Hello! Almost two months ago already, I suffered an immediate adverse reaction to just one dose of 5 mg escitalopram. Before I was prescribed the Lexapro, I was dealing with intense anxiety attacks and OCD-like spirals. Anxiety disorders are common in my family, but they’ve all been managed without medication. I met with a psychiatrist to be evaluated and redirected to a therapist, but they also prescribed me Lexapro at a low dose because I said I am rather hypersensitive to medications. I didn’t want to take the medication. My family had forced me to. That was the beginning of this whole mess.

I take my first and only pill at 10 pm on May 3rd, 2026. 4 hours later, I am feeling internal surges of restlessness. Although I’m tired, I have the collapsing itch to just move. Building up to an hour after that, my whole nervous system just shuts off. My body did one strong shake that even made me involuntary swallow really hard! I have intense physical symptoms and mental ones.

Week 1-2: Intense tremors, “Pins and Needles” throughout my body, Insomnia, Emotions feel “blocked/walled off”, PSSD, Vision issues, Constantly itchy, Internal vibrations, Intense anxiety

Week 3-4: I get pieces of me back at a time. The physical tremors and intense tingles started clearing up from knees to toes, hips to toes, chest to toes, then head to toes. I get random bouts of numbness in my body. For example, I can touch myself for a second on my head, but the feeling is intense and carries on for longer than I touched it. Physical tremors in the lower body are gone. Other symptoms persist.

Week 5: Sudden episode of strong internal vibrations, tingling, numbness, and vision problems. I am extremely sensitive to light. I lose hunger cues and the ability to tell when to use the bathroom. Other symptoms persist.

Week 6-7: My mind feels very “raw”. I am unable to watch or read certain things. I have intense intrusive thoughts that are extremely distressing. My emotions feel more “blocked off”. I have fits of crying. The psychiatrist told me the medication was just too activating for me and wrote on my chart to not prescribe me any more SSRIS.

Week 8: Mind is feeling less “raw”. Intrusive thoughts that are a bit easier to manage. Hunger/bladder cues very slowly returning. Emotional bluntness gradually fading. PSSD veryyyy slowly improving.

Recovery for me doesn’t feel like waves or windows. I get hit with unpredictable, horrible waves that gradually fade and improve my baseline. I feel more like a big block of ice melting in the sun.

Welcome to the forum!

 

This is a volunteer-run, community forum aimed at helping those who are tapering and/or experiencing difficulties with psychiatric medications and withdrawl syndrome. We are not medical professionals and cannot offer medical advice. We simply offer support and opinions which you could use as talking points with a medical provider knowledgeable in withdrawing off psychiatric medications.

 

Please familiarise yourself with the forum rules and the disclaimer located here: Guidelines

 

Thank you for updating your signature.

I'm so sorry to read about the tough time you've had recently you will find plenty of support here for sure.

 

In the mean time this is what I would do if I were you:

 

-Stay Hydrated 

 

-Eat a good clean whole food diet, avoiding processed foods and sugars.

 

-Stay away from caffeine, alcohol and antihistamines and any other psychoactive substances.

 

Supplements are to be avoided initially, as they often irritate our nervous systems. Try to get your nutrition through food.

 

Down the line, you may wish to introduce Fish Oil and Magnesium. Those who can tolerate them have found them calming to the nervous system. Be careful try one at a time and start low and see how you get on should you choose to try them. In your situation, I wouldn't consider adding in anything, just good nutrition. Your body needs less unusual substances to deal with, not more.

 

A daily walk is very important as much as you can manage, if you can manage it. Gets you your fresh air and Vitamin D does wonders for your mind!

You might want to have a read of this thread from the older forum "Surviving Antidepressants" about immediate adverse reactions:

Immediate adverse reactions to an antidepressant or within a few doses? How long for recovery? - Symptoms and self-care - Surviving Antidepressants

It's older, and I'd say that 13 years on, prescribed harm communities might have learned more about immediate ADRs, and as you say, you're not having windows, but the point is that generally this is something that has been seen in various support communities.

Pretty much all of your symptoms can be considered "classic" or "typical" of such a reaction, based on stories from others in various prescribed harm communities.

You absolutely can (and likely will) recover if you do what you can to look after yourself, as best you can whilst giving yourself time. How much time, nobody can predict. What I would say, is that having setbacks but noticing that overall your baseline is improving, at weeks out, is a good sign.

 

You are very welcome here and I hope you find the site supportive.

Hey @MourningDove

Welcome to the forum!

I am so sorry to read about your ADR, these are common with these drugs I am afraid. The good news is ADR folk can recover quicker than normal WD folk so hopefully all this will pass for you sooner rather than later. Either way you will recover, time if your friend.

Immediate adverse reactions to ADs after only a few doses

Welcome Morningdove, this site is definitely wonderful for guidance and support. Hoping your system settles with in time it will.

Hi @MourningDove,

I don’t come back here often at the moment but I am another ADR case. Good to meet you!

I am 11.5 months out from an ADR to citalopram, 3 tablets, it’s been a journey. I’m in a crappy wave right now but generally, things are SO MUCH better. You are in the early stages that are the worst after an ADR, just getting through the day can feel pretty hardcore. I want you to know that it really does improve. Things do get infinitely better. It takes time and being gentle with yourself. The admins here have some fantastic advice but feel free to read my thread and reach out if you have any questions from another ADR case!

All the best, G

8 hours ago, SparklingG said:

I am 11.5 months out from an ADR to citalopram, 3 tablets, it’s been a journey. I’m in a crappy wave right now but generally, things are SO MUCH better.

Hello, @SparklingG !

I’m so sorry to hear that you also dealt with an ADR, and I’m sending you well wishes with your current wave! I am very happy you have seen some light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you for your encouraging words. For me, I feel like I either go through waves or plateau? Like I’ll have a sudden surge of symptoms for however long until it goes away with nothing really noticeable besides saying, “Oh, well that’s over!”. I’m taking it as healing isn’t always pretty, is usually pretty messy, but it’s healing regardless!

23 hours ago, MourningDove said:

Like I’ll have a sudden surge of symptoms for however long until it goes away with nothing really noticeable besides saying, “Oh, well that’s over!”. I’m taking it as healing isn’t always pretty, is usually pretty messy, but it’s healing regardless!

Yes--you are healing! Its great that, despite getting hit by waves, you feel a but better after coming out of one. Waves are brutal but you're taking the right approach--being patient with the process and with yourself. Keep at it and know you can always come here for support!

On 7/4/2026 at 9:08 PM, MourningDove said:

Hello, @SparklingG !

I’m so sorry to hear that you also dealt with an ADR, and I’m sending you well wishes with your current wave! I am very happy you have seen some light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you for your encouraging words. For me, I feel like I either go through waves or plateau? Like I’ll have a sudden surge of symptoms for however long until it goes away with nothing really noticeable besides saying, “Oh, well that’s over!”. I’m taking it as healing isn’t always pretty, is usually pretty messy, but it’s healing regardless!

Hi MD,

Thanks for the message! That’s very kind.

Yes, you are still early on and I doubt if you have reached windows yet. People call this “withdrawal normal” where you come out of a wave and return to a baseline. A baseline that isn’t always pretty and isn’t always good, this baseline can fluctuate too, but over time little by little, in a totally non-linear fashion, the baseline improves. Then one day the baseline improves enough that you can function relatively normally, then the waves start to space out or lessen in intensity. But again, even this is not linear. At 10 months and now 12 months I had pretty horrible waves - I wouldn’t say as bad as the beginning AT ALL but they were hard because it was unexpected this far out with how much my baseline had improved. They are manageable though.

Wish you well, let me know any further qs ☺️

Hey everyone,

It’s been 2 months and 4 days since this all began. Actually, should I count it the day I took the medication or the days after where it finally left my body? Eitherway, I’m around there. I have been getting random surges of anxiety for the last couple of days, and I feel a bit stupider if that makes sense (lol). I’m not sure if this is the start of another wave, but it’s enough to make me go, “I feel weird!”. Eitherway, I can’t do much besides stand it and I’m gonna consider everyday as a day I get closer to normal. I have some of my same symptoms to a lesser or same degree. My eye sensitivity and tinnitus is so annoying! About a week ago, I had a retinal migraine too I believe. How do we close this pandora’s box lol?! For now, I just find ways to spend my time. This forum and the SA forum are the only ones I interact with because the other ones are much more negative! No offense, because I completely understand where everyone is coming from, but I can’t deal with that doom and gloom. I believe in us healing no matter what!

3 hours ago, MourningDove said:

It’s been 2 months and 4 days since this all began.

Early days, so much room for healing to happen!

3 hours ago, MourningDove said:

I believe in us healing no matter what!

I agree 100%!

Hey again,

I believe I’m coming down with a cold as well. Are there any medications I should be weary of taking to treat it?

39 minutes ago, MourningDove said:

Are there any medications I should be weary of taking to treat it?

I would generally stay away from any medication, all those drugs don't really heal anything anyways and you can end up having reactions.

I would say dissolving honey in hot water and drinking it as a tea should be helpful (or mixed with any type of herbal tea that is okay for you and doesn't cause issues, usually chamomile tea is the recommendation with honey but a lot of people can react badly to chamomile in this hypersensitive state).

Maybe other members would have other ideas for natural remedies.

You should mostly just take it easy, rest and let your body deal with the cold, it shouldn't last that long.

@MourningDove This early on from an adverse reaction, I'd recommend avoiding pretty much everything except reasonably clean, decent food.

You're likely quite sensitive to further pharmaceuticals.

Keep in mind, cold medications typically don't actually treat a viral infection, they only offer potential symptom relief. I don't think the risk/reward ratio is in favour of possible small symptom relief vs. potentially reacting adversely to further drugs.

The USA is culturally very pharmaceutical-heavy. In many other countries, a common viral infection that passes in a few days is not considered much of a reason to start taking pharmaceutical drugs.

Hey everyone,

Man, what a cold! I decided to ride it out without any meds and really burned up for a bit (I even got some heat rashes to show for it!). I got similar symptoms to what I already deal with in my ADR recovery like intense eye pressure, headaches, and feeling feverish. When it comes to where I’m at in my journey, I notice I have waves with hardly any windows—just an improved baseline. It is incredibly slow healing, but it is healing regardless. I notice that I just get 1% better each day and after a week that basically improves me 5%. I’ll take that! Regardless, I am way better from when I started. I’ve seen all the side effects (even the so-called uncommon ones) like literally losing so much hair to intense physical tremors. I was basically balding and shaking like a chihuahua for a bit there. Of course, it scares me when I get hit by unpredictable symptoms that feel sooo unfamiliar, but if only time can fix it then all I can do is stand it. Just taking it a day at a time.

Hey again,

Bit of a chaotic week, but oh well. I’m a bit confused on my patterns of waves and windows. I found previously that my waves and windows go back and forth from length anywhere between a week or two. Now, I feel like I have waves that last a day, a window for a day, then a wave again. There’s some rapid cycling between the two, sometimes in a day I’ll switch back and forth. Is that a thing? I’m about to be a month from my biggest mental wave, and I feel recovered, but not 100% which is crazy! If it takes mental symptoms a month to recover and those are just IDEAS, then I could imagine how long the rest of this will take! Patience is key though. I guess there’s some good in not being able to turn back time. Everyday is a day closer to complete recovery.

Yeah nervous system injury is unpredictable, patterns always change, you can be a few years out and have a wave that feels like you gone back to 0, but the average does improve over time.

20 hours ago, MourningDove said:

Now, I feel like I have waves that last a day, a window for a day, then a wave again.

I see this quite a bit and have had similar myself.

On 7/10/2026 at 12:44 PM, MourningDove said:

but if only time can fix it then all I can do is stand it. Just taking it a day at a time.

That is litterly the perfect attitude. One day at a time 100%

22 hours ago, MourningDove said:

I’m about to be a month from my biggest mental wave, and I feel recovered, but not 100% which is crazy! If it takes mental symptoms a month to recover and those are just IDEAS, then I could imagine how long the rest of this will take!

The main thing is that you're improving.

The rate of improvement might increase at some point, it's not possible to really extrapolate recovery times in this way. That's a good and a bad thing- you want to rationalise it this way to predict when it will get better, but on the other hand it is also possible that your rate of recovery will increase.

It's been 11 weeks and you're noticing improvements. That's all there really is.

Hey again,

It’s been 3 months exactly from when this all began. This last month was really bad! First month was mostly just 60% physical symptoms and 40% mental symptoms. Second month was 60% mental symptoms and 40% physical symptoms. I dealt with so many things the list just goes on. Currently I’m dealing with some digestive issues, insomnia, vision problems, head/eye pressure, and other dysfunctions on top of things like neuroemotions, emotional blunting, memory issues, and intrusive thoughts. The other day really felt like I woke up on the wrong side of the bed! Literally nothing I could do besides suck it up and put one foot in front the other, but the moment I was alone in my room I began to just cry! Then I went into the shower and cried some more lol. Regardless, I am staying hopeful and positive. Healing is messy, healing is nonlinear, healing is uncertain, and healing is unpredictable.

Sometimes, in the midst of the sadness I feel about this whole thing, I begin to feel so frustrated and angry at the unfairness of it all. I did the right thing. I was vulnerable, I sought out help, I spoke about my problems, I took the medication as directed, I went to follow-up appointments. I did the right thing! But oh well, the worse case scenario happened and I’ll just pat myself on the back for how brave and strong I’ve been. Everyday is just a new day closer to this all being done.

My biggest affirmation is that I do not need certainty to align with my values! My values are my kindness, compassion, patience, happiness, hopefulness, and love, and I’ll literally be damned if I let those goddamn stupid pills take it all from me!

1 hour ago, MourningDove said:

My biggest affirmation is that I do not need certainty to align with my values! My values are my kindness, compassion, patience, happiness, hopefulness, and love, and I’ll literally be damned if I let those goddamn stupid pills take it all from me!

Hell yeah! Thank you for writing this, I needed to hear something like it this morning 😊.

I’m sorry things are still hard for you, but really glad to hear that you’re keeping a hopeful and positive mindset. Healing is SO messy and nonlinear, but it happens anyways. Of course it is natural to feel angry and frustrated (I do almost every day), but all we can do is move forward. As you say, every day is a day closer to healing.

You have a good attitude.

It is extremely unfair. However, it is likely that one day this will be behind you, and then you can live the rest of your life.

Hopefully sooner rather than later. However, yes, it's non-linear, frustrating and very difficult until that happens.

Pretty much everyone here can relate to the anger at how unfair it is, the majority of people here also took medication as directed and ended up badly harmed anyway with no warning, and then found that their healthcare system did not care what it had done to them and is making no efforts to prevent it happening to others.

20 hours ago, MourningDove said:

Hey again,

It’s been 3 months exactly from when this all began. This last month was really bad! First month was mostly just 60% physical symptoms and 40% mental symptoms. Second month was 60% mental symptoms and 40% physical symptoms. I dealt with so many things the list just goes on. Currently I’m dealing with some digestive issues, insomnia, vision problems, head/eye pressure, and other dysfunctions on top of things like neuroemotions, emotional blunting, memory issues, and intrusive thoughts. The other day really felt like I woke up on the wrong side of the bed! Literally nothing I could do besides suck it up and put one foot in front the other, but the moment I was alone in my room I began to just cry! Then I went into the shower and cried some more lol. Regardless, I am staying hopeful and positive. Healing is messy, healing is nonlinear, healing is uncertain, and healing is unpredictable.

Sometimes, in the midst of the sadness I feel about this whole thing, I begin to feel so frustrated and angry at the unfairness of it all. I did the right thing. I was vulnerable, I sought out help, I spoke about my problems, I took the medication as directed, I went to follow-up appointments. I did the right thing! But oh well, the worse case scenario happened and I’ll just pat myself on the back for how brave and strong I’ve been. Everyday is just a new day closer to this all being done.

My biggest affirmation is that I do not need certainty to align with my values! My values are my kindness, compassion, patience, happiness, hopefulness, and love, and I’ll literally be damned if I let those goddamn stupid pills take it all from me!

I can relate with so much of what you have said here, and as @Luke said your attitude is really good. You have this. One step at a time.

Hey again,

Big changes and decisions over here! For the first time since this all began, I genuinely just woke back up to the start of hunger cues! I had originally lost them, so I am glad to see them gradually coming back. More importantly, I’m thinking about taking a magnesium supplement. Previously, for about a month I took fish oil until I ran out and couldn’t really tell if it did something or not. I didn’t have any reaction or anything. But lately, I’ve been feeling weak. It is a weird sort of weakness though. I’m not sure if I’d call it fatigued, but I feel this constant inner dull tingling and I think that translates to a weird feeling of “weakness” as I’d call it. I heard magnesium is good for muscle twitching or tremors or sleep quality. I feel like I’m just dealing with a version of that. Anyone here take magnesium for tingling/tremors?

Hey @MourningDove just a word of advice and something to be aware of, magnesium glycinate which is the form commonly recommended can have an activating reaction to some people who are sensitive due to the glycine. Not saying not to try it just something to keep in mind. There are many other forms that you can try if that one doesn't work out for you. I had mag glycinate increase my anxiety when I took it in the past then looked into it and it is a known paradoxical reaction. Also great to hear that your hunger cues are back that is a great thing to get back. Much healing to you 👏

Edited August 7Aug 7 by overthepill

4 minutes ago, overthepill said:

magnesium glycinate which is the form commonly recommended can have an activating reaction to some people who are sensitive due to the glycine.

Thank you very much for the heads up! I do my best to stay away from things too activating because even before this ADR event, I was extremely sensitive to caffeine and things already! One time two years ago I even fainted for the first time after an epsom salt (magnesium) bath lol. I heard many good things about the one you mentioned, but I’ll def tread lightly now. I’ll keep searching!