Serotonin syndrome from Semax/Lexapro?

I read a few posts from other redditors who ran Semax concurrently with SSRIs and said they were fine. I take a low dose of Lexapro (due to having a genetic defect for impaired drug clearance). However, I didn't realize that Semax increases serotonin and I should have discontinued the Lexapro before trying Semax.

I got a bottle of N-Acetyl Semax Amidate 90mg (900 mcg per spray). I ran n-acetyl Semax for 10 days before I got sick. I started with one spray for a couple days, noticed irritability and increased to 3 sprays per day in the mornings. I had incredible improvements as others have described -- after just a couple days I had vastly increased energy, able to focus, incredible improvements in memory recall.

When I started to get "sick" I noticed weird symptoms like feeling hot all over. My skin felt hot. I got a headache, then I had full-body pain where everything hurt. Then I started shivering and running a high fever (103F, which is high for an adult). I got into bed and shivered, eventually zonking out and sleeping for like 12 hours. The next day I could barely get outta bed. I felt TERRIBLE. My head would pound and throb anytime I bent over. I worked hard to stay hydrated with fluids -- water, pineapple juice, hibiscus tea, and ate a few handfuls of trail mix for sodium/electrolytes. I went back to sleep for another 6 hours. When I got up, I hydrated and took some Tylenol and after a while my fever finally broke and i started feeling much better.

A bunch of my friends thought it must be covid or a viral infection, but I had no other symptoms and my rapid test was negative. I didn't have any sniffling/sneezing, I didn't have any lung or coughing issues, I didn't have any neck stiffness, I didn't have any GI symptoms like stomach pain or diarrhea. Because it resolved on its own, I wonder if I had developed a "mild" case of serotonin syndrome, which was incredibly painful and I can't imagine how bad a severe case must be. I should have gone in to the urgent care or ER, they could have checked my vitals and assessed me and verified whether or not it was actually serotonin syndrome.

Of course, as soon as I noticed I was feeling bad, I immediately stopped the Semax and Lexapro. I probably should have gone in to get assessed, but I couldn't drive in the state I was in. In hindsight, I should have worked with my doctor to discontinue the Lexapro before ever starting the Semax.

The half-life for Lexapro is 27-32 hours, meaning it takes that long for the concentration of the drug in the body to reduce by half. After taking my last dose, this means I'd have about 6 days before the drug is completely eliminated. Of course, I also have a genetic defect for impaired drug clearance so maybe I should give it 2 weeks instead of 6 days. Thanks for reading!