Does the following resonate with anyone?
The first symptom I notice is a headache, arising within a few hours.
Then it is extreme fatigue, like I can barely stay awake - I need to lie down and sleep NOW; probably 3 or 4 hours after the headache begins. I have been suffering from insomnia (see below), so this is actually quite pleasant in itself.
After that, it's depression, anxiety, panic, agitation, brain fog, insomnia (getting to sleep is fine, but wake up after a few hours with rapid heartbeat etc). I notice all of these a bit the day after, worse the day after that and then the worst days can begin on day 3 and last up to a week. At my worst, I can be suicidal.
I'm 33 and never had any noticeable form of POIS until I experienced it during benzo withdrawal when I was 32. It lasted 5-6 months, and I was able to resume normal sexual activity once recovered from the withdrawal. I wanted to be off all psych meds, so started tapering my SSRI after that, and POIS came back within 3 or 4 months. Now, I am going through SSRI withdrawal, which has been so bad (generally, as well as the POIS) for about 5 months that I have had to reinstate the SSRI this week.
