Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 454318

Shown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

Lexapro and hallucinations

Posted by Spriggy on February 7, 2005, at 11:41:56

Someone else's thread on Lexapro withdrawal gave me a question.

I've never in my life had problems with hallucinations; okay, well once I had 104 fever with strep throat and I DID see Mr. Clean standing in the corner.. but other than that, never had a problem.

One night, I stood up on my couch to take down a banner that read, " HOMEWORK" and the I realized NOTHING was there. This totally freaked me out.

Coming off the Lexapro, I had a night where I thought I saw green neon lights in my bedroom- my husband insisted they weren't there. So either he was playing a crule joke on me, or I had another hallucination.

THEN, two nights ago (after a few days off the Lexapro) I heard a MARCHING band when nothing was there.

Now I am having weird headaches, the back of my neck gets this occasional lightening ZAP, I am having horrible weeping spells, and having problems with sleeping.

Is this normal? Okay, more should I say, is this TYPICAL? I know it's not normal. ROFL

 

Re: Lexapro and hallucinations

Posted by HappyGirl on February 7, 2005, at 12:20:32

In reply to Lexapro and hallucinations, posted by Spriggy on February 7, 2005, at 11:41:56

Hi:
The Lexapro, ... one of most 'potent' SSRIs is notorious to bring up 'manic' episode. Then, sounds like you're one of those who started to develop 'shizo-affective Bp Disorder,' or 'Bipolar Disorder, Type I,' as reading your 'vivid' description about your experience after got off the Lexapro, an SSRI med.

One thing you need to do NOW is to call your pdoc. ASAP to get some sort of 'anti-pscho. med.,' one of which is Zyprexa that is VERY reputable to work WELL for the symptoms like yours. More delay might be more 'havoc' to your daily life along with some 'exacerbation/getting worse' on your symptoms.
H.G.

 

Re: Lexapro and hallucinations » HappyGirl

Posted by Impermanence on February 7, 2005, at 16:24:10

In reply to Re: Lexapro and hallucinations, posted by HappyGirl on February 7, 2005, at 12:20:32

Why the panic HappyGirl, I woulden't be so quick to advise Spriggy to go on an antipsychotic, for God's sake he's/she's going through withdrawal not developing schizophrenia or bipolar. Antipsychotics are life draining poison IMO and should only be used when absolutely necessary.

Spriggy what you're going through is very normal while coming off an antidepressant. It's not easy and not the same for everyone but it will get easier as the days go by, three or four weeks at the most. If it's really tough talk to your doctor about getting some benzos to help ease things.

Good luck.

 

Re: Lexapro and hallucinations

Posted by Spriggy on February 7, 2005, at 16:36:04

In reply to Re: Lexapro and hallucinations » HappyGirl, posted by Impermanence on February 7, 2005, at 16:24:10

My doctor gave me some Xanex to use but I'm so pill scared after this, I have been too scared to take it.

maybe I'll try it tonight and see if it helps.

I definitely DO NOT want to go down the route of antipsychotics unless 100% necessary.

My pdoc ruled out bipolar but did say that sometimes SSRI"s will trigger "manic like behavior" but it's drug induced so it's not the same as a bipolar diagnosis per se.

I'll give this stuff another week to flush my system (I'm drinking lots of water and eating healthy, exercising) so maybe after it's out, I will be back to normal.

The hallucinations have been very brief (only twice) and I immediately began to realize they weren't real. So it's not that I'm really scared- it's like I can recognize they aren't 'real' and then they disappear.

if I start seeing little green men, I might go ahead with the psych drugs.

Thanks for the input.

 

Re: Lexapro and hallucinations » Spriggy

Posted by Impermanence on February 7, 2005, at 18:06:30

In reply to Re: Lexapro and hallucinations, posted by Spriggy on February 7, 2005, at 16:36:04

You don't have to suffer so much Spriggy, take the Xanax, trust me it's perfectly safe. Benzodiazepines are not like antidepressants, it will depress your central nervous system ie; calm you down / make you feel relaxed / help you sleep, kind of like what alcohol does (as alcohol depressess your central nervous system also) but without the tipsy, drunk and hangover part. You don't have to worry about withdrawal from Xanax if you are just using it for the couple of weeks while you are getting Lexapro out of your system. Xanax is your friend right now.

And don't worry about antipsychotics, this is just Lexapro withdrawal.


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