Alcoholism or Paxil Withdrawal?

[oliveoil]

Hi!

I've been on 40mg of Paxil since I was 19 and I'm now 27. I recently decided I wanted to quit and have been slowly tapering off. I don't have health insurance, so I've been doing it on my own, with a pill splitter. Up until recently, I have not felt any severe symptoms, and am now down to 15mg, as of April 3rd.

Last Saturday (4/9), I went to have a few drinks with my brother. I don't usually drink, and the last time I had anything at all to drink was about 6 months ago, while I was still on my full dose of Paxil.

I remember having about 3 or 4 drinks, and the next thing I know I am waking up in the emergency room. I have had too much to drink before, and 'blacked out' before, but this time I remember NOTHING after around my 4th drink.

According to the people that were with me, I had about 2 or 3 more drinks then I can remember (so a total of about 6 or 7?) and then ran off, fell down, lost consciousness, and they hauled me off in an ambulance!

I am around 150 pounds and have drank more then that in the past. I'm far from an experienced drinker, but when I have drank too much before, I have remembered bits and pieces of it later. This was something completely different. The doctors thought I might have been roofied, but I was with my brother and his good friend, and they don't think that anyone (other than the bartender) had access to my drink.

So, has anyone else had an experience like this? Or do I have a drinking problem?

Thanks for any feedback!

[LCrawford67]

Originally Posted by anjopom

Hi Olive,

Many years ago during my use of paxil, i went to a function, my youngest daughter had entered a karoake competition, it was a fabulous evening, and my daughter won!!!
I had no idea then, that you just couldnt drink alcohol on paxil, and i proceeded to get rather worse for wear.
I got home and went to bed, the next day i couldnt function, i felt sick, dizzy, light headed, faint, i never felt so ill, and i suffered like that for a further 4 days - and no one spiked my drink.

That was the very last time i consumed alcohol and will never touch another drop, i learnt a hard lesson, and since coming to pp and researching paxil, i now know that alcohol is a big NO NO while taking paxil, and for many, a long time after you finish useing.

Absolutely! We have many stories about people going over the top, just after one or two drinks. We have stories about binge drinking while taking Paxil.

That being said, we can't tell you if you have a drinking problem, we're not you and know nothing about your lifestyle. However, if you don't normally drink, then pounding 6-7 drinks is obviously way over your limit. That's actually over many folks' limit. Lesson learned.

[kathleen2]

As Laurie said: lesson learned. That you've blacked out before should let you know all you need to. Maybe stop drinking for a month & see how you feel?

[GraceC]

If, when you do drink, you never stop at one or two, you may want to consider you've a problem with alcohol....Paxil or no Paxil.
C