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Hi I just joined, I've been on 5 mg Lexapro since Nov '22 and gabapentin since Jan 19, '23. I want to get off both. The Lexapro is fine, meaning not too many side effects, but I do have libido issues on it, so my doc was going to switch me to a different AD. Her recommendation was to cut my 5mg in ½ and take for a week while starting wellbuterin. I did that for two days and developed major headaches again. I say again because I was having months of daily headaches (found out I'm Lyme positive AGAIN) When I started the gabapentin in Jan, after to days the headaches were miraculously gone! fibromyalgia pain was 90% gone and I was so happy/grateful. But now I'm back to daily excruciating headaches again. I looked online to see if it was maybe a withdrawal symptom and found this site. I'd love to hear advise please. I see doctor again tomorrow.

Hi there I am on 112mg Venlor, from 225mg. I’ve been tapering slowly. I’m also doing brain training which supposedly helps. Has anyone experienced a very heavy head, like a truck has hit you. Also, dissociation from your body. Like you living behind a wall. Could this be permanent damage?

Hello all! I've been having a troubling time and at last I've found a place where people can listen. For around two months I had been very stressed by university decisions and having a major existential and academic crisis. After taking my exams my mind was working at 1000000 miles per hour and I was constantly stressed and evaluating everything. I'd found my self slowed down and constantly riddled by worry and regret and anxiety. I began taking '5-htp' which I was told would help somewhat. I then discontinued it and went on holiday and when I came back I felt slightly better. However my psychiatrist recommended going on Sertraline and prescribed it for me. I didn't really want to take it as I was feeling better but my family pressured me into it so I took it. That night, I was lying in bed and my brain was racing with worries and regrets and stressing and suddenly I felt something attack those thoughts, resist against them and dull them down. Initially, this frightened me inordinately but then I thought 'this is what this drug is meant to do' and just sort of let it happen. I then felt it attack against my verbal fluency and vocabulary and writing and evaluative skills. This seriously scared me and I felt my whole body fill with immense tension and stress and anxiety and felt as though I had gone into overdrive. My brain went into overdrive and I felt as though I'd never sleep again. I took it the next day and insisted that I stop it and didn't want it in my brain anymore so I went to the doctor and she told me the psychiatrist should never have prescribed it for me in the first place. She told me to stop it. I stopped taking it after only two days. The symptoms persisted and the world felt weird, dull and my perception of it awry. I suddenly developed this intense headache unlike anything ever experienced before - it was as though my whole brain was disintegrating. Like someone'd opened up a door in the sides of my head and it was all disintegrating away. This went away. I then started the 5-htp again, foolishly, unaware that it interacts with sertraline. I then stopped the 5htp after a couple of weeks of feeling strange, slowed down and sick. I hadn't slept at all since the sertraline. I then went away to Cambridge for a week to study English Literature and felt weird, slowed and dulled. Talking to people was hard and I found it difficult to form sentences, opinions and have conversations. Anyway, sitting in the lectures the pain in my head came on 10 fold. IT waslike my whole mind was disintegrating and I couldn't focus or concentrate or anything. I was petrified this and scared that at anymoment I may have a stroke or faint or something serious. I came back from Cambridge and told my parents and they simply thought I was psychotic, anxious and depressed. I insisted something was physically wrong with me and pushed to try and see a doctor. We went to the doctors who told me what I was experiencing wasn't real aand the drugs had no effect on me. They then prescribed my Valium because they said it was anxiety . I didn't want to take it but my parents forced me to. The Valium spaced me out and blunted my thoughts significantly. I then started to feel my brain shake and pump and wobble and light would effect me and I found myself talking strangely and so forth. It felt like my whole brain was sick and trying to be sick, like there's some horrible nocuous chemical eroding my brain and intelligence. I was walking around school confused and now it's like my brain has just shut down. I've discontinued the valium now but everything is wrong. I am completely Depersonalisation, I can't really remember my life and short term memory or process any new information or understand anything. My speech is terrible and I can't talk to people because when I do I frost over and it's like there's no-one inside me. it's like the lights have been turned off inside my own head and every day it is worse. No doctors think there is anything wrong and they just want to put me on Prozac and anti-psych meds now to shut me up. I don't know what to do anymore. My whole life is falling apart. I've gone from being someone who was intimidatingly intellectual, confident, creative, gregarious, sociable, quick witted, eloquent and so on to a bumbling, seemingly half brain dead zombie with no emotions, thoughts, feelings, opinions, memories or anything. Bear in mind I am only 17. What do I do? Every day it gets worse. The headaches are worse, the DP is worse, my cognition is worse, emotion lability is worse and the doctors are having none of it other than wanting to prescribe MORE ADs and APs. It feels like my whole brain is fizzling and wrong. Thanks! Any advice or similar experiences would be welcomed inordinately

Hi all, first post on here... trying to balance providing enough detail without writing an essay. I asked for mirtazapine in July to help with sleep (I've been dealing with lots of prolonged, chronic stress in my life and it looks like I’ll soon be relocating for a new job after 2 years of unemployment). I took 15mg for a few weeks, but it was too much chemically (I already take 50mg quetiapine at night), so I dropped to 7.5mg Mirt, however, it's been affecting my memory (both meds target histamine receptors at low doses). I dropped to a 1/4 tablet a week last Monday and felt more energy, more emotionally in touch, improved sexual function but also very adrenalized. To complicate things further, I have strong anxiety around concussions/head trauma after experiencing post-concussion syndrome in 2015 and last Saturday, my headphones were playing up - I thoughtlessly gave them a quick slap while they were on my head. My anxiety exploded as I am very nervous about bumping/banging my head. I've felt worse this week - the main symptoms I've had have been irritability, anger and adrenaline rushes - these have much reduced. Wednesday was hell as I had dental work. I have fear of dentists anyway, but my cortisol was through the roof that afternoon. I remember hating humanity when my mouth was full of needles/dentist's drills - I've never experienced such as strong reaction in that situation before. Neuro-emotions? I'm now mainly mentally tired, feeling a bit depersonalised/detached with intermittent mild headache. Part of me is saying I'm experiencing brain-injury after effects of slapping my headphones, while the rational part is aware I started feeling very anxious/adrenalized before last weekend. I'm fairly sure this is all due to the 50% jump down from 7.5mg to 3.75, however, today I found myself stuttering when talking to a stranger, which did my brain injury fears no favour. Given that I've got a big move and new job coming up in 5-6 weeks - I don't have the luxury of time to ride out these symptoms and certainly don't want to attempt that feeling like I am now. The logical thing to do would be to re-instate 7.5mg and maybe try again in a few months at a much slower taper... It's just that 7.5mg Mirt + 50mg Quetiapine was turning me into a chemically-induced idiot with the memory of an 80 year-old, which is not a good look when starting a job that requires brain power. Any advice on what I've experienced and the best next steps?

Hello beautiful people, I am new here. I apologise if this topic was already covered a million times, but.... I am rather hopeless right now. I've been reducing my paroxetine dosage. The last reduction was from 20mg to 10mg a day. About a week or so passed of me taking this new 10mg dose and I started having TERRIBLE headaches. Mainly it's my temples, my jaw, my teeth. Have any of you had this problem ? How did you cope? I mean, I could be taking ibuprofen everyday,but it's been more than a week and that in itself has side effects... So I'm looking for something, just about anything that could help.

So when I went to pick up my first batch of liquid Mirtazipine, I asked the pharmacist who the manufacturer was because I am sensitive to the difference in manufacturers for the same drug. He proceeded to tell me that "industry standard" for all pharmaceuticals is somewhere between 10-20% ( I think thats what he said, I can't remember exactly) as far as actual drug concentration goes. So, the 45mg tablets he used to make my liquid suspension could have 10-20% more or less than 45mg each. I am so sensitive that now I wonder how I'll ever start my taper. I went from 15mg tablets of one manufacturer taken for the last 5 months to doubling up on 7.5mg tablets of a new manufacturer (Aurobindo) so that I could slowly adjust to that "brand" before moving to the liquid suspension because the liquid was made from Aurobindo tablets at a compounding pharmacy. I just so happened to have these 7.5mg Aurobindo tabs left over from before I upped my dose, otherwise I would have just gone straight to the liquid and dealt with the adjustment. Anyway, I have been on the new manufacturer for over a week and have been getting on and off intense headaches (my main WD symptom from an earlier taper trial of 25% cuts) and I don't understand why. Could it be that the concentration of these tablets is so different from what I was using that maybe they are causing WD symptoms even though I have't begun to cut my dose? I have 15 days worth left on the Aurobindo (now in a new Rx of 15mg tabs) and then I move to the liquid. I just don't know what's causing these headaches but I am inclined to believe they are withdrawal because they do not respond to ANY of my usual remedies. Any ideas?? Thanks in advance. Also, please let me know if I need to move this post to a different forum page.

Hi! I'm Britt777. I joined this site to figure out what is causing me numerous symptoms. Here is my brief story: Took Lexapro for about 3 years or more, came off of it Tried Trintillex and Brintillex, didn't like the way it made me feel Doctor then tried Fluvoxamine 100mg and took that for 7 months. He decided to add Wellbutrin (Bupropion XL 150mg) along with it. A month later I ask to stop Fluvoxamine (Luvox) because I felt like I was experiencing "depersonalization" or pretty much felt like life was not real and was a dream. So, at that appointment he told me to stop the Fluvoxamine and upped my Wellbutrin to 300mg once a day. The first day from this switch I felt great. Then the second day came... had nausea, lightheadedness, dizziness, "brain zaps", increased tinnitus (ringing in the ears), blurry vision, feeling like I could pass out, headaches, head pressure, and crazy fluctuating heart rate. (Today I had a heart rate of 100 and dropped to 70 within 5 minutes without doing anything different.) This is day 7 since the switch. I just want to find out if it's withdrawal symptoms from the Fluvoxamine since he didn't advise me to taper or if it's a reaction to upping the Wellbutrin.

My doctor said I was Bi-polar and started me on different drugs. Began Abilify, 10 mg in 2004 after the traumatic brain injury. I reduced approx. three mths ago from 5mg to 2.5 mg for 10 days then half again for 21 days then stopped. For the last few months I have had headaches. I have been told I was more fun to be around while on Abilify. Now my doctor wants me to cut the 50 mg of Zoloft to 25 mg. to give me some anxiety relief. She said that she wants me to start Abilify (generic) if reducing the Zoloft does not help. I'm afraid to do this because of possible sensitivity from already tapering Abilify (brand) too rapidly. I suffered from depression from approx 1984- 2006. PTSD sexual incident in 2001. I attempted suicide. I was in shock. I had an auto accident in April of 2004, as a pedestrian, and have a traumatic brain injury. Dr. diagnosed me with bi-polar after this incident. My symptoms are headaches, irritibility, anxiety, difficulty with concentration, poor memory. Should I begin taking 25 mg of Zoloft and possibly Abilify (generic)? I do not want to be on medication. I appreciate any help that you can give me so very much. Here is my history: Generic Zoloft tab 25 mg approx 8-15-15, began Zoloft brand, 50 mg on 7-22-16. My symptoms have worsened since increasing the dosage. Synthroid tablet100mcg,began 1-2010. L-Theanine double strength200mg veg Capsules by Now, Magnesium high potency 400 mg softgel by Nature Made, D3 maximum strength2000 IU by Kirkland Signature, Ultimate Thermofit by It Works(thermogenic weight loss), Biotin fast dissolve 5000mcg extra strength tablets by Natrol, Fish oil 1400mg vegetarian softgel 900mg Omega-3 enteric triple strength, and AbsorbMax by BioTrust veggie caps advanced digestive enzyme complex.

I am 43 years old. When I was 20 years old I had my first depression. They got me on paxil in October 1993. I was 21 years old then. That helped. The next 21 years following I head no depression or anxiety. 21 years I lived a normal live: married, made a career, sported a lot. During my student period (1994-1997) I was sometimes a heavy drinker. Occasionally I was dizzy for a couple of weeks, but that always ended. In those years I tried to quit paxil (20 mg) sometimes, but never succeeded because of the brain-zaps (withdrawal) Flash forward to 2014: I worked way to hard (I was manager for about 100 people) and got a burnout. That's where my tinnitus kicked in. I went to a psychiatrist (for the first time since 1993/1994) and he increased my paxil from 20 to 40 mg. Did not help much for the tinnitus and burnout, so I started slowly tapering from 40 to 0 mg over a period of 12 months in 2015. At the end of 2015 I was on 10 mg and went to 0 mg in one week. All hell broke loose: terrible headaches, heavy increase of tinnitus, suicidal thoughts, dizziness, anxiety an I even fainted a couple of times, etc. Was it the 23 years of Paxil that took its toll? At the end of 2015 I wrote a goodbye suicide note. The withdrawal effects where to heavy especially the tinnitus. I got hospitalized and at the hospital they gave me clomipramine (anafranil) and sulpiride (dogmatil). The effect was terrible. More tinnitus and double vision. Only solution was, according to a psychiatrist: back to paxil. So since the beginning of 2016 I am back om 30 mg paxil. With that I take 1mg lorazepam for the tinnitus and 7,5 mg mirtazapine for sleeping. My head feels terrible. It is extremely sensitive, especially for noise. Besides that I have a constant pressure in my head: most of the tome I feel the electricity in my head. This year I started neuro-modulation for my tinnitus and they made a scan (a QEEG) for the pressure in my brain which saw an overpressure in my brain. I am not sure but I think I have a sort of withdrawal discontinuation syndrome. My marriage ended because of the horrible situation in 2015/2016. Strange thing: I always knew that something would happen. 23 years on paxil took its toll. I am more stable now when I was 1 week off paxil. On the other hand: I have not tried to get off for a longer time and my brain feels so fragile that I cannot work anymore. I am afraid to stop taking paxil again. On the other hand: I want my brain, nerve-system and immune-system to heal. What should I do?

Hi, I am curious as to what symptoms other people have in withdrawal as well as during reinstatement of medication. There are lists of symptoms all over this website and all over the internet, but I would love more detail from you personally. How long do their last for you? Have you found anything that helps? Also are you in withdrawal or reinstatement? For me, right now, I feel burning hot and I'm sweating. No fever. This comes on suddenly, even if I am in a cool place. It can last 5 minutes or 5 hours. I keep ice packs in the freezer that I put on the back of my neck until it calms down. The other current symptom I have is what I call internal tremors, or internal shakes, and muscle twitching. I had them all day yesterday, as well as some during the night. Usually I have more during the night than during the day, but this time it was the opposite. I find that if I don't sit still I'm not as aware of them, so I try to move around the house. I do a little laundry, fold clothing, that sort of thing. At night I get out of bed and take a lukewarm bath and most recently I'm trying the bath with Epsom salts. I have tried exercise but that brings on the above sweats along with headaches. I have these symptoms both in withdrawal and now during reinstatement. I am 15 days into reinstatement. Hoping for stabilization soon. I am really interested what other people have to say. Thank you. RS

Hi All - Reading and typing are difficult, so I will try my best to relay what's going on with minimal typos. At the end of January, my psychiatrist used Prozac to begin weening me off of Pristiq (50mg), as the situation calling for meds was better and I was experiencing the haziness and vision problems associated with SSRIs. Over a month, I had discontinued both drugs (last dose of Prozac was 15 days ago). It is now March 10th and all of my symptoms are at their peak, with new ones arising regularly. My worst symptoms at this point are outlined below. I have omitted anxiety from the list because OBVIOUSLY. I am terrified that I am permanently like this. Can anyone else relate to such symptoms or advise on how long they lasted? I will not go back on this poison – but I also cannot go on like this. Any advice and/or support is welcome and appreciated. Good luck to everyone. Vision Blurriness (Made worse by driving) Dizziness/‘Spaced Out’/Fogged Feeling Disequilibrium (feel like a zombie, not ‘myself) Neck & Upper Back Pain (Particularly the top of my neck; stiffness of entire neck) Sensation of Brain “Moving” (Sometimes like a shakiness or bobble head type feeling) Muscle Spasms/Twitches (and general ‘shakiness) Motion Sickness Drunk (in a bad way) Confusion Trouble Concentrating (hurts my brain to try) Memory/Recall Issues Constant Headache (feels like a tension headache) Temple & Ocular Pressure Nausea (constant but generally mild) Occasional Ear Pressure Hair Loss