i cut my lexapro/cipralex dosage in half (to 2.5mg) 7w ago and have been experiencing paresthesia (prickling, burning, cold, puns-and-needles feelings) on my scalp. i was on this ssri for 10y, and i am aware that i am going to have a tough time coming off. i am wondering if anyone else has had experience with antidepressant withdrawal syndrome and if you have also experienced paresthesia. if so, how did you cope? & how long did it take to resolve itself? thanks ?

NarrowNoise

Date posted: 5y

When I suddenly cut off Prozac, I felt emotional numbness for about 6 months until I went back to normal.

Anonymous

Date posted: 5y

6mo?! that’s so long. how long were you on prozac?

pureolife

Date posted: 5y

Why did you cut it in half? Was that the dosage reduction recommended by your doctor? Dropping by half can actually be too much too fast for a lot of people. Especially when you’ve been on your meds for a long time. I’ve found the following help with discontinuation syndrome: fish oil, niacin (time release), a daily vitamin, extra sleep (+1 hour of what you normally sleep), healthy diet with healthy fats, daily exercise (especially yoga for the meditative quality,) and a daily mindfulness practice. Also, reduce or remove alcohol for awhile.

pureolife

Date posted: 5y

Also, this website is incredibly helpful: https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/ And they provide a lot of info on tapering: https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/1024-why-taper-by-10-of-my-dosage/

Anonymous

Date posted: 5y

i have been flip flopping between 5mg and 10mg for 10y! last january i decided to go off because i felt too numb. everything was fine by the time i tapered off in june. my energy was back, and i was happy for the first time in years! by september i was having a lot of physical symptoms that i could not control, but anxiety was not one of them. i was still happy too, but the physical sensations became too distracting. my doctor put me back on 5mg in september, but we decided to go back down to 2.5mg in december because i became numb again. now i’m starting to feel some physical sensations again, but i’ve read that they can take months to go away. this time, i’d like to power through it, but i’d like to ease the symptoms until they clear up. thank you for the recommendations! i’m going to cut out alcohol, add sleep, and add supplements. i already excercise 4h/w but i’ll try to do 6h/w.

synesthetic

Date posted: 5y

Hey there, I have had some really intense withdrawals from various medications. I would say all in all the time it takes for your body chemistry to reestablish a kind of equilibrium seems to really vary person to person. Most of my withdrawal periods have taken around two months to start feeling like I was experiencing fewer symptoms. SSRIs are really tough. I had a lot of fever-like symptoms. Shaking, pins and needles, sweating, nausea. I was easily winded and quick to panic. Couldn’t seem to regulate my body temperature. Burning and cold, to use your words. I drank a lot of water, tried to stay mentally active, go outside frequently, and record my symptoms so that I could easily track my wellness. Do you journal?

Overdramatic...

Date posted: 23w

Weight loss after SSRI?

I know this isn’t directly ocd related but I feel like it’s got to be a shared experience between a lot of us. When I ask in fitness groups no one seems to have anything to offer. Anywhooo I started celexa in October I believe? In January I started going hard in the gym and tracking my macros to a tee. In the past I have done this and got really fit and muscular. This time around the progress has been going at a snails pace. I almost feel like progress has even haulted and hasn’t even been that long. Anyway I really think I have a good amount of knowledge on this stuff and mostly want to know if anyone has had this experience after taking celexa? I can’t think of another factor that it could be. I would almost like to get off of it because of it. I hate to sound vain but with the extra weight I feel depressed and uncomfortable. I’m putting in soooo much work and seeing the results but like I said it’s going ridiculously slow. Any advice for this kind of thing? Thank you :)

Anonymous

Date posted: 15w

Long term sertraline users(3 years or longer), how

…(for those who came off of it)how long did it take for you to feel normal again/when did ur anxiety level out after tapering off the meds after being on it for awhile? I’m in month two and still feeling very anxious, is this just how it’s gonna be now that I’m not on meds? I didn’t wanna rely on them cuz I was gaining weight and it lowered my libido but it was helping me so this sucks. I can’t eat much and diarrhea like am I just gonna be like this forever now that I’m not on meds?

Anonymous

Date posted: 7w

derealization as a side effect w/lexapro?

Anyone get this in the beginning and it go away? I posted yesterday how I was feeling pretty good. But realistically it’s only 2 weeks into 5mg so it’s early on and I’ll probably need to move up to 10mg. I’m feeling out of it today like the anxiety isn’t there but it’s like derealization/a calm anxiety if that makes sense lol. Like I just don’t feel real:/

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