sick, sick, sick...

i just went off paxil - cold turkey - after being on it for about 5 months. i gained a ton of weight and that was making me depressed. while the crying spells and moodiness had disappeared, the weight gain was adding an element of depression i had never experienced before. so basically i woke up 10 days ago and decided to get off of it. since then, i have thrown up nearly every day, i am having heart palpitations, dizziness, weird tingly sensations in my limbs, i can't sleep, and i have constant headaches. i cried non-stop for about 2 days, but thankfully that's over...now i'm just suffering physically. is there anything i can do to relieve some of these symptoms? i feel like absolute hell, but i cannot go back on the paxil to taper - it took me nearly 2 months to adjust to the medication. help!

If you've been off of it for a week now, it would be pretty safe to say that you are through the worst of it. Unfortunately, the symptoms may persist for another few weeks yet.

Try ginger for the nausea. You can drink ginger tea, ginger ale or take ginger tablets (available at any drugstore or health food store). I've also found that sucking on hard candy helps for the nausea. Try to eat small frequent meals, rather than less frequent, larger meals.

If you are experiencing dizziness along with the nausea, try dramamine or bonine.

Hang in there... Every day that you are off of it, equals one more day closer to recovery!!!