Immediate adverse reactions to an antidepressant or within a few doses? How long for recovery?

[UnfoldingSky]

17 minutes ago, StarShopping87 said:

I found the update!! So glad to hear you’re feeling better! I had a severe immediate reaction so this definitely gives me hope of healing. 

 

You'll get there, I have talked to quite a few people who had immediate severe reactions who recovered too.  

[admike]

Hello, my son (11 years old) is having severe adverse reactions few weeks after taking fluoxetine (prozac)- nightmares, nausea, dizziness. He has never had any other psych drug or alcohol, of course. His doctor said to stop taking the drug immediately, but it's not getting better yet and I started to worry we shouldn't have cold turkeyed. So now, besides the depressions, he probably wouldn't be able to do any sports or go out without risk fainting. I really hate these drugs- I think that if he would have done coke or meth it wouldn't ended as bad as this

[HealthHopeHappiness]

35 minutes ago, rebeccaannxo said:

I had a severe adverse reaction to Lexapro 7 months ago. I’m still physically debilitated and housebound daily, unable to live my life at all. Has anyone else dealt with severe body weakness? I can’t sit, stand or walk for long without needing to sit, just the thought of leaving my house terrifies me with all of my symptoms and how sick I am. I’ve yet to find a post with someone who has had trouble to stand or walk due to weakness.

Hi @rebeccaannxoI have dealt with weakness for 18 months, particularly my left leg & foot and my arms & hands. I have struggled to walk, lift my daughter or chase her at the park. I know how scary it is dealing with weakness but from what I have read on here, it is a common WD symptom. Sorry you are going through this. I hope a window opens for you soon. 💞

[rilexapro]

21 hours ago, rebeccaannxo said:

I had a severe adverse reaction to Lexapro 7 months ago. I’m still physically debilitated and housebound daily, unable to live my life at all. Has anyone else dealt with severe body weakness? I can’t sit, stand or walk for long without needing to sit, just the thought of leaving my house terrifies me with all of my symptoms and how sick I am. I’ve yet to find a post with someone who has had trouble to stand or walk due to weakness.

 

What dosage was it, and was it your first time on Lexapro? How did the symptoms first come on? Was it solely body weakness, or were there other neurological and physical components? 

 

Have you gotten any testing done, any blood work, scans, etc? I took a very high dosage of Lexapro for years, and when I tried reinstating after a cold turkey, I got many adverse problems, including body weakness, which I still have, albeit not as severe.

 

Have you been tested for COVID?

[rilexapro]

1 hour ago, rebeccaannxo said:

It was my first time on any medication, I had a 10mg dose. I had about 30-40 neurological symptoms. Completely bed ridden for 8 weeks and now housebound ever since. Went to ER twice and had numerous tests done and blood work about 4 times. It was just a VERY severe adverse reaction. 
 

no I do not have Covid, I had it in January but my Lexapro issues started in October. 

 

Have doctors actually said it was an adverse reaction, or are you guessing that Lexapro was the cause? How sudden was it when you started taking it, within the first few days?

[rilexapro]

25 minutes ago, rebeccaannxo said:

Yes it’s from the Lexapro. It started after the second pill. Do a search on adverse reactions on this site before you feel the need to question what someone is going through. 

 

Considering I've posted on here because of possibly having a severe reaction to getting back on Lexapro, you don't need to be condescending to me. I'm asking because I'm curious.

 

Being rude to people isn't going to make your issues go away, especially on a forum of people in the same, if not worse situations than you.

[ChessieCat]

3 hours ago, rilexapro said:

Have doctors actually said it was an adverse reaction, or are you guessing that Lexapro was the cause?

 

There are not many medical professionals that seem to be able to diagnose adverse reactions to psychiatric drugs, which is one of the reasons why this site and other like it exist.

[rilexapro]

2 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

 

There are not many medical professionals that seem to be able to diagnose adverse reactions to psychiatric drugs, which is one of the reasons why this site and other like it exist.

 

That's true. I thought maybe they were lucky and had a doctor more knowledgeable in this sort of thing.

[Foxclover6]

23 hours ago, rebeccaannxo said:

It was my first time on any medication, I had a 10mg dose. I had about 30-40 neurological symptoms. Completely bed ridden for 8 weeks and now housebound ever since. Went to ER twice and had numerous tests done and blood work about 4 times. It was just a VERY severe adverse reaction. 
 

no I do not have Covid, I had it in January but my Lexapro issues started in October. 

I have it too, also have issues with food causing pain in my limbs now

[Farout]

On 5/12/2022 at 3:28 AM, rilexapro said:

 

Considering I've posted on here because of possibly having a severe reaction to getting back on Lexapro, you don't need to be condescending to me. I'm asking because I'm curious.

 

I don’t think your case sounds like the type of instant adverse reaction that this thread is referring to.  This is a body of people who only have very fleeting involvement with antidepressants, and suffered more or less immediate negative consequences.  

 

Your medication history is longer term, including 2 attempts at cold turkey.  Maybe lexipro is causing the issues you are dealing with, and we know these tablets can cause both health issues and long term withdrawal symptoms, but it isn’t an immediate adverse reaction. 

 

I only make the distinction because I see a lot of people saying they had an immediate adverse event and have not recovered, when their drug history is a lot more complex than that.   It scares newbies who have had an immediate AR and think they too will not heal.  

 

Genuine immediate AR has followed a fairly similar path to full recovery in everyone I have spoken with who has suffered one.

 

[HopefulDawn]

7 minutes ago, rebeccaannxo said:

Has anyone on this topic fully recover from their adverse reaction? 

Hi there, I have fully recovered now. I had ADR from sertraline in 2018.

[arielS]

@Farout

I hope I was able to see anyone who recovered from adrs ...from a simple pills. 😢it seems iam. Getting worse

[arielS]

@HopefulDawnhello bro

Did you suffer from dpdr,  memory loss, emotional blunting and severe body weakness,  GI problems and pain 

[HopefulDawn]

1 minute ago, arielS said:

@HopefulDawnhello bro

Did you suffer from dpdr,  memory loss, emotional blunting and severe body weakness,  GI problems and pain 

Yes, I did not have memory loss as such; I had more difficulty in thinking and brain fog but my memory wasn't impaired. I definately had dpdr, emotional blunting and body weakness; I did have GI problems which I no longer have and I was told it was IBS and that lasted quite a long time, I didn't connect it to the SSRIs but maybe it is related somehow? The drdp took the longest and body weakness came and went for a long time. I still sometimes get fatigue in my body but I think there may be some other reason though when I took the SSRI the fatigue I got afterwards was waaayyy greater than what I get now. I had pain in my skin and pain that I couldn't really place but it hurt more if I moved too quickly, especially if I turned my head quickly or my arms and body. I do not know what that was but I also felt distress if I moved too fast though I don't know why.

 

 

I will link my introduction because most of it is in there; I hope that it might help somewhat

 

 

[Farout]

8 hours ago, rebeccaannxo said:

Has anyone on this topic fully recover from their adverse reaction? 

 

I have.  

 

[NoMoreLexapro]

8 hours ago, rebeccaannxo said:

Has anyone on this topic fully recover from their adverse reaction? 

I have

[rilexapro]

9 hours ago, rebeccaannxo said:

Nearly 9 months after my adverse reaction and sooo terribly sick. Still housebound everyday, still can’t work or drive or even walk down the driveway. Some days I’m bed bound. When does this hell get better? 

Have you had any testing done by doctors?

[rilexapro]

6 minutes ago, rebeccaannxo said:

Yes I have, numerous tests. All came back normal. Adverse reactions can last 18-24 months, some sooner. It’s so discouraging being this sick still at 9 months 

Have you had any blood work like an ANA screening? I recently had it come back positive. antinuclear antibodies attack the healthy parts of the nervous system from what I read, which can explain my symptoms. I'm not sure if Lexapro can do that, though, but I had recently been back on Lexapro after a cold turkey of it a few months before.

[PortugueseSea]

Same with me, I had all sorts of tests and it all came back normal. Recently had an appendectomy and did all the tests again, all normal.

As Alto mentioned, these reactions are simply not diagnosed, not studied, invisible. I believe that if I had stayed off meds I would be fine by now, unfortunately it all led to a pharmacological cascade that, of course, you guessed it, only made me worse.

Now I am left to taper Mirtazapine, I'd say I'm improving 2.5% to 5% a month, it's something but, man, is it slow.

[Mejia1980]

I was given Droperidol in a migraine cocktail in the ER .. it is a 1st generation antipsychotic.. I was given a larger dose and it was pushed fast . My life has fallen apart since then …. All the symptoms of PAWS … is it possible after one use of this drug I could be experiencing PAWS? 

[HopefulDawn]

On 2/1/2023 at 5:27 PM, Mejia1980 said:

 

I was given Droperidol in a migraine cocktail in the ER .. it is a 1st generation antipsychotic.. I was given a larger dose and it was pushed fast . My life has fallen apart since then …. All the symptoms of PAWS … is it possible after one use of this drug I could be experiencing PAWS? 

I feel like there is such a thing like PAWS even after one use, i've never taken an antipsychotic but I was thinking to myself I seemed to have PAWS. I think it is probable imo

[Chompoo]

Is there anyone like me? Who only took ONE pill before coming down with a list of physical symptoms? None of my symptoms are mental (e.g. depression, anxiety, panic attacks, agoraphobia). I was prescribed the antidepressant to help with weight loss following major surgery. I'm 3.5 months off and my most major symptoms are insomnia, food intolerances, ectopic heartbeat, uncomfortable gas in the stomach, persistent acne and hairloss etc.

[LexAnger]

That is insane! I'm so sorry, these drugs are pure poison, the worst life taker! 

 

I know someone who was highly brain damaged after only 1 pill of 10mg Lexapro 

[rilexapro]

1 minute ago, LexAnger said:

That is insane! I'm so sorry, these drugs are pure poison, the worst life taker! 

 

I know someone who was highly brain damaged after only 1 pill of 10mg Lexapro 

How were they brain damaged? Did it come up on a brain MRI? What proved brain damage?

[Chompoo]

@rilexapro would severe insomnia count as brain damage? I only took ONE pill. After that, I couldn't sleep a wink for 8 days. Yes, total insomnia of 0 hour sleep. Then I began to sleep 2-3 hours for 8 weeks. No matter how tired I was, no matter how much I was yawning, my brain simply refused to shut down for more than 2-3 hours every night to let me sleep. My brain certainly wasn't functioning like it used to, or should be. Even now, though I am sleeping better, I am waking up 4-5 times a night. Before this, I would sleep 8 hours continuously without a problem.

[LexAnger]

3 hours ago, rilexapro said:

How were they brain damaged? Did it come up on a brain MRI? What proved brain damage?

His head started jerking, lost ability to talk, walk etc the next day, was diagnosed with brain damage. 

[Chompoo]

Do most people take years to recover from an immediate adverse reaction to a few pills? Reading some of the success stories give me anxiety. I only took ONE pill. All my symptoms are physical. I don't have mental or emotional ones. I also don't have much history of pyschotrophic drug use. Surely, I can't be so damaged as to take several years to recover?

[Vasherr]

Adverse reactions tend to recover faster than full blown withdrawal, but there really is no telling how long it will take.

 

Make sure to cut out alcohol, caffeine and don't take other drugs and it should be fine in time, but it will take time.

[Chompoo]

5 hours ago, Vasherr said:

Adverse reactions tend to recover faster than full blown withdrawal

Do you know anyone who recovered from immediate adverse reactions after a few pills? People took several years for a full recovery in the success stories of such cases here. That's not any shorter than some people who cold turkeyed after taking an antidepressant for 5-8 years.

[Scrountz]

5 hours ago, Chompoo said:

Do you know anyone who recovered from immediate adverse reactions after a few pills? People took several years for a full recovery in the success stories of such cases here. That's not any shorter than some people who cold turkeyed after taking an antidepressant for 5-8 years.

 

Time to recovery can vary greatly. There are definitely people who have had an adverse reaction to one or a few doses who have recovered in months, not years, and unfortunately there are also people who have taken much longer to recover.

 

The advise for adverse reactions is generally the same as for those in protracted withdrawal: focus on good nutrition, sleep, reduce stress, and be cautious with any supplementation.

 

The fact that people can experience similar symptoms from taking the medication as they can from discontinuing it shows that "withdrawal" is probably not withdrawal in the classical sense, but rather a syndrome of dysautonomia brought about by the stress of a too abrupt change in medication, or by the stress of a too potent dose of medication.

 

It's deplorable that doctors and researchers on the pharmaceutical industry are still not taking seriously the potential for serious adverse effects both from taking and discontinuing these medications.

 

I'm sorry you've suffered an adverse reaction. It is very difficult to be patient with these symptoms, which can shift and change over time and often take a very long time to go away. Do your best to focus on getting through each day and eventually you'll get there. I'm about 17 months out from an adverse reaction/cold turkey event and am gradually doing better. I hope recovery finds you too.

[Chompoo]

@Scrountz I am glad you are doing gradually better. I'm 3.5 months out and experiencing so many ups and downs in the windows and waves pattern of healing that I'm not sure if I'm healing. I'm still in shock how ONE pill has damaged me so much and that it could possibly take years to recover from this.

You are right, I think immediate adverse reactions could be due to " dysautonomia brought about by the stress of a too abrupt change in medication, or by the stress of a too potent dose of medication." That ONE dose of antidepressant made me non-functional for 2 days and that was why I stopped it. And my central nervous system went into another shock when I stepped off from such a powerful dose immediately.

I'm not surprised doctors ignore withdrawal effects, even when they are presented with the lived experience of sufferers among their own patients. Their toolkit only comprises of pills. There is no other way they know how to provide treatment for their patients. If they have no pills to prescribe, or they can no longer do so, they have to go out of business. It's much more convenient to ignore withdrawals and believe everything Big Pharma says. It certainly soothes their guilty conscience that they could have harmed their patients.

I am not impressed by the psychiatric profession and have lost trust in doctors after this traumatic experience.

[UnfoldingSky]

On 5/15/2023 at 6:23 AM, Chompoo said:

Do you know anyone who recovered from immediate adverse reactions after a few pills? People took several years for a full recovery in the success stories of such cases here. That's not any shorter than some people who cold turkeyed after taking an antidepressant for 5-8 years.

 

I knew someone who took one dose of an antidepressant and one dose of a benzo, and he had very severe reactions to both. He recovered in nine months.  

[Chompoo]

@UnfoldingSky thank you for sharing. I need that hope. I'm 4 months post my ONE pill and still suffering a fair bit.

[PortugueseSea]

I know several cases from outside the forums and plenty of them recovered after between 6 to 9 months.

I am one of those longer lasting cases but I did suffer a compounded adverse reaction over time so I believe my recover will mostly resemble the withdrawal pattern.

[UnfoldingSky]

On 6/6/2023 at 9:38 PM, Chompoo said:

@UnfoldingSky thank you for sharing. I need that hope. I'm 4 months post my ONE pill and still suffering a fair bit.

 

I'm sorry you're suffering so.  Adverse reactions to psych drugs are not something I'd wish on anyone.  But I think you can recover in months rather than years.  Hold onto hope!  

[Chompoo]

@PortugueseSea I compared my recovery with those who cold turkeyed or did a fast taper. My timeline seems to match theirs. Those who did long tapers recover in 3 months or less. Adverse reactions seem to be brain injuries that can take a long time to heal.