking Xanax 0.25 mg once or twice a day in an effort to get Lexapro settle back into my system. But I am feeling very bad. I have sleep anxiety. I wake up tired and restless. I sometimes wake up half an hour after falling asleep. I can’t sleep in the dark. I feel lethargic and devoid of energy. I now feel anxious about future like never before. Past events sometimes comes into my mind very vividly which increases my anxiety and heart beat. In such moments, I have to get out of the house and go for a drive or walk. Now, every time I take Lexapro whether 2.5 mg or 1.25 mg, I feel uncomfortable pressure or constriction on my chest usually after about one hour which usually goes away in a few hours. This happens even at this relatively low dose. I read somewhere that Lexapro messes with the electrical signals of the heart. So taking Lexapro makes me sick but not taking it makes me even sicker. I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. My current life situation is not such that I feel that I can completely get off of Lexapro at the moment, but I want to settle on a low maintenance dose so that I can feel a bit more stable. My homeopath has now prescribed Ignatia Amara for palliative purpose but it is not quite helping at the moment. I know that if I go to a psychiatrist at this point, he/she would switch me to a different AD along with a cocktail of other drugs, which of course I do not want. I would appreciate any help in trying to achieve a low maintenance dose of Lexapro using the help of natural remedies. Thanks a lot.

I decided last spring that I wanted to stop taking my lexapro. I was 29 and had been prescribed 10mg since a suicide attempt at 20. I did not do a ton of research into tapering beforehand, or tell my doctor about my plans. I went down to 5mg rather quickly, around easter (I didn't keep track so the dates are all approximate). I stayed at 5mg for a few months. In June I saw my doctor, told her what I was doing and proceeded to lower my dose to 2.5mg every day, then every other day, coming off some time in July. I felt like a veil had lifted, I had more energy and motivation than I had in years, colors were brighter, I was in touch with all of my emotions. Towards the end of September, I started to feel low mood creeping back in. I live alone and do not have many friends in my city, largely due to quitting drinking in 2020, so I chalked up a lot of the mood to that. This is where I should also mention that for about 6 years, I've been taking benzos in one form or another almost daily, and for the past 3 I have taken Valium every day. I never had a prescription. I noticed that I had been increasing my dosage in step with my low mood, and for this reason and a variety of others, I resolved to begin a taper. With benzos I was more aware of the long and arduous process. I started tapering down from 20mg daily valium in October and I am currently at 11mg a day. I finally made an account on this website because the intense depression and ahnedonia, and the sexual dysfunction I've been experiencing, are getting to be excruciating, to the point that I do not always want to be alive. I have a counselor who specializes in benzo withdrawal and a psychiatrist who is able to prescribe now, but I am looking for any help I can get. Is it normal to not be hit with SSRI-discontinuation symptoms for a few months after going off? I have a hard time sorting through what can be attributed to SSRIs and what is benzos. Today I am extremely concerned about PSSD. When I first came off of Lexapro I did not experience sexual issues at all, but starting in November, I began to notice alarming changes; decreased pleasure in orgasms, less forceful and less "fruitful" ejaculations, premature ejaculations. As a 30 year old guy who wants to have a family one day, these symptoms are very concerning. I am hoping to find other people here who can offer their experiences, and, fingers crossed, give me some hope that what I am going through is not permanent. I apologize for the rambling nature of this post. I am grateful that this community exists.