Old thread...new experience....I was put on 5mg of Lexapro a couple of weeks ago. Did alright after the first 6 days. Then I was instructed to up the dose to 10 mg. About 6 to 7 hours later, I began having burning pin-prick pains in my finger tips and a general numbness in both hands. No, I am not a diabetic...just had bloodwork done for a pre-op (hernia laparascopy). I dealt with this excruciating condition for 4 days accompanied by total manic depressive episodes. Finally, I had enough and halved the dose. As soon as I did that, the pain in the hands subsided. The anxiety remained, but at least I wasn't feeling like my fingertips were thrust into a fire-ant pile. And no, I never had this sensation prior to trying this medication. Called the doctor the following Monday and he said to stop taking it. He is aware of this potential side-effect and said that I probably should stay away from the SSRI class of drugs. Been off of it for 3 days and the tingling has persisted, but to a much lesser degree. I hope the condition subsides completely, although I suspect, based on Lex's half-life, I'll be dealing with this for some time to come. Had a mild flu-like withdrawal symptom the first day of discontinuation. That cleared up quickly. Reality is that Lex works for a majority of people. I'm one of the unlucky ones who had a bad experience. Currently on low-dose clonapin to deal with the aftermath. Conclusion: If I make it out of this without any peripheral nerve damage, I'll take the depression over trying another pill. For me, it just wasn't worth it.
The thread may be old but many people are still experiencing these problems from SSRI's, and should know they are not alone.
I still have hellish symptoms and although I get by, I still stand by my statement that Lexapro ruined my life.
The more research I do on SSRI's, the more I realize that these drugs are too experimental and dangerous to prescribe to anyone.
check out paxilprogress website if you don't believe it. These drugs are poison.
Just FYI...this thread is several years old, and most of the original participants are no longer active on the site.
It's easy to pull up an older thread without realizing it. One way you can see, at a glance, if the thread is older than 6 months, is the presence of the hourglass symbol next to the date.
Thanks for your contribution!
It's knowing fact that antidepressants increase anxiety at the beginning befor they kick in , stop scareing people ,
I went threw the same symptoms at age 14 constant panic attacks and anxiety day in and day out exactly as u explain, u need a good phycologist to diagnose u and u need to try anti depressant again and give it time, only thing that helps being a benzo shows it's anxiety
What u describe happened sounds so much like a bad panic attack and as can happen after haveing ur first bad panic attack
The fear of it keeps them comeing u need help for panic and anxiety,