First post...long read

[Hardway]

I will try to be as brief as possible with this. I got on paxil when I was 18 and have been on over 10 years @ 20mg daily. In Jan 2012 I took my Dr's advice on how to taper (3 days on 1 off, 2 on and 1 off etc.) It took me 1.5 months to be completely off. Got the zaps and dizziness but they went away in a couple of weeks. The next 2 weeks I felt fine. I thought I was out of the woods and then BOOM...anxiety attacks and depression sank in hard. I went on like this for 2 months until I got to the point where I couldn't eat or sleep for 2 days straight. My family was so afraid of what I might do to myself that they checked me in to the hospital and I was placed back on paxil @ 20mg. Now I'm one month back on and so grateful for what my family has done. I found this site after I was off paxil...in other words, I had no idea what was going to happen to me after such a quick taper. Now I reeeeallly want to get off of this stuff and move on with my life. I am going to the Dr. tomorrow to see if I can start on the liquid form of paxil and take @ least 6-12 mos. to taper. I would greatly appreciate replies from people that have done the slow taper and are back to normal and feeling well off of paxil. Thanks so much.

[julieannboo]

welcome.

stick around this place is great for support and advice.

like you i didnt know about slow weaning. what docs think is slow - like a month or two isnt slow at all!

the only way to get off of this junk with minimal side effects is 10% every 3-6 weeks.

i like you was on 20mg for a very long time. my taper is going to be around 19 months in total but this can change anytime.

throw any timescale you have got out of the window.

get the liquid and we will walk you through it.

[LCrawford67]

I did the 10% method all the way, after being on Paxil 10 years. I've been Paxil free over 4 years now and doing just fine! Just one thing to remember....whatever brought you to Paxil will still be there once you're off. So, be sure to either start some sort of therapy, or have coping tools ready.

You can do this!

[Hardway]

Well...I got on because I had anxiety attacks during my teenage years...I kept them a secret because I thought I was the only person in the world with them. Now, my family is completely there for me, I have a great therapist and I am not afraid of anxiety attacks...those teenage years would have been much different if only I had talked to someone, especially a therapist that knows what he/she's doing. I still have alot of paxil pills...like a 90 day supply, so I was wondering if it would be more cost effective to get a good scale and shave the pills or just start on the liquid ? What is a good scale ? Thanks

[Hardway]

[quote=julieannboo;758631]throw any timescale you have got out of the window.QUOTE]

I am, thanks so much

[aberdeen]

Originally Posted by LCrawford67

Just one thing to remember....whatever brought you to Paxil will still be there once you're off.

Well not necessarily, some here have gone on it for situational problems, or it turns out there was a physical root to their depression, like thyroid problems or in my case, hormonal crap after giving birth. Just giving out some hope in case some people feel overwhelmed thinking all their crap is just there lurking to come back...and therapy is the only answer.

[Brassmonkey]

Hardway-- Here is a paste of a post in my journal (Letters from the Island of Anhedonia) talking about shaving pills, hope it is helpful

I am going to add this to my journal so it will be available to everyone who needs to find out how to shave their pills. It is a lot easer than it sounds and with a little practice you can get results to the half of a milligram of active ingredient. I am tapering using 40mg Paxil tablets, so I ill be using that as an example.

There are a few tools that will be needed. The most important is a jewelers scale that can weigh to 0.001 grams. These are readily available on line for around USD$30.00. You will also need a sharp fine blade knife such as an Exacto #11 or a single edge razor blade. A nail file, some “00” gel caps, a calculator, and a pair of tweezers.

The first step is to find the average weight of the pills you will be cutting down. The normal prescription is for thirty (30) pills, but your scale won’t fit that many so we will use ten (10). Put ten (10) tablets into the pan of your scale and record the weight. Mine is 5.047 grams. Using your calculator divide your number by 10. I get .504 grams, which is also called 504mg, to make things easier I will call it 500 because the 4 is not enough to count. So now we know how much one of the tablets weighs.

Now we need to know how much active ingredient there is for how much tablet. With the calculator divide the average weight of the tablet by the amount of active ingredient. For me 500 divided by 40 which gives me 12.5. This means that for every 12.5mg of tablet I am getting 1mg of active ingredient.

The scales we are using are very accurate, but have to be used properly. They are not as accurate at the bottom of their range, so it is best to place the 10gr weight in the pan and press the tare button. This will put the scale in the middle of its range and give you a reading of 0. If you put a full size tablet on the scale you should get the average weight, but it is not important.

So lets do a 10% drop. We know the average weight of our tablets, mine is 500mg. With the calculator multiply the average weight by .9, this gives me 450. That means that if I cut one of my 500mg tablets to weigh 450mg I will be getting 90% of the active ingredient of the full tablet, a 10% reduction.

To cut the tablet, hold it firmly against the cutting surface and using the sharp blade, chip off a piece that looks like it will be about 10% of the total size. Now weigh the tablet. With luck it will be right on your target weight or a little over it. If it is over weight use the sharp blade or nail file to scrape just a little tiny bit off and weigh the tablet again and repeat as needed until you hit the target weight. It is surprising how little needs to be scraped off to change the weight. With a little practice you can get the weight very close. Also remember that, in my case 12.5mg of tablet equals 1mg of active ingredient, so it is very easy to be very accurate.

Save the little bits that are cut off. These are weighed and placed in the gel caps so there is no waste. These can also be used if you cut off a little too much, make up the proper weight of large and small pieces and put into a cap.

That’s basically all there is to it. Your numbers will vary, but that is the process.

[Backtopaxil]

anxiety attacks and depression sank in hard.

If this was your issue prior to paxil, then it will return once off the meds. Your doctor gave you a very fast ween method on top of that.

You may want to engage a CBT therapist to assist you while you taper. In addition ,try to start with liquid right away. That is, once you are 100% stable on the 20mg pill, switch to liquid and then wait a few more weeks to assess, before starting any taper. Liquid is precise.

I tried to switch to liquid in the middle of my tapering and I could not tolerate it, but that is very uncommon.

Paxil does not fix anything, it just blocks it. Once you remove the drug, things come back and sometimes augmented by wd side effects. You need to be aware of this, and work out the issues with your therapist. Good luck.

[LCrawford67]

Originally Posted by aberdeen

Well not necessarily, some here have gone on it for situational problems, or it turns out there was a physical root to their depression, like thyroid problems or in my case, hormonal crap after giving birth. Just giving out some hope in case some people feel overwhelmed thinking all their crap is just there lurking to come back...and therapy is the only answer.

I'm not referring to situational issues, such as grief, thyroid, hormonal etc. I knew Hardway was put on for an anxiety issue and that's what I was referring to and that stands true for anyone who is put on for SSRIs for long standing anxiety and depression. Those issues are not cured by medication and need to be dealt with post tapering.

I was put on for IBS, so I know all about SSRIs being used for off label uses, or situational, use.

[Hardway]

Thanks all...I am going to try to quit smoking...picked it back up during the 3 months I was off paxil, after that I'm going to take a nice sloooooow taper.

[aberdeen]

Originally Posted by LCrawford67

I'm not referring to situational issues, such as grief, thyroid, hormonal etc. I knew Hardway was put on for an anxiety issue and that's what I was referring to and that stands true for anyone who is put on for SSRIs for long standing anxiety and depression. Those issues are not cured by medication and need to be dealt with post tapering.

I was put on for IBS, so I know all about SSRIs being used for off label uses, or situational, use.

Gotcha!

[scotty]

If you can get liquid, it's a lot less labor intensive than using a scale.

[Hardway]

Gotcha on the liquid...going to see if the psychiatrist will give me some tomorrow. While I was in the hospital they also put me on trazodone 150 mg to sleep. I immediately cut that in half to make it 75mg and now I'm taking 50mg...I am guessing I can't just stop this crap either. I'm not so anxious now that the paxil is kicking back in but it takes me a long time to get to sleep. So I will keep cutting those pills down also. I took some Ativan for a couple of weeks but stopped when I read that its habit forming and I could have bad withdrawals once off....what a racket these guys run, huh?

[babs]

Yeah once you are stable on Paxil I would take advantage and get off the Trazodone, before you start your taper.