New, Vintage, and Signed Blotter Art
Contribute $50 or more and get a piece of displayable
blotter art. These look great framed on the wall !
Worst Withdrawals I Have Ever Had
Escitalopram
Citation:   jadedjus. "Worst Withdrawals I Have Ever Had: An Experience with Escitalopram (exp108293)". Erowid.org. Apr 21, 2020. erowid.org/exp/108293

 
DOSE:
15 mg oral Pharms - Escitalopram (daily)
BODY WEIGHT: 250 lb
Lexapro Withdrawals Cold Turkey After Only Two Weeks

I was sent to a psych ward cuz I was having a panic attack and I didn’t have anymore of my Lorazapam so I called 911. They thought I was going to kill myself but I wasn’t I was just hysterical. At the psych ward they played around with my meds and added Lexapro which I had been on before but I was weaned off of. So I was there for two weeks and when I got discharged I was given my prescriptions, I was on 15 mg Lexapro, which they don’t make a pill for. I went to my pharmacy and they said it wasn’t going through with my insurance because they would only cover one pill for 30 days so they needed a prior authorization with the insurance and the doctor, this could take three to four days. I went home and thought nothing of it because I was only on it for two weeks, boy was I wrong.

The first day with no Lexapro about six hours after when I would have taken it in the morning I got really dizzy, disorientated, and my legs felt weird so I stumbled my way to the couch. After about a half hour I got really nauseous but at this point my legs would not work so I fell off the couch and crawled to the bathroom where I vomited fiercely for about 10-15 minutes. Then I just laid in the bathroom for about a half hour just in case I had to throw-up again because I was still nauseated. When I felt that was over with I crawled back to the couch and laid down just listening to the music channel I had on earlier because I couldn’t operate anything. After awhile of laying on the couch my whole body started hurting and I had to keep my eyes closed because any light I saw would burn my eyes and give me the worst headache I have ever felt.

My phone was right next to me on the edge of the coffee table and I couldn’t even move my arms to answer it because it was ringing a lot. I knew it was my parents because we talk over the phone at least once a day. When I start not answering they know something is up. I’m epileptic by the way so they were probably [thinking I was] in status epilepticus even though since the last time that happened I have gotten the VNS implant that detects seizures and stops them.

After awhile I got a little energy and use of my arm so I grabbed my phone hit the missed call button and called my mom. They were on their way to my apartment. At this point I was barely breathing and I literally thought I was dying. I was pretty delirious too, all I could think of is that I put a load of laundry in the washer last night and I hadn’t gotten it into the dryer and the clothes were going to get moldy, I kept repeating this to my mom I later found out.

My parents got there and called 911. They got there and wanted me to walk to the stretcher, I told them I couldn’t but they were adamant about it. They sat me up stood me up and I tried to walk but my legs were like jello. They basically dragged me to the stretcher and got me on. I don’t really remember the ambulance ride but when I got to the hospital they put me in a wheelchair and put me in the waiting room. They called me for admittance and to see a pre ER doctor who ordered blood tests and a CT scan. I sat in the waiting room slumped over for a long time before anything else happened.

Next I got wheeled over for the CT scan. While I was waiting I tried opening my eyes and they didn’t hurt any more and I was starting to get my strength back. By the time the CT scan was done there was nothing wrong with me. I got back to the waiting room where my parents were and I took out my phone and looked up withdrawal symptoms of cold turkey quitting Lexapro and all my symptoms were there on the websites I looked up. My whole experience was approximately 10 hours of complete agony. I had a three year IV heroin addiction I cold turkeyed and quit I also had a heavy Benzodiazapines addiction for a few years and cold turkeyed and went through those horrible withdrawals but after only two weeks of being on Lexapro the withdrawals were worse than both together.

I got a bed in the ER saw the doctor and told him what I thought the problem was and he said he had to agree with me because all the tests they did came back fine. He gave me my dose of Lexapro and a script for 45 10 mg pills so I would take one and cut one in half. Of course my insurance denied it and buying the script was $110 but my pharmacy has a program where you pay $11 for a year and your scripts only cost $5 so I did that till I see my psychiatrist and I’m going to ask her if she can bump me up to the 20 mg pills so my insurance will cover it. I can’t imagine being on Lexapro for 3 or more years and suddenly stop taking them, the websites I looked up said the longer you are on them the longer the withdrawals will be, could be up to a week.

So that’s my unpleasant time with Lexapro, I hope this helps someone in the future from suddenly stopping their med.

Exp Year: 2016ExpID: 108293
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: 31
Published: Apr 21, 2020Views: 2,158
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
Pharms - Escitalopram (304) : Health Problems (27), Addiction & Habituation (10), Medical Use (47), Not Applicable (38)

COPYRIGHTS: All reports copyright Erowid.
No AI Training use allowed without written permission.
TERMS OF USE: By accessing this page, you agree not to download, analyze, distill, reuse, digest, or feed into any AI-type system the report data without first contacting Erowid Center and receiving written permission.

Experience Reports are the writings and opinions of the authors who submit them. Some of the activities described are dangerous and/or illegal and none are recommended by Erowid Center.


Experience Vaults Index Full List of Substances Search Submit Report User Settings About Main Psychoactive Vaults