Age: 26–35 · Duration of use: 2–5 years · Current status: No, have stopped
Symptoms: Brain zaps, Emotional blunting, Sexual dysfunction, Cognitive impairment, Depersonalization/Derealization, Suicidal ideation, Severe anxiety/panic, OCD intrusive thoughts
Symptoms: Brain zaps, Emotional blunting, Sexual dysfunction, Cognitive impairment, Depersonalization/Derealization, Suicidal ideation, Severe anxiety/panic, OCD intrusive thoughts
I was prescribed Lexapro in 2021 and I was taking it for 4 years. I came off Lexapro in May 2025 and had the usual acute withdrawal symptoms with brain zaps and anxiety. It went away after a month, but after 3 months, I was hit with a random shock to the system and later found out it was protracted withdrawal from antidepressants.
It has made my OCD worse and now unmanageable, which is currently my main issue and it has been debilitating. I am currently 11 months off and I have had a terrible time so far. I hope I can heal in the next 2 to 3 years, so let's hope that works. Thank you for reading.