We finally made a plan for a slow taper and were able to get her off by putting the 10mg pills in a liquid solution abling her to taper down by 1mg every few weeks. Thanks for running this website to publish the research and opinions of users of SSRI (serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors) medications used mainly to treat depression. The only good thing I guess is that I am still alive. I want off all of it. My anxiety was NEVER this bad before going on the drugs. They go hand in hand…SSRIs treat both. I have been completely off of Lexapro for 8 weeks now and this is the worst hell I have ever experienced. I don’t expect to ever be the same person I was 20 years ago before medication and I accept that my depression will never fully go away, but will my personality get any better with time? I had quit cold turkey taking Lexapro. I have no trust in them anymore. Initially the drug helped me get through work when I had depression. The receptors signal the facial nerve (cranial nerve seven), the glossopharyngeal nerve (cranial nerve nine), and the vagus nerve (cranial nerve 10). (Usually can get 4-7 hours with no help but magnesium and prayer.) I feel alot better today tho then i did one year back. Please, love yourself enough. Long term use of antidepressants trigger actual changes in the brain – one of which is an increase in numbers of post synaptic receptors. NEVER had a problem sleeping in my life. Dizziness, migraines, seizures, risks of heart attack/stroke, disorientation, memory problems!, ringing in the ears, hearing whispers, nightmares, the suicidal thinking…..It just never ends. gp could now get a BP reading ( they never can) then gave me a talk on how i should lose weight as this would probably sort my bowel issue (IBS) and tummy issue / bloating ( hiatus hernia) and would mean they could monitor my BP. I so wish my doctor would have told me before the impact of withdrawal. I fear I will be dealing with this for the rest of my life. what followed was a week of sweating profusely, palpitations, electrical current sensations, zapping, aches, fatigue, involuntary movement , eyes like saucers, skin flushing and shortness of breath. Something I regret. I wonder how this awful drug may have affected my children. I’m 28 years old and have been on n off antidepressants since highschool, this past September I took my last pill now it’s February . I’m not sure it will go away in the next year. (I was quite an unique person & during these periods, friends/family/co-workers, were extremely entertained by my “attacks” & other personality issues, so, I let myself suffer through) I did tell the Nurse Practitioner who wrote my scripts that, I absolutely believed that, the medicine was 1000% ADDICTIVE PHYSICALLY & I WAS HAVING BAD SYMPTOMS!! I have some anxiety and had a couple of panic attacks . The problems only started once I discontinued the meds. It mounted up very severe anxiety, depression, very negative thoughts, skin burning, sensations like moving through thick air, very very serious headaches, paresthesias etc etc etc – THIS WAS MUCH WORSE then the anxiety states for which i have taken lexapro in the first place. Maybe just keep taking them. The was on Jan 31,2018. She’s lost 60lbs in 3 months. You can do this! It has also impaired my menstrual cycle. I actually found the medication to be extremely helpful for the first year and a half. I can’t wait to find out if I have brain damage or what is going on. Either way it’s refreshing to hear all these similar stories, and mine is a great deal not as bad as most of you guys. Two points caught my attention and startled me . When I finally did, I landed in A&E from an acute panic attack and was placed back on another SSRI immediately. I will never recommend an SSRI to anyone now knowing the withdrawal effects. Go figure. My childhood was also filled with abuse(s)/neglect & my issues grew. I feel duped. And my thoughts are scattered. I am approaching the why fight this battle decision. So, that is where I am . People need to be more aware of the actual length of time the withdrawal symptoms go on for and how debilitating they really are. cause permanent dysfunction of sexual funtioning and cause permanent impotence. I cannot tell you how many times I find myself saying “oh just go back on it” but I keep reminding myself that if it really worked I would not have had the desire to stop taking it. Lol. My daily agenda became: put everything off because I want to sleep. The last one i tried, the side effects were just making everything worse and i was so tired of going thru all this so i prayed one day & i claimed the blood of Jesus and I said i stand on the word of God that i am healed and i stopped taking the medicine and each day i got better and better. This means it isn’t in any of the other common categories of antidepressants. No wonder i felt depressed! I experienced intense nausea, dizziness, headaches, cold sweats and vertigo. Why is no mention made of pssd. i called my gp and couldnt get an appointment, the emergency doctor returned my phone call and mumbled about a possible reaction to the combination of meds then said she would see me on the Friday….. this was Monday. I believe in the power of healing, no matter how dark it appears, we just all light a candle of hope for one another. I was left on SSRI drugs for 24 years following the birth of my child and the subsequent ‘diagnosis’ of post natal depression. I can’t bear this much longer. I went back to him, three days into halving the dose, told him how I felt. My dr just thinks it’s my anxiety and wants me to continue taking my Celexa. So long as they ease. Whether a dose reduction will avert the possibility of PSSD is uncertain. I know Prozac has a longer half life so in theory it is easier to taper off Prozac. Looking back, the sickness was probable a blend of withdrawal and the pregnancy. So sad. Article Updated – August 14, 2019 It’s eating me up inside but I’m fighting it. I would manage to get in the shower & spent some of that time on my knees, after getting out of shower i would usually lay on the bed or couch and rest for a little bit then get up, which took more strength than i had (thank you Jesus for your strength) Some nights i would go to bed and pray that God would take me home, I wanted to go to sleep & just not wake up the next morning. I never mentioned these symptoms or factored them in to deciding to start another type of antidepressant in my 25 year plus career as a mental health consumer. Don’t listen to them. And also many anti-depressants can The physical withdrawal I can handle,it’s so hard but I can handle the nausea, brain zaps, etc. I suffered brutal sweats and chills non stop (every 10 mins)for 4-5 months but that’s now stopped thank goodness. Severe insomnia. There was a Finnish study on venlafaxine of 1500 people which showed that it increased suicidal thoughts on over 60% of patients. Tapering off was hell. It’s very very hard I will not lie to you but you must get help online from others who have been before you. I wish I could talk to you directly but this site doesn’t allow it, I don’t think. That didn’t seem to help much, either, but the doctor said it was helping more than I thought. I have the same problem. I stopped taking ssri’s almost 10 years ago. After seeing a doctor and being told to cut from 40mgs to 0 in 6 weeks after being on it for 10 years I went through hell. I took venlafaxine for a month and called my doctor to switch me because I was so emotionally unstable and I was waking up eith black bruises all over my body with no idea wherethey came fromh. Hi Tara, thank you for posting. Please help! Hey there. Try us. But the group that had been taking the SSRI showed diminished brain response to the sight and taste of chocolate in areas of the brain related to both pleasure and aversion. Lot’s of vitiamines, sports, massages and positive thinking. I have not slept in 5 years mayb 3 hours per night at thee most. Also, previous treatments with chemotherapy can damage taste and cause lost taste. Was on Lexapro for 9 years, prescribed by my endocrinologist (who also prescribed 1 mg of Klonopin, all in my early 20s because I had hyperthyroidism. I will continue to fight and I hope I one day win the battle against SSRI’s. Depression issues come about because of a lack of Seratonin being produced in the brain. Recently stopped cold turkey after having issues with refills through my pharmacy. has anyone else had any kind of joint pain coming off of any anxiety meds? Anyone who believes these drugs are good for people in any circumstance is either naive or just plain biased and in it for the money like my greedy treatment center and all of the medicine pushing doctors in America. Like you, I just want this nightmare to end. After about 10 months, I noticed that, when I went without my pill for more than 2 days, the zaps hit me hard. I founded IMC, a home health staffing, private duty care, and medical health and wellness company, with seventy clinics in Florida. For those taking medication that seems to be getting relief with minimal effects then this may be the right solution for you, but there are many of us who have suffered in indescribable ways. My only way I got healed was trusting God to heal me. I still have a bit anxiety. I hate seeing anyone deal with these drugs! I went on it for severe anxiety and after a while it wasn’t helping anymore. This only happened the day after I took xanax. One of my employees said he started on the drug and I asked him if his doc told him it was physically addictive with withdrawal symptoms on par with opiate use. It’s a scandal that should finally be uncovered. I’m sleeping a bit better and the anxiety has lessened. So I was sick and couldn’t get to the pharmacy to pick up my refill of Citilapram. I went on Paroxetine for only 1-2 DAYS. I took Lexapro for 9 days. !” She grew frustrated because splitting the 5mg pills into smaller than half is very difficult to do accurately. I feel like I have the body of a 85 yr old but I’m only 62. Just missing one dose I feel irritable and electricity in my arms and hands. Thanks for reading. That was a fortnight ago now and I am feeling worse than ever. At 65 yrs old I certainly want this to subside BUT worry it never will. Drugs numb you, especially antidepressants and especially in the long haul, they actually destroy receptors, often completely. SSRI’s as well as all the other mental health drugs, are quite severe. The bumps are actually taste papillae that contain our taste buds. My “end-date” for eliminating anti-depressants was Nov. 26, 2017….it is now February 21, 2018. It’s horrible. After adjusting doses, we moved to Prozac. I could no longer make critical decisions at work and had to quit my job. Ive been off two years and 3 months. Now my partner is trying to taper back down to an age-appropriate dosage. I said well that is funny because I have read COUNTLESS forums of patience trying to come off of SSRI drugs, reading about the side effects they are having AND seeing it first hand myself with my own child who is having the exact same side effects as they are! As you get older, it can get harder for you to notice flavors. Woodcock.aa@gmail.com The intensity of this seems to be directly proportional to my level of anxiety. Thank you. I went through a long period of serious illness from the withdrawal, but got better. I’m 16 years old and was prescribed Zoloft last year for depression. I researched what was going to happen so I was sort of ready for everything. I slept 20 hours a day. A week later back in the ER…. Well, after only 3 days I stopped taking them because I was sleeping all the time. I just guess I need some encouragement at this point. Am I creating the dizziness and nausea from being anxious? My anxiety is through the roof, I feel terribly dizzy a lot, especially in the morning, and I feel incredibly nauseous pretty much most of the day. It is possible to come off Lexapro and not go through hell. Back to the folks who are on long term antidepressants – if you are not suffering adverse effects, please do not stop taking them and, if you do, no abrupt dosage changes. It is just sickening!!! I’ve been feeling terrible, just like you describe, for nearly 3 months again now. I have had dizziness, headache, pain in my hands and wrists and goofiness for 3 weeks. You will heal and feel better. (2005-2015) Initially prescribed for severe PMS symptoms, only to be taken 5 days a month before my period. Chest was heavy and eyes and nose were itching like crazy. My child cannot see! Apparently, many persons have genetic anomalies which can limit their own production of neurotransmitters – methylfolate, methylcobalamin and SAM-e can help. After a few weeks and many calls all around, and all of them pointing to me trying to get ahold of my doctor, I remembered I still had a lexapro script that I could go pick up. I was terrified to take the medication and repeatedly asked my doctor if it was safe. Honestly, I’m furious just reading your message. Needed this chemical, but I have never taking any drug that requires a multi-year withdrawal is a side... 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