Hey guys just wanted to give an update. It’s been 2 weeks now since I had that panic and horrible symptoms. I’m feeling a lot better in the last few days even if my vision is a bit off still and pupils dilated weirdly. My mood is back to feeling okay on window days. I guess that whole stuff was just in a wave which scared me shitless. I’m eating clean and back to feeling okay at work. That was one of the worst I’ve felt recently as I’m sure ye can relate to. I will be one year off the meds in a few weeks. Hoping for recovery in the next 12 months. Hope we can get to the other side. Thanks.

Wildgoose, Congratulations on coming up on a year. I agree when the waves come in, they sure can be brutal. But when that window comes it sure is glorious. There will be many more. Your doing wonderful. Hugs for now xxx Bernadette

10 hours ago, Wildgoose said:

Hoping for recovery in the next 12 months.

I hope this for you.

Good to hear things are better for you recently.

11 hours ago, Chippy said:

I hope this for you.

Good to hear things are better for you recently.

Hey @Chippy hope your well. Is there anything I could take for a headache. I’m worried about taking ibuprofen or an nsaid. Thanks .

12 hours ago, Wildgoose said:

Hey @Chippy hope your well. Is there anything I could take for a headache. I’m worried about taking ibuprofen or an nsaid. Thanks .

I get a lot of headaches and tbh I just using coping practices and stay hydrated. Some do take a paracetamol here and there but my advice would be to avoid.

On 7/2/2026 at 10:12 PM, Wildgoose said:

I will be one year off the meds in a few weeks. Hoping for recovery in the next 12 months. Hope we can get to the other side. Thanks.

The main thing is, it's slowly but surely moving the right way.

It might be sooner, it might be later, but you're on the path to recovery. The only thing to do is keep walking the path- it doesn't matter how long it is, if the end of the path is likely to be recovery and a good life.

Hey guys, just spilling my guts. I had a gig tonight (im a singer) and have been nervous before gigs before. But tonight I seemed so out of it and it felt like I was in a chemically altered state until a few hours after the gig. My vision was weird and idk I just felt weird. It didn’t feel like normal nerves. Is this due to my nervous system being so sensitive? I was able to do the gig well anyways but I was shitting it before I went up. It’s been 12 months off Prozac now.

8 hours ago, Wildgoose said:

Hey guys, just spilling my guts. I had a gig tonight (im a singer) and have been nervous before gigs before. But tonight I seemed so out of it and it felt like I was in a chemically altered state until a few hours after the gig. My vision was weird and idk I just felt weird. It didn’t feel like normal nerves. Is this due to my nervous system being so sensitive? I was able to do the gig well anyways but I was shitting it before I went up. It’s been 12 months off Prozac now.

Performing live is an incredible achievement in WD! Well done! Obviously the nervous system plays heavily into singing in front of people, you might not have felt nervous in the normal/traditional sense, but you can find that stress/experience/load of the event manifests in other ways like the weird vision or the come down for a few hours after or perhaps nervous in a different way, like you described here.

I echo @Chippy ! Great job! To this day, I don't like speaking in public, and a few months ago, I had to participate in a presentation to some fairly high (US) federal officials. I got through it okay but like you I had to wind down a bit afterwards. I admire your fortitude and courage. Doing something you enjoy, like singing, will really help with your recovery. Well done!

Can anyone give me some perspective on this please. It seems that now my system gets into these states where my pupils are big and I panic, feel head pressure, feel foggy and can’t think, and feel numb. It was like this a month ago when I came beck from holidays now before my gig it happened. And it’s still lingering today. If I can chalk this down to being withdrawal it’s fine but I’m worried about something else. Can withdrawal change over time and bring different symptoms? This is really worrying me today and I feel like I’m doomed because of it.

1 hour ago, Wildgoose said:

Can anyone give me some perspective on this please. It seems that now my system gets into these states where my pupils are big and I panic, feel head pressure, feel foggy and can’t think, and feel numb. It was like this a month ago when I came beck from holidays now before my gig it happened. And it’s still lingering today. If I can chalk this down to being withdrawal it’s fine but I’m worried about something else. Can withdrawal change over time and bring different symptoms? This is really worrying me today and I feel like I’m doomed because of it.

Hi @Wildgoose sorry you’re experiencing these symptoms! WD symptoms can absolutely shift over time, I have experienced this myself. I have also seen many others describe the symptoms you list as part of WD. So I think it’s most likely that what you’re experiencing is a wave and it will pass. Just try to ride it out and not feed it with additional anxiety (I know this is easier said than done!).

I have this all!! Except the anxiety.

Big Pupils, very weird sensations in head and face (pressure, air, tingling).

My eyes are more normal since this month but is still have the pressure and other sensations daily along with cognitive distinction and numbness/anhedonia

Edited July 12Jul 12 by Sophia

8 minutes ago, SarahMc said:

Hi @Wildgoose sorry you’re experiencing these symptoms! WD symptoms can absolutely shift over time, I have experienced this myself. I have also seen many others describe the symptoms you list as part of WD. So I think it’s most likely that what you’re experiencing is a wave and it will pass. Just try to ride it out and not feed it with additional anxiety (I know this is easier said than done!).

Thank you for the hopeful words. It’s just hard because I didn’t really have some of these symptoms up until a month ago. And now they seem to be happening. I hope it’s just withdrawal. It’s very difficult feeling this weird and out of it. Very strange.

1 hour ago, Wildgoose said:

Can withdrawal change over time and bring different symptoms?

Absolutely! Many, many people have reported this on this forum and on SA. Think about what is more likely

1. You developed protracted withdrawal AND now another unknown autoimmune/psychological/neurological condition OR

2. This is all just the ups and downs of protracted withdrawal, a condition that is characterised by dysfunction of the central nervous system.

Struggling today… have to work 9 hours as well. Keep getting in my head that this is something different and not withdrawal. Feel so out of it and anxious like emotional pain. A year off and I’m still going through such difficult times. Feels like I’ll never get better… how do you we get through this guys. I feel such rage today like I want to put my fist through a wall. Close to tears at times too. All I want to do is feel like I did before all of this happened. I was 20 when I went on ssris and now I’m nearly 24 and still in the middle of it. The injustice is unbelievable.

3 hours ago, Wildgoose said:

Struggling today… have to work 9 hours as well. Keep getting in my head that this is something different and not withdrawal. Feel so out of it and anxious like emotional pain. A year off and I’m still going through such difficult times. Feels like I’ll never get better… how do you we get through this guys. I feel such rage today like I want to put my fist through a wall. Close to tears at times too. All I want to do is feel like I did before all of this happened. I was 20 when I went on ssris and now I’m nearly 24 and still in the middle of it. The injustice is unbelievable.

Sorry you’re having a tough day @Wildgoose. You’re right, the injustice is criminal and none of us should have to go through this. Sometimes all we can do to get through it is try survive one day at a time. Try not to think about tomorrow and just do what you can to distract yourself and get through the day. You are experiencing withdrawal and you will get better.

3 hours ago, Wildgoose said:

Struggling today… have to work 9 hours as well. Keep getting in my head that this is something different and not withdrawal. Feel so out of it and anxious like emotional pain. A year off and I’m still going through such difficult times. Feels like I’ll never get better… how do you we get through this guys. I feel such rage today like I want to put my fist through a wall. Close to tears at times too. All I want to do is feel like I did before all of this happened. I was 20 when I went on ssris and now I’m nearly 24 and still in the middle of it. The injustice is unbelievable.

I feel you @Wildgoose. My mind is often restless and trying to figure out what the hell is going on, wondering if I'm missing something, wondering if it's something else. The uncertainty on top of the symptoms is what makes this incredibly challenging.

Then again, many others have gone before us and have gotten so much better. Many have even made a full recovery. There is hope.

I just keep repeating to myself that all of this is temporary and that things will improve in time but I admit, it's hard to believe when it all takes so long.

Wishing you lots of courage and improvement.

1 hour ago, SarahMc said:

Sorry you’re having a tough day @Wildgoose. You’re right, the injustice is criminal and none of us should have to go through this. Sometimes all we can do to get through it is try survive one day at a time. Try not to think about tomorrow and just do what you can to distract yourself and get through the day. You are experiencing withdrawal and you will get better.

Feel so hopeless now and scared. My withdrawal never had this kind of panic until maybe a month ago. I feel like I’m going to have to stop performing my music live too… something that I love, it can’t be good for my nervous system. I can’t see the light right now.

32 minutes ago, Wildgoose said:

Feel so hopeless now and scared. My withdrawal never had this kind of panic until maybe a month ago. I feel like I’m going to have to stop performing my music live too… something that I love, it can’t be good for my nervous system. I can’t see the light right now.

It’s totally normal for symptoms to shift, though I know that panic is such a hard one to deal with. If performing is something you love, and it doesn’t make you feel worse, then I absolutely think you should keep doing it even though it may feel hard sometimes. We need to find the right balance between trying to live as normal a life as possible and not doing things that set us back. It’s really hard to stay hopeful sometimes, but if you keep going one day at a time, you’ll recover.

14 minutes ago, SarahMc said:

It’s totally normal for symptoms to shift, though I know that panic is such a hard one to deal with. If performing is something you love, and it doesn’t make you feel worse, then I absolutely think you should keep doing it even though it may feel hard sometimes. We need to find the right balance between trying to live as normal a life as possible and not doing things that set us back. It’s really hard to stay hopeful sometimes, but if you keep going one day at a time, you’ll recover.

@SarahMc is spot on, @Wildgoose . One of the ways the anxious mind maintains control is by limiting your life so you only think about it. It especially tries to keep you from doing things you enjoy, because you usually let go of the dark thoughts while you're doing them. That robs the anxious mind of its power. You may be surprised how well you react if you choose to continue singing!

Hey guys, still not feeling normal at all today. Very weird like chemically numb, out of it. When I’m fully busy and distracted I don’t think about it. Then when I have time to stop and relax I feel it fully. I used to take magnesium at the start of withdrawal. Can I take it again? Could it lead to panic or anything else?

Im also worried that I keep retriggering my system. Will I not heal if my cns keeps on getting triggered?

10 hours ago, Wildgoose said:

Hey guys, still not feeling normal at all today. Very weird like chemically numb, out of it. When I’m fully busy and distracted I don’t think about it. Then when I have time to stop and relax I feel it fully. I used to take magnesium at the start of withdrawal. Can I take it again? Could it lead to panic or anything else?

Im sorry it was not a good day, hope today is better, distraction is so important, maybe the most important skill to learn so you are doing great there!

Unfortunately when we stop and try and rest there is nothing there to remove the fixation on the symptoms so sleep for example can be a challenge. Here I think acceptance is so very key, learning to float and not resist the symptoms helps to elevate to some extent. Acceptance is key - Why does acceptance feel impossible?

You can take Magnesium if you would like, you should start low and work up, to check you don't react badly to it. Many find it calms the nervous system down.

10 hours ago, Wildgoose said:

Im also worried that I keep retriggering my system. Will I not heal if my cns keeps on getting triggered?

The cns heals regardless of what you do. If you can keep the nervous system calm and reduce stress that is helpful but you'll heal, just best to try to make the best enviroment for healing you can and let the rest go, don't obsess over it. :)

As others have said, new symptoms can crop up later on. It's all part of the recovery process.

I see also that you're about 10-11 months off. For some reason, it is also common to experience an uptick or worsening of symptoms for a little while sometime between 6-12 months off. Nobody knows why, but it has happened to many, including me. It is currently happening to a number of members on this forum right now.

The main thing is, this uptick in symptoms typically does fade again in time. I hope that gives you some hope, even though things are difficult.