Symptoms: Akathisia, brain zaps, emotional blunting, cognitive impairment, insomnia, tinnitus, severe anxiety/panic, muscle/joint pain, GI disturbances, severe pain (eyes, back, rib cage), dysautonomia, panic attacks, rage, paranoia, auditory/visual hallucinations, ear problems, facial burning/flushing
I document my journey a lot on social media (thatfunctionalnurse) however, I started taking Lexapro when I was 22 after I experienced one singular panic attack when I was a new graduate nurse working in a very high stress intensive care unit. I was prescribed 10mg of Lexapro shortly after.
Over the years, I started to develop physical and mental symptoms that I could not figure out what was causing them. I was losing my memory at 28 years old, could not focus on anything, had serious emotional blunting, and could not form or keep relationships. I did not care about anything.
I went to a brain clinic where they had mentioned something about an area of my brain being sleepy because of the Lexapro I was taking. That was the first time I ever realized it may be the Lexapro causing my symptoms.
In 2023, I started my taper. My provider did not know how to safely taper, of course. Eventually I learned how but it has been 3 years of on and off tapering and to say it has been torture at times is honestly an understatement. My entire life has been derailed. I still have about two years to go.
I now advocate for people going through withdrawal because I am a nurse and I never knew this could ever happen to someone.