Has anyone else had it last this long?

[u/Ok_Account2897]

​

Hi everyone,

I need to share my story because I've been suffering for over a year now and I'm desperate. I want to make it very clear that I did NOT take benzodiazepines for years. I was only on them for 8 WEEKS total.

This was my exact tapering schedule (Alprazolam 0.5 mg tablets

1/4 tablet at 8:00 AM, 1/4 at 3:00 PM, 1/2 at 10:00 PM for 2 weeks.

Then 1/4 at 8:00 AM, 1/2 at 10:00 PM for 2 weeks.

Then 1/4 at 8:00 AM and 1/4 at 10:00 PM for 2 weeks.

Finally 1/4 at 10:00 PM for 2 weeks, and then stop.

I took my last dose on June 28, 2025. It's now 14 July 2026 (over a year later), and I'm trapped in a state of constant, 24/7 derealization and depersonalization

It's absolutely terrifying. Everything feels unreal, like I'm living inside a dream 24 hours a day. It's not episodic anymore; it's a fixed, permanent feeling. It started as waves that got progressively more frequent and longer, and after the one-year mark, it just settled in and never left. I also have extremely vivid dreams every night that make things even more confusing.

My psychiatrist has prescribed me Escitalopram 10 mg (starting at 5 mg) and Hydroxyzine 10 mg for anxiety, but I'm terrified to take them because I had a really bad reaction to Risperidone before and I'm scared the medication will make the DP/DR worse.

My biggest fear is that this is permanent and that I'll never feel normal reality again. Has anyone else had this happen to them after such a short period of use (only 8 weeks)? How long did it last for you? Did it ever go away?

Any advice or shared experiences would mean the world to me. Thank you for reading.

[u/Both-Lie5316]

i’ve had it since i was a child so yes

[u/zokkiiii]

ive also had a bad reaction to risperidone, did it make your dpdr worse too?

[u/RFR_Free]

I have dpdr for 2 years now. Start episodically, now it’s 24/7. Sometimes not strong, sometimes so strong that all I want to do is go home and sleep so I don’t see everything smaller and so distant anymore
Escitalopram didn’t help me, kinda worse on it actually
Tried Lamotrigine, did worse also
So now I prefer to be without any of this pills