[kkrrhh]

Hi! So I recently tried Lexapro and was on it for about a month or so, probably closer to 5 weeks. I knew it was making me feel pretty horrible, but looking back I think for me personally it was one of the worst meds I've ever taken. It made me totally ill, just basically killed my mind/thinking, made my anxiety horrible and made me feel and think so negatively. That's on top of insomnia and stuff.

Like I said I'd only been on it about maybe 5 weeks total, 10 mg for most of it and tapering to 5 mg the last few days. I think the last day I took it was the Thursday or Friday before last, so about a week and a half.

At first I felt a bit of relief just from not having it in my system, partial mental clearing, less insomnia, less dizziness and stuff. I definitely haven't bounced back yet, though. It's possible my depression and anxiety are just worsening on their own, too, but I have a few kinda positive things in my life now that I'd think would have me feeling better if anything, but I feel like something's just stopping me from even feeling back to my pre-lex depressed self. I'm also starting to worry I just have something medical going on because of how horrible I've been feeling.

I've started a new job a couple weeks ago, so I know that could naturally spike my anxiety a ton and make me feel blah for a bit, but I just still don't think I should feel this badly. I've been constantly nauseous and just have a general ill feeling. I've been having derealization/depersonalization, which could be worse just from depression and anxiety themselves, but I just feel really weirdly detached from reality, and almost like I can't get a consistent grip on reality (but not quite in a psychotic way like that might sound). I've been having just weird dark negative feelings, sadness, and super self-hating thoughts and feelings. Again, possible depression stuff, but I haven't had the actual crying sad feeling depression in forever, and that type of stuff started with lex. And I've been waking up with horrible morning anxiety, which I've experienced before but it was forever ago, and this time it, again, started with starting lexapro.

Is it really possible for lexapro to cause bad withdrawals after being on it for so short a time? I just felt like it'd only last a few days, and I'm not even sure it's really decreased at all after the first day or 2. At the same time, I'm wondering whether I'm just really downhill now and grasping trying to blame it on the lexapro.

Any input? Thanks!

[Skeezyks]

Hello kkrrhh: Over the years, I've been on a variety of different antidepressants for short periods of time. I often simply took myself off of them. I was on Lexapro for a short time, but was taken off of it when I developed little red pin-prick-like dots all over my calves. My personal experience suggests to me that what you are experiencing would not likely be caused by having been on Lexapro for 5 weeks. But, of course, everyone is different. So it's probably best to discuss this with your prescribing physician.

[Tyler4]

I went off cold turkey but then went on Pristiq a few weeks later. I didn't experience any withdrawals that I was aware of. Hang in there.