Just say "No."

withdrawal symptoms from lexapro, day 14, on a half dose (5mg):

1. sensitivity to noise. not necessarily just loud, but noise in bulk, like from a crowd. makes me irritated and agitated. a feeling of a need to escape overcomes me.

2. headache. a slight pinch in the afternoon.

3. easy to cry, although this is coinciding with PMS time. and that is a common PMS symptom for me.

4. extreme reaction to stress. "this is the end" etc.

5. lack of desire to go out, socialize, unless seriously previously inebriated.

6. indications of proactive aggression: fighting with a random lady over who was at the change machine in the BART station first, and winning. also, cutting my own hair.

7. brain zings in the morning. like someone has stuck a live wire into the center of my brain, making me cross-eyed for a split second.

i just read that there are studies suggesting that non-caloric sweeteners actually make people gain weight because the body gets confused. the body senses there is something sweet going in, but when no calories follow, it makes up for the indiscretion in some other way. interesting, isn't it? i've always thought chemical food was bad. especially fake sugar. i wonder how taking antidepressants would relate in that way. like, if you suppress your emotions, but your brain recognizes that something bad is happening, what does it do when the appropriately accomodating emotions do not occur?

does it freak your shit out and turn you into some kind of monster? or what?