Symptoms: Akathisia, emotional blunting, sexual dysfunction, insomnia, tinnitus, anhedonia
After a routine doctors visit in 2016 I was prescribed escitalopram/Lexapro at the “low dose” of 5mg for a completely minor temporary issue without fully understanding the implications of what I was being given.
That was the day my life was ruined. I was on the drug for less than six weeks before stopping, after which I suffered horrific crippling symptoms that have not resolved in the ten years since.
The worst being anhedonia — a condition so horrific it’s hard to put into words. It feels like the circuitry that allows you to feel emotions has been turned off completely. This includes all human emotion, response to any kind of stimulant (caffeine, nicotine). It’s a state that’s impossible to describe to someone who hasn’t experienced it. People misunderstand it as depression but it’s entirely and completely different and far more harrowing. It feels like a physiological injury.
In addition I have tinnitus, issues with vision and full sexual dysfunction — a complete inability to feel attraction at all, that goes way beyond low libido. I’ve come to understand since that all the symptoms are those of a condition known as PSSD (Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction). Whilst sexual issues are a part of the condition, I feel the other symptoms — the anhedonia — are actually worse and far more debilitating.
It’s a fate I wouldn’t wish on anyone. When I recently learned that this drug has been approved for children I felt ill. These drugs should simply not be legal.