Hi, I'm Hisham

Hi everyone, I’m Hisham. I’m here because I’ve been going through what I believe is protracted withdrawal after stopping escitalopram (Lexapro/Cipralex). I took 5 mg for around one month and stopped abruptly in March 2025. Despite the relatively short exposure and low dose, I experienced a wide range of symptoms afterward, including anxiety, intrusive thoughts, emotional blunting, dizziness/lightheadedness, sleep changes, cognitive and memory issues, restlessness, sexual symptoms, and periods of feeling unlike myself. The good news is that over time many of these symptoms have improved significantly or disappeared, although recovery has not been linear. I’ve experienced periods of improvement followed by waves or changes in symptoms. I’m currently around 17 months off the medication. Recently, after a period of considerable improvement, I developed a completely new symptom: repetitive songs/music looping internally in my mind. The songs can change frequently, but the music has been almost continuous. I know that it is coming from my own mind rather than hearing music externally. I’m able to sleep, and the intensity has already fluctuated, but because this is a symptom I never experienced earlier in withdrawal, it has been unsettling. I joined TaperCommunity mainly to connect with others who have experienced protracted antidepressant withdrawal, particularly anyone who developed new symptoms late in recovery or experienced repetitive music/earworms or similar mental loops. I’d especially love to hear from people further along in recovery about how their symptoms changed during the later stages, whether new symptoms appeared, and how things eventually resolved. Thanks for having me here, and I hope I can also share my experience and progress as I continue recovering.