Help!
Help!
Help!
Help!
I took Lexapro 10mg for 2 days and had to stop it because I was having suicidal thoughts, not eating or drinking, horrible dreams, very tense, everything I thought about gave me a panic attack. I was only taking it to prevent panic attacks. I have never been depressed. I stopped the Lexapro 9 days ago and I am feeling better everyday but I am still anxious, my head is really cloudy and I am having horrible dreams that give me anxiety. I also find myself clenching my jaw, which I have never done. I find myself happy one minute and a little down the next, that has never happened to me either. I didn't eat or sleep for 5 days. I wish I could just feel normal again. Even with the low dosage and length of time I did take the Lexapro I keep hearing it could still take 2-4 weeks. Has anyone ever had this happen to them? I was way better off with panic attacks every once in a while. Please help!!
How long does it take for Lexapro to be totally out of your system and feel normal again?
Question posted by samjoshaddi on 2 Dec 2015
Last updated on 28 October 2024
The information on this page reflects personal experiences shared by our community members. It is not reviewed for medical accuracy and should not replace professional medical advice.
93 Answers Page 6
I took one 10mg lexapro tablet yesterday at 11am. I will not take another tablet. I cant imagine something that can make my body feel so bad so fast is a good thing. This morning i feel like i am outside of myself, like i have depression. I was never depressed, i only had panic attacks that i could not understand. Im hoping this first tablet leaves my system soon because its terrifying
Did this go away for you? How long did it take?
Compared to many other antidepressants, and anti-anxiety medications, Lexapro leaves the system very quickly. Since you only took it for 2 says, it should be totally out of your system in 48 hours. Please make sure to talk with your MD about how you're feeling though. Finding the right SSRI can be a long game of trail and error.
Ok , so Happy New Year All! (2017) I still have never has a good experience to relate here concerning lexapro. I still think it's a bitch of a med to get on and get back off of. It never addressed my anxiety issues or panic attacks.
I did not have a good experience with lexapro either. I had much better success with wellbutrin SR, no side effects, no withdrawal effects.
I’m thinking of trying that next bum so pill sensitive. They all make me dizzy and it doesn’t go away.
I was on lexapro for over a year. I tried it a few years prior to that and found it made me feel ill and almost like I was having an out of body experience, which was scary so I stopped it right away. I tried it again and it helped with some anxiety issues but not the depression. I decided that I could deal with the anxiety issues but not the 25 pounds I gained while on this drug. I recently started weening myself off. I was on 10mg originally so 1st week of weening I cut the dose in half to 5mg. Second week down to 2.5 mg. I'm on day 5 of no pill. Other than feeling a bit tired and a slight bit of agitation I'm not having unbearable side effects. They say the drug will be completely out of your system in 6.1 days so tomorrow will be that day. So far so good. I made sure that I did this in a way that I would not have to work or do much during the week I took myself completely off in case I didn't feel well.
If I do have any side effects on the way I will know that they are just side effects and I will not run back to this drug. It's not bad if you can stand the weight gain but that just brought on a whole other issue now that I didn't have to worry about so much before "my weight". Now that's going to be tough to lose 25 lbs. The trade off was not worth it to me.
I am not having a good experience with lexapro either. Doc said take half of a tablet for a week then the 10mg once a day thereafter... Felt like I was going out of my mind, nausea, diarrhea, at times more panic attacks... Felt on edge. This was just 6 days at half tablet. Funny enough the doctor prescribed lorazepam as well with it. I shall be looking for another alternative than lexapro.
Have been off this horrible drug for 9 days now. I thought my life was over. Truly. I am just now starting to feel better. I have been on some sort of antidepressant since 1990. I will never take another one ever and I will always warn people about the Perils of Lexapro. I hope you are feeling better. Hang in there
how did you ever get off? I've been on Lexapro since 2004 and the withdrawals were unbearable when I tried to get off. I'm on Lexapro 10 mgs now. Looking for any tips for weaning off! Thanks!
I see this is an old post but wondering how long it took you to feel better? I only took 10 mg Lexapro for two days and felt like I was going to die. Crazy panic attacks like I’ve never had before. Haven’t slept in four days now. Depression is in sane which I’ve never had before. Just wondering when this might let up.
I took 10my lexapro just yesterday. 3 hours after taking it I started having hot flashes and horrible anxiety that lasted all day and into the night. Also next day. Also really depressed on top of that. I was going to try again today but I'm to scared to take another pill.
Lexapro is an overrated bitch of an antidepressant. I felt terrible while taking it. It increased my anxiety, I gained 20 pounds, got spaced out at work, nauseated, flashes of light before my eyes, swooshing noise in my head, carb cravings, nausea, forgetting things.One girl I worked with said it dilated my pupils, as if I was on drugs. I wasn't taking anything else at the time. I felt so normal after I finally got it out of my system! And I had to pay for a med that made me feel so abnormal. Ain't that a kick in the head??
Oh believe me, I tried it more than once, several more times. till I finally caught on to what was making me feel so spaced out. Luckily, I had an understanding boss at the time. Or I could have lost my job from the side effects from taking it. Bummer...
I was on Lexapro for a little over a year and a half. My first day on it (10mg) I saw a huge difference in being able to deal with the little things in life that irritated me. After about a year on the medication I started to feel major anxiety. To me it felt like I was going to jump out of my skin and just wanted to fight or be very confrontational with people. At that point I decided I wanted to get off the Lexapro. Spoke to my doctor concerning it and he gave me a prescription for lorazepam to deal with the anxiety. I took one of those pills and it helped but to me that defeated the purpose. Why take one medication to counteract the effects of another. After two visits with My doctor and asking him to take me off of the Lexapro I did a little research and decided to do it myself. I took half doses (10mg of my 20mg prescribed) for a little over a month. A week ago I decided to stop taking the Lexapro altogether.
The first three days I was OK the past five days I have felt like I am in a fog I have had nausea and just don't feel myself at all . I almost feel as if I'm drunk all the time and have a very hard time concentrating, focusing, and even maneuvering at times. Hopefully this will all end in a couple of days. Every day does seem to get a little better. For me the thing that bothers me the most is the fact the doctors don't really do the research or have enough information about these psychiatric drugs they are prescribing and the damages that it is doing to people in their lives. I believe the doctors need to have a little more education on the medications that they prescribe. I have a friend who is a pharmacist and I wish I would've spoken to her about the side effects of Lexapro while you were on it and when you come off of it.
Luckily, my doctor prescribed a short term of lorazepam (ativan) to help me with the anxiety caused by lexapro while I was trying to wean off of it.
I am so glad to read someone else had this kind of reaction. I took one pill and totally freaked out. It has now been three days and I am still having issues, even almost fainted this morning in the shower from the panic attack. I have NEVER experienced anxiety like since I took the pill. The doctor said she thinks its a coincidence and that I am just having a regular panic attack and to take more. NO WAY!!! I want it out of my system!!! It was a relief to see I am not crazy!!
I agree with you. Sound like you need another doctor. Not a coincidence, no way! You are not crazy.
Same boat here. I took two doses, I am at day 3 of not taking it anymore (per my doctor), and those two doses/days were the WORST. I had constant anxiety and panic attacks and my depression skyrocketed. It has been nuts! You definitely are not alone. This thread has been a life saver.
How long did it take for you to feel back to normal?
Looking for help. My 20 year old son was prescribed lexapro 10mg for anxiety and depression. He took it for two days and felt great. Then he started complaining of not being able to feel anything... like numbness throughout his entire body. He also said he doesn't taste things like normal. He called his doc and she advised him to stop taking it for a day, then start back up with 5mg instead of 10mg for a week. He did that and worked his way back up to 10mg and the symptoms are back. He stopped taking it five days ago and the feeling still has not returned in his body, plus he said he felt foggy and can't concentrate. The doc said she never heard of such a side effect and seemed pretty laid back about the whole thing. Anyone experience this loss of feeling? How long should he wait to regain "normal"?
hello
i took lexapro at 5mg once 39 hours ago and am freaked out.left side of body and neck feels kind a numbness and like eectrical charge.wow one pill.im 38 male 240lbs.and its making me nauseas and the numbness and anxiety is come and go.only one pill is all i ever took and am never taking this junk again... yes i feel the same as your 20 year old son and am very glad someone else is in my boat.now i dont feel alone
Dear Nikki2274, I'm sorry to hear about your son's depression/anxiety. I have been taking leaxpro 5mg for approx 9 months now. I began with 5mg dose for one month which didn't cause any negative side effects, but seemed to be working quite well. Definitely reduced my lifelong IBS symptoms (off label benefit for me). However, my doc upped my dosage to 10mg because he thought my a/d symptoms would respond better to a higher dose. Definitely not the case!! Within 3 days I became severely depressed (more than before), paranoid, suicidal thoughts (never experienced that before), and experienced weird vision problems (saw "tracers") everytime I moved my eyeballs. It was pure hell. Doc told me to stop med immediately. It took about 10 days for me to feel normal again. Ok, now here's the weird part. I went back on the 5mg dose (brave me) simply because of the extreme IBS symptom relief I felt in that first month of 5mg dosage.
Have had zero negative side effects with lower dose, only positive effect. My a/d is also manageable at this time. I'll never go up to higher dosage, ever!!! Hope my story helps. Best of luck to you and your son.
Sorry, re-reading your question and my response... I meant to include "generalized body numbness" in my list of personal side effects at the 10mg dosage level. This, too, disappeared after stopping 10mg dosage. However, I do have an ongoing, subtle loss of smell and taste at the 5mg level... so, I guess there is one negative side effect, but I can live with it for now.
I am sorry your son is having a hard time with Lexapro. I took it for a long time for OCD. Eventually I got off of it.
Recently, I got back on it for a short while.
I think I understand your son’s description. Like a lot of these drugs it does numb you over where you don’t feel like yourself. You sort of feel like your brain is not as sharp and you feel groggy. I don’t like not feeling like myself so I am getting off of it.
In have taken clonazepam twice a day for a long time. I take it for anxiety and it helps a lot without making me feel groggy or not like myself. I have also had good luck with Wellbutrin when fighting depression.
I think it’s important to get off meds that are doing you more harm than good. There are lots of different options and if Lexapro is not working for your son I would say he’s not alone.
Tell him that there is very likely a medication out there that will help him without making him feel numb. Best of luck.
Robb
Yes i just teke two dose and start feeling body pain in joins lost appetite shaking neck pain I talk to my doctor say I never heard that is not medicine but I was fine until I take medicine dr thinks they no everything but everybody is different
Sam, I had very severe side effects as well, I took it for 8 days. I am on my second day of not taking it, and still feel pretty bad. See doc in two days, hope he has an alternative. I am very dizzy, in a fog, stomach issues, extremely agitated, clench my teeth all the time, had a couple panic attacks, which I have never had, so I am hoping this passes quickly and everyday gets a little easier. Wow, I think I felt better being anxious. Ugh!!
Im going through the exact same thing right now, has it gotten better for you
It will get better, I promise!
Sam
Did you have a detached feeling?
Yes! I could not relate to anything in the real world because I was anxious every minute.
Are you feeling better ? How long did it take to feel better ? I just went through the same thing. Same side effects.
Yes! I am now on Zoloft and it is the best. It took me about two weeks to feel normal after only taking 2 doses.
I was started on 2.5 mg for 7 days than increased to 5 mg for just one time. My body went crazy about 5 hours after. Nausia, horrible anxiety and vomiting as well as no sleep for 10 days now. I am 2 days off the meds and feel horrible Bc of sleep deprivation and continued nausea. I hope this will pass and I can sleep again soon.
I was started on 2.5 mg for 7 days than increased to 5 mg for just one time. My body went crazy about 5 hours after. Nausia, horrible anxiety and vomiting as well as no sleep for 10 days now. I am 2 days off the meds and feel horrible Bc of sleep deprivation and continued nausea. I hope this will pass and I can sleep again soon.
You will get past it, every day being off of it will get better. Once I stopped taking it, it took me 2 weeks to see normal again.
I'm very nervous because the way lexepro made me feel I couldn't take the side effects . I took 6 pills of 5mg and I cannot deal with the nausea. So I've completely stopped . I wonder if I need to tapper of . The problem is I originally was tampering off of xanax I'm down to half of .25 while taking lexepro I didn't feel the urge for the xanax until the last day the dizziness was too much . Any advice would help should I tapper or just quick ?
Has anyone ever had there lexapro just stop working
My Lex stopped working, but only after about four years. It's called a *poop out* and can happen at any time with any antidepressant. :-(
If I knew before what I know now about Lexapro I would never have taken a single pill. I was prescribed 10 mg and was very wary of taking antidepressants so the Dr told me to start a lower dose of 2.5 mg day 1, then 2.5 day 2, then 5 mg the next 2 days etc. The evening of day 4 I noticed a hissing sound in my ear that wouldn't go away and hasn't gone away a week later. Even on a very low dose I could barely function on the medication, complete exhaustion and felt even more depressed. I know those side effects are common but I had never heard of the Tinnitus (ringing or hissing in the ears) as a possible side effect. The Dr did not mention it, two medical professionals I have asked since then have basically given me a blank stare as if 'no idea' if it could be a side effect. I am otherwise healthy, have never had any issues with hearing loss etc.
I have not slept in days, it is bad enough to deal with depression and even worse to deal with a 24/7 hissing sound that I can't escape. It is worse when lying still in the quiet or trying to sleep, which hasn't happened anyway. All this from one and a half pills ? I am on no other medication and nothing else could have caused this. ie. loud noises that can cause Tinnitus..I went online to find any correlation between lexapro and tinnitus and was horrified to see hundreds of people had suffered the same thing. Whether they had been on lexapro for years or a couple of days they still ended up with tinnitus and the majority said it never went away and it is not treatable you just have to find a way to live with it. It isn't just with lexapro, other antidepressants have caused this reaction as well. People need to be made aware of this kind of thing as it ruins lives that are already suffering enough dealing with depression. Be very wary.
I started on Lexapro 7 days ago with 2.5mg. The nausea was immediate the next day, followed by loud ringing in my right ear. It's still there now. So yes and it's listed as a side effect. I stopped the meds after bouts of nausea and no sleep.
Your body becomes immune to many drugs. Unfortunately, even with blood pressure drugs, you need to either increase the dosage or change the drug. Another option is to try L-tryptophan at bedtime. it helps with anxiety, depression and sleep. DO NOT take it if you are also taking the Lexapro. You did not say what dosage you are taking, but whatever it is cut it in half for a week, then in half again for another week, then every other day for a week then stop if you are going to go the natural route with L-tryptophan. Also increase foods containing magnesium, and tryptophan. Good Luck
It stopped working for me when I would forget to take it. I'm very forgetful with meds. I was on it for like 6 months.. then completely stopped cause I thought I was okay with out it. Then my anxiety got even worse so I tried to get back on it and that's when I got the bad side effects like the tremors heart beating fast.. insomnia.. it was terrible so now I'm on trintellix after being in lexapro for 2 days..
I have been on lexapro for many years at different doses, so has my oldest daughter and my oldest son was on it for a short time as well.
I will say that for myself and my daughter lexapro didn’t “stop working” so to speak but it did seem to be less effective over a period of time and my daughter needed to go from 10mg a day to 20 mg a day after being on 10mg a day for over a year she felt like it just wasn’t working as well as it once had.
For myself low dose lexapro wasn’t as effective as a higher dose either and it took some adjusting to find the proper amount but it has been a life saver for me.
My daughter said she felt like Lexapro saved her life because she had suffered in silence and had gone so long without treatment.
My son did not have the same result and ultimately stopped lexapro due to side effects, keeping in mind he was much younger and it isn’t recommended for patient a under 18 years of age I think.
I guess the bottom line is Lexapro, in my opinion, is a good medication but I would have to say it most defiantly can become less effective over time and may need to be increased periodically as needed and I would recommend asking your doctor for a slow, small increase and see if that doesn’t Improve symptoms fairly quick since you already have it in your system.
I hope this helps you and I hope you feel great soon.
I, too, have developed tinnitus after being on Lexapro 10mg. I was on 5 mg (for one year) and had no bad side effects at all, just very tired all the time. My Dr. told me to up it to 10 mg because of all the stress that was happening in my life that I couldn't deal with. That was 1 year ago, and I developed very loud ringing in the ears, along with a toothache, very sensitive hearing in my right ear. and cannot handle loud noises anymore or I develop a right-sided headache. I finally had a root canal, even tho they found nothing wrong with it just to stop the pain. I also have continuous diarrhea. i switched for 10 days to prozac to see if it would help. on the 10th day i had a very severe reaction- rigid muscles, rushes, fluttering irregular heartbeat and thought i was going to die. it lasted several hours. i immediately switched back to lexapro, but fluttering heart still happening. want to stop lexapro,but can't find anything with less side effects. dr.s said none of these were from drug. hellooooo??? they are listed on the side effects info.
Hello and thank you for ur comments. I have had hissing in my ears for 2+ weeks now. My dr told me never heard of this and did not believe it was the Lexapro. I also have burning skin too in mild cases.
Did your symptoms go away ? Feeling better ?
I started on Lexapro several years ago. It worked pretty well for anxiety and depression. Increased the dose with doctor’s supervision to try to get improved results. This caused ringing in my ears.
Reduced dose to the previous level, but still ringing in ears. After a few weeks, decided to discontinue Lexapro. Ear ringing lessened, but has NEVER gone away entirely.
Hi Samjoshaddi,
I took the time to read other responses... they all think that the Lexapro may be causing your reactions. However I think the cause of your sleeplessness and anxiety is depression. You have never been depressed so you say but the symptoms you described is depression. Panic attacks, lack of sleep, not eating... all of these symptoms are characteristic of depression. One day your feeling better and the next day you are down. Ask your doctor about talking to a psycho therapist or psychiatrist. Samj there is a first time for everything. Please get help. You are worth it... you owe it to your family and your community. Depression untreated gets worse. We all in this anxiety community want to be normal and not take any medicine. However stress for whatever reason affects us differently than it does others. The Lexapro for that short length of time did not cause you to react as you did. You did not give the medication time to affect your body in any way.
It takes most anti anxiety medications weeks before you have any side effects from discontinued use. Have you or your doctor thought about an alternative medication? Talk to her and see what she thinks and do some research on your own about depression and anxiety symptoms. Get well by any means necessary... Manager 5
Thank you for taking the time to respond! I was feeling all of those symptoms while I was on the Lexapro and for days after. Before taking the lexapro I had 2 panic attacks within 3 months, so the doctor thought the lexapro would help prevent any other attacks. After day 2 of the lexapro the doctor told me to stop because I was having bad side effects. I have never had any of those symptoms ever before taking the medication. As of yesterday I was back to my normal self THANK GOD but it took me a full 10 days to feel myself again! PS: I have decided to see a therapist to see why I had these panic attacks, and hopefully that will help!
I have been suffering from depression anxiety for 3 months and I was even in the hospital I had a similar experience 25 years ago and was put on trazodone Xanax Prozac worked perfectly til 3 weeks ago the was put on lexapro trazodone Remeron Xanax I’m a so fatigued I can barely function called my dr tolome to quit taking Remeron but I’m still so fatigued I’m thinking of ditching lexapro and going back to Prozac I’m desperate please help
Sam; That would be 7 to 10 days after your last pill, The worst of the side effects well be gone and I really don't think you well have any real bad problems being you did not take that many. Chuck1957 Don't worry each day well continue to get better.
Hi Sam, I took only 5 mg Lexepro and got bad tremor, rapid heart beat, very speedy and sweating. I ditched it this morning and am waiting to hear back from my doctor. Yuk stuff with long half life worse luck. Just gotta wait it out. Thinking of you.
Denise
This is exactly what I experienced it woke me up out of my sleep thought I had to go to the hospital. It was terrible I was only on it for 2 days and got put on trintellix
I was prescribed Lexapro for anxiety... I took one 10mg pill two days ago... I lay awake half the night... then yesterday morning I thought I was dying! I was sweating and feeling rushing sensations through my body... I asked my partner (a nurse) if I was having a heart attack... she took my pulse and reassured me that I wasn't... I rushed to the bathroom and poured cold water over my head... then I realised I was actually having a massive panic attack, possibly the worst I've ever had .I'm still feeling a bit shaky, but I'm glad I found this site... its knowledgeable responses give me the comfort of knowing it will pass.My thanks to you all.
Sam; Please don't give up your almost there I am so sorry that this happened to you or anyone but at least your out of the woods. have a good day now.
Related topics
lexapro, depression, anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, system
Further information
- Lexapro uses and safety info
- Lexapro prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Lexapro (detailed)
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