• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

Started on Lexapro this Monday..

Messages
45
and took about 12.5ml of flaxseed oil today, haven't taken it since I started using Lexapro. About an hour later I got an anxiety attack and tingling sensation over my arms, face, and legs. I also feel hyper, and I had to visit the restroom. I've googled and learned that it's very rare but serotonin syndrome can occur when mixing these 2. I had no idea such a small dosage of Lexapro could create these symptoms when mixed with flaxseed oil.

Currently waiting for the doctor to take a look at me at the er. Anyone else experienced something like this?

e: it turned out to be serotonin syndrome. When I got back home I had a big spoon of coconut oil as my last meal and aggravated the symptoms even more. Dunno if that's due to the coconut or if the effects from the flaxseed oil only had a break. Got sweaty and a worse burning sensation in my head. I know someone's not sleeping tonight.
 
Last edited:

Skippa

Anti-BS
Messages
841
Hi, this just highlights the awful way SSRIs are handed out like cough pills with NO fair warnings or ANY kind of guidance from GPs.

I'm on Lexapro and had to "force" myself onto them because I had symptoms that you describe, things like akathesia at night too.

No matter how many times I went back to the GP they swore blind it was "impossible because you can't feel the effects for at least a month to 6 weeks". "It's just anxiety".

You're lucky your doctor even knows what serotonin syndrome is :)

It DOES get better and settle down as you get used to them, but if it gets worse or unbearable then you need to contact help.

(In my case my pupils were huge saucers for nearly a year and it heralded a period of mania - no joke with ME the huge ups and massive crashes - talk about wired but tired!)

Then they stopped working at all and I tried to come off them again... that's when the nightmare began.

I have since read that the more difficult you find it to get ON to SSRIs then the more difficult it is to get OFF again.

One option some people do in your situation is to try different SSRIs until they find one they get on with. Some people swear by that, myself I could not recommend it, so talk to your GP.
 
Messages
45
Hi, this just highlights the awful way SSRIs are handed out like cough pills with NO fair warnings or ANY kind of guidance from GPs.

I'm on Lexapro and had to "force" myself onto them because I had symptoms that you describe, things like akathesia at night too.

No matter how many times I went back to the GP they swore blind it was "impossible because you can't feel the effects for at least a month to 6 weeks". "It's just anxiety".

You're lucky your doctor even knows what serotonin syndrome is :)

It DOES get better and settle down as you get used to them, but if it gets worse or unbearable then you need to contact help.

(In my case my pupils were huge saucers for nearly a year and it heralded a period of mania - no joke with ME the huge ups and massive crashes - talk about wired but tired!)

Then they stopped working at all and I tried to come off them again... that's when the nightmare began.

I have since read that the more difficult you find it to get ON to SSRIs then the more difficult it is to get OFF again.

One option some people do in your situation is to try different SSRIs until they find one they get on with. Some people swear by that, myself I could not recommend it, so talk to your GP.
Thanks for the reply. I will stay clear from any SSRI until the symptoms gave cleared up, then I might give it a new try but with an even smaller dose.

Sorry to hear you experienced this too. I'm exhausted today and got stomach pain along with diarrhea, along with some anxiety. Oh well, it'll get better soon hopefully.