My first post. Need help.

[since95]

First off, I apologize for the long post but it has been a long struggle.

I have viewed this website many times over the past year and thought it would be helpful if I finally signed up. I am currently 28 years old and I have been on Paxil for the past 13 years for severe anxiety and panic attacks I encountered during grade school. If you asked me a year ago, I would say that Paxil was a godsend. With it, I was able to finish post-secondary, become established in my profession and live life without the constant fear of anxiety. That all changed last year around this time.

I started out on 20mg of paxil for the majority of the first 10 years on paxil, jumping down to 10 mg a couple of times. Once I started in my profession 3-4 years ago, I started to get increased anxiety traveling on the road. Instead of staying with therapy and conquering my anxiety, I went and saw my doctor. Guess what he said, "Dan, we should step you up to 30mg and see if the anxiety goes away." This is the same doctor that told me that I would be on paxil for the remainder of my life. So, up to 30 mg of paxil for the next three years with no side affects, other than restless legs and arms.

Last December, I was in Toronto on a business trip and had my paxil in my briefcase like always. Long story short, I ended up leaving it in a taxi cab and was not able to retrieve it for three days. The night I lost it I had my first anxiety attack in four years. The next day I started to get the dizziness and nauseous feeling so many of us have gone through. This made my anxiety worse and was able to hit the medi-centre and receive a couple free samples. For the whole month of December and January, my anxiety levels were as high as ever. Went to the doctor and guess what "40mg of paxil". Did this for about a week and then went back down to 30mg due to the worse case of what I would describe as restless leg syndrome. As soon as I dropped down to 30mg, that’s when the nightmare began.

It all started with the damn zaps and muscle twitches. Even though I was only at 40mgs of paxil for a week, I believe I started to get withdrawal when I went down to 30mg. The side effects would not go away and my MD tried muscle relaxants that did not work. He then decided in July that it was most likely the paxil and that I should try Paxil CR because it would give me paxil in gradual doses, instead of all at once. Little did I know that 25mg of paxil cr was equivalent to 20mg of regular paxil. Down another 10mg dose per day. I started to get the zaps more frequently, along muscle twitching.

It got worse and worse that I ended going to the local university's Psychiatric Out Patient Ward because I couldn't handle the feelings anymore. The physiatrist said that my symptoms were sounded like withdrawal and that I should be weaned of paxil altogether. To make the process a little easier he said that I should try Cipralex, I think it is called Lexapro in the US, while coming off of paxil. I said that Cipralex was a newer SSRI and it would be easier to come off of once I was completely off paxil.

So 10mg of Cipralex and down to 15mg of paxil in three weeks. I wasn't feeling any better, but I wasn't feeling worse. I felt better because I finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel. I saw the psychiatrist two weeks ago and he said that we should speed up the process, since the Cipralex should have started to kick in and that I should drop down to 10mg of paxil.

Bang!!!! I hit a brick wall. The zaps are worse than ever and I am getting them in my eyes now, my muscles twitch constantly and I have the dizziness for the first time. I couldn't handle the sudden drop and went back to 15mg nine days ago. My problem is that I haven't really started to feel better since I went down to 10mg, even though I went back to 15mg a day. I am constantly getting horrible thoughts that I will feel like this for the rest of my life. I haven't felt normal in almost a year and it seems the closer I get to zero, the worse I feel.

I know many of you are still fighting to get through, even after a year or two completely off. I feel for you and I am very scared that I will be dealt the same fate. Has anyone truly recovered on this site after a long period on this drug? I seem to only read the negatives and I am starting to really freak out. Does anyone have any suggestions? I really need some help as I can't relate my problems to any of the special people I have close in my life. Thanks for reading my post.

[scotty]

First, Welcome to paxilprogress! Yes, many get off paxil successfully and move on with their lives. But most of them move on from paxilprogress too, so you are seeing those that are early in withdrawal, usually after horrible weaning schedules. There is a certain percentage of protracted withdrawal among paxil users.
You are on one of those nasty weaning schedules. Switching to another ssri rarely works. If you need to wean off an drug, you use the drug that you have been on.
We have found the most successful way to get off paxil and still have a life is to wean by 10% of your dose each 3-4-5-6 weeks(depending on how you feel).
Lexapro is no easier to wean off of than paxil, so why add a new drug(with it's potential adverse reactions) to the mix?

[Songbird]

It sounds like you are in 'poop-out' on Paxil - that is when the drug stops working and you need to increase dose to stop withdrawal symptoms. Switching to another drug seems to be commonly recommended by doctors, but apparently it is very often unsuccessful at covering the withdrawal from the first drug. It is recommended here to taper off Paxil slowly, even when in poop-out, coming off slowly gives your brain and body time to adjust.

[Katesmom]

Well, it sounds like paxil pooped out on you. It sounds like that was just beginning to happen when you updosed to 30mg which would have staved off full poop out for a while. But, when you went cold turkey, even for a short time, that changed everything. Even updosing to 40 would have likely only been a short term solution. Updosing after poop out will only help for so long. Once your brain has SSRIs number, the jig is up.

The switch to lexapro is not a great idea. It won't protect you from paxil withdrawal, which after long use and in poop out will be rough. Slow and easy (10% of current dose, tapering every 4-6 weeks using liquid) is the only solution. Switching only adds in the chance at serotonin syndrome and the start up symptoms of the new med.

Additionally, lex has about the same half life of paxil, so it certainly will not be any easier to quit than paxil. Most switch to quit schemes use prozac which has a much longer half life than all of the other SSRIs.

If I were you, I would just dump the lexapro and go back on paxil and taper as I mentioned above. Since you are dealing with poop out, you may not feel much relief until after you are at a lower dose (after a slow taper), but you will eventually feel better.

[since95]

The problem in Canada is that liquid paxil is not avaliable yet. Has anyone had success using a compounding pharmacist?

Also, since going back to 15mg of paxil has not helped my symptoms ease, does anyone suggest that I go back to 20mg and start the weening process again (just much slower). I am scared of quitting the lexapro in my current state, I don't think I could handle it if I get any worse. I am struggling in my current state.

[rdjanis]

Welcome!! I wouldn't be increasing paxil while still on the lexapro. IMO, getting off the lexapro and increasing paxil to stabilize would be the way to go.

[Dawn B.]

Hi,
Sounds to me like you are in poop out. Your paxil quit working. That happened to me after being happily on it for 7 years. My doc tried the same thing. Changed me over to Lexapro, but it didn't agree with me, so after nine days I went to Cymbalta, and it was okay, but I was jittery all the time I was off Paxil. I went CT off the Paxil and onto the Lexapro. I had NO idea about w/d symptoms. I guess that was what the jitteriness was from. After little over a month of Lex and Cymbalta, I was not satisfied because of the constant jitteriness, so I went back on Paxil, and she doubled the dose to 40 just like you. I went from 20 to 30 for a month, then to 40 for two days, and that made me feel worse, so I went back to 30. Every couple of weeks I'd feel in an emotional place that was not good, and I'd lower by 5 mg. and feel better. That went well down to my original 20 mg. then I went down to 15. I thought I had the flu. Kept going, all the way down to 8.5 and thought I was going to die I was so sick. That was when I found this site. Went back to 13 and it took about 6 weeks until I started to come around back to life.
This stuff is nothing to mess with. There are a couple others on this site that got dealt Lexapro to get off paxil 'easier' and it has turned into horror stories for them. How long have you been on the Lexapro? It might be a good idea to can the Lex and go back on the Paxil where you were stable, like 20 mg. and then wean off slowly from there.
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[since95]

Dawn, I have been on the Lexapro for about a month and a half. How should I wean off the Lexapro?

[Dawn B.]

I had been on Paxil for 7 years, and my doc had me stop the Paxil and start the Lexapro all at once, same thing when I went from Lex to Cymbalta, then back to Paxil. My thought is that you should just stop the Lex and go back to the Paxil, but I think you should ask Scotty just to double check on that.
She's quite an expert on this stuff.
Lexapro did not agree with me at all. It immediately gave me these flashes in my head, and gut upset, which I never had with Paxil. There is a gal here named Sherri who is in HELL right now because her doc switched her from Paxil to Lexapro, and he put her on a high dose of it too for some unknown reason. Emmy is another one who had this happen, Paxil to Lexapro at high dose of both. They would all tell you don't take the Lex. It does not help you get off Paxil easier at all. It can cause it's own side effects, plus you are dealing with the w/d from the Paxil. Didn't your post say you were still on 10 mg. of Paxil? I would drop the Lexapro and go right back to all Paxil, get stable, and then begin to wean off.
I'm sure someone else will come along with an opinion, but do check with Scotty.
Dawn <><

[since95]

Yes Dawn, I am currently taking 15mg of paxil and 10mg of Lexapro. I never just switched to Lexapro and quit the paxil. The phsyc said that the Lexapro would help while I came off the paxil. My body is telling me to quit the Lexapro and start over with a slow paxil wean (5mg was just too much and too fast). My worries is that I will suffer w/d from the Lexapro even though I have been on it for less than two months.

[Katesmom]

Originally Posted by rdjanis

Welcome!! I wouldn't be increasing paxil while still on the lexapro. IMO, getting off the lexapro and increasing paxil to stabilize would be the way to go.

I agree with this. Serotonin syndrome is a real concern here. If you take two serotogenic drugs simultaneously, you run the risk of this very uncomfortable and potentially fatal ailment. I hope that you realize that 10mg of lex is equivalent to 20mg of paxil, so that is a significant dose of two SSRIs that you are taking.

If you are scared to just go CT on the lex, you might go down to 5mg for a few days then quit. Right now, though, you ought to be more concerned about limiting your exposure to that drug. The longer you are on it, the more likely that CT will be more challenging. Additionally, lexapro is notorious for being activating (causing people to be aggitated), so it may be adding to your misery.

We do have a member, LCrawford67, who has had tremendous success with compounding the meds. You have to have a cooperative doc, one who will write an Rx for every dose, but it has been well worth it to her. If all else fails, get yourself a metal nail file and file off a little bit to get a slightly smaller dose of paxil.

[eileen]

Welcome to PP. I've been on Paxil since 12 years and have been weaning since over two. I'm managing to do it after all this time and you will too. I, too went into poop out but didn't have a clue about what was happening until I found Paxil Progress.
The others have given you good advice on weaning so I won't go there. Good Luck!
Eileen

[babs]

I successfully quit Paxil after 11 years on 20mg. It was hard but it can be done ... slower is better. Don't believe any doctor that tells you you need to be on meds for life ... not only is it wrong, it's not possible, as all these meds quit working sooner or later as your body desperately strives for balance.

[brittany7799]

I definitely feel for you and your situation. I managed to taper from 20 mg to 5 mg of Paxil after 3 1/2 years of use. My doc then decided to switch me to Lexapro, and I quit the 5 mg of Paxil and started 5 mg of Lexapro about 4-5 weeks ago. I was having anxiety so bad that I thought it was worth a shot. The plan was to move up to 10 mg of Lexapro, but I have since determined that Lexapro makes me jittery and I have a hard time staying asleep and wake up at 3:30 or 4:30 just about every morning with racing thoughts. Night sweats have come back too. I'm switching back to 5 mg of Paxil tonight and will just wean the last 5 mg slowly and deal with the anxiety. Good luck with your taper.

[nicole55]

Hi, first of all you can do this. It will take some time but if you do it slowly you will most likely not have as many severe side effects.

I dropped too fast in the beginning (at the recommendation of my doctor of course) and had major problems. Eventually I found this site and went much slower.

Don't feel bad if you have to go up a little to stabalize on the paxil. This happens to a lot of us. It happened to me- I went back up to my regular dose after a too big drop and I couldn't even stabalize there and had to go even higher. It's the two step forward and one step back game!

I agree about just going back to paxil and starting from there. Why add another drug in the mix, just makes more problems. They tried this on me too-didn't work.

Everyone is different so you just go as slow as you want. Most do very small dose reductions. I did the 2.5 drops as this was easy for cutting pills and 5 mg drops were too much for me(and most people). But tons of people go even slower or when they get lower they go 1 mg at a time.

[since95]

I decided to get off the Lexapro and only had 5mg today. I will take it a few more days and then call it quits. I then plan to go back up to 20mg of paxil and stabalize a bit. Hopefully that will happen, but I have had the muscle twitches for over 9 months and I don't want to go back to 30mg to stabalize, as I had the zaps for the 4 months I was at 30mg last spring. Unfortunately, I think because of the larger drops from 40mg (even though I was at this dose for less than a week) to 30mg, and then 30mg to 25mg of paxil cr, I will have to deal with some sort of the zaps until I can complete this whole process. There is absolutely no way that I can go back to 30mg.

Anyway, I found a compounding pharamacy in my area that can prescribe paxil in the doses that I want. I will try the 1mg every 14-21 days and see how I react. I just hope that I can stabalize at 20mg. My anxiety has been sky high, especially with work. I am in constant fear that I will not be able to work while going through this but unfortunately I must.

[scotty]

Leave more time than 14-21 days between weans. 4-5 weeks is the minimum time period. This gives the brain time to adjust. Some symptoms don't even show up for 14 days, so weaning prior to this will compound the withdrawal symptoms.

[Dawn B.]

I think you are making the right decision here to can the Lexapro. You don't want to get it the same rut as others have where you are on more and more drugs and all that.
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[since95]

Well, I went and saw the counselor I have been seeing the past two months and told him the direction I want to go in. I explained that it was the Paxil withdrawal symptoms that brought me to see him in the first place and that I want to work at a slow taper schedule and not try to switch from Paxil to Cipralex (Lexapro). The drop from 20mg to 10 mg of paxil over the last month has been extremely debilitating and way to fast.

I also told him that I wanted to go back to 20mg and drop the Lexapro. After that, I want the ability to go to a compounding pharmacist so that I can decrease my paxil 1mg at a time.

I explained that I have been on paxil since I was 16 (the last 12 years) and that I have never had the opportunity to deal with my anxiety drug free as an adult. I also asked to be referred to the Psychology department so that I can gain the relaxation techniques that I will need to battle through this long journey.

To my relief, the counsoler agreed with everything I said and made an appointment for this Friday to see the Psychiatrist that we have been working with this last two months. Hopefully the doc will see my side and agree as well. If not, I will just have to find another MD but I'm pretty sure he will.

I quit taking the Lexapro yesterday after a quick 5 day taper. I didn't want to drag it any longer because it has only been a month and a half on it. I also went back up to 20mg of paxil so that I can hopefully stabilize a bit. However, it seems that the Lexapro has made my levels all out of whack, as I am fairly dizzy (worse at night) and the zaps are pretty intense. Hopefully this will only last for a few weeks and I can stabilize for a month before the taper schedule begins.

My problem is that I dropped from 30mg to 20mg way to fast but had been on 25mg paxil CR for 4months before the recent taper down to 10mg. I don't want to go back to 30mg and will tough it out at 20. The only really side effect that is truly bothersome is the zaps. I get them in my legs and arms really bad and in the afternoon they start in my eyes. I am pretty dizzy as of late, but I think that is because I stopped Lexapro so fast.

The hardest part of all of this is trying to keep up with my job. I am a Territoy Sales Manager for a huge multi-national company and I have a very large territory that I have to travel through. Hopefully I can stabalize a bit over the next month, so that I can get back to traveling. For now, I will try to go day by day instead of worrying about things that are a month away.

[Songbird]

Yay for you! Yes, it might take a few weeks to stabilise, but this sounds like a good plan.

[Katesmom]

You have realistic expectations and a cautiously optimistic attitude. I think you are going to do great through this!