Anyone taken SSRI and had long term withdrawal symptoms

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hi,

i realised today that i'm still getting withdrawal symptoms from coming off escitalopram over a year ago

the clincher for me was the brain zaps...the rest could be put down to my normal states of mind

ie depression/anxiety/mood swings

was wondering if anyone else has any experience of SSRI withdrawal

a dirty secret in the drugs industry as they try and pretend they are not addictive/cause withdrawal

even have a new phrase for it 'SSRI discontinuation syndrome'

I've tried almost all of the ssri's but I've never had any withdrawal symptoms that lasted longer than a couple of weeks. Sorry I couldn't have been more of a help to you.

Paxil, and I felt the symptoms for years afterwards, although intermittently with decreasing frequency. I took it in 2002.

Funny did not know they claim they drugs don't cause withdrawl, thats why they take you off it slowly. Rather than just stopping.

Did you stop or did you go off it slowly?

I been on 4 different types & think they useless as a placebo. Did not take escitalopram though.

I have never taken them, although several docs suggested. One of the reasons why I've said No to these drugs is that some years ago a friend was trying to get off Paxil. She was having horrible withdrawal symptoms like electric shock feelings and other stuff. Knowing I like to research stuff, she asked me to look into it. What I found was very disturbing. They are addictive because if you have physical withdrawal that is the very definition of addition. And there were TONS of stories and studies suppressed by industry talking about these kinds of reactions. see SSRIstories.com Bottom line: the drug companies lie through their teeth about their products.

Best of luck to you in ridding your system of the stuff.

Yes, wild mood swings including hypomania. Very dangerous stuff imho.

Drug free, doctor free.

dp

Last edited by Surfman on 20 Feb 2012, 6:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

I take Wellbutrin and Lexapro together for depression, and have off and on for about a decade. I've been on it over a year and then suddenly stopped both and had no problems at all. I've never had withdrawals from either. I've never had any side effects from Lexapro at all, and the only ones with Wellbutrin are shakiness for the first week or so, and insomnia for the first week or so, and headaches for the first week or so.

I was on Paxil for about eight months back in the late 90s and I had withdrawals from it, but that's the only AD that I ever had that from.

The withdrawal from citalopram took around a year, though the brain zaps only lasted a month or two. I've been left in a permanent state of apathy and in many other ways I don't feel as if I'm quite the same person that I was before.

I tried to come of Citalopram with my psychiatrist's help but even withdrawing from it slowly, I got severe brain zaps, dystonic twisting, dizziness, severe mood swings, manic behaviour, violent/agressive behaviour and I was crying a lot (although that might have been more to do with my despair at the withdrawal). I was also told that bs about SSRIs being 'safe' and that I wouldn't get withdrawal symptoms... If those weren't withdrawal symptoms then I don't know what is! I don't know what my long term problems could be because I was in such desperation to get rid of the withdrawal effects that I had to take fluoxetene instead. I'm not thinking of coming off it in the near future and I am scared that it and the Citalopram have destroyed me

Do you not get a leaflet in your drugs box, in your country, Region?

As All this information is listed on the drugs leaflet that comes inside the box in this country. Sounds like an idiot to me who should not be giving drugs out.

It's a pretty standard disclaimer in every box which lists about every possible side effect under the sun. CYA by the pharmaceutical industry.

Don't know about all SSRI's but on with regards to withdrawal the leaflet in the citalopram box only makes a passing reference to stopping and to "reduce the risk of withdrawal reactions". It's not exactly well publicised, and should really be the responsibility of the doctors prescribing this stuff to inform the patient. Unfortunately most patients are already in pretty dire straits when they good to the doctor when in situations where anti-depressants are usually prescribed and so not in a position to evaluate the risks or even to ask the right kind of questions. In my case due to external pressures I was more or less coerced into starting the SSRI's.

I wasn't allowed to read the leaflet because my Mum controlled my medication back then and if I read it I probably would have had all the side effects as I was a bit of a hypochondriac back then! Its sad though because I trusted what the doctor had said and he lied to me