27 minutes ago, Sophia said:

Exactly like you describe!! @SarahMc

Like my head is disconnected from rest of body and with my weird brain (that feels hollow / like air / lightweighted) it really feels like a cloud. Sooo annoying! It’s like I am drunk and wanna be sober!

Yes , this is me!! To a tee - I’ve been told it’s dpdr, but I don’t know. It almost feels like my brain is numb, or like I’m not connected to my mind , can only feel my brain and not the rest of my body. It’s a weird terrifying feeling.

7 minutes ago, SpiroC said:

It almost feels like my brain is numb, or like I’m not connected to my mind , can only feel my brain and not the rest of my body. It’s a weird terrifying feeling.

Yes I agree it doesn’t feel like dpdr…. It feels like insane brain fog. My brain also feels numb, especially in my forehead. Its like I can’t feel any pleasure in it. Also like my brain doesn’t suck up experiences anymore or doesn’t light up. Its excruciating! I also feel so numb :(

Do you also experience emotional blunting?

17 minutes ago, Sophia said:

Yes I agree it doesn’t feel like dpdr…. It feels like insane brain fog. My brain also feels numb, especially in my forehead. Its like I can’t feel any pleasure in it. Also like my brain doesn’t suck up experiences anymore or doesn’t light up. Its excruciating! I also feel so numb :(

Do you also experience emotional blunting?

It’s the weirdest fucking feeling! Like someone has poured cocaine on my brain. It must be a side effect of the nervous system being dysregulated.

Emotional numbness , yes.

Anhedonia, yes.

The thing is I’m still on meds so it can’t be the meds. You were on a very short time.

What other symptoms do you have Sophia?

2 hours ago, Sophia said:

It’s like I am drunk and wanna be sober!

Ha, kinda! For me it feels more like the world’s longest hangover 😆

2 hours ago, Sophia said:

Do you still have your entire emotional range ? What does that look like to you? 😊

No, I don’t have my entire emotional range. I have a lot of depression (sadness and overwhelming despair) and anxiety, and I can feel other negative emotions like anger and irritation, etc. But I still struggle with positive emotions. On bad days I don’t really feel any positive emotions, and on better days I get glimpses of them but nowhere close to normal levels. I miss feeling like truly excited and energetic about something, you know? But I know it’ll come back.

1 hour ago, SpiroC said:

The thing is I’m still on meds so it can’t be the meds

@SpiroC I’m not sure what you mean by this?

Without becoming banal, I have awful brain fog, @Sophia. Also a terrible depersonalization. All things are distant, it is scary.

10 hours ago, SpiroC said:

What other symptoms do you have Sophia?

So it’s basically

Emotional blunting

Anhedonia

Severe head pressure

Injured head feelings / toxic headaches

Parts of brain feeling hollow / like air

Extremely dry eyes (+ loss of tear reflex)

Tingling in face (forehead, nose, front teeth)

Tingling / burning in toes

Low libido

Brain fog

Blank mind

I also had no hunger or thirst cues, but they are starting to come back! I also experienced very numb skin but that also seems to normalize!

What are yours ?

41 minutes ago, Sophia said:

So it’s basically

Emotional blunting

Anhedonia

Severe head pressure

Injured head feelings / toxic headaches

Parts of brain feeling hollow / like air

Extremely dry eyes (+ loss of tear reflex)

Tingling in face (forehead, nose, front teeth)

Tingling / burning in toes

Low libido

Brain fog

Blank mind

I also had no hunger or thirst cues, but they are starting to come back! I also experienced very numb skin but that also seems to normalize!

What are yours ?

I’ve had/have all of these symptoms. You’ll find the paresthesia (burning/tingling) sensations will pass eventually. It was one of my first symptoms and took a really long time to pass. Started as tingling and numbness in acute and then changed to full blown 1000/10 burning. I had it all over my body, from head to toe.

The blank mind symptom is such a scary one. At times in acute it felt like I could literally stare at a wall for days on end without anything in my mind.

The hollow/air feeling in your head is probably just another symptom of DP/DR. I’d get it bad where it felt like I was high off my head and my head was full of helium, that floaty airy feeling mixed with like brain damage and zero cognition abilities. It genuinely feels like a bad high that never ends. It’s our brains trying to protect us during fight-or-flight.

The dry eyes one is a big one as well, my left eye started becoming dry and I’d lost the ability to moisten the eye, this started only recently, probably within the past 12 months or so. It’s gotten better but I just use eye drops here and there now.

I’ve had low libido pretty much for 3 years straight at this point, and it’s only been within the past 12 months that things started changing. I still have it, but I’ll go through windows of having a strong libido again, and the longer out my withdrawal goes the more I’m getting fluctuating periods of increased sexual drive, lasts only a short while (30-45 mins) but it’s still a sign that something is happening. I do have PSSD as well, so I’m at the furthest end of the spectrum here.

These symptoms DO get better, but it can take a really long time. In October it’ll be 3 years since I went into acute withdrawal and I’m only just really starting to turn a significant corner. My withdrawal was brutal, absolutely horrific and the damage done to my nervous system is pretty profound, so if I can be healing this good, so can you.

Hi @Jack ,

Thank you so so much for your reply.

Is it okay if I DM you?

Kind regards,

Laura

Hello @Sophia how are you doing today?

Hi @Billford81 !

Thank you for stepping by. I am still in the healing process. I’ve seen some flickers here and there, but overall I still deal with my 4 main symptoms; head pressure/weird head sensations, emotional blunting, anhedonia and severe dry eyes on a daily basis. I also still have other symptoms like tingling in toes and fingers, tingling in nose, forehead and teeth. These symptoms come and go, but my main symptoms are there 95% of the time. I do notice fluctuations here and there in the intensity with some days being more okay and some being really hard, so I hope that’s a good sign, but overall I am still very altered…. :(

I think I need at least 1 more year to heal… hopefully less, but there is still so much more that needs to improve. The past 8,5 months have shown me that the healing process is indeed VERY VERY SLOW 🐌

How have you been?? Any news? I hope you have some better days! ❤️‍🩹

Edited June 19Jun 19 by Sophia

Bad health both mental and physical but I don't know If the physical stuff is related to withdrawal. I also think I probably won't get any better for a couple of years. Tingling sensations sound awful, I have some pulsing in my body as well. I hope you get better days soon.

Are there more people who feel like their entire face + (eyes, nose, forehead, cheeks) feels pressured ? Its like my face is frozen or something… 😞

On other days my face has tingles… especially in my forehead , nose and front teeth. I think it’s the trigeminal nerve or something.

Also back of my head and temples feel pressured now…

I am so done with all of this 😔

Edited June 22Jun 22 by Sophia

20 minutes ago, Sophia said:

Are there more people who feel like their entire face + (eyes, nose, forehead, cheeks) feels pressured ? Its like my face is frozen or something… 😞

On other days my face has tingles… especially in my forehead , nose and front teeth. I think it’s the trigeminal nerve or something.

Also back of my head and temples feel pressured now…

I am so done with all of this 😔

Yes. Between tension and burning sensations. I'm just answering.

Hi all,

I feel like my body has lots of windows and waves where I feel my senses get better and I feel a bit more. If I get some emotions I feel them only in my body, but my brain and inner emotional world are still the same (blank/removed).

I have 24/7 a very chemical unnaturally clear headed feeling in my brain. I can’t explain it well… but it feels like my brain is too clear. I can’t feel sleepy/drowsy/dreamy/foggy. Brain feels also like air. Like there is nothing inside a lot of the time. I got this on the meds already but in withdrawal it’s even worse. Along with all the other awfully and painfully head sensations this is my worst symptom. It makes me feel like I am not a normal human anymore.

I feel so completely altered.

Do people recognize this symptom and has it gotten better? I will be 9 months off in 3 days.

How do we even know if this is PAWS and not just brain damage? I have so much pain in my head on a daily basis it genuinely feels completely damaged and injured. like something neurotoxic has taken place… 😔

Edited June 28Jun 28 by Sophia

2 hours ago, Sophia said:

Hi all,

I feel like my body has lots of windows and waves where I feel my senses get better and I feel a bit more. If I get some emotions I feel them only in my body, but my brain and inner emotional world are still the same (blank/removed).

I have 24/7 a very chemical unnaturally clear headed feeling in my brain. I can’t explain it well… but it feels like my brain is too clear. I can’t feel sleepy/drowsy/dreamy/foggy. Brain feels also like air. Like there is nothing inside a lot of the time. I got this on the meds already but in withdrawal it’s even worse. Along with all the other awfully and painfully head sensations this is my worst symptom. It makes me feel like I am not a normal human anymore.

I feel so completely altered.

Do people recognize this symptom and has it gotten better? I will be 9 months off in 3 days.

How do we even know if this is PAWS and not just brain damage? I have so much pain in my head on a daily basis it genuinely feels completely damaged and injured. like something neurotoxic has taken place… 😔

Hi Sophia,

Sorry to hear you're still in the thick of it.

I experience brain fog and since the start of the heatwave, it has become quite a bit worse. So I can't say that my mind is clear or empty; it's often the opposite of that with looping thoughts, negative thoughts, mental fatigue, slowly processing, difficulty focusing and concentrating, difficulty to remember things, etc.

I feel very much altered as well, to the point where I don't recognize myself anymore. I just want to feel like "me" again and I know you want that as well. We will, in time 😊

So yes, this is most likely PAWS. I've seen/read lots of stories from people who ended up in a similar situation after coming off ADs, then slowly getting better and recovering.

You can do this! Don't give up ❤️

Edited June 28Jun 28 by Niels91
Spelling and spacing

Hi @Sophia FWIW, in my years on PaxilPorgress and Surviving Antidepressants, I've never encountered anyone who had permanent nervous system or brain damage, even though many people thought they did. The combination of not feeling normal emotions and head pain/pressure is scary, but as @Niels91 said, its a common effect of PAWS. Its not permanent and it will fade away.

@Sophia recently you've been slowly exhibiting more and more small signs that your body is beginning to make improvements. Windows in some symptoms, glimmers of emotions etc.

That's a good sign things will change, it's just early days still. You just need to take care of yourself and give it time.

It's very difficult not to obsess over these things. Many have wondered the same, including me. I really, really struggled with thoughts like this.

Thank you Luke… very kind of you to step by and offer support.

Do you mean you also wondered about the brain damage ?

sorry I made a very long vent… but delete it now. Won’t bring me anywhere 😅

Edited July 4Jul 4 by Sophia

Sophia, sorry for the wave your in, yes they can be brutal, but it does and will let up. I myself for the first 9 to 10 months had extream head pressure, where it felt like my brain was expanding and my scull felt like it wanted to split open. It would usually start at the base of my head, slowly intensify and then move to the front, that's when the headaches and migraines started. It may not seam like it now but it only temporary and part of the healing process our mind and cns must go through. The head pressure for me anyway did subside into my 11th month, but everyone heals at a different pace and just know this will lighten and there is relief. I am currently 20 and half months into recovery, and have seen and feel great improvement. Sending special thoughts for some need relief. You got this, you are so strong. Sending hugs Xxxx Bernadette

Thank you @Bernadette ❤️

I just really struggle with the fact that my head feels so unnatural and I feel drugged. Did you also feel like head worked and felt so different? It’s like my head is unnaturally “clear”. Its hard to explain but it feels really chemical. I miss the softness in my head. Feeling foggy, sleepy, drowsey. It’s like I still take the meds.

Hope this makes sense …

6 hours ago, Sophia said:

Thank you @Bernadette ❤️

I just really struggle with the fact that my head feels so unnatural and I feel drugged. Did you also feel like head worked and felt so different? It’s like my head is unnaturally “clear”. Its hard to explain but it feels really chemical. I miss the softness in my head. Feeling foggy, sleepy, drowsey. It’s like I still take the meds.

Hope this makes sense …

Sophia, good morning it is 8:30am here in Wisconsin, it a light rain outside and and Mother nature just waking things up. Sorry I didn't respond sooner it was a later night than usual, was settling my dog down with all the fireworks going off, my dog Jayquelln gets extream anxiety with loud bangs. To answer your question, I guess to some extent my brain felt foggy but I got more pressure, dizziness, and lightheaded, when things would get me uneasy/scared it would get worse. I look at is we were all chemically drugged and remember that these drugs alter or form of natural thinking and state of calm. Just remember our minds and CNS are still in the process of figuring things out, and time is your friend, it will settle, even at the moment it my be a struggle, we will all heal, I was on Citalopram, and think that each different drug my have a different effect, and each person has a for sure have a different body chemistry that needs to work itself out. I'm sorry your goingthrough this but be patient and kind to yourself my friend and know this is part of the healing process of window and waves. I am sending prayers for a window and relief, you are so strong you got this. If your able to distract yourself with something it does help. It took me a bit in my recovery to learn. Sending hugs xxxx Bernadette

On 7/1/2026 at 3:16 PM, Sophia said:

Thank you Luke… very kind of you to step by and offer support.

Do you mean you also wondered about the brain damage ?

Yes. I even had an MRI that showed abnormalities. Clinicians insisted that it was unrelated and couldn't cause my symptoms. Maybe it's from a head impact as a child. I'll never know.

Still, I have recovered from a huge proportion of my symptoms, including the ones that felt a lot like signs of permanent brain damage, so chances are it was unrelated.

I think you just need time. The small glimmers are good early signs, it's just that recovery from the huge dysfunction these drugs cause in our brains and bodies can take a significant amount of time.