Ashkaye: took Lexapro for a week for heart palpitations

[Ashkaye]

I just want to feel like the old me again. 

[christianjw12]

3 minutes ago, Ashkaye said:

I just want to feel like the old me again. 

@Ashkaye you will. Don't worry too much even though it's hard to think of something else. Just let anything come to you even it's hard, feel what you have to feel, you'll heal. I have had hard days as well but I promised to myself I won't let this withdrawal beats me. Just accept the situation, meaning don't try to control your own experience or your feelings. It doesn't mean resigning, it's way stronger than that, acceptance means having the courage to let it be without changing your own experience. It means just watch the storm inside your head or your body and feel it. The more you try to step back and watch this storm, the more you'll manage to get through it easily.

[Nyfa25]

@Ashkaye oh I feel exactly the same.. 

I hope we're healing soon..

[Ashkaye]

How long will this hell last? I just need a general time frame so I feel as if I have something to work towards not just “it can take a number of years.” I was going to start trying to have a family in the spring and I can’t possibly have a baby like this. 

[Nyfa25]

@Ashkaye I'm in the same situation, with my spouse we had planned to have a child but in the state in which I am currently in it is impossible...

 

As for the schedule you’re asking for, I’ve read that some see improvements at 3 months, others at 6 months and others from one year, but adverse reactions like we’ve had you and I are less documented than the withdrawal that the majority of members are experiencing here.. 

 

And that’s what scares me the most because as far as I am concerned I have not seen any significant improvement at 3 months...

[Ashkaye]

@Nyfa25 it will be 3 months for me next week and while I have seen some improvement, it’s still pretty severe and I’m tired of it. I just want my old life back 

[Nyfa25]

I also saw a slight improvement but as you symptoms are still very strong, I do not know when it will end..

 

I also want my old life back, I miss it so much it’s terrible I totally understand you

[Evgeniya]

Girls, I'm with you! I have 2 months of horror next week .....😭

[Ashkaye]

So tomorrow will make my 3 month mark and at the risk of jinxing myself, I’ve had a few good days. I get so frustrated because I know I’m better than I was, but I’m still not normal. I went to see my husband in Georgia this past weekend since we both had the days off and and really y’all bridges I encountered made me want to turn around immediately, then I got lost in the crazy traffic of Atlanta and ended up in horrible traffic crying to my mom on the phone and dang near hyperventilating. It’s all been such a frustrating experience. 

[Ashkaye]

Been having some pretty good days the past couple of weeks and now I’ve been hit with a pretty bad day. Just feel like my life is over because I’m still not back to normal! 

[Ashkaye]

It’s been 13 weeks since I stopped the lexapro now 😩 this feels like it’s never going to go away completely 

[christianjw12]

57 minutes ago, Ashkaye said:

It’s been 13 weeks since I stopped the lexapro now 😩 this feels like it’s never going to go away completely 

 

@Ashkaye, I'm almost 30 weeks off and some days can still be bad but what I noticed is a true improvement compared to the beginning. You'll go through this, don't worry ! focus on eating well and sleeping well. According to neuroscientist, sleep is the period when your brain repairs itself the most ! So try to have a regular sleep pattern and exercise.

[Ashkaye]

@christianjw12 thank you for your words of encouragement. I mostly feel as though I’m slowly improving. There’s so many things I am able to do now that I was not at the beginning. I’m just frustrated that I’m still not 100% and that I ever had to go through this whole experience. I’m a nurse, I feel like I should have known how dangerous these drugs are but they don’t teach you that in nursing school. However I will say that one of my patients was started on a SSRI and began having an adverse reaction and I immediately advocated to get the patient off the medicine and did and the symptoms for that patient disappeared quickly thankfully. 

[Nyfa25]

@Ashkaye you will heal, like me, I hope, it will take time but you will heal completely, we are "lucky" to have taken it for a short time

[Nyfa25]

@Ashkaye how do you feel now ?

[Ashkaye]

@Nyfa25it comes and goes. I had about a week and a half to almost 2 weeks of feeling pretty much back to normal other than a little unsettled about the future. The past 4 days it has been pretty bad and I haven’t eaten much in 4 days. How are you doing now? 

[SupahSet]

@christianjw12 Thanks for tagging me. I haven't been active in a while but I'm glad to see my story can help other people have some hope  

[christianjw12]

18 hours ago, SupahSet said:

@christianjw12 Thanks for tagging me. I haven't been active in a while but I'm glad to see my story can help other people have some hope  

@SupahSet, thank you for coming back.

Just out curiosity, can you tell us how healed are you ?

[SupahSet]

7 hours ago, christianjw12 said:

@SupahSet, thank you for coming back.

Just out curiosity, can you tell us how healed are you ?

I'm fantastic! 🙂

Every single one of my symptoms are gone. My anxiety is gone. I've had maybe one panic attack in the past year or so. SSRIs and discontinuation syndrome are a thing of my past!

How are you doing?

[christianjw12]

2 hours ago, SupahSet said:

I'm fantastic! 🙂

Every single one of my symptoms are gone. My anxiety is gone. I've had maybe one panic attack in the past year or so. SSRIs and discontinuation syndrome are a thing of my past!

How are you doing?

Thank you for coming back to tell us more about you !

I took Lexapro at 10mg for 3 months (from January 2020 to April 2020), I didn't taper it (because I went from 10mg to 5mg and stayed on it for 2 weeks then 0mg so it was a very fast taper).

I'm almost 8 months off Lexapro and I'm still in the windows and waves pattern. My main symptoms are :

- brainfog with almost 0 concentration, random thoughts come and go in my mind

- many unwanted intrusive thoughts

- depersonalization

- head pressure (like someone's tightening my head)

- fatigue

 

But whatever I'm feeling better every month even though the progression is not very linear.

[Ashkaye]

Hey y’all. I hesitantly say that I’m a good bit better. I’m no where near 100 but I’m about 75% back to my old self. I have my emotions back. Which is nice. I still have some bad days especially if I’m stressed. But on the day to day average I have contentment back in my life. I’ve always had goals and plans for the future which prior lexapro just relished in how good it would feel to accomplish those goals. Post lexapro now I wonder how I will feel and what if I get back the discontentment when I do. I’ve never had these thoughts before so I hope they will dissipate in the coming months. I’ve also developed a deadly fear of heights which is new. I’ve always loved roller coasters and looking at the view from the top of a building which I can no longer do. Hoping also that will go away. Yesterday made 5 months for me off this nightmare after only a week. Today I ate 3 meals. Albeit small ones but this was an accomplishment for me. If you haven’t read through my full post and are only looking for an update, you should know I NEVER had anxiety or depression before a cardiologist put me on lexapro for what my now cardiologist has appropriately diagnosed as inappropriate sinus tachycardia and is being well managed. I even argued with the first cardio doctor that I did not in fact have anxiety and he refused to try anything else until I attempted the Ssri. Some days I feel as if it’s completely gone and I’ve beat it, some days I feel as though I’ve learned to manage what this drug has done to me. But for either I’m proud. I will keep everyone updated on the coming months. 

[Ashkaye]

Today I’m having a day where I think this will never be behind me I’m just learning to live with it and that was my greatest fear in the beginning 

[Ashkaye]

Well everyone, it’s been over a year since I first took that horrible drug that almost ruined my life but I am sooo happy to say that I am back to my old self again and will never take any kind of ssri or any other medication is that category for any reason again.  My last post was my turning point. There for a while I would have an occasional bad day but they got fewer and fewer until they stopped completely. My marriage with my husband is stronger than ever, I have been able to move on to an even better job in my field, and my husband and I are expecting our first child. I can officially say I am 100% better (even though it’s been that way for a while and I’ve been meaning to update and keep forgetting). Thank you everyone for your support throughout the darkest time of my life. I literally owe y’all my life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.