Welcome to our community. Please fill in the following template as a way of introducing yourself, and helping others to understand your background and situation.
Where are you from (country)? Australia
How did you find this forum? google years ago
What is your current age, height, weight? 31, 51 kg
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)? Lexapro
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 10mg
What condition was being treated with the drug? A panic attack
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? 8 days
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug? 20 (10 years ago)
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 20
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? First dose
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? anhedonia, emoional deadness.
Check the boxes that apply. You can save your post first, then interactively check/uncheck the boxes by clicking on them. If your symptoms change, please update your list.
Sexual
[ ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[x ] Confusion
[ x] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ x] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? I’m not stupid enough to try what they throw at me
If you have pre or post-drug blood tests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (please post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)? normal
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Hi everyone.
My story is a bit different, if you have an open mind like I’m sure everyone here does. I had a violent reaction to Lexapro when I was young. I went on it for a panic attack regarding health issues. I begged the doctor to take me off after the. first dose and he said he wouldn’t give me anything else and “side effects” were normal and was given beta blockers and benzos. I put myself through torture for 8 days. I was so young and thought this could never be possible. My reaction included completely dead emotions, extreme akathisia, twitching, jerking, ringing in ears, sound hallucinations, straight insomnia, panic on top of what I was already experiencing, Lots of my extreme symptoms were from lack of dopamine as SSRIS deplete dopamine massively. After I came off I was so confused. My brain felt fried. I took a few months for anything at all to come back. I didn’t know what was wrong a the beginning and every doctor tried to put me on more anti depressants. But I was never depressed. This was damage. My first disaster was trying L-tyrosine for a week. I felt perkier at the beginning but then began to flatten off. I figure out overtime I tried to increase dopamine it seemed to downregulate my receptors permanently if stimulated too long. This meant everything dopamine related (drinking, music, coffee, partying too long) The world lierally revolves around it. I made a lot of mistakes at the start. My emotional blunting at the start was about 30-40% of what I used to have. over the last 10 years I have had slip ups. Things you can’t avoid in life. I would always punish myself for making it worse. Just recently I struggled with insomnia and is pretty much brought me down to nothing, as insomnia increases dopamine. So here I am frantically coming to the only place that gave me answers years ago. AWOR described what I had perfectly just at a different receptor. So there you go. My dopamine receptors have been silenced. And my life ain’t worth shit unless I get something back.
I feel like I don’t belong here but I don’t belong anywhere really.
I’d pretty much drink bleach a this stage if there was a chance.
I can’t imagine living much long as this is some kind of violent hell I wish on no one.
Kirby