Hi everyone, i started lexapro in mid september (5mg) and took that until mid october. Then i decided to increase to 10mg with the guidance from my doc. i was on 10mg for a week but didn't like the weight gain so i moved down to 5mg for a week and stopped it. This was mutual between me and my doc. I did not have any issues for the 1st week of stopping. But on the 9th day, i started experiencing brain fog and difficulty concentrating with sharp headaches. I just wanna lay down all the time. Is this normal? Im so scared. I don't feel good at all. My doc said you weaned off well and this is just anxiety. But its really bad. What should i do? Please help im freaking out!
it does sound like anxiety symptoms. The dose you were on was pretty low to begin with so I doubt any of these symptoms are related to that. The brain fog, concentration issues, headaches, are very common with anxiety. It’s nothing Serious.
I know how disturbing it feels because I felt that way many times. Think about what in your life is causing you stress. work? School? Family? Relationships? I suggest you speak with a counselor. You can do virtual counseling. You need help in managing whatever is causing your anxiety. It’s very difficult to do alone.
you are going to be OK. Just take one day at a time, get that support, and try to relax your mind as much as you can. The more you stress out, the more symptoms you will have. The symptoms are not the problem. The problem is unmanaged anxiety and stress which causes the symptoms. Take care and relax!
Please google “Discontinuation Syndrome” and “Antidepressant Withdrawal FINISH”. It is very hard to discontinue antidepressants. It can take months of weaning off very slowly and most of the time, you will still have horrible symptoms. Regular doctors will tell you that the symptoms are just your depression and anxiety returning. They will also not acknowledge the symptoms as withdrawal and will tell you that it will only take a couple of weeks to feel normal again. There is a great forum of support called “Surviving Antidepressants.org”. The F in Finish stands for “Flu Like Symptoms”, the I stands for “Insomnia”, the N stands for “Nausea”, the second I stands for “Inbalance”, the S stands for “Sensory Disturbance”, and the H stands for “Hyperarousal”.