Hi all,

 

I wondered if other people are dealing with the same things and if this is still withdrawal or something else going on. 
 

So basically my eyes are VERY DRY. I don’t mean regular dry eyes but the reflex to produce tears is completely dead. Literally no reaction to blinking, rubbing, wind, spicy food, cutting onions; nothing produces tears. Even when something is in my eye.. my eye does not reflex to produce tears to clean itself. When crying I only get 2-3 tears and that’s it.

 

I also notice that other parts of my body are dry. I sweat less, have almost no earwax or nasal mucus and I have a very dry skin. 
 

I am prone to dryness my entire life but this is beyond anything I experienced before. I also don’t see fluctuations and it’s been bad for past 2 months now. 

Anyone experienced this in withdrawal and recovered for these symptoms?  🙏🙏

 

I’ll let it checked out as I went into the rabbit hole and a certain autoimmune disorder is also related to these symptoms… but I really hope it’s just withdrawal.
 

@Sophia I am experiencing dry eyes from tapering paroxetine. Apparently rebound can occur due to its anticholinergic effects. That is similar with prozac.

A quick AI search says:

Stopping Prozac (fluoxetine) can cause a "rebound effect" or antidepressant discontinuation syndrome, which frequently manifests as physical, sensory, and autonomic nervous system imbalances. Your symptoms of dry eyes, reduced sweating, and mucous membrane changes are likely due to your body adjusting to the rapid loss of serotonin and changing neurotransmitter levels, which can impact lacrimal and sweat glands. 

PubMed Central (PMC) (.gov)

PubMed Central (PMC) (.gov)

 +2

Here is why you may be experiencing these specific symptoms:

Why Dry Eyes (Mucous Membrane Dryness) 

Neurotransmitter Rebalancing: Prozac keeps serotonin levels high, which affects the autonomic nervous system, including the nerves that regulate tear film and mucus layer production. A sudden decrease in serotonin can lead to a temporary reduction in tear production.

Irritation and Reflex Tearing: Dryness can cause irritation, which sometimes triggers "reflex tearing," paradoxically causing watery eyes despite an overall dry surface.

Rebound Dryness: While SSRIs can cause dry mouth and eyes, their sudden cessation can cause a rebound effect where mucous membranes become extremely dry during the withdrawal process. 

K Health

K Health

 +4

Why Reduced Sweating

Flu-like Withdrawal Symptoms: Reduced or abnormal sweating is considered a component of the "flu-like symptoms" and "temperature dysregulation" that commonly occur during antidepressant withdrawal.

Autonomic Disruption: The body's rapid adjustment to lower serotonin levels can cause temporary dysfunction in autonomic nervous system functions, such as regulating body temperature and sweat gland activity. 

PubMed Central (PMC) (.gov)

PubMed Central (PMC) (.gov)

 +1

Interesting, my nose and ears have been quite dry lately as well and onions have been the only thing to reliably produce tears for me in many years. And then I suddenly cried a lot with a reduction in my dose which was such a relief.

 

Autoimmune conditions are often made worse by stress, and withdrawal is stress, but that doesn't mean you necessarily have to panic. Lots of people live very comfortably with autoimmune conditions, if I were you, I would worry most about the severity of symptoms and less about determining the exact cause. Autoimkune diagnosis can be very tricky to get, because its an elimination process that depends on how inlfamed you are at the time of testing, and they also don't necessarily bring any answers/easy solutions. And it could as easily be not that, and just withdrawal or even seasonal changes!

I found vitamin C helped with dry skin, as well as my digestive system.

 

It's the only supplement I've noticed any improvement with.

 

I take 2000mg with my first meal and another 2000mg with my evening meal.

Edited April 13Apr 13 by Erimus

Interesting @Erimus ! I took it a while as well and noticed some window, idk if it was related.

Do you also experience reduced sweating?

I went to work out yesterday for first time in months and I just barley sweat! Freaked me out. Can’t feel my heat anymore or release it.

My eyes are wet but they do feel dry or itchy, I haven't tested cutting onions, spicy food or rubbing. I do recognize the 2-3 tears part, a lot of the times I can't even cry. When I meditate for a while or sit in a bus ride I do get a parasympathetic response, and start yawning a bunch and produce 'tears'. It's kinda annoying, I guess you could try doing that and encourage yawning to happen.

I do sweat in stressful situations, but not to the point of moisture. The nervous system state of sweating to cool the body and relax muscles is inaccesible to me. I usually feel burning sensations and pain when that happens, or get nervous tics or dissociate.

My earwax is normal, mucus too much, but my skin has become visibly more dry.