Did taking other SSRI's help your paxil withdrawl?

punky · 09-18-2006, 03:53 PM

I see a lot of people looking for a way out of withdrawl like I was. It was my psychiatrist's thinking that other SSRI's or mood stabilizers were the answer. I'm curious as to others that have tried this to try and help with withdrawl and if it did take away or help the paxil withdrawl. I'm trying to set this up as a poll, but I don't know what I'm doing lol so please bear with me.

So, did adding the new SSRI help your withdrawl??

1. Yes, it was like I never missed a dose of my SSRI.

2. No, I still had withdrawl symptoms.

3. No, I still had withdrawl and worsening new symptoms.

4. Yes and No...I still had withdrawl, but the new drug made me feel better.

Homerbcool · 09-18-2006, 03:55 PM

..no i did not even thnk abot it..my sister in law did this from effexor to cymbalta, as well as Litium she is on, real mess..hope she shows up here..I've been beggin her..but I did also tell her what happens here , sometimes stays here..wink wink nudge nudge..

I do take great issue when people suggest this replacing one poison quill with another poison quill..

LCrawford67 · 09-18-2006, 03:56 PM

Good question, Punky and one I often ponder. I've heard so many different outcomes in so many different threads, I'd like to see this also.

LCrawford67 · 09-18-2006, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Homerbcool

..no i did not even thnk abot it..my sister in law did this from effexor to cymbalta, as well as Litium she is on, real mess..hope she shows up here..I've been beggin her..but I did also tell her what happens here , sometimes stays here..wink wink nudge nudge..

I do take great issue when people suggest this replacing one poison quill with another poison quill..

Oh Homer, Effexor to Cymbalta....YIKES! Poor girl.

Yeah, you might actually have to behave if she's here!

elisa · 09-18-2006, 04:03 PM

I can't answer this poll because I had side-effects throughout the 11 years on these drugs while being switched from one to another, or while staying on Effexor XR as of Feb 2001.

Gareth · 09-18-2006, 04:09 PM

I did a straight switch from 30mg of paroxetine to 15mg of escitalopram and apart from a couple of occasions where I was unable to breathe for a few seconds it was totally painless.

I then came off the escitalopram very quickly which was much easier than stopping paroxetine but by then the damage had already been done. If only I had done this a few years earlier. Seventeen months on and I am still suffering but this is because of long-term SSRI use and not withdrawal. Switching may help to come off the drugs more quickly but won't neccessarily mean you won't suffer in the months ahead. Also, it seems to very from person to person, some can switch and others have a bad reaction to it.

Gareth

Amaya's Nana · 09-18-2006, 04:19 PM

I answered NO. Paxil to Zoloft to Lexapro to Prozac back to Paxil, then Paxil/Wellbutrin.....off Paxil 4 months and tried Lexapro again for 6 days. Nothing worked but time. That's it.

Delynbetter · 09-18-2006, 04:23 PM

Was given Lexapro and it didn't do squat.

bfw1220 · 09-18-2006, 04:34 PM

today is my fifth day of taking 20mgs of prozac with my 10mgs of paxil and beginning last night/today i have felt better than i have in 3 months. from doing the cold turkey than spending a month stabalizing back on the paxil i finally feel "normal". the thing i cant help but wonder is if its the added prozac or that i finally am stabalized back on the paxil and dont need the prozac. hmm???

Amaya's Nana · 09-18-2006, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bfw1220

today is my fifth day of taking 20mgs of prozac with my 10mgs of paxil and beginning last night/today i have felt better than i have in 3 months. from doing the cold turkey than spending a month stabalizing back on the paxil i finally feel "normal". the thing i cant help but wonder is if its the added prozac or that i finally am stabalized back on the paxil and dont need the prozac. hmm???

That's what happens when we cross-medicate. You don't know which one is causing the symptoms/improvements. You know Prozac is probably easier to get off of so I'd dump the Paxil when the doctor says to or you feel comfortable enough to. Glad you're feeling better

Homerbcool · 09-18-2006, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bfw1220

today is my fifth day of taking 20mgs of prozac with my 10mgs of paxil and beginning last night/today i have felt better than i have in 3 months. from doing the cold turkey than spending a month stabalizing back on the paxil i finally feel "normal". the thing i cant help but wonder is if its the added prozac or that i finally am stabalized back on the paxil and dont need the prozac. hmm???

this is one of the prime issues..how do you know..and what if it is the exact formulation of combining the two..you dont know..frustrating as hell..

punky · 09-18-2006, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bfw1220

today is my fifth day of taking 20mgs of prozac with my 10mgs of paxil and beginning last night/today i have felt better than i have in 3 months. from doing the cold turkey than spending a month stabalizing back on the paxil i finally feel "normal". the thing i cant help but wonder is if its the added prozac or that i finally am stabalized back on the paxil and dont need the prozac. hmm???

That's a tough one, but I think that the prozac hasn't been in you long enough for you to feel anything yet. It usually takes about four weeks before ya can tell if any new SSRI's are going to even work or not and prozac is the more "gentle" one of the bunch.

If you've been taking your paxil for about a month after CTing your probably are starting to feel the paxil again. I'm glad you are feeling stabilized again! That's a good first step. Actually it's great! Nowhere to go but a slow taper downhill from here.

punky · 09-18-2006, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Homerbcool

this is one of the prime issues..how do you know..and what if it is the exact formulation of combining the two..you dont know..frustrating as hell..

That's so true! I know when I stopped my last drug my psych doc added (abilify) it was like ........whoa........is this paxil withdrawl or what the hell?! Not to mention the side effects of the Abilify. I know it's not an SSRI, but STILL. I didn't know what was what anymore! Same type deal with the other SSRI's she put me on. I honestly didn't know what was withdrawl and what was normal anymore. Talk about a double whammy.

bfw1220 · 09-18-2006, 04:49 PM

see everyone i emailed my psyc last night when i finally felt better. i figured it takes a while for the prozac to start working...so if i feel good it must mean i have stabalized again on paxil. if this is the case i would want to stop the prozac so im not addicted to 2 drugs. im seeing him tommorrow at 11 so i dunno. he wrote me back and said i am on the prozac to get off the paxil...but when i met with him i know i wasnt stabalized yet which is why i had the depression, which is why he thinks i should be on prozac instead of paxil!!!! ahh too many issues!!!

punky · 09-18-2006, 04:59 PM

That is all too common bfw! The docs really do want to help us so they give us drugs to treat our symptoms. Unfortunately some of them don't get that the symptoms are coming from withdrawl of the drug itself and adding more drugs to that.......well you know what I'm sayin!

Depression was my first major symptom of withdrawl and I was put on Zoloft at that time. Then I couldn't sleep so they put me on Trazadone. Then my moods starting going all over the place so they tried Seroquel. Anxiety=Effexor. More depression=Celexa. More mood swings and bipolar diagnosis=Abilify...so on and so on. I've had to learn that I just need to come off of paxil once and for all and it has been so much easier to do without all the added drugs into the mix.

Before I started withdrawl the only drug I've regularly been on was paxil. The only diagnosis I had was Panic Disorder and PTSD. Now just since starting withdrawl they have labeled me with Major Depression, Generalized Anxiety, Borderline Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Depersonalization Disorder and most recently Agoraphobia. I'm not sayin I was a normal chick before this all started, but come on now. I feel confident that this will all pass once paxil withdrawl is over.

Lilly · 09-18-2006, 06:11 PM

I did not answer because I was in Xanax w/d when I started the Paxil. It did stop my xanax w/d for a time but when I stopped Paxil I sure got clobbered with w/d! Nothing after that or ever again for me!

Lilly

punky · 09-19-2006, 12:58 AM

Lilly that's interesting that paxil helped out the xanax w/d. I went through CT from Ativan once, but was already on paxil at that time. It was really bad for a couple of days. By the fourth day I was feeling a little dazed, but better.

View Poll Results: Did taking other SSRI's ease your withdrawl?
Yes, it was like I never missed a dose of my SSRI.	0	0%
No, I still had withdrawl symptoms.	2	50.00%
No, I still had withdrawl and worsening new symptoms.	2	50.00%
Yes and No...I still had withdrawl, but the new drug made me feel some better.	0	0%
Voters: 4. You may not vote on this poll

09-18-2006, 03:53 PM	#1
punky Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: North Carolina Posts: 834	Did taking other SSRI's help your paxil withdrawl? I see a lot of people looking for a way out of withdrawl like I was. It was my psychiatrist's thinking that other SSRI's or mood stabilizers were the answer. I'm curious as to others that have tried this to try and help with withdrawl and if it did take away or help the paxil withdrawl. I'm trying to set this up as a poll, but I don't know what I'm doing lol so please bear with me. So, did adding the new SSRI help your withdrawl?? 1. Yes, it was like I never missed a dose of my SSRI. 2. No, I still had withdrawl symptoms. 3. No, I still had withdrawl and worsening new symptoms. 4. Yes and No...I still had withdrawl, but the new drug made me feel better. __________________ 7/00-1/1/06 Paxil 20-40mg 1/2-2/18 Paxil CR 25mg 2/19-5/3 Paxil CR 12.5mg 5/4-5/9 Paxil CR 25mg 5/10-5/15 Paxil CR 12.5mg 5/16-6/10 Paxil CR 10mg 6/11-7/13 Paxil CR 6.25mg 7/13-7/31 Paxil CR 3mg 8/1-9/5 Paxil CR 6.25mg 9/6 to 9/11 Paxil 10mg/5ml Suspension 5mg (2.5ml) 9/12 to present Paxil 10mg/5ml Suspension 7mg (3.5ml)

09-18-2006, 03:55 PM	#2
Homerbcool "colors outside the lines" Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 15,949	Re: Did taking other SSRI's help your paxil withdrawl? ..no i did not even thnk abot it..my sister in law did this from effexor to cymbalta, as well as Litium she is on, real mess..hope she shows up here..I've been beggin her..but I did also tell her what happens here , sometimes stays here..wink wink nudge nudge.. I do take great issue when people suggest this replacing one poison quill with another poison quill.. __________________ That's one of the curses of anxiety--we make possibilities into certainties.....Tim

09-18-2006, 03:56 PM	#3
LCrawford67 Moderator "Everybody poops" Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Ohio Posts: 26,493	Re: Did taking other SSRI's help your paxil withdrawl? Good question, Punky and one I often ponder. I've heard so many different outcomes in so many different threads, I'd like to see this also. __________________ aka LC aka Laurie C. Paxil, 20 mg since 1997, for IBS Two unsuccessful attempts to quit. Started tapering 11/27/06 PAXIL FREE 12/29/07 If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart Thanksgiving, man. Not a good day to be my pants. ~Kevin James

09-18-2006, 04:03 PM	#5
elisa Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 11,509	Re: Did taking other SSRI's help your paxil withdrawl? I can't answer this poll because I had side-effects throughout the 11 years on these drugs while being switched from one to another, or while staying on Effexor XR as of Feb 2001. __________________ On A/D's since 1995, switching due to side-effects on 30 different brands of TCA's, SSRI's, SNRI's, Antipsychotics, Benzo's & Imovane. 6 ECT's. Tapering from 225 mg Effexor XR May 17, 2004. (Equiv. to 60 mg Paxil) Last taper Effexor XR Jan 17, 2006 down to ZERO. Currently protracted withdrawal. Sept 2006: 25 mg Doxepin. March 13/09: 10 mg Desipramine

09-18-2006, 04:09 PM	#6
Gareth Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: South Wales Posts: 16	Re: Did taking other SSRI's help your paxil withdrawl? I did a straight switch from 30mg of paroxetine to 15mg of escitalopram and apart from a couple of occasions where I was unable to breathe for a few seconds it was totally painless. I then came off the escitalopram very quickly which was much easier than stopping paroxetine but by then the damage had already been done. If only I had done this a few years earlier. Seventeen months on and I am still suffering but this is because of long-term SSRI use and not withdrawal. Switching may help to come off the drugs more quickly but won't neccessarily mean you won't suffer in the months ahead. Also, it seems to very from person to person, some can switch and others have a bad reaction to it. Gareth __________________ Started Paroxetine June '98 Paroxetine free since end of Jul 2004 Did straight switch over to Escitalopram Escitalopram free since April 17th 2005

09-18-2006, 04:19 PM	#7
Amaya's Nana An "A bucket" gal! Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 6,371	Re: Did taking other SSRI's help your paxil withdrawl? I answered NO. Paxil to Zoloft to Lexapro to Prozac back to Paxil, then Paxil/Wellbutrin.....off Paxil 4 months and tried Lexapro again for 6 days. Nothing worked but time. That's it. __________________ a/k/a Lisa PAXIL FREE AS OF 3/18/06! Fully recovered! Currently weaning Klonopin - down to .25 mg - Onward and Upward!!!!!! Focus your attention on the here and now. Recognize it for what it is: the one moment of the only life you will ever have that you truly possess. Rare is the individual who has come to completely accept that the past is no more than a memory and the future an assumption about unborn events.

09-18-2006, 04:23 PM	#8
Delynbetter Join Date: May 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 10,518	Re: Did taking other SSRI's help your paxil withdrawl? Was given Lexapro and it didn't do squat. __________________ Diagnosed anxiety/panic disorder without agoraphobia 1989. Talk/music therapy. Major anxiety and mild depression in 2004 from situational stressors. Began Paxil CR 25mg, 10/04. Quit cold-turkey 5/5/05 as demanded by doctor. Found paxilprogress 5/17/05. Began Paxil CR 12.5mg 5/17/05. Weaned 4 1/2 months. During taper - anx/panic/depression, manic episodes, agoraphobia, suicidal ideation, many other physical symptoms. Paxil-free 10/2/05.

09-18-2006, 04:34 PM	#9
bfw1220 Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 161	Re: Did taking other SSRI's help your paxil withdrawl? today is my fifth day of taking 20mgs of prozac with my 10mgs of paxil and beginning last night/today i have felt better than i have in 3 months. from doing the cold turkey than spending a month stabalizing back on the paxil i finally feel "normal". the thing i cant help but wonder is if its the added prozac or that i finally am stabalized back on the paxil and dont need the prozac. hmm???

09-18-2006, 04:49 PM	#14
bfw1220 Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 161	Re: Did taking other SSRI's help your paxil withdrawl? see everyone i emailed my psyc last night when i finally felt better. i figured it takes a while for the prozac to start working...so if i feel good it must mean i have stabalized again on paxil. if this is the case i would want to stop the prozac so im not addicted to 2 drugs. im seeing him tommorrow at 11 so i dunno. he wrote me back and said i am on the prozac to get off the paxil...but when i met with him i know i wasnt stabalized yet which is why i had the depression, which is why he thinks i should be on prozac instead of paxil!!!! ahh too many issues!!! __________________ may 03 - june 06 20mgs for 1st couple yrs, 10-15 last year. july 06 - august 06 cold turkey from 10mg...holy crap... september 06 found PP and started paxil again currently 15mg a day my name is blake haha.

09-18-2006, 04:59 PM	#15
punky Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: North Carolina Posts: 834	Re: Did taking other SSRI's help your paxil withdrawl? That is all too common bfw! The docs really do want to help us so they give us drugs to treat our symptoms. Unfortunately some of them don't get that the symptoms are coming from withdrawl of the drug itself and adding more drugs to that.......well you know what I'm sayin! Depression was my first major symptom of withdrawl and I was put on Zoloft at that time. Then I couldn't sleep so they put me on Trazadone. Then my moods starting going all over the place so they tried Seroquel. Anxiety=Effexor. More depression=Celexa. More mood swings and bipolar diagnosis=Abilify...so on and so on. I've had to learn that I just need to come off of paxil once and for all and it has been so much easier to do without all the added drugs into the mix. Before I started withdrawl the only drug I've regularly been on was paxil. The only diagnosis I had was Panic Disorder and PTSD. Now just since starting withdrawl they have labeled me with Major Depression, Generalized Anxiety, Borderline Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Depersonalization Disorder and most recently Agoraphobia. I'm not sayin I was a normal chick before this all started, but come on now. I feel confident that this will all pass once paxil withdrawl is over. __________________ 7/00-1/1/06 Paxil 20-40mg 1/2-2/18 Paxil CR 25mg 2/19-5/3 Paxil CR 12.5mg 5/4-5/9 Paxil CR 25mg 5/10-5/15 Paxil CR 12.5mg 5/16-6/10 Paxil CR 10mg 6/11-7/13 Paxil CR 6.25mg 7/13-7/31 Paxil CR 3mg 8/1-9/5 Paxil CR 6.25mg 9/6 to 9/11 Paxil 10mg/5ml Suspension 5mg (2.5ml) 9/12 to present Paxil 10mg/5ml Suspension 7mg (3.5ml)

09-18-2006, 06:11 PM	#16
Lilly Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Northwest Posts: 7,167	Re: Did taking other SSRI's help your paxil withdrawl? I did not answer because I was in Xanax w/d when I started the Paxil. It did stop my xanax w/d for a time but when I stopped Paxil I sure got clobbered with w/d! Nothing after that or ever again for me! Lilly __________________ 1 .5 Xanax a day for one month. C/T. Same year, 3 .5 mil Xanax a day, 4 by the end. Pooped out on me. 1 1/2 years on the drug. Doctors taper. Very bad w/d. 9 months later took 10 mg Paxil and my Xanax w/d dissapeared. On 20 mg by end. Pooped out on me. C/T then restarted it again after 3 days and big blow up. 6 months taper, never feeling much better. 2 1/2 years solid w/d then sporadic stuff for 5 years. Completely recovered! Drug free since June 2001.

09-19-2006, 12:58 AM	#17
punky Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: North Carolina Posts: 834	Re: Did taking other SSRI's help your paxil withdrawl? Lilly that's interesting that paxil helped out the xanax w/d. I went through CT from Ativan once, but was already on paxil at that time. It was really bad for a couple of days. By the fourth day I was feeling a little dazed, but better. __________________ 7/00-1/1/06 Paxil 20-40mg 1/2-2/18 Paxil CR 25mg 2/19-5/3 Paxil CR 12.5mg 5/4-5/9 Paxil CR 25mg 5/10-5/15 Paxil CR 12.5mg 5/16-6/10 Paxil CR 10mg 6/11-7/13 Paxil CR 6.25mg 7/13-7/31 Paxil CR 3mg 8/1-9/5 Paxil CR 6.25mg 9/6 to 9/11 Paxil 10mg/5ml Suspension 5mg (2.5ml) 9/12 to present Paxil 10mg/5ml Suspension 7mg (3.5ml)

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