My eyes have also become severely dry… optician was shocked at my bud test and I am not allowed to wear my contacts anymore.

Only difference is that my eyes just don’t produce any tears anymore… also not from wind, yawning, irritation in eye. I am quite worried something happened to my tear glands. I am getting tested for Sjorgens but it really hope it’s withdrawal and will recover.

Its a really annoying and irritating symptom. Like I have sand in my eyes all day…

Thinking of meeting an eye doctor as well..

@Sophia I'm so sorry you have to put up with this horrible symptom too. Having said that, it isn't the worst one by far. I got tested for Sjogrens and it was negative, as expected. It's all withdrawal I believe.

2 hours ago, Sminismoni said:

I felt like shouting "F-U buddy" and running out of there.

I love this. I have to consciously prevent myself from telling my psychiatrist to “f*** off” every time I see him these days 😅🫠

Dear @Sminismoni, you are not alone. If this can reassure you, I had a nightmare sleep this night just one hour, from 6 to 7 a.m. All the night I have had the feeling to be plugged into the electrical network and couldn't close eyes. Also skin itching and very dry eyes. No window in 14 months WD, straight agony and terror. And nothing settled.

Edited June 6Jun 6 by skamen

@skamen how can we bear it? Every minute today has been torture..There is no relief. My head feels like it will explode and I am triggered by everything. Writing it here helps though, a little bit.

On 6/6/2026 at 9:15 AM, Sminismoni said:

He then pulls up the BNF, looks up Atomoxetine side effects and says "Hhmm, dry eye isn't listed as a side effect here".

What hardly anyone seems to understand, is that officially listed side effects are based on trial data, which are often done by the drug companies themselves (who have repeatedly been proven to be untrustworthy), and are naturally limited in what they'll discover in terms of size, duration etc.

Then, side effects are added only if the MHRA gets "signal detection" ie large quantities of reports.

Your doctor didn't believe you, likely didn't report it, and also likely did not encourage you to report it.

I wonder why there are few reports.

Anyway, I never had my eyes tested, my doctors were totally uninterested and eventually delisted me as a patient. However, I had stinging, sore eyes for a long time. If I cried, it felt like crying acid. It's gone now, but it took a long time.

On 6/6/2026 at 9:55 AM, Sminismoni said:

@Chippy I plugged the ingredients in the eye drops straight into google. it is basically Sodium Hyaluronate, which is a naturally occurring molecule already found in the eye. Then citric acid to balance the pH and a tamarind seed polysaccharide. No steriods or antihistamines so I'm fairly comfortable taking them.

I've found that not much makes things better or worse for me in WD. I've taken Ibuprofen and paracetamol for leg cramps several times and didn't feel worse. Had a filling done at the dentist with local anaesthetic, no worse than before.

It'll likely be ok.

I think it's worth avoiding anything that directly acts on the CNS, anything psychoactive, anything somewhat similar to psychiatric medications (such as 1st gen antihistamines) and so on.

However, to add to what you're saying about always being bad, I think there's a tendency with people who go up and down to search for reasons they had a wave, and to ascribe it to something, or anything. Maybe sometimes they're right, but maybe sometimes they were going to have one anyway.

I think things probably can trigger them, or worsen them, but also I don't think withdrawal syndrome is wave free if you never trigger one.

The dry eyes were the worst when I was taking Vyvanse. Only suggestion that kind of worked was warm compresses on the eyes. Something like this.

https://www.amazon.com/Bruder-Activated-Recommended-Professional/dp/B01N303YPU

It did help a fair bit for me. It even felt nice at the right heat. Only thing is that your vision will get a little fuzzy after but goes away after like 10 minutes.

Just putting something "down on paper' so to speak. Hope it will help me settle. It's the middle of the night. Can't sleep as usual. Prickling and burning feeling on my skin, all over my body, including inside my mouth. A kind of jittery feeling inside - rocking in bed helps (probably akathisia). And terrible chemical depression and anger. My brain is consumed with negativity and it is so dense, there is no way out of my own mind.

Anyway, I feel a bit relieved to have written this. It feels different to just writing it in a journal. Doesn't even matter if no one reads it, just good to get it out in a visible space. I pass the long dark hours listening to audiobooks. Cheesy historical romances that require no brain power at all.

Edited June 10Jun 10 by Sminismoni
Added info

On a more positive note, the eye drops, gel and hot compresses (thanks @Kahran, the optician said to use them too) are actually helping my eye symptoms immensely. Less sticky, less teariness out in the wind, and less blurry vision.

5 hours ago, Sminismoni said:

I pass the long dark hours listening to audiobooks. Cheesy historical romances that require no brain power at all.

You've just got to do whatever you need to do to make the time pass really.

It doesn't matter what it is.

@Sminismoni I’m so sorry for what you’re going through, but glad that writing about it on here helps a little. I feel the same way.

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of YA fiction, so you’re not alone in finding ways to pass the time that require little to no brain power 😅😂

@Sminismoni, you are not alone. I cannot sleep as well, jittery sensation all the time, night and day, internal akatisia, itchings, brain fog, neurological depression, awful dark depression.

I feel unable to survive this. I am trying to find words to describe the absolute chemical feeling that engulfs me for most of each day, worse overnight. Imagine a horror movie showing babies being murdered, but as an emotion. Add in extreme brain fog, like in a cotton wool cocoon, and there is no way out when I am in it..There is a literal physical urge to unalive myself that comes with it, like I need to stab myself or run out and jump off a building. Then sweating, prickling skin, jitteriness or dreadful PGAD. 2 hours sleep per night. There is such hatred and anger towards people who have done nothing, and paranoia too. I can't feel anything towards others and can't feel their care for me. My nervous system can't deal with YouTube, TV, books, news articles. Everything is triggering and overwhelming. Decision making is impossible, small tasks like completing an online form are too much.

I can't deal with this. To say that my nights are dark is an understatement. It is like being thrown into a dystopian cauldrom from which there is no mental or physical escape.

Edited June 16Jun 16 by Sminismoni

I am so sorry @Sminismoni 🥹🥹

This sounds like akathesia to me😞

Hang in there, I hope you get a window soon. You deserve it ❤️‍🩹❤️

@Sminismoni so sorry you're suffering terribly

@Sminismoni I am so sorry you are suffering so much.

As hard as this is, and I know it is unbelievable hard, try to reframe it from being something you 'can't do' to something you can but should not have to do. It is totally obscene that any human should suffer this much, but you can endure this, even if it doesn't feel like it, it's possible reframing may lift the suffering, even if only slightly, xxxx

@Sminismoni, I am also in the darkest place of the planet. The nights are unbearable, inner akathisia, no sleep, horrid tension, jitteriness, I want to jump off from my skin. Cannot doing nothing, neither audiobook nor TV, zero feelings, the human language doesn't have words to describe this Hell.

@Sminismoni all of this is very relatable to me. All I can really say is that in time, it got better.

Also, I do want to emphasise that you were struggling but just about managing, before experiencing a significant downturn/ramp up in symptom severity. For whatever reason, this seems pretty common around the timeframe you're at. I was awful before anyway, but I had a pretty severe deterioration in my physical condition around 7ish months off that lasted a while, which is pretty much the time you started to get a lot worse.

I don't know why, but for many this period does seem to be when symptoms peak. The hope would be that in time you will move past the peak, and it will get better again.

7 minutes ago, Luke said:

7ish months off that lasted a while, which is pretty much the time you started to get a lot worse.

I don't know why, but for many this period does seem to be when symptoms peak. The hope would be that in time you will move past the peak, and it will get better again.

Same

I've just triggered myself immensely by going on Reddit's PSSD sub. I relate to so much of what is there. The cognitive effects, loss of imagination, loss of creativity, inability to visualise, inability to sense my environment (stunning nature, beautiful music elicit no reaction), no ability to experience joy or excitement. I am not interested in anything, I don't want to do anything. And that's even on days like today where I'm not actually depressed. I struggle to feel empathy, I never feel normally sad or cry. I'm just really worried.

14 minutes ago, Sminismoni said:

I've just triggered myself immensely by going on Reddit's PSSD sub. I relate to so much of what is there. The cognitive effects, loss of imagination, loss of creativity, inability to visualise, inability to sense my environment (stunning nature, beautiful music elicit no reaction), no ability to experience joy or excitement. I am not interested in anything, I don't want to do anything. And that's even on days like today where I'm not actually depressed. I struggle to feel empathy, I never feel normally sad or cry. I'm just really worried.

I spent a lot of time on Reddit trying to figure out what was happening to me before I found this forum. I also found it very negative and triggering. It was a lot of people talking about how badly they felt and few, if any, returning to document their recovery. I’ve stayed off completely for the past several months for my own mental health.

I know you’re in absolute hell right now, but it’s still pretty early days and there’s plenty of scope for you to recover. I’ve read about a number of folks on here and Surviving Antidepressants who felt their emotions returning as they recovered. I believe you’ll get there too 💜

2 hours ago, Sminismoni said:

I've just triggered myself immensely by going on Reddit's PSSD sub. I relate to so much of what is there.

I have exactly the same…..

I have literally all symptoms except genital numbness luckily. I can’t even feel the effects of caffeine or alcohol anymore.. it’s so weird. I also feel like I can’t feel sick, pain or normal headaches because my brain is so weirdly calibrated, that every symptom is blunted and my brain filters everything thru this blunted layer in me and that’s all I can feel 24/7. I relate to almost every post there, while I don’t relate to most people in protracted withdrawal talking about overstimulation, rumination, intrusive thoughts, fear, crying spells, panic attacks, etc.

I also have way harder time crying compared to before the meds... Als my thoughts are like 50% reduced and I often have a very blank mind. Nothing happens in my brain, like all signals are blocked. I really understand why some call it chemical lombotomy. It’s a complete different kind of anhedonia compared to being overwhelmed and therefore unable to enjoy anything.

I keep hoping pssd like symptoms are just part of PAWS but more to the numbed / freeze stare instead of fight/flight.

It’s really debilitating. Also really confused because I used to be very sensitive and anxious and even my anxiety is completely gone because of the blunting.

To me it feels like I still take the meds everyday. Its like adrenaline and dopamine are not working well and I have too much serotonin activity numbing me out… on same days I even still have the big pupils 👀 I had on the meds…

6 hours ago, Sophia said:

that every symptom is blunted and my brain filters everything thru this blunted layer in me and that’s all I can feel 24/7.

Yes, I have this!!

6 hours ago, Sophia said:

Also really confused because I used to be very sensitive and anxious and even my anxiety is completely gone because of the blunting

Me too. I used to have almost crippling social anxiety. Now I could easily attend a function (if I was physically well) and not be bothered.

@Sminismoni the people have report having PSSD for a very long time also report no real withdrawal symptoms, and no changes nor fluctuations.

What you're experiencing sounds a lot more like withdrawal syndrome to me, with the fluctuations and the worsening a while ago.

The symptoms you're experiencing are not uncommon, and I experienced many of them myself. Just as you worsened, you can also then improve. I do not think you are stuck in a permanent state.

@Sophia same to you really, you've had small flickers and windows.

55 minutes ago, Luke said:

same to you really, you've had small flickers and windows.

Yes, I know and I keep trying to have trust in the process! However.. in the pssd community people also talk about short windows, but always getting back to their numb / anhedonic baseline. Some also have this for years.. idk.. it’s all so scary..

I genuinely feel like my brain is stuck in a malfunctioning state. One day I woke up and it was like this.. a light switch as many call it.

Did you feel that as well Luke? Like the way your brain felt and worked was completely altered? I don’t understand how it’s even humanly possible to be unable to feel sick, tired, drunk, hungover, regular headaches… it’s so unnatural 🥹… I can only feel this immense blunting and fog in my brain.

Edited June 21Jun 21 by Sophia