I have a few dizzy spells but my GP says this is because of the withdrawals from the Lexapro. I was offered other antidepressants but I am going to just give my body a break and try other methods to keep me afloat for the time being.
I have been on it almost 5 weeks but got bad rash. Was told to stop not taper but scared of what will happen?. Any advice or tips so i do not panic more. That is why they put me on it for panic disorder.
Don't panic, you are going to be fine! :) A skin rash reaction does not mean you are going to die or go into anaphalyxis. It's just dang annoying and unpleasant to be itchy and rashy. If you don't stop completely but taper, you will just have to suffer from your rash a bit longer. If you stop quickly, you might get the dizzy spells and withdrawal symptoms which are unpleasant but aren't going to hurt you. You've only been on it 5 weeks, hopefully withdrawal symptoms will be minimum. I was on it for nearly a year, had the worsening rash for 4 months before I figured out is was the Lexapro. I found that Dramamine worked really well on the dizzy spells! Good luck, you will be fine. Sorry about the panic disorder, that stinks but there are other meds you can try. Just persevere.
I found withdrawals very difficult, took Dramamine for almost 3 weeks to control the dizziness/nausea. But hang in there, the rash AND the withdrawals do go away in a few weeks (hopefully less for you!)
I have headache or my head feels real funny but it has only been 3 days off of it. I read that it should be out of my system in 5 days. This was my first antidepressant..kinda scared to try anymore as it was not really helping anyway. Have you gone on a different medication or are you all trying to do natural herbal remedies. I hope withdrawls are not to bed after 4 in half weeks. I suppose I can deal with the headache and dizzy feeling.
I'm taking lexapro/cipralex for anxiety for 2,5 months.A month ago hives showed up,not too bad ,I mean only small areas ,like patches and at night or I would wake up with it,so I wasn't too worried about it,until one morning I woke up with swallen lip.Well that freaked me out.So I went to dermatologys and she made me do some blood tests, no alergie test and she told that she doesn't think it's lexapro, cause the reaction would be much worse .I'm stil taking lexapro and I'm in the phase of doing all those blood test.When I read all this posts I'm thinking about calling my psych and telling her all about it,and maybe with consultation with her stop the drug.Or perhaps I should wait for the results of the tests?What do you think?
Also I have to say that it really helped me alot , and I was supposed to take till august....
I am also on lexapro for almost 3 months and hives developed maybe 1, 5 month ago.I went to dermo but she thinks it's not lexapro.My hives usually show up during my sleep or when I wake up, before I take Lexapro, and it dissapeares during the day.Now I'm tappering off slowly , after my Psych told me to, well she said that she is not sure that its' Lexapro, but she doesnt want to take any chances.I also sometimes get swallen lip.Well anyway it freaks me out when it starts to itch so I'm counting down the days till I completily stop taking it,now I'm on 5 mg.I hope outbreaks will stop after I stop taking it.
I've been on Lexapro (10mg) since 2004 - so, almost 10 years. I was started on it when I was 21, and now I'm 30. Hard to believe it's been that long. It has really helped with my depression and anxiety. I went off it on my own once when I was 24ish - just tapered down slowly. Though I felt dizzy and brain-zappy, I thankfully didn't have as hard a time as I read about others having. I stayed off of it for about a year, but eventually found my depression hard to deal with, and went back on. Have been on it ever since. I've experienced a few times when I'll accidentally miss a few days, or forget to refill over a weekend while I'm away from my pharmacy and feel the withdrawal symptoms - achiness, dizziness, brain-zaps - thankfully, no nausea for me. It goes away quite quickly (within a few hours) as soon as I take my next pill. I have, however, developed some other issues, that until recently, I wasn't connecting with the meds... I have never in my life gotten hives, but over the past few years, once in a while - maybe 2 - 3 times a year, I'll break out in a few patches of hives. I've also developed other rashes - persistent eczema on my arms, a bumpy rash on the sides of my face and neck that appears and disappears seemingly randomly, little itchy fluid-filled blisters that pop up in the same locations on my body (wrists, top of upper legs, buttocks, waist, stomach). I'd been trying to figure out any sort of change or pattern to it - I've even given up gluten completely (have been gluten-free for 2 months), thinking it might be that. Note - I switched to the generic Escitalopram early in 2012, after which a lot of the skin symptoms seemed to get worse. I also had a weird sense that these hive/rash breakouts might correlate with times when I'd forgotten my Lexapro for a few days - appearing after I'd gone back on. I had a lot of theories, so that was just one in the back of my mind, until today my friend and coworker who recently started taking generic Escitalopram (and whom I've vented to about my recent skin issues) mentioned that she'd woken up to hives on her face, and connected it to missing a few days of Lexapro - "Do you ever think your hives/rash might be from missing a few days of Lexapro - like a withdrawal symptom?" She asked. BINGO. I knew that part of the puzzle was solved right there. But now I have a conundrum... I'm reading about people getting hives and rashes while on Lexapro, but not necessarily as a direct consequence of either withdrawing or going back on... what should people like my friend and I do? Are reactions like this a warning that we are allergic and we should get off Lexapro, or is it just one of the many unpleasant side effects that are only experienced during withdrawal? Is missing doses causing our reactions to get worse each time it happens? If Lexapro or Lexapro withdrawal is causing my hives, might it also be causing my other skin and other allergy issues (I had no allergy issues until 2-3 years ago)? While I've dreamed of being drug-free for a long time, and been a bit frightened of what the unknown long-term effects of taking it for so long might be, I also hesitate to stop Lexapro without a good reason - it has always worked well for my depression and anxiety- but these skin issues are adding a lot of anxiety to my life. Any thoughts, similar stories, or suggestions would be welcome... :)
I 'm off lexapro for 20 days, and I still get outbreaks , sometimes on my face!:'( so I get swallen lip, area around eyes, and this morning my left cheek.I stopped tkaing antihistaminis , since they are not working for me.I hope that it will evetually burn itslef up.
Sorry for updating this so late. I finally had discovered the cause of the rash and it was not caused by lexapro.
I have been taking 10mg of this medication since June and have been doing great on it, receently because of steady weight gain, my doctor suggested going to half the dose. Since I cut the dose in half I have been getting hives on my arms and legs. I have not change anything else in my routine and was wondering if any has heard of developing hives while withdrawing?
I currently take 20 mg of generic lexapro. aside from the 20 lbs weight gain that i am super disappointed about, i started getting what i thought was "bed bug" bites or flea bites. i was super nervous. checked everywhere I could possibly think, until they started turning into hives... like larger than the size or quarters. I made an immediate appointment with the allergist. turns out I am now allergic to things i eat like everyday that I NEVER had a problem with... just a few: potatos, almonds, soy, lemons, peas, pork.....Who has these allergies develop completely out of nowhere? in my opinion: the lexapro caused my body to start reacting to the proteins in these foods, and now I am left with 20 extra lbs. and limited food to eat. at least itll be one way to lose the weight (my wedding is in a few months!!)