KirstieB: fluvoxamine severe discontinuation syndrome

[KirstieB]

Hi all,

im new here and really can’t say enough how much I appreciate this site and the support. I was sure I was just crazy. 

 

I am extremely frustrated and not just because of withdrawal. 7 months ago I was a relatively ‘normal’ person, High functioning adult with severe sound sensitivity called Misophonia. It started to get worse, especially at work, making getting through my day a daunting task, so I sought treatment. My Gp started me on a low dose of lexapro. It worked fine, no real complaints, just didn’t help with the sounds. I started seeing a counselor who recommended me to a psychiatric nurse practitioner, who after 5 minutes with me decided to change my prescription to 100 mg of fluvoxamine. She told me it would help the sound sensitivity. I knew there was no research basis for this but I was optimistically positive and anywho why not? What harm could it do? Well the answer as you all know is a lot. I was not depressed and was mildly anxious before all this. About 2 months in to fluvoxamine I began to become hopeless and suicidal. My sound sensitivities became 10x worse than before, so I decided to wean off. My doctor said to wean off over a period of 2 weeks , since the first time she had me wean off in 2 Days from lexapro and I had bad reactions. I am now learning that 2 weeks to go from 100 mg to nothing is a crazy short amount of time. I thought I  was even being good and tapered off over a 3 week period. It’s been a living hell since. Severe brain zaps, at one point they would happen every 3 seconds and almost knock me off my feet they were so strong. But I would take those over the emotions. It’s like I’m cognitively not an adult anymore. I have severe anger and depression that really does feel like I’ve always been broken and will never be well again. I will have a window of light creeping in to the darkensss only for that to Be ever so subtly ripped away again. I am physically hurting myself, throwing my head against walls, cutting myself in various places. I can’t stop. I want to kill myself. I can’t stop crying. I’m so mad I’m punching tables, when I’m a person who never, ever even gets mildly angry.  I’m so frustrated  because there was no need for me to be on fluvoxamine. And now I don’t see the light. My sound sensitivities are 1,000x worse than they’ve ever been, I cant see hope for the future. I’m praying this ends soon. 

 

 

So thank you, whenever you may be, for listening. I am thankful for this site and the insight I have received on withdrawal. I appreciate just being able to share my story as I am in the process of going through this 

[KirstieB]

Fluvoxamine Withdrawal and Frustrations

 

Hi all,

im new here and really can’t say enough how much I appreciate this site and the support. I was sure I was just crazy. 

 

I am extremely frustrated and not just because of withdrawal. 7 months ago I was a relatively ‘normal’ person, High functioning adult with severe sound sensitivity called Misophonia. It started to get worse, especially at work, making getting through my day a daunting task, so I sought treatment. My Gp started me on a low dose of lexapro. It worked fine, no real complaints, just didn’t help with the sounds. I started seeing a counselor who recommended me to a psychiatric nurse practitioner, who after 5 minutes with me decided to change my prescription to 100 mg of fluvoxamine. She told me it would help the sound sensitivity. I knew there was no research basis for this but I was optimistically positive and anywho why not? What harm could it do? Well the answer as you all know is a lot. I was not depressed and was mildly anxious before all this. About 2 months in to fluvoxamine I began to become hopeless and suicidal. My sound sensitivities became 10x worse than before, so I decided to wean off. My doctor said to wean off over a period of 2 weeks , since the first time she had me wean off in 2 Days from lexapro and I had bad reactions. I am now learning that 2 weeks to go from 100 mg to nothing is a crazy short amount of time. I thought I  was even being good and tapered off over a 3 week period. It’s been a living hell since. Severe brain zaps, at one point they would happen every 3 seconds and almost knock me off my feet they were so strong. But I would take those over the emotions. It’s like I’m cognitively not an adult anymore. I have severe anger and depression that really does feel like I’ve always been broken and will never be well again. I will have a window of light creeping in to the darkensss only for that to Be ever so subtly ripped away again. I am physically hurting myself, throwing my head against walls, cutting myself in various places. I can’t stop. I want to kill myself. I can’t stop crying. I’m so mad I’m punching tables, when I’m a person who never, ever even gets mildly angry.  I’m so frustrated  because there was no need for me to be on fluvoxamine. And now I don’t see the light. My sound sensitivities are 1,000x worse than they’ve ever been, I cant see hope for the future. I’m praying this ends soon. 

 

 

So thank you, whenever you may be, for listening. I am thankful for this site and the insight I have received on withdrawal. I appreciate just being able to share my story as I am in the process of going through this

 

Edited June 14, 2019 by ChessieCat
added topic title/reduced font size

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Kirstie.

 

I'm sorry you're going through this.

 

When was the last time you took fluvoxamine? When was the last time you took Lexapro?

[KirstieB]

Altostrata,

lexapro I began last September and stopped it in February when I switched to fluvoxamine, I believe my last dose of fluvoxamine was about 6 weeks ago, end of April time frame 

[Altostrata]

When you switched from Lexapro to fluvoxamine, did you feel odd shortly after the switch?

 

To help us out, follow these instructions Please put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature You may need to use a computer to do this.

[Onmyway]

Kristie, I am so sorry you are going through this horrible ordeal. It is infuriating how easily these drugs are prescribed for the most outlandishly unrelated diagnoses and with disregard for side effects or wd. 

 

Once you fill in your signature the mods might be able to help with potential updosing etc. 

 

The important thing is to know that things get better. Slowly but they do. That's the experience of people here if you read more. Try to keep up the hope. Hugs!