Posts by Brandon Lopez6

Eric Mitchell55 said:Yeah, totally. I know exactly what you’re talking about.
That’s how it felt for me back when I was on Prozac; my stomach would just flip the second I swallowed it, making me feel like I was going to throw up.
At least I don't have much of an issue with vomiting itself, since I deal with chronic acid reflux, so I end up regurgitating something every couple of days anyway 🤷

Nausea is easily my absolute worst side effect from any pill I’ve ever taken. I haven't actually thrown up since my senior year of high school—it'll be June, four years later this time (yeah, I'm counting lol)—but whenever that wave of nausea hits and starts getting intense, the panic sets in immediately.
I finally got things under control so I don't feel like I'm gonna pass out every single time my stomach flips. It used to be brutal, though. I’d end up pacing around outside for three or four hours straight just waiting for the nausea to die down. Honestly, being stuck indoors when I felt like that was just impossible.
Akineton was the only one that ever made me feel like I was gonna throw up. Seriously, the nausea was unreal. I really hope I never find myself in a position where I actually have to take it again.

redranger2 said:Just please, whatever you do, don't try to quit antidepressants cold turkey. You have to taper off gradually—maybe go half a pill for a few days, then move to a quarter for at least ten days, then every other day, and eventually every third day until
you're completely off them.

Too late for that, I haven't touched my Lexapro since Tuesday.😬
I went cold turkey on much heavier stuff before, so this feels like a walk in the park.🥳

Eric Mitchell55 said:I haven't had any issues with it so far, honestly.
It does a great job helping with the muscle spasms and jaw tension, and even when I deal with a little extra drooling here and there, taking another dose of Cogentin usually settles things right back down...
The only thing is my hands still shake constantly; even the Cogentin doesn't seem to touch that part.

I didn't really feel anything physically, but my head definitely noticed. The worst part was realizing I’d started drooling. Honestly, it made me feel so stupid—just sitting there with my mouth hanging open and saliva leaking (okay, maybe not *that* bad, but you know what I mean 😁).
Glad it's working for you. For me, the nausea was the absolute worst, so I eventually stopped taking the Cogentin even though it was prescribed. It would hit me hard a few hours after taking it, and since I have a massive phobia of throwing up, the nausea just triggered total anxiety and panic. The "side effect" was basically the last thing I needed. 😁

David Bishop4 said:The main thing is that you're feeling better. How are you managing with going out and being on your own lately? Personally, I force myself to get out of the house just to survive, so I suppose that's progress in its own way. As for me, the Paxil is okay for now, but I definitely still have some work to do. 😉

I'm getting by on Xanax and it helps.🥳
I know it's probably not the smartest move, but I plan my outings around when I need to take the Xanax. I'll take it and then about 15 minutes later, I'm out the door like a pro. Yeah, I don't go out solo, but I used to get hit with so much anxiety even when someone was with me. Now, that rarely happens, and I haven't dealt with derealization while out in ages.🙂

Does Cogentin mess with your stomach too? It always absolutely wrecked my digestion whenever I took it..

Yeah, totally. Since I stopped taking Cipralex, those heavy side effects—the suicidal thoughts and the deep depression—have cleared up. But man, I’m still left with this stupid morning "hangover." It hits me so hard I feel like I'm about to pass out almost every single damn day. 🙂

I went back to my usual dose of Xanax, just 4x0.25mg like before. 👋

Honestly, I’m not even sure if I’ll bother looking for new meds right now. Based on how things are going, probably not. Everyone kept raving about Paxil and Cipralex, but for me? They just made everything worse. 🙄

I guess I'll wait until May rolls around and see how I'm feeling then. That's when I'll make a call on what to do next. 🙂

How are you doing? Looks like you settled into the Paxil routine pretty well. Really happy to hear that. 👍

It’s kind of hilarious watching someone who’s popping Lexapro try to lecture people about being against antipsychotics.

David Bishop4 said:awesome !!! Are you using Xanax to help manage things, or have you found you don't really need it?

Honestly, I'm hooked on Helix, unfortunately, so I'm still taking it. I've managed to scale back to just 4mg of 0.25 a day, though. I did go higher for a while—just needed to get used to the pills—but I haven't spiraled back up since.

So far, tapering off the Lexapro is going pretty smooth for me. Honestly? Zero issues, nothing at all.👋

Gerald Torres2 said:Honestly, I spent three months struggling with Paxil for absolutely no reason. I should have panicked after two or three weeks when I realized things were actually getting worse... instead, I ended up spiraling into a massive depressive episode. After that, I tossed all my meds because I was terrified of going through that nightmare again. And you can imagine how much fun it was trying to taper off 30 mg of Paxil and 2 mg of Remeron cold turkey... just one day to the next, like that for two straight weeks. It was a mess.🙂🙂

Last year, I had to taper off 12 mg of Risperdal, 4 mg of Cogentin, and 20 mg of Paxil. I also dropped my Xanax from 5 mg down to 3 mg (using the 0.50 mg pills), and honestly, it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected—mostly because those last three Xanax kept me afloat. Fingers crossed it goes just as smoothly this time while I'm switching over to Lexapro.

Gerald Torres2 said:Yeah, this definitely isn't working for you. Did you call your psychiatrist today? You can't keep going on like this...

I tried calling, but no answer. I’ll try again later—maybe she was just busy this morning and I'll catch her tomorrow. Either way, I think I've had way too much Lexapro lately..

David Bishop4 said:Hey Dawn, what's been happening? How can you tell it's not working for you? Regardless of the specifics, please make sure you consult with your mental health professional. 😉

As for side effects... (some people call it "morning blues"), but for me, it feels more like derealization. It triggers this massive panic because everything around me just feels fake. I've also been having these mild suicidal thoughts, which is totally new for me. I'm sleeping like crazy—from 1 AM until 2 or 3 PM—and I still wake up feeling absolutely trashed. For the last week or two, I've just been sinking into depression. Nothing makes me happy, nothing feels worth doing, and honestly, I'm pretty pissed off all the time too..

I've gone through almost the whole bottle; there's only two pills left, and instead of fading, these side effects are actually getting worse. I don't feel like it's helped much either, since my agoraphobia is still there, I still can't be alone, and the anxiety hasn't budged. Xanax is basically the only thing letting me get anything done..

Alright, I'm just gonna call tomorrow because this is getting nowhere fast. Thanks 🙂

I’m starting to feel like my Lexapro is doing more harm than good at this point. Honestly, the jitters I get from it are driving me up the wall—I feel like I’m on the verge of a total breakdown just dealing with the side effects. I’d love to just stop taking it altogether, but I’m terrified of messing around with my dosage on my own. My next appointment isn't until May, and if I have to white-knuckle it until then, I might actually lose it.

Do you think reaching out to LOM would help? Like, would it be enough to just ask him for advice on what to do? Because staying on this stuff feels completely pointless right now.

Jonathan Morris40 said:...
2. What exactly is an EEG and how long does it take? Is it actually reliable?
3. How long is the typical wait time for an EEG appointment?

Thanks in advance. 🙂

2. Basically, they put this cap with electrodes on your head to measure brain activity. It usually takes about 20 minutes. Just make sure you show up with clean hair—I found washing it the night before worked best—and don't use any gel, hairspray, or anything like that.
From what I was told, the test itself isn't necessarily a "find everything" kind of thing; it’s more like if it flags something weird, then they send you off for more intensive testing.

3. When I was at the hospital in Pittsburgh, I waited 9 days. The nurse scheduled me on Feb 5th, and I finally got it done on the 14th. I'm guessing wait times might be shorter at other hospitals, but honestly, you never know.

gentlesailor25 said:Even though that description I quoted nails what derealization feels like, it still feels weird to me that it won't let up.😕 I don't think that's it.🤷
Rule out all the physical stuff first.

Maybe check out some stories from people dealing with derealization on a psych couch—it’s actually pretty common for it to stick around for long stretches without stopping, or at least with just short breaks.

Sarah Wells23 said:I don't know. I've dealt with my own share of depersonalization and derealization episodes—on their own and mixed with other stuff—and this doesn't really sound like that to me. Then again, someone going through that kind of thing might exaggerate because the feeling itself is just pure nightmare fuel, so maybe it is a mix of depersonalization and a panic attack. Those two can definitely sound way more intense than they actually feel.
Either way, that irregular pulse with the pauses is what sticks out to me. Even when I was hitting 160 BPM during my absolute worst hangovers, my rhythm stayed steady. Based on my own experience, something feels off there and it's worth getting checked out.
The smartest move is to hit up a GP to get some actual tests ordered. Don't go spiraling into thoughts about brain tumors or any of those other scary scenarios. 🙂

I think it’s standard practice for both psychiatrists and primary care doctors to rule out physical issues before they start tossing mental health diagnoses around. So yeah, seeing a doctor is the first step regardless. 🙂

It could be a thousand different things, or it could just be the obvious one—stress. And honestly, trying to cut stress out of your life these days is basically mission impossible.

I get those derealization episodes too... but honestly, it could be something physical. Low blood sugar, blood pressure issues, thyroid stuff, epilepsy, or just a million other things.

Best bet is to just go see a doctor.🙂

Jonathan Morris40 said:Just to be clear, I’m not even going through a massive stressful stretch right now, and I get how anxiety and stress usually go hand in hand. So why am I dealing with this memory loss and weird spatial perception? It’s like my coordination just isn't hitting right.

As for that warped perception thing—honestly, I'm still trying to wrap my head around why it happens. Zero clues so far. People say it tends to kick in during your absolute worst moments of stress and can hang around for a bit. Look, I’m no doctor, so I can’t give you any actual medical advice, just speaking from what I’ve dealt with myself.

Those sound like textbook anxiety symptoms. First move? Go see a psychiatrist. Once that's handled, you need to run some tests to rule out anything physical going on under the hood. After that, it’s down to therapy and/or meds. 🙂

To sounds like depersonalization triggered by a panic attack to me.

The whole topic of addiction is its own thing, and honestly, I’m just not feeling the vibe of typing all this out on my phone. We clearly aren't seeing eye to eye, so let's just leave it at that. 🙂