JelenaCl: constant earworm

[JelenaCl]

Hallo,

Mein Name ist Jelena und ich komme aus Deutschland. 

 

Ich habe mich hier registriert, weil Sie hier mehr Erfahrungen lesen können als in deutschen Foren.

 

Ich habe Ende 2014 10 mg Escitalopram gegen Angstzustände und OCD erhalten. 

Im Dezember 2029 reduzierte ich die Dosis auf 5 mg. Im Januar 2021 entwickelte ich plötzlich eine Schlafstörung, die bis heute anhält.

Aber was wollte ich fragen? Seit ein paar Tagen habe ich einen ständigen Ohrwurm. Egal was ich mache, es ist die ganze Zeit da. Ich kann kaum noch denken, weil das Lied immer im Hintergrund spielt. Es geht keine Sekunde weg. Es fühlt sich an, als würde das Lied die ganze Zeit im Hintergrund gespielt. Weiß jemand? Das macht mich ziemlich erschöpft.😞

Vielen Dank 

 

Google translation:

 

Hello,

My name is Jelena and I come from Germany.

 

I registered here because you can read more experiences here than in German forums.

 

I received 10 mg escitalopram for anxiety and OCD at the end of 2014.

In December 2029, I reduced the dose to 5 mg. In January 2021, I suddenly developed a sleep disorder that continues to this day.

But what did I want to ask? For a few days now I've had a constant catchy tune. No matter what I do, it's there all the time. I can hardly think because the song is always playing in the background. It doesn't go away for a second. It feels like the song is playing in the background all the time. Does somebody know? That makes me pretty exhausted

Many Thanks

 

Edited April 9, 2021 by ChessieCat
added Google translation

[getofflex]

Hallo und willkommen bei SA. Wir sind ein Peer-Owned-Forum von Menschen, die Psychopharmaka genommen haben oder aussteigen. Als Sie 2029 sagten, meinten Sie 2019 oder 2020? Bitte erzählen Sie mir mehr über die Art der Schlafstörung. Ist es Schlaflosigkeit? Bitte klicken Sie auf die Links in der englischen Version dieser Nachricht und konvertieren Sie sie mit Google Übersetzer ins Deutsche. https://translate.google.com

Können Sie uns bitte zunächst spezifische Informationen zu Ihrer Medikamentenanamnese für alle Medikamente geben, die Sie einnehmen und die Sie eingenommen haben? Dann können wir Ihnen genauer helfen. Bitte lesen Sie den Link unten für Anweisungen. Auf diese Weise können wir Ihnen die beste Anleitung geben.

Auflisten der Arzneimittelanamnese in der Unterschrift

Hier finden Sie einige Informationen darüber, wie diese Medikamente tatsächlich wirken.

Wie Psychopharmaka Ihr Gehirn umgestalten

Dies hilft Ihnen zu verstehen, was Entzugssyndrom ist:

Was ist das Entzugssyndrom?

Die Verjüngung erfolgt am besten extrem langsam, und wir verjüngen uns um 10% der aktuellen Dosis, so dass die Verjüngung exponentiell kleiner wird. Wenn Sie Ihre Dosis von 10 mg auf 5 mg reduziert haben, war dies eine Dosisreduktion von 50%. Dies kann zu einem Ungleichgewicht in Ihrem Nervensystem führen und die von Ihnen beschriebenen Symptome verursachen.

Warum sich um 10% meiner Dosierung verjüngen?

Während wir uns verjüngen, empfehlen wir außerdem, die Dinge langsam, einfach und stabil zu halten.

Halten Sie es einfach, langsam und stabil

Wenn wir uns erholen, gibt es Zeiten, in denen wir uns in Ordnung fühlen, gemischt mit Zeiten, in denen wir uns schlecht fühlen. Dies nennt man Fenster und Wellen.

Stabilisierungsmuster für Fenster und Wellen

Hier sind einige Techniken, um mit Symptomen umzugehen:

Nicht medikamentöse Möglichkeiten zur Bewältigung von Entzugssymptomen

Wir schlagen nicht viele Nahrungsergänzungsmittel vor, aber 2, die viele von uns hilfreich finden, sind Magnesium und Omega-3-Fischöl. Hier sind die Links für Informationen zu diesen. Es wird empfohlen, jeweils eine Dosis hinzuzufügen und mit einer niedrigen Dosis zu beginnen, um festzustellen, wie sich dies auf Sie auswirkt.

Magnesium

Omega 3 Fischöl

Auch ich habe Lieder und Gedanken in meinem Kopf, die sich immer wieder wiederholen. Dies ist typisch, wenn der Entzug nach der Reduzierung unseres Arzneimittels erfolgt. Dies hat sich jedoch langsam verbessert. Ich glaube, das wird auch für Sie so sein. Ich habe Ihnen hier einige Informationen gegeben. Bitte lesen Sie es durch und überlegen Sie es sich, und wir werden es von dort übernehmen. Das Gehirn ist erstaunlich in seinen Heilungsfähigkeiten. Es braucht Zeit, aber Heilung kann und wird geschehen.

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Hello, and welcome to SA.  We are a peer owned and run forum of people who have been or are getting off of psychiatric drugs.  When you said 2029, did you mean 2019, or 2020?  Please tell me more about the nature of the sleep disorder.  Is it insomnia?  Please click on the links in the English version of this message, and use google translate to convert them to German.  https://translate.google.com

 

First of all, can you please give us specific information about your drug history for all drugs you are on and have been on?  Then we can give you more specific help.  Please read the link below for instructions.  This will allow us to give you the best guidance.  

 

How to List Drug History in Signature

 

Here is some information about how these drugs actually work.  

 

How Psychiatric Drugs Remodel Your Brain

 

This helps you understand what withdrawal syndrome is: 

 

What is Withdrawal Syndrome?

 

Tapering is best done extremely slowly, and we taper by 10% of the current dose, so that the taper becomes exponentially smaller.  When you reduced your dose from 10 mg to 5 mg, that was a 50% dose reduction. This can cause disequilibrium in your nervous system, and could cause the symptoms you describe.

 

 Why Taper by 10% of my Dosage  

 

Also, as we are tapering, we suggest keeping things slow, simple, and stable. 

 

Keep it Simple, Slow, and Stable

 

 

When we recover, there are times of feeling OK mixed in with times of feeling bad.  This is called windows and waves.

 

Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

Here are some techniques to cope with symptoms: 

 

Non Drug Ways to Cope with Withdrawal Symptoms

 

 

We don't suggest many supplements, but 2 that many of us find helpful are magnesium and omega-3 fish oil. Here are the links for info about those. It is suggested to add one at a time, and start with a low dose to see how it affects you. 

 

Magnesium

 

Omega 3 Fish Oil

 

I, too, get songs and thoughts in my head that repeat over and over.  This is typical when withdrawal happens after reducing our drug.  However, this has slowly improved. I believe it will for you, too. I've given you quite a bit of information here.  Please read through it, and mull it over, and we will take it from there. The brain is amazing in it's healing abilities.  It takes time, but healing can and will happen. 

 

 

[getofflex]

Hier ist ein Link mit Informationen zum Verjüngen von Escitalopram:

Tipps zur Verjüngung von Escitalopram

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Here is a link with information about how to taper escitalopram:  

 

Tips for Tapering Escitalopram

[JelenaCl]

Hello, 

 

thank you so much for your kind reply. First of all, english is not my mother tongue, so forgive me for my mistakes 🙂

 

Thank you for your tips and the links. I read through everything one by one. 

 

So now I'll try to sum it up. 

 

In late 2014, to be exact, in december 2014, I suddenly got intrusive thoughts, which scared me very much. I've never had anything like this before and thought I was a bad person and would really do something like that. Shortly afterwards I went to a psychiatrist who prescribed lexapro 10 mg for me and recommended that I go into therapy. The lexapro helped after about 4 weeks and I felt better. I had no side effects other than a little nausea. At the beginning of 2015 I did therapy for about half a year. I've learned that these thoughts are just thoughts and don't have to scare me. I kept having intrusive thoughts ocasionally, maybe every few month or so, but I could deal with them now. I continued taking the lexapro until November 2020, because I was afraid that if I taper it off it, would be bad again. I also have an anxiety disorder, which was also treated with therapy and lexapro. So far so good. 

 

In November I tapered off the lexapro from 10mg to 5 mg, because my neurologist said, that maybe it's time for that. In late December 202 I have noticed that I always feel dizzy and had panic attacks again, so my Dr. said, I should increase the dose to 10 mg again. So I did that. In January 2021, I suddenly developed a sleep disorder. Suddenly I couldn't fall asleep. Whenever I tried, a jerk or an electro shock feeling woke me up again. Sometimes I also heard a bang when falling asleep. It has not completely disappeared to this day.

 

Then I started reducing lexapro again. I'm at 6 mg now. 

 

What's new now is that I have a song in my head 24/7 for a week now. I mean really really constantly. It's never gone. It's like it's always playing in the back of my head. It's like an earworm, but not gone for a second. My brain repeats the song from morning to the evening. I wake up with it and I fall asleep with it. And it's so annoying. I mean, I know earworms, but not 24/7. When I think about something, I don't hear it for a moment, but the next moment it comes right back.

 

 

Maybe someone else knows that.

 

With best regards

 

[Altostrata]

Hello, Jelena. 

 

When did this earworm tendency begin in your taper?

 

Please see 

 

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.

[JelenaCl]

It started about 8 days ago

[getofflex]

Hello Jelena.  Can you please put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature as requested above?  See the link in the prior post.  Thank you.  It will help us a lot, because it will be automatically repeated each time you post, and other moderators can see your history at a glance.  

 

I suspect that your problems are at least partly caused by the following:

 

1) large dose reduction in November by going from 10 mg to 5 mg.  This is a 50% reduction, and SA suggests you reduced your dose by only 10% or less.  (see link in my prior post).  I know your doctor recommended that, and you were following his instructions.  Unfortunately, many, if not most doctors do not understand how to taper off psychiatric drugs safely and comfortably.  

 

2) due to dizziness and panic attacks, you increased the dose back to 10 mg in December.  When we change the dose of psych meds, especially by this much (100% increase) it can be too much for our nervous system to handle, and it can throw us into further chaos.  

 

3) in January you reduced it to 6 mg.  This is another major change in the drug, and it can throw your system into further chaos.  

 

The links I posted in my previous post will explain why it is so important to be very careful and gradual with any changes we make to our psych meds. If it were me, I would stay on my current dose for a while until my system settled down.  The earworm could be partly caused by the intrusive thoughts you originally had, and also possibly made worse by the changes in your medication.  Hopefully as your system stabilizes, this ear worm will improve.   

[Lostinwonderland]

I have this as well but has gotten better

[JelenaCl]

16 minutes ago, Lostinwonderland said:

I have this as well but has gotten better

Oh I'm happy for you. What did you do to make it better :-)? 

[Yesyes123]

Hi @JelenaCl,

 

Hope you are well! How is your taper going currently? Are you having any WD symptoms at 6mg?

 

Peace and healing