Search the Community

Hej, mam na imię Żaneta, mam 32 lata,jestem z Polski, od dziecka cierpię na ocd... Silne stany lękowe mam od 2018 roku na początku uparłam się że wyjdę z tego bez leków... Ja uparta jestem i bałam się ich, w ciągu roku udało mi się pokonać ataki paniki, lęk wolnoplynacy... Miałam rok spokoju, po roku znów dostałam atak paniki, silnego OCD. Zaczęłam brać benzodiazepiny brałam rok i rok schodziłam, stopniowo bardzo, udało się odstawic ...Poszłam po leki, wzięłam fluanxol, pomógł, na myśli ocd, depresję, aktywizował, chciałam odstawić po kilku miesiącach, stopniowo bardzo odstawiłam, po dwóch miesiącach zaczął się zespół odstawienny, nie wiedziałam co się dzieje, leżałam na łóżku i nawet nie mrugalam na zmianę z silnym pobudzeniem psychoruchowym( akatyzja) myśli samobójcze non stop, chciałam się powiesić i nie wiedziałam co się ze mną dzieje, ruchy mimowolne że guzika nie mogłam zapiąć, sztywność spowolnienie ruchowe, urojenia że ktoś mnie śledzi i chcę zrobić krzywdę, nigdy nie miałam objawów psychozy, wróciłam do leku, psychiatra skierowała mnie na oddzial somatyczny, tam zmieniła mi fluanxol na prozak, najgorsze skutki odstawienne fluanxolu trwały miesiąc, na prozaku na początku miałam silne myśli s, wrażenie ucpania,brak myśli, na większej dawce większa depresja-20mg i myśli o samookaleczeniu, lekka mania, na końcu wyprał mnie totalnie z uczuć, obojętność( byłam na pogrzebie taty i nie czułam nic)anhedonia, problemy z libido, najgorsza jest utrata pamięci krótkotrwalej, przeraża mnie ogromnie .. Od 5.5 msc zmniejszam dawkę (w ciągu 5msc minęły też skutki odstawienne fluanxolu, na szczęście) obecnie jestem na dawce niskiej, dodam że mam nadwrażliwy organizm od dziecka na leki( śladowe ilości działają na mnie) biorę okruszek prozaku co 4 dzień, on się długo uwalnia... I jest naprawdę ok, objawy odstawienia są, suchość w ustach, koszmary, żywe sny, kołatania serca, prądy, ale do wytrzymania że jestem w stanie funkcjonować... ale to niewinne początki...znam swój organizm... Wiem że objawy odstawienia zaczną się po miesiącu albo dwóch ... mam córeczkę 6lat więc muszę funkcjonować bo mąż pracuje a ja jestem z nią samą. boje się odstawić te narkotyki... Jezu jak żałuję dnia kiedy je wzięłam... miałam przygodę też z Escipramem po którym dostałam manii i zdradziłam męża,nigdy nie miałam takich zachowań, na leki w zasadzie namówiła mnie koleżanka która bierze paroksetyne 15 lat i mówi że czuje się super bo nie myśli... Nienawidzę jej za to że mnie na to namówila... Można było ogarnąć stany lękowe w ciągu roku, świadomej pracy nad sobą... A teraz jestem jak na "haju" stałym, jak po narkotykach, zmieniły moja osobowość, zabrały mi wszystkie emocje... Mam silna depersonalizacja po nich... Benzodiazdpiny było mi dużo łatwiej odstawić co dla niektórych może być śmieszne... ktoś coś podpowie? czy branie co 4dzien jest ok? nie pamiętam nawet czy rano myłam buzię... czy można umrzeć odstawiając te leki? mój organizm zazwyczaj regeneruje się tyle czasu co brał leki... Bdałam raz trittiko 3tyg, odciął mnie od emocji, schodziłam 3 tyg i wtedy wróciłam do siebie... Myślę że prozak jest silniejszy nawet od neuroleptyka... proszę o radę. pozdrawiam English translation: Hey, my name is Zaneta, I am 32 years old,I am from Poland, I have been suffering from ocd since childhood.... I have strong anxiety since 2018 at the beginning I insisted that I would get out of it without medication.... I stubborn I am and I was afraid of them, within a year I managed to overcome panic attacks, free-floating anxiety.... I had a year of peace, after a year I got panic attacks again, severe OCD. I started taking benzodiazepines I took a year and a year coming off, gradually very, managed to wean off .... I went for medication, I took fluanxol, it helped, for ocd thoughts, depression, it activated, I wanted to wean off after a few months, gradually very weaned off, after two months the withdrawal syndrome started, I didn't know what was going on, I would lie on the bed and not even blink alternately with strong psychomotor agitation( akathisia) suicidal thoughts non-stop, I wanted to hang myself and did not know what was happening to me, involuntary movements that I could not fasten a button, stiffness motor slowdown, delusions that someone is following me and I want to do harm, I never had symptoms of psychosis, I went back to the drug, the psychiatrist referred me to the somatic ward, there she changed me from fluanxol to prozac, the worst withdrawal effects of fluanxol lasted a month, on prozac at the beginning I had strong s thoughts, a feeling of being drunk,no thoughts, on a higher dose more depression-20mg and thoughts of self-harm, mild mania, at the end it washed me completely of feelings, indifference( I was at my dad's funeral and felt nothing)anhedonia, libido problems, the worst is short term memory loss, scares me immensely .. I have been reducing my dose since 5.5msc( within 5msc the withdrawal effects of fluanxol also passed, fortunately) currently I am on a low dose, I will add that I have a hypersensitive body since childhood to drugs( trace amounts work for me) I take a crumb of prozac every 4th day, it takes a long time to release.... And it is really ok, the withdrawal symptoms are, dry mouth, nightmares, vivid dreams, palpitations, currents, but bearable that I am able to function.... But these are innocent beginnings...I know my body.... I know that withdrawal symptoms will start after a month or two .... I have a daughter 6 years old so I have to function because my husband works and I am alone with her. I am afraid to wean myself off these drugs .... Jesus how I regret the day I took them .... I also had an adventure with Escipram after which I got mania and cheated on my husband,I never had such behavior,I was basically persuaded to take the drugs by a friend who has been taking paroxetine for 15 years and says she feels great because she doesn't think.... I hate her for talking me into it.... You could embrace anxiety within a year, conscious work on yourself.... And now I am like on a "high" constant, like after drugs, they changed my personality, took away all my emotions.... I have strong depersonalization after them.... Benzodiazdpines were much easier for me to wean off which some may find funny.... anyone have any suggestions? Is taking every 4th day ok? I don't even remember if I washed my face in the morning.... is it possible to die while stopping these drugs? my body usually recovers as long as it took the drugs.... I took trittiko once 3tyg, it took my mind off my emotions, I went down 3 weeks and then I was back to myself.... I think prozac is stronger even than neuroleptic.... please advise. Greetings Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

ADMIN NOTE Farmgirlworks's Introductions topic is here. A pickle-and-cheese sandwich marked the beginning of the end of this trip to hell. At 25 months, I stopped in at a neighborhood yard sale. While my friend looked at a carpet from Mexico, I was drawn to an older man sitting on the front stoop and eating something. I looked closer and saw that it was a pickle-and-cheese sandwich. And I realized that I *wanted* one. I craved it. Bad. It was a strange feeling after months of forcing myself to eat and often could only stomach potato chips dipped in butter. I walked over and discussed the sandwich with him. Havarti cheese, bread, lettuce, and, of course, pickles. He told me that the brine of pickles is good for cramping. “I come from a long line of crampers,” he said. I could not get it out of my mind. I actually had a CRAVING. Next stop was the grocery store and I got all the ingredients. I dressed it up a little by making it into a grilled cheese and pickle sandwich with lettuce, mayo and mustard. Cut it into little triangles and, well on the eighth day, God made a pickle-and-cheese sandwich. And it was good. Best of all, I knew I was going to heal in time. The corner had been turned. . . . For every person who is in withdrawal -- wherever you are in the process -- you will heal!!! Know that, deeply breathe it in. Healing is inevitable… unfortunately the pain is too but it will eventually end. Hang in there. I didn’t “think” I would recover but always “believed” it because of the Success Stories. I have gone through so much high stress the past 3 years -- some of which was withdrawal but a lot was situational family dramas, auto near death experiences, and meeting my biological father less than a year ago. It’s been, well, "a lot." However, I am grateful and humbled to be on the other side. Yes, I still trend toward depression and anxiety but not at sky-high withdrawal levels. I now have tools to cope. Creativity is increasing each day and my motivation and cognition, while lagging a few steps behind, is coming back as well. And while anger is hard-wired into my DNA, now I am more of a firecracker than a bomb. ~~~ Drug: sertraline (zoloft) 50-75mg Time on drug: Jan 2012 - April 2017 Kindling: cold-turkey (CT) multiple times including once in 2015 for 6 months Fast-tapered sertraline 5ish weeks Complete end on April 1, 2017 Age/sex: 50yo female Recovery: 33 months, 90+ percent Supplements: magnesium powder, fish oil, aspirin. I used others ($$$) but nothing with regularity. ~~~ I was put on sertraline because I had just come back to Seattle from a six-month stint in an isolated, tiny rural town as a funeral director -- not stressful at all. I quickly fell into physically painful depression and high anxiety because I had no job, no place to live, and a new dog -- not stressful at all. No doubt I had PTSD. If I knew then what I know now, I should have splurged on therapy, quit drinking, and gotten a gym membership. But I did not and after two months asked my GP to prescribe anything to make the pain stop. After a couple weeks on Wellbutrin which created such anxiety, I quit and switched to Zoloft. And it worked. At least for a while. But there was breakthrough depression and I did not want to be dependent on a drug for the rest of my life. Of course, the GP gave me the lines about “it’s just like insulin for a diabetic” and “you have a chemical imbalance.” I went rogue several times and tried to stop cold turkey because this stuff isn’t addictive, right? I finally decided in spring 2017 that I wanted to stop for good. I decided to attend an ayahuasca ceremony for Easter -- hippie! -- and knew I could not be on an SSRI to do it. So I did a fast taper for Lent and in 5ish weeks stopped. The ayahuasca was transformative and I felt great… until I soon did not. My therapist at the time, with no medical knowledge, advised I switch to Lexapro because “it worked” for her. I dumped her immediately because my soul knew this was not right and was beginning to sound like a medical pharmaceutical conspiracy. After a couple months of suffering and quitting drinking, I found Surviving Antidepressants and saw that indeed this pain was REAL and experienced by others and I could lean into the expertise here. I’ve never looked back. The moderators said it would take time and indeed it did. Here is my thread about it. ~~~ The following helped me stay alive… I was going to say “and hope” but, frankly, there were several months when I didn’t have a shred of hope. It is the absolute worst (insert every curse ever uttered) hell. And I say this as someone who survived brain surgery. Yes: this is worse. And you will get through it. What kept me alive: - information - peer support - Success Stories on this site - acceptance - rage at pharmaceutical companies I obsessively read most of the “symptoms” threads to find out what was happening and get information. I needed proof that I wasn’t a freak of nature and that others had experienced the exact same thing… and recovered. The information on this site is invaluable, I learned so much. We are lucky to have such a comprehensive resource. I also watched YouTube videos, Baylissa Frederick videos, and read Beyond Meds and Inner Compass Initiative. The peer support on SA is exceptional -- I am reading over my thread and moved to tears (I can cry now!) by the compassion of members. I briefly hosted a Meetup for other withdrawal folks and could only do it a few times because I was still ill (apologies to The Smiths). I could not hold space for the misery and sad stories that people appeared with. One dear girl came with a handwritten letter in pencil on lined paper about her experience -- I am still haunted and inspired by her courage. I bow to the moderators here and what they do daily. Their knowledge and compassion blow my mind. It is a strength not many of us have. Part of my diet was reading the Success Stories over and over and over. There are some that I read at least a dozen times, eating up every single word and ingesting the message that “it does get better, hang on.” Do good writers get afflicted with withdrawal? It seems so based on the Success Stories. Seriously, I cannot recommend these enough to give you the strength to make it through one more day, hour, minute, second. Acceptance came late in the game because I couldn’t believe this might go on for years. I had to hit rock bottom first: unable to work, “friends” disappearing, and the possibility of never feeling any semblance of joy again. In the beginning, I resolved to go on by giving myself deadlines. “If you make it one year and everything still is this bad, go back on drugs.” “If you make it 18 months and it is still this bad, you can kill yourself.” “If you make it 24 months and it is still this bad, then you can storm the office of the CEO of Pfizer.” Yeah, immature crap, I know. But it helped me stick it out. Then at 2 years, my bio-father unexpectedly entered my life and deadlines were no longer viable options -- that relationship means the world to me. I think that was when I truly started to “accept” that I’d be sick as long as I was sick and get well when I got well. Yes, rage is not zen, not productive, and probably wasted energy. But it was the spark in my darkest hours that kept me going. I don’t mean homicidal rage, just the desire to add to information about how real and bad this experience is. There is a rage that comes with not being “seen” and this illness is definitely not seen except by those going through it and a few compassionate people. Every time I read “discontinuation syndrome” in media articles, I wanted to pull my hair out. Still do. I firmly believe that it will be seen eventually and want to support that however possible. What has helped me, but is not in the category of keeping me alive, is first and foremost kundalini yoga. I am now taking a training course in kundalini and am developing a class for people going through withdrawal. It is a trauma unto itself and the focus on the glandular system and, especially, strengthening nerves has helped immensely in healing. AA for honest sharing. I wasn’t able to get into the personal soul-searching until half way through the second year as what I was experiencing was chemical and no amount of soul searching was going to change that. I was legit envious of those who recovered from alcohol or opiates in months and here I was suffering from prescribed medication for years. And, I had reservations -- sometimes explosive anger -- at the members on psych drugs. However, now I am getting so much from AA, seeing patterns, changing my behavior going forward, forgiving myself the past. Hydrotherapy in the form of pools, hot tubs, and saunas were a big part at the end of year 1. Especially the sauna. I religiously do a cold rinse at the end of showers. This stimulates the parasympathetic system through the vagus nerve. Check out Wim Hof on YouTube. I do it because of kundalini but this method is a widely accepted way to strengthen nerves. And taking epsom salt baths a couple times a week calmed my body especially during bouts of akathisia. Acupuncture: I still do this regularly and she followed the NADA protocol for drug withdrawal (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5153313/) Art! It took a good year before I began to have glimpses of ideas for art projects. My thread has the work I did. Sometimes just sitting and slowly stitching was all I could manage. The last piece was drawn from quotes here and I am proud of it as a piece of activism. Timed gratitude lists for 10-15 minutes each day. Did this for a few months in the second year. I got this from a site about combating anhedonia and there is a neurological basis to strengthen the “wires” of positive connections in the brain. The gratitudes always have to be different to strengthen your “mind muscle” to see more positive events. Yeah, it sounds hokey... and it also helped. ~~~ Symptoms, I’ve had a few but not too few to mention (if you think “My Way,” please make it the Sid Vicious version): black depression, sky-high anxiety, neuro-emotions, anhedonia, daily suicidal ideation, headaches, severe head pressure, low appetite, panic attacks, leaky eyes, facial nerves tingling, akathisia, cortisol morning spikes, fatigue, tense shoulders and neck, cognitive decline (cog fog), depersonalization/derealization (DP/DR), no creativity, impulsive rage at people on the street, catatonia, intrusive thoughts, unmotivated, no confidence, no self-esteem, and emotional dysregulation (a later symptom). Had short windows but mainly months of waves. Triggers: fluorescent lights, caffeine, processed food, crowds, unsupportive family/friends, and above all else, high situational stress. ~~~ Admittedly, I am nervous about big situational stressors that are marching down the pike in the form of aging parents (now I have three), financial security, and vocation. Then, there is the “3 year relapse.” My memory is not good and focus is difficult. But both are steadily improving. I do wonder if this experience has made me less resilient to depression and anxiety. However! I made it through and if that doesn’t take serious resilience, I don’t know what does. So screw the nervousness: I’ll survive yet again. You will too. ❤️ . . . It just wasn't like the old days anymore No, it wasn't like those days... Does the body rule the mind Or does the mind rule the body? I dunno – THE SMITHS, "STILL ILL" ~~~ Book recommendations The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth by Gerald May Anatomy of an Epidemic by Robert Whitaker Own Your Self and A Mind of Your Own by Dr Kelly Brogan Death Grip: A Climber's Escape from Benzo Madness by Matt Samet Blue Dreams by Lauren Slater

Hello, my name is Ben from Germany, I am 26 years old. I stopped taking Fluoxetin 20mg After 4 weeks because of the immens problems with the medicine. I had stomache, brain and health problems, lost Libido and nearly no erection and lost feelings in my genitals. Now after 5 months off I still have so many Problems. I feel sick, have Brain/ thinking Problems and I am Always tired and have no power at all. I dont want to do anything... sad :( and I dont have any erection... its like if he‘s dead. So now I am wondering what could/ should I do? My girlfriend is really nice but I think she needs sex :( and I cant. Was the Cold turkey a bad decision? What would u recommend to me? Thanks for your answers, Ben (26)

New to this group. Im healthy 53 year old male. I am extremely chemically sensitive to medication and have experienced tapers to get off medication before. I took Prozac for 6-7 years and started an extremely slow & long taper using a trusted compounding pharmacist of which I finally had my last dose 10 months ago. Rarely had any symptoms after cuts (only some GI issues) but occasionally had slight anxiety/depression/blurred vision/etc. Its been 9 mths since my last dose and I'll be damned I'm getting very bad psych symptoms that are becoming reoccurring (a few the other day, a lot two days ago, several today, etc). I've read Dr. Joseph Glennmullen's book on tapering and, if this doesn't just stop, I believe I'm gonna have to get back on my last dose or something close to it and taper off even more slowly over a much longer time. Thoughts? Prozac's half life was supp to make this whole thing easier but Im starting to believe it just delayed any w/d symptoms from showing I made too big of cuts and did it too fast for someone that doesnt metabolize medication well. Its almost like a delayed fuse. Any advice other than 1) wait and see if it all passes or 2) get back on my last dose or close to it and taper even more slowly over a long time?

Hi, As I tried to state in my signature, I have been on Viibryd for 7-8 years at varying rates but 10-30mg. I determined back in January 2023 that I wanted to get off the medication as my life was stable and I wanted to get pregnant in the near future and Viibryd is not approved for pregnant women. My doctor directed me to go off the meds in two weeks, but I knew from experience that I could feel Viibryd withdrawals very soon after missing a dose. I began a self-directed taper (prior to finding this site but reading about it on Reddit). I did 10mg to 5mg to 2.5 mg for one month each. I was doing okay with the taper until I got to 2.5 mg and I wasn't settling out. I called my doctor and he put me on 10mg of Prozac as a bridge and then i just stopped the Prozac. I then began to experience the withdrawal symptoms from April 2023 until I decided to reinstate Prozac (approved for pregnancy) in August 2023. I reinstated per my doctor's directions of 20mg of Prozac. I took it for about 8 days and felt totally sick, which I believe was kindling. I stopped taking it at day 8 and let it naturally taper out of my body. Around day 14 of the natural taper, I started to feel alright and wished I could bottle that drug level in my system to use as a starting point for reintroduction. Almost 3 weeks to the day since I stopped the 20mg of Prozac, I began to have major withdrawal symptoms. This time iI had a bit of a plan and I reinstated with 0.5mg of Prozac and I have been taking that for 6 weeks now. It helped at first with mitigating the dizziness and keeping the bottom from falling out with mood swings and suicidal ideations. However, I'm starting to feel quite jittery and anxious again and the dizziness is back. My plan was to hold at 0.5mg of Prozac until the end of the year and then begin a 10% taper from there. I'm wondering if: -Is 0.5mg of Prozac the proper dose? -Could my issue be that I'm still withdrawing from Viibryd and I'm just compounding it with Prozac? -Should I just stop all meds altogether? -I have had some recent major life events that are causing me anxiety so should I just hold here? Even though I'm not totally stable? -I drink alcohol daily. Around 4oz of vodka. Since the life events, I have been waking in the middle of the night around 3am with a pounding heart and anxiety. Is this due to the alcohol? Or is it due to the Prozac and the levels it's at? I have been drinking daily throughout this whole ordeal so I don't see that as a changed variable but it certainly could be. -I would eventually like to quit birth control. Is there a good or better time to do that? -Other medications I take daily are: famotidine and zyrtec Thank you for your help.

Hi there team, First time poster here and really need abit of help, was on 20mg fluoxetine for a year and a half after a bad relationship breakup and troubles at work. Started what I thought was a good timed taper of 2 months on 10mg as suggested by my doctor Started a new job was feeling good and roughly 2 months later in late July started to feel anxious daily and struggled a few weeks and thought it was a relapse so started 20mg again end august for a week amd had bad side effects insomnia very low mood so stopped. 2 weeks off and didn't still felt the same so resumed again at 20mg mid September till now and am really struggling. After coming and finding this website I'm thinking my anxiety that had come back was just withdrawals. Should I be keeping taking the 20mg or be tapering off. Any help would be much appreciated 🙏

Hi everyone, I wish I found this website before all my previous attempts to stop SSRIs. I’m grateful that this website exist. My story with ADs began in 2015, after a “diagnosis” for OCD (had the mildest tendencies), and recommended to go on an SSRIs. I was introduced to the whole “chemical imbalance” theory and both the therapist and GP assured me that the drug is safe, easy to stop with no long term side effects! so I took the decision to try ADs which turned out to be a huge mistake and an ongoing cycle of being on ADs and WDs. ADs and WDs timeline: 2015-2017 : on Cipralex 10-20 mg (short taper, 15-10-5-0 mg). 2017-2018: off Cipralex, withdrawal. Was recommended to go back on Cipralex for the second time due to a “relapse”. Dec 2018 - march 2020: on Cipralex for the 2nd time, between 10-20 mg. Alternating between 10, 15 20 mg trying to figure out what works throughout the “treatment” (3 months taper or less) March 2020-oct 2020: of Cipralex. Second withdrawal, started with dizziness, depression, fatigue.. etc and by the 6th month, turned into constant panic attacks, severe DPDR and agoraphobia. It was was unbearable, I couldn’t function. Drs dismissed that its withdrawal since the severe symptoms started 6 months after and gave a “diagnosis” for panic disorder. Before ADs, I never had these issues. I was desperate and agreed to go back on ADs but asked for a different one. Oct 2020-March 2022: on Prozac 20 mg. 3rd time on SSRIs. Suffered from common side effects (as well as on Cipralex before), but noticed some previous WD symptoms remained while on Prozac (got milder), like DR, anxiety, fatigue, cold like symptoms, socially withdrawn. I think my body didn’t adjust well due to CNS becoming highly sensitive after the previous WD. I was functioning but not living. (3 months taper, 18,15,12,10,7,5,3,0 mg), thinking the problem was tapering method and not length, got both wrong. March 2022 - April 2023 (13 months): off Prozac, severe withdrawal.. Current WD timeline and symptoms: The first 6 months off of Prozac: internal buzz, tingling legs, insomnia, DPDR, flu like symptoms, dizziness, gut issues, etc., but I managed to function to some extent. By the 7th month: I started experiencing crippling symptoms, including peripheral neuropathy symptoms, tingling on legs and feet hand arms and other parts, burning and numbness legs/arms/head, light, sound, and smell sensitivities, strong internal buzz, gut issues, vertigo, tinnitus on/off, closed eyes visions, strange nerve throbbing sensations, chronic fatigue, coordination issues, dizziness, dehydration, PSSD, doom, agoraphobia, OCD, zaps, mini seizures, internal buzz, gut issues, health anxiety and DPDR and more. This lasted 4 months in its severity. Was bedridden 90% of my day. PTSD symptoms, shock, and disbelief from my experience with SSRIs and WDs. By month 11 off: changed my diet, few symptoms improved (some improved in severity while would fade and return), the rest remained. I developed new symptoms, mostly cognitive, like brain fog and brain pressure, anhedonia, difficulty speaking, memory and imagination issues. Now 13 month off: some symptoms resolved, some improved, some remained and some got worse like tinnitus (all the time now), and PSSD. Still unable to function, and under immense pressure to. Drs keep suggesting SSRIs, and at desperate times, I wonder if it’s a good idea to go back on SSRIs only to taper correctly and stabilize my CNS, after knowing the information on tapering now. This feels like a defeat after waiting and struggling for more than a year with withdrawal (and all the years before that). I think I’m kindled, cuz every time I've been on ADs or gone through WD again, both experiences got worse. I don’t know whats best at this stage, and confused by the conflicting claims online and from Drs. I would appreciate any support, recommendations and encouragements.

I am introducing myself, as the forum suggests. I have been taking SSRI antidepressants, mostly in the form of Prozac, for over 30 years. I have always taken a low dose, 20mg. They did help get me through a difficult time in my life but now I don't need them and am having awful withdrawal symptoms. I am here for guidance, which doctors have none of regarding this. It's been like a mass experiment on people. I want to be free from this drug and learn how to get through withdrawal.

I was on Prozac 20mg from 2000 until 2022. I tried to come off a few times over the years, without much planning or understanding what I was doing each time I was ok for a short time then fell off a cliff mood wise and reinstated within 6 weeks or so. I reduced my dose from 20mg to 10mg in September 2022 then CT from 10mg in November 2022. I wasn’t aware of how dangerous this course of action was at the time and have definitely learned the hard way. I have had a truly horrific time over the last 11 months, the worst of it being extremely distressing neuro emotions, DP/DR, low moods/severe depressive symptoms/SI … I reinstated yesterday at 0.5mg as I feel that I cannot endure any more of this, I feel debilitated by WD symptoms and a danger to myself during the worst waves 🌊. So far no adverse effects 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻. Posting here to access support and advice about reinstatement. Thank you so much for the amazing work you do at SA. 2000- September 2022 prozac 20mg to 10mg November 2022 CT from 10mg December 2021 - April 2022 Diazepam 10mg per day approx . April 2022-June 2022 tapered down to 0.

Hello all, I am obviously new here and want to share my story with the hopes that maybe someone will find it useful or interesting, or perhaps someone can relate to it or even offer their own insights. I have had a long history of depression, so much so that I've never really been able to function as an adult. It got to the point where I was actively suicidal but never quite reached the tipping point of going through with it. I eventually made a breakthrough in 2022 with CBD, which really takes the edge off my depression and anxiety. I take 30mg every 8 hours so it is always active, and it is consistently helpful. It has even taken the place of Klonopin, which I had previously been taking around once per week just so I could have some time off where I wasn't suffering as much. After discovering CBD, I wasn't even interested in benzos anymore, except maybe for very specific high-leverage situations (the way I think they should be used). After four months of this improved state, I realized it still wasn't enough, I wasn't able to work or thrive, and I decided to give antidepressants another shot. I had tried them over 10 years prior without success, but I knew there were lots of other drugs out there. I had only ever tried SSRIs, plus an add-on antipsychotic (Abilify). To my disappointment, I was once again prescribed an SSRI, this time a conservative dose of 10mg fluoxetine to get started. Within 30 minutes of taking the first capsule, I remembered why I stopped taking antidepressants in the first place. It wasn't terrible, but it just didn't feel right. Interesting considering the conventional wisdom that it should take weeks to feel anything at all. I continued to play along, already committed to the painful trial-and-error process of psychiatry, and by the fifth dose I tapped out. I was overwhelmed with panic and wanted to kill myself. I called the psychiatrist, and they prescribed an alternative, the SNRI venlaxafine (37.5mg starter dose). Finally, a new class of drugs. Only this one was even worse. It felt like it was burning a hole in my brain, and I stopped after 2 doses. I called the psychiatrist to explain what happened, and they reached deep into the psychiatry playbook and, you guessed it, offered to prescribe something else. I was too exhausted and scared to try a new drug immediately, so my plan was to wait until the next scheduled appointment in a few weeks and then reassess. For the next couple weeks, I felt mostly better. Then at the 17 day mark after my last fluoxetine dose, a bomb went off. I woke up with my head spinning from dizziness, unable to walk without holding on to something. This steadily improved over the next week, and I thought I was alright. Then another week later, the real party began. My mood sank to new lows. I lost the capability to feel anything positive. I was so stressed and irritable that I had to warn people about talking to me. It felt like a chemical lobotomy. Then I started having cognitive issues, forgetting things and losing the ability to solve basic problems. I went through a checklist of withdrawal symptoms and there were too many matches to list. I didn't think withdrawal would be possible after only a few doses, but the timeline and symptoms match. My hypothesis is that with fluoxetine's long half-life, it must have been in my system long enough to create a dependence. Although I had an initial adverse reaction, it didn't seem to match the symptoms of serotonin syndrome. Maybe someone will have some insight on that though. Whatever the case, it was a couple months of torture during the acute phase. I was not anywhere close to functional most of the time, but "luckily" I did not have many obligations due to my failure to ever get life going in the first place. Things then settled down into the more manageable post-acute phase, and I have a nice breakthrough every now and then which reminds me what it was like to have a more functional brain. It's still been a long and difficult grind, though. During this time, I reverted back to my once-weekly usage of Klonopin to get a break from the symptoms. Then earlier this year I had another breakthrough that allowed me to stop taking that again. I have also experimented with microdosing psilocybin periodically throughout the post-acute phase, which I have concluded is a mistake. I have had good experiences with it during the active effect, but it becomes so exhausting, and then I crash and burn for the next few weeks. Clearly my brain is very sensitive to drugs, especially serotonergics, and I just need to give it a chance to heal. I've recently had a resurgence in symptoms (dizziness, fatigue, emotional blunting, stress) which may have been regularly scheduled, or perhaps triggered by a last-ditch effort at microdosing. It's been taxing, but still nowhere near as bad as it used to be. A clear benchmark for me is whether I have any desire to take benzos again, which I still don't. I am now 14 months into this pharmaceutical disaster, and it is hard to say exactly what % I am recovered, since the symptoms and severity are always changing. It is clear that the baseline is trending upwards, though. I just hope that eventually I can feel completely back to normal again without any trace of this nonsense. I am committed to a holistic approach to healing: nutrition, fitness, rest, and avoiding stress. I continue to take CBD, which has been my best lifeline ever since I started with it. I already know that life is not for me, but I can at least reduce my suffering while I am still here. From a psychotropic recovery perspective, this story could be viewed as at least a partial success, with some progress left to be made. Thank you to anyone who read this. It does feel better to document it, and it's maybe one minuscule step towards awareness and accountability.

Hi! I just started to taper and I am in my second week of reducing from 20mg escitalopram. I already cut off 10%. What I find confusing: 1. Does it matter if I just take on ONE randomly chosen day 10% less (which I did already) or do I have to distribute the 10% cut throughout the 2 weeks? I can't see how the latter would be possible, given the infinitesimal amount that needs to be reduced this way, but I thought I will ask anyway :)> 2. Whilst I am aware of the huge variability in individual histories, I wonder if anyone here has been experiencing gradual tapering (as advised per medication here) and had withdrawal effects that were bearable and short-lived? In other words, if one does it right, generally speaking, and assuming that one is only on one antidepressant and all other variables are more or less constant, does it help avoid the worse of withdrawal effects? This is something that I am confused about. It is important for me, if any data, anecdotal or scientific exists in regard to this matter. Where can I look for this kind of information? Many thanks.

I've struggled with mental health issues since I was a kid - chronic anxiety, (undiagnosed) ADHD, OCPD, some depression from childhood trauma, etc. Unfortunately like many, I didn't get the courage to reach out for help until I was well into adulthood. I'm in regular therapy which seems to help a TON, but it became clear I needed some meds to supplement. When I first saw my psychiatrist I was in a major depressive episode that I couldn't shake, so she prescribed me Prozac. When I first started Prozac, it did seem to help. I was in a deep dark spiral and it numbed a lot of that. However, now a year and a half later, my doc has increased/added many other medications to counteract the side affects I've been experiencing with Prozac. First it was that it made my anxiety spike way up - added Buspar. Then I couldn't fall/stay asleep at night - added Clonazepam. Then I couldn't focus at work to save my life - I've always been a type-A overachiever/perfectionist, and I just didn't care anymore - added Adderall. This entire time I was experiencing major PSSD which was/is ruining my relationship - added Ashwaganda and other supplements. That didn't help, so now she's started me on Wellbutrin. I feel like all I'm doing is patching up one leak just to sprout another. I'm wondering, what if I didn't need to be treated for depression after all? Yes, I was majorly depressed when I reached out for help, but I'm not convinced that it's chronic. I think my ADHD, OCPD, and anxiety all start to take over and I'm not getting things done and then depression kicks in because of that. Am I just taking all of these medications for the wrong reasons? Anyone else on this same cocktail? Does it get better? Looking for any help or advice - thank you!

Greetings! A few months ago I decided enough was enough with SSRI side effects (lack of motivation, asexuality, feeling "okay" but totally numb) and decided it's time to let it go. I've made a lot of progress since resorting to psychiatric meds and learned a lot of coping methods and have improved my life in a lot of ways since then and am hoping I'll be able to manage without them. My journey started with several days of Prozac in 2016 during my first real job, I resorted to meds as a result of extreme anxiety and pure obsessive OCD that made it essentially impossible to function and took everything I loved away from me. I didn't take the Prozac well and was waking up every night panicking for several hours before I could get back to sleep, so I was then put on Luvox. I handled it fine, but it was so sedative that I just wanted to sleep forever and it wasn't sustainable with my 90 minute commute full time job I had at the time. After a few months of that, I was put on 20 minutes of Lexapro which is where I've been ever since. Especially during that time, everything was so crazy that I can't really place exactly how much each drug helped me and where, but I eventually did stabilize after leaving the job (it was a 9 month contract) and get to a position where I could live my life. However, a lot of the fear with tapering is I'm not sure how much of that was due to the Lexapro and how much was getting out of the hell job plus my own growth and gaining control over my condition. I have tried several taper attempts over the years, however they naturally didn't go well because I was following the typical psych recommendation of 25% steps over a couple weeks. On one attempt in 2020 I did actually hit zero and at least in the moment didn't feel like I was having too much trouble, but it was during an unemployed era and I had to move back home right around when I hit zero and I collapsed into the worst depression of my life and ended up going back on my 10mg Lexapro after a few months at zero. Anyways, over the last few years, I've conquered a lot of my demons, picked up a well paying part time remote job I'm very happy with, and stumbled into a support group of some of the best people I could ask for. Overall I'm doing great, and I decided it's finally time to see if I can be free of psychiatric drugs. I'm currently at 5mg, I had been doing a 15 week 15 step taper using a jewelry scale and empty capsules to crush up the pills and measure by weight. 15 steps was about as precise as I could get it, so that's what I went with. I also started an at-home low dose ketamine therapy program which I think is helping, until I started feeling withdrawal at around 4.5mg, it felt like I wasn't tapering at all. Someone could have been cutting my dose down and I wouldn't have even noticed anything was wrong. But anyways, that 4.5 is where things started to get a little rough so I decided to go back a step up to 5mg and re-evaluate my plan after learning even what is extremely gradual and cautious by the typical psych recommendation is actually still rushing it in reality. I also have a convention this upcoming weekend and figured I should keep myself somewhere stable so I can enjoy myself and not worry about what to do next until I get back. So, onto the now. I'm currently at 5mg and hanging in there, things are a little swingy but I also haven't been at this exact dosage for more than a week. I guess the long term plan is to see if I can get my meds in solution form and start a 10% of previous dose taper every month as recommended here. My main concerns with this whole thing are as follows: - Will I be feeling unwell as I taper, so stretching it out beyond the sweet spot duration will just persist that? This particularly comes from the plans to take 5HTP or L-Tryptophan once I'm at zero, which I can't do until zero due to the interactions, so there's a bit of a desire to go as fast as possible while still doing it correctly. - Once I'm stabilized at zero, will that hellscape of OCD and anxiety come back to me? This is entirely a rhetorical question, I know there is no answer, it's just what's on my mind and I think making that clear is important. It's also something I would love to hear experiences with, I'm not sure if people coming off psych meds is generally an improvement on anxiety/depression symptoms or if there's an inevitable drop that will need something else to make up for. I still have no clue whether the meds did the bulk of the work in me getting better, whether they were meaningful partial factor, or whether they basically did nothing at all. - I understand the chemical imbalance theory is largely seen as nonsense at this point, but nearly everything I've dealt with has been pretty clear cut and dry serotonin-related problems and I'm wondering if there's anything I can do once I'm at zero to aid with that. From what I understand, serotonin supplements like 5HTP aren't really something you can take long term. (If the notion that my mental health symptoms come from a shortage a particular brain chemical is complete hogwash and just not how any of this works, please feel free to say so). Apologies for the essay! I look forward to digging into this community and having others on the same path to share my journey with. Halfway down I'm already feeling some of my motivation and libido come back, and I'm apprehensive but excited for the future free of SSRIs.

hi My name is Karen, I’m 46 and been on and off Zoloft since age 16. i was off once in my 20s and 30s for about 6-7 years and that was a hard and horrible time. Then I went back on about twelve years ago and have been on them ever since. I did lots of work cutting out alcohol and smoking plus now I’m non dairy, non gluten, low grain, high protein (as much as possible) with a ton of supplements for a mast cell disorder and osteoporosis. Fourth months ago I started tapering very slowly from 200 mg and just this past month I started having nightmares, high REM asleep, sleeping 10-12 hrs on weekends, horrible PMS, nearly got fired because of my crazy impulsive antagonistic behaviour and am driving my best friend insane…she hasn’t ever had mental health issues like this so she cannot relate very well even though she is generally sympathetic… today I went back up to my full dose. I got scared because I have been feeling suicidal and so “off” that I was feeling that I wanted to die. I was not going to act on it, I was just having ideation. But…I finally realised my tapering is not working. I HATE depression, well, for obvious reasons. I can stand physical pain much better than the pointlessness, worthlessness, anger, and despair that gets on me when I spiral down. in that four months, I only tapered down to 165 mg so I think it was slow enough… what did I do wrong… im so tired.

Firstly hi, i wish someone can guide me, may 2021 i started on paxil 10 mg then 20 mg to the end of mars then i switched to zolof 50 mg then 25 mg but it gave me insomnia and lost my appetite so i switched to lexapro 5mg after 7 weeks on zoloft.. Lexapro always made me lose my appetite so i just stopped then i got into withdrawal so i used prozac to get rid of them after one week like this : one week 5 mg prozac One week 2.5 mg One week 1.25 It got rid off dizziness and zaps but nauaea it still there after i finished prozac ( when i was on it i didnt have much appetite too ) Its 10 days ago So what should i do now plz help me Tough it out ? For how long ? Or reinstate lex 2.5 mg but it will make me lose my appetite anyways Can i taper if i wasnt stable on it and still give me side effects ? Plz help and opinions and thanks..

Hi! I've been taking 40mg of fluoxetine daily for 8 years but stopped on July 30th 2023. I didn't know about tapering until last week so have just stopped completely. Which has been pretty rough. I'm experiencing severe mood swings, brain fog, forgetfulness, terrible brain zaps, up and downs of anxiety and depression. Although I'm pretty sure it's not my depression returning as its very erratic. Also feeling bursts of anger and tearfulness. Digestive issues including constipation, diarrhoea and nausea. Also very low to no libido and sexual dysfunction. The low level sexual dysfunction was one of my reasons for stopping the medication but it seems to be worse now. I have started hrt in November 2022, for perimenopause. This helped with most of the unpleasant symptoms I was experiencing, including depression and anxiety. I always suspected I was misdiagnosed with depression and anxiety when I in fact was perimenopausal, so when the hrt got rid of my anxiety and depression I thought it was a good time to test the theory and stop taking my antidepressants.

Hey Folks I stopped taking effexor three weeks ago after tapering it down 150 > 112,5 > 75 > 37,5 > 25 > 12,5mg over about three months. I came to the conclusion to stop it with my psychiatric because i didn't felt any improvement after taking it over a couple of months and had to deal with some nasty side effects. He told me to change to Prozac and i started taking it when i reached the 75mg mark of effexor. Currently i am on 20mg Prozac. The first ~4 days after stopping effexor were completely okay with no signs of discontinuation problems. But after that i started to feel nauseaus almost every day since. There are days where the nausea is tolerable and disappears over the course of the day and then there are other days where i feel nauseaus the whole day. That said, i also feel more anxious over the day...almost like drifting into a panic attack that then won't happen. I am now at a point where i am no longer sure if those are signs of discontinuatuion or my brain/thoughts are makin me sick. It feels kinda surreal to think that 12,5mg would have such an extensive effect on my body after two weeks, but on the other hand there seem to be a lot of people having problems getting rid of this medication and are on discontinuation syndrome way longer then two weeks, even after stopping on lower doses.

Hi just a little about me! I have been taking fluoxetine for approx 20 years! Throughout which time I have continued to struggle with coping and mood! I have made adjustments in my life to help me cope better: not overloading myself, mindfulness, taking it easy and trying to manage my reaction to situations and life better! I am now weening myself off Prozac! I have always taken 20mg. At the moment I am down to taking the tablet just 5 days per week. As for symptoms, I never felt well while taking them, tired moody, highs and lows, generally feeling unwell. Noticeably more recently foggy head, poor long and short term memory and a feeling that my head is full and confusion at times! So, I am thinking, yes there will be withdrawal symptoms, but I am hopeful that I can handle it! I have been taking 5 per week for 3 weeks now, and I am wondering when I could reduce to 4 per week? I would really appreciate your advice and thoughts on this. Many thanks x

Hi. I have been reading different posts on here for about a month. I want to taper off Lexapro, but I've been on it for over 10 years. In 2005, I was put on a very short, and ended up with brains apps and went back on it because I was super agitated. When I told my doctor I wanted to Lexapro, her idea was to switch me to Prozac. Initially, she was going to help me switch to 20 mg, but I knew that the equivalent was 40 mg, so I asked if we can do that and she said yes. I am on day two of switching from 20 mg of Lexapro to 40 mg of Prozac. I feel dizzy and have a UTI. I don't know if that can be caused by this medication switch. It kind of creeps me out. The test only showed barely any evidence of the UTI, but the doctor said I was experiencing symptoms so gave me an antibiotic. I am thinking about a post I read on here that suggested people try wean off their current drug rather than bridging to Prozac. So now I am kind of freaking out thinking that I should just go back on Lexapro and when I see my doctor in a week and a half ask if she will prescribe the liquid. I think I asked that in A message, but she suggested Prozac. I have wanted to wean off the drugs for a long time, but actually had resigned myself to staying on it for life. I felt like I was stuck. But then it was getting migraines, and my family doctor wanted to add another antidepressant Pamelor, for the migraines. At that point, I did not want to add any more, and so now I decided it was time to try to taper down. I have seen that on some sites it says Lexapro can cause migraines.

I was on 20mg of Prozac for 3 months. While on Prozac I had slight reduction in sex drive. Prozac wasn’t helping my depression so I quit cold turkey after 3 months of being on it. 3 weeks after I quit I started having brain zaps for a few days. Then one day the brain zaps stopped and suddenly I had no libido and ED. This happened 4 months ago and I haven’t improved at all my sexuality is gone and I struggle to get an erection when I never had this problem before. This wasn’t my first time on Prozac either. I was on 20mg in the past with no sexual issues, then I was increased to 40mg and completely lost my libido, couldn’t orgasm, and had severe ED, as well as emotional numbing. However all these symptoms went away after a month of being off the medication. I stayed off Prozac for a few months then went on 20mg again since I didn’t have problems with it previously and that’s when my symptoms started. How ***** am I is this withdrawals or PSSD? What makes me think it’s withdrawals is because my symptoms only started after I stopped the medication, but on the other hand I stopped Prozac 40mg cold turkey before and was back normal within a month so why did I get brain zaps and lose my libido and still haven’t gotten it back after stopping only 20mg of Prozac this time?

Hi everyone! I took Cymbalta for about a month back in November 2022-December 2022. I had been on and off Lexapro for about 5 years, with a short stent of Prozac during 2021. I stopped cold turkey and had a few withdrawal symptoms lasting about a month. I was a tad more anxious after quitting antidepressants, but overall felt much better! Fast forward to May 27th, I had a panic attack that has left me feeling anxious ever since. I have gotten better over the past few weeks, but still anxious. My psychiatrist recommended trying Lexapro again at a higher dosage and prescribed Lorazepam to take PNR (for panic attacks). I’m hesitant to get back on an SSRI because I felt like I was handling life fairly well until the panic attack. I also have not had another panic attack since, so the Lorazepam has just been sitting in my nightstand. Anyone else struggling with withdrawal symptoms happening late or return of anxiety after feeling okay for a few months?

I was diagnosed with depression in 2002 and given amiram 20 I took it for one year then I stopped I returned to it in 2007 without any relief I until I diagnosed with bipolar2 in 2015 it helps and I get hypomania in 2020 and stopped all my medications rather quickly which were lithium 1000 mg sereqol 300mg and larogenr400mg and Prozac 40 mg I get akatisia after two month and I returned to psych who reinstate sereqol and raised it up to 400mg and Prozac 40 and larogene 100mg this was three weeks ago I still depressed but akatisia is gone I want to start a new taper is that possible

Hi I’m new here hello, I found you by the panorama bbc programme. I have been on flouroxetine for nearly 15 years but every time I come off them I think I’m getting depressed again as my symptoms include brain fog, anxiety, can’t sleep, no appetite, also lack of energy, bad mood. Lots of these symptoms are similar to depression. So because I feel like hell I’m thinking of going back on them to the detriment of my sex life again. But watching this programme made me think is it withdrawal. I have not taken them for a few months has any body else been in this situation. Do i stay off them and see if I feel better one day or just be on them forever thank you

Link to intro thread Hey all! Been meaning to write this for a little while now but just haven't had the time. But I knew I was always going to write a 'success story' as those were the ones that kept me going!! I HAVE BEEN OFF MEDS FOR 2 YEARS & 3 MONTHS!! I'm 31, female, I was on SSRI's for a total of 5 years, mostly Fluox, then sertraline, then citalopram before my doctor removed me from meds cold turkey, he said I would have no ill effects from stopping this way either!! So I'm going to list my main withdrawal symptoms, what helped me through withdrawal and any other bits of info like when i felt the worst waves etc! Symptoms: -Daily crying -anxiety -panic -depression -dizziness -skin itching -tremors -muscle weakness -visual issues -heartburn -gut issues -heart palpitations -insomnia -suicidal -weight loss -cramp in legs -full body stabbing/zaps -backache -headaches -TMJ -brain fog -unsteady on feet -lethargy -muscle weakness -hair loss -joint pain Those are the ones I can remember off the top of my head, but there will definitely be more! I noticed my 'windows' were very sparse until I passed the 12 month mark and after that I'd eventually get more and more windows. Before the 12 month mark, my windows were only short and usually on evenings. I had the most severe withdrawal symptoms between months 6-11, which I've read lots of people suffer more at that stage too. I also in this withdrawal period took Cipro, and my symptoms worsened after taking that so I do believe I was 'floxed' too. The things that helped me get through a cold turkey withdrawal: (there aren't many!) -Reading the success stories on this website (constantly!) -Meditation daily -Baylissa's book -The Lovely Grind youtube videos -Drew Linsalata podcast (the anxious truth) -My partner! (most definitely the reason I'm still here and off those meds!) I have been blessed to have a supportive partner throughout this process who fully supported me and believed I would make it out of the other side. He is my absolute angel! Between my sheer grit and determination and his supportive words I have done it! The only issue I've had since stopping the SSRI's is that I'm now in early menopause. I'm only 31 so it is very unusual. The doctors can't work out why I'm in the early menopause, my ovaries 'look' fine so they think it's more to do with my brain producing the hormones and my pituitary gland. So I believe that the medication and my withdrawal has caused my hormones to completely deplete by altering something in my brain. I'm now on HRT and feeling much better since being on it. I was hoping I wouldn't have any long term effects from taking these meds but it seems I do sadly. For anyone reading this, IT CAN BE DONE! I'm now over 2 years CLEAN and I feel SO MUCH BETTER that I don't have to rely on those tablets and have the ongoing side effects from them! KEEP GOING!!! If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask and i'll respond as soon as I can! 🙂 Love Jade x

Hi everyone, I never thought I would find myself here but well here I am. Everything started in January. I started having panic attacks and was placed on Lexapro by my pcp. I took it one time and had such a bad reaction I went to the ER with chest pain, dizziness and rapid heart rate. This was on 10mg!! I took it again the following day and got horrible sick and never took it again. I started seeing an Aprn psychiatrist and she then prescribed me Paxil 5mg… wow it was an awful drug!! I started experiencing withdrawal symptoms every morning until I could take my next dose. Then on January 18 I woke up with urinary urgency and frequency. My bladder burned and I had never experienced it before. I thought maybe a UTI but all tests were negative. I met with my psychiatrist and told her my symptoms and she told me is couldn’t be Paxil as she had never heard about that. She then told me to stop taking it and to start on Prozac 10mg. I started Prozac on January 30 and my bladder issues remained. I saw so many doctors and had so many tests everything came back fine. On March 14 my psychiatrist told me to just stop taking Prozac as I also had Sever depression. She said since Prozac had a long half life I didn’t need to tapper and could just stop it… I did just that. the rest of March was fine… I still had my bladder issues but at least I wasn’t depressed. Then the beginning of April I felt something totally new. I had the feeling of urinary urgency but from my urethra not my bladder. It was like the grime was stuck and I still had to go. Then a few days later the pressure also felt like slight arousal and I got worried. I started looking online and saw PGAD and flipped out. I have sever OCD as well so I latched onto that. Days went by and some days were better than others. But some days were awful. I would wake up in the middle of the night having an orgasm… not to much of a big deal I had that happen a few times in my life. But then a few days later it happened again. This was not normal. I would wake up with intense anxiety and started having brain zaps. I felt like I damaged my CNS. To this day the feelings are still there though they seem to change every day. some says I will have a burning in my genitals, other days I will feel normal, then the next morning urethra pressure that feels like arousal. On days like today it feels like a pressure down there and so hard to explain. I don’t know what is going on and am worried I will have this forever. I am also experiencing feelings of intense anxiety during some days and times I can’t sit still. Days like today I am so depressed… I am in therapy twice a week for my OCD and my therapist is working with me during ERP therapy about radical acceptance. I am so worried I will not heal from this. I come home from work and lay in bed. My husband and I are not having intimate relations because of mu arousal feeling… thank god he is very underpaid loving. These antidepressants ruined me and I worry I will never be who I was.