Mental Health My lexapro nightmare

[dcrmt]

SO: TLDR:
massive personality changes, psychosis, memory is completely rooted. I turned on someone who was utterly perfect and who loved me unconditionally.
It's not just that I was overdosed - I was crazy on the 20mg too. While I was on those drugs I had no awareness of how crazy I was becoming, how much I was ruining my life.

 

[Rybee]

Read it in full

I can really relate to some of your points, stories and experiences but my nightmare was with Venlafaxine. I pretty much had 2 years of my life robbed from me because of that shit. I too was fed the whole 'chemical imbalance' bullshit and I honestly don't know why I let myself get robbed like that. I find the increasing rate in which 'anti-depressants' are prescribed as absolutely terrifying tbh. It was only until last year when I read a book, The Myth of the Chemical Cure: A Critique of Psychiatric Drug Treatment, that I had my eyes opened to the bullshit that I was being fed.

It took me a long time to taper off of it (Max dose of 375mg) the brain zaps and shivers were horrible and lasted months, suffered from terrible sexual side effects, sleep pattern was awful, anxiety was beating the shit out of me. Though I discontinued the use of SSRI's/SNRI's I still relied upon anxiolytics for 6 months to help cope with how it made me feel after withdrawing. I've finally been able to quit that and my resolution of 2014 is to never be fed medication for my 'mental health' problems.

I really do feel sorry for you because I can totally relate to a large majority of what you've said, it's such a sad story and it happens all too often.

I wish you all the best of luck for 2014 and hope you can keep a positive mental attitude and start to work things out, I know I am.

 

[dcrmt]

hmmm

 

[Jabberwocky]

I was on Lexapro for 3 years. Piled on 40 kg's, lost motivation however I did finish my Masters. I started taking anti depressants, after a bad nervous break down. The meds helped but numbed me to a point I couldn't care less bout things I should be caring for. Am on Cymbalta now, much much better. I want to get off this stuff but whilst I'm an alcoholic, I'm just going to be depressed day in, day out without the meds, plus I can't handle the brain zaps.