Lexapro - Hands / Toes tingle & buzz

It's a long shot but I wanted to see if anyone else who is taking Lexapro has experienced tingling and numbness in their fingertips and toes.

 

After making it through the majority of my benzo withdrawal symptoms my anxiety returned and I conceded I needed to try a low dose of a SSRI before I relapsed on benzos. I started at 2.5mg and eventually went up to 5mg which I know is still below the minimum therapeutic dose of 10mg. After the break-in period, I tolerated it fairly well. However, I developed occasional fingertip tingling in a few fingers on each hand and the same sensation in my toes. I also developed numbness on the bottom of my right foot. This has gotten progressively worse and more noticeable over the past two months. I assumed it was withdrawal symptoms but now I'm suspecting it might be the Lexapro.

 

So, has anyone else experienced this?

Just letting you know I developed similar sx while coming off z drugs. I’ve been put on lexapro afterwards so my sx preceded lexapro, but I have read that others have  sx like these on surging antidepressant board. I decided to try the antidepressants temporarily just to see if they help alleviate the sx I developed coming off the benzos/ z drug

Just letting you know I developed similar sx while coming off z drugs. I’ve been put on lexapro afterwards so my sx preceded lexapro, but I have read that others have  sx like these on surging antidepressant board. I decided to try the antidepressants temporarily just to see if they help alleviate the sx I developed coming off the benzos/ z drug

 

Huh. Come to think about it.....these symptoms started about the time I cut my Ambien down from 10mg to 5mg. I wonder if it's more connected to that than the 2.5mg and then 5mg of Lexapro I started during the same period of time. Is there a board similar to this one for SSRIs / antidepressants?

I have it but I had it when I began taper off valium--also started 5 mg lexapro 2 months ago--I don't think that has had any affect--it started with benzo taper.

Is the Lexapro helping you? Just wondering as I’m considering this medication.

Yes. I’m only on 5 mg which is not considered therapeutic but I am less anxious and sleeping better. The first few weeks starting it were not great with s/x though so that is something to consider but, for me, it was worth it. I hope to get off once I’m through taper but I don’t regret the decision. It hasn’t helped my hands but it helps my obsessing about them.

Overwatch - yeah there are many antidepressant forums - but u can go on surviving antidepressants if you want to read stories with similar symptoms. All drugs come at a risk though - but lexapro seems to generally one of the better tolerated drugs out there. The z drugs and benzos are the more dangerous of the two imo.

I have it but I had it when I began taper off valium--also started 5 mg lexapro 2 months ago--I don't think that has had any affect--it started with benzo taper.

 

Thanks.... For me, if it's related to my benzo taper and jump, they started roughly three to four months after my last dose and during a period where nearly all of my symptoms had ceased. Having said that, I know that isn't at all uncommon in dealing with benzo withdrawal.

Is the Lexapro helping you? Just wondering as I’m considering this medication.

 

I will admit that Lexapro did help curb my intrusive health anxiety thoughts. It seemed to stop my mind's cycle of inserting some health concern and then worrying about it every few minutes, hour or whatever. I still had the base concern about, for example my hands tingling, but I could "mentally place it aside" and go on with my day with mostly a clear mind. This is opposed to the concern inserting itself in my mind repeatedly and incessantly throughout a day.

 

Now, with that said, there was a bit of a rough break-in period for that class of medication for most people. For me I started at the ultra-low dose of 2.5mg and held that dose for 3 weeks, then 7.5mg for a week, and eventually the 5mg dose. (which isn't even within the therapeutic range) And now I'm reading getting off Lexapro (like other SSRIs) is about like getting off benzos -- but with perhaps a shorter withdrawal duration and symptoms.

 

I would urge everyone, knowing the horrors of benzo withdrawal, to go to www.survivingantidepressants.com and read the stories of people tapering off of them and then make an informed decision on whether to start them or not.

Overwatch - yeah there are many antidepressant forums - but u can go on surviving antidepressants if you want to read stories with similar symptoms. All drugs come at a risk though - but lexapro seems to generally one of the better tolerated drugs out there. The z drugs and benzos are the more dangerous of the two imo.

 

Thanks Joe. I joined the forum there and aired my question to the group. I was a bit surprised to see how similar the stories of withdrawal and taper struggles were between that forum and this one.

Hello Overwatch,  I have been Benzo free for over two years and still have tingling and numbness in my feet and toes, most other symptoms are gone or minimal, this seems to be the most persistent.  I don't take anything else with the exception of Advil and Tylenol, which I rotate.  I have a friend who had a tough time tapering from Lexapro, but everyone is different.  Good Luck to you.

Hello Overwatch,  I have been Benzo free for over two years and still have tingling and numbness in my feet and toes, most other symptoms are gone or minimal, this seems to be the most persistent.  I don't take anything else with the exception of Advil and Tylenol, which I rotate.  I have a friend who had a tough time tapering from Lexapro, but everyone is different.  Good Luck to you.

 

Thanks for the information. I tapered off the Lexapro in a matter of 7 days and felt only a few very minor side effects -- nothing compared to benzos. But with that said, I had only been on a low dose of Lexapro for several months. I had hoped that the tingling and numbness would fade and I could associate it with the Lexapro, but no. It going strong. I've had a MRI, countless blood labs, and several other expensive tests and have yet to define the cause. It has to be related to my past benzo use....which not a single Doctor (not a Neurologist, Family Practitioner nor PDoc) will consider as a possible cause.

    Hey Overwatch.  So I've been on SSRI's of one type or another for over 20 years.  Currently I am on Lexapro and have been for the last 7 years.  I've always taken a very low dose.  I never really had a lot of bad side effects from them.  I have gone off of them a few times over the years with not a lot of problems, usually just nausea and brain zaps, and they went away rather quickly.  With that being said everyone is different, and brain chemicals are funny things so its certainly plausible that what you are experiencing is from the Lexapro. 

 

    I do have to agree with Joe about the numbness and tingling as a possible side effect from the Z drugs (Ambien, Lunesta).  I was on Ambien 10mg and Ambien ER 12.5mg for years.  Didn't have any real problem at first but over time I did start to get numbness and tingling (N/T) in my fingers and toes.  Occasionally in my hands and feet.  I went and had all the tests, blood work and MRI's.  Everything was normal.  I finally just decided it was from all the times I had been on and off of Benzos that caused my problems.  You can see from my signature its been quite a few times, but honestly it didn't really add up.  So, I kept looking and I finally learned how similar Z-drugs were to Benzos.  Next I started finding other people's stories online that had the same N/T in the fingers, toes, hands, and feet that had been on Z-drugs.  It really shocked me at first.  So, basically I had wanted to get off Ambien for awhile, honestly they just didn't work the same anymore, and I figured maybe it was time to try.  I started tapering over multiple months and as of Feb. 2018 I was Ambien Free.  Out of nowhere guess what started getting better.  The numbness and tingling.  I didn't even realize it at first because it was just an hour here and there.  Over time it went away for days and eventually weeks and now its basically gone.  It comes back every blue moon but it doesn't last long and I know it always goes away.  I no longer think the benzos caused the problem.  I am 100% sure it was the Ambien.  Plus, the N/T went away after I finished my Ambien taper but before I finished my Valium taper. Doesn't really matter either way I can just say its gone.

 

Anyways, sorry for the novel, but I just wanted to let you know my story with Ambien and how it caused my numbness in tingling.

    I started tapering over multiple months and as of Feb. 2018 I was Ambien Free.  Out of nowhere guess what started getting better.  The numbness and tingling.  I didn't even realize it at first because it was just an hour here and there.  Over time it went away for days and eventually weeks and now its basically gone.  It comes back every blue moon but it doesn't last long and I know it always goes away.  I no longer think the benzos caused the problem.  I am 100% sure it was the Ambien.  Plus, the N/T went away after I finished my Ambien taper but before I finished my Valium taper. Doesn't really matter either way I can just say its gone.

 

Anyways, sorry for the novel, but I just wanted to let you know my story with Ambien and how it caused my numbness in tingling.

 

Thanks for the note. You may be right, and my tingling / numbness is related to Ambien. I decreased my Ambien dose from 10mg to 5mg, and started Lexapro, about the time the tingling started. I have noticed the tingling seems to extend up my hands and feet if I try to sleep, or fall asleep briefly, without Ambien or another sleep enhancer like Benadryl.

 

I reduced my Ambien dose by 50% last night and will now take 2.5mg for a few days before trying to jump. It should be interesting to see if symptoms get worse or fade.

 

Thanks again for the response.

Just know it’s going to be okay. Bedtime was worse for me with feeling the N/T but I think it was just because I was just paying more attention to it.  I used Benadryl and unison and melatonin to help. Still do. Look these meds do crazy things to all of us but the common thread seems to be that it’s truly the meds doing these crazy things. I deal with health anxiety also so I feel your pain there. It’s ironic that we take these meds to help with the anxiety but they cause their own set of problems and sometimes get our health scares flared up even worse. I’m a testament that this can and will get better even with the underlying anxiety still there and without it having to be some scary illness. Take your time if you can. I’ve gone off fast and slow. Slow was better for me but we are all different. Your not alone in this so do your best to hang in there. Put the bad days behind you and relish the good days. In time there will be more good than bad and when the bad do come you fill your mind with how it felt on the good ones.