new to paxil progress

[sickgirl]

Hello everyone.My name is Lisa,I have been on many different ssri's since the age of 14.Presnt,I am 25 and just stoped Paxil 2 months ago.The flu like symptons have deminished but I have severe pain through out my whole body.hard to walk at times.ALso terrible cramping as well.Now the depression has set in after two months.Now that I'm off the evil paxil I hooked myself on painkillers just to be able to fuction daily activities and escape the withdrawl from paxil.Just wondering if theres anyone out there experiencing trying to cope from paxil withdrawl w/ pain meds.Thank you for letting me blab on about myself,lol.I hope to be on here a lot now that I'm a member of this great site!
Lisa

[rdjanis]

Welcome!! Try to wean yourself off the pain meds, don't trade one addiction for another Unfortunately, you have been on meds long term and it sounds like you stopped too fast. It makes the withdrawal that much more difficult. These symptoms will ease off in time.

[Charlie]

Hey Lisa, welcome
When you quit the Paxil did you taper or just quit? Are you currently on any supplements?

[sickgirl]

thank you rdjanis for replying back so quick,nice to know people in the world care as much as I do about the bad effects of Paxil!I agree,my psch taking me off the meds in one week was a a big mistake...after reading tons of posts,the slower the weaning the easier it is...wish I had found this site 2 months ago,it's a life saver!And yes,I have to keep telling myself in time I will feel better and I'm not dying(sometimes my head tells me it's not withdrawl and I have some diease)
About the pain meds...eventually I REALLLLLY want to quit,I really do,I just have to have them now with this pain!
Lisa

[LCrawford67]

Welcome, Lisa! I'm assuming you quit Paxil pretty quickly, which is why you're experiencing the w/d you are. Although, you're pretty lucky it's not a lot worse.

I echo Rita's post, don't trade one addiction for another. You should look to the Supplements section of this forum, for alternatives, like Omega 3, for you depression.

I take over 4,000 mgs a day and it works wonders! Best of luck to you and be sure to read as much as you can here!

[sickgirl]

charlie,
I did taper but looking back it was toooo fast!Some days I do take supplements,some days my stomach can't handle them.Thanks for the reminder I'm going to get up and take some now!!!
Lisa

[LCrawford67]

Lisa, don't ever let this crap make you believe there's something wrong with you. There's absolutely not! That's what's so frustrating about w/d. Because of the symptoms, people think they're really sick, or they're brain isn't right and they HAVE to be on something.

You hang tough and we'll help you through this!

[Katesmom]

If you 'tapered' over a week, that's no taper. That's cold turkey. It takes paxil 4-8 weeks to gain efficacy, so a one week taper to come off of it is not going to do the trick.

Nevertheless, at two months out, I would not recommend going back on. I also did the cool turkey route and my worst ongoing early symptom was terrible joint pain (along with unrelenting and overwhelming fatigue). The joint pain went on for about 6-8 weeks. It seem much longer. An OTC anti-inflammatory like Advil did much to relieve my pain. It is much preferable to a new addiction.

I strongly recommend tapering off of the pain meds slowly. You really need to do all you can to let yourself heal. Know that, for most, the withdrawal symptoms are temporary and transitory. As soon as you think that you cannot tolerate one for a single day longer, it disappears and is replaced by a new one.

Good luck to you!

[kathy2731]

Lisa, I also had severe pain in joints. I am now two months off paxil, and that pain has diminished greatly. I took advil when needed. What kind of pain meds are you on? If it's like vicodin or something like that you are just adding fuel to the fire. I saw my best friend come of vicodin. What a horrible experience for her and her family, but I am so proud of her. She did it. For weeks I felt so sick and achy like I had the flu, but this has totally passed. Hang in there, Lisa and welcome

[Ginger]

Lisa, like everybody said-welcome. katesmoms aka kim, is right you basically went cold turkey and speaking as one who went c/t, it is bad but IT DOES GET BETTER.

[sickgirl]

Thank you all for your kind responses!That itself is a mood lifter to know your not alone.take care everyone!Lisa

[sickgirl]

oh I failed to mention when I got off effexor my husband was on a business trip,I had no idea what withdrawling would do,since I never have done it before.Well the first 5 days I was throwing up every 10 min,couldn't keep water down.okay so I was too sick to get out of the bathroom,I stayed in there convulsing...eyes rolling back of my head and then bam seizures!omg i was scared...after i came too,I crawled to the phone to call my mom and she rushed over(living 2 hrs away)saw me in the bathroom completly emansiated,severe dehydration,starvation...i mean literaly the bathroom was filled with puke,the walls the bathtub,,,sorry if to graphic but thats how disgusting it was.So to the conclusion,I went to the er were they had to give me a shot of something put me on ivs for 2 days.
So ssri's can be fatal,if it wasnt for me calling my mom,I think I would have rotted in my bathroom!

[elisa]

Originally Posted by sickgirl

oh I failed to mention when I got off effexor my husband was on a business trip,I had no idea what withdrawling would do,since I never have done it before.Well the first 5 days I was throwing up every 10 min,couldn't keep water down.okay so I was too sick to get out of the bathroom,I stayed in there convulsing...eyes rolling back of my head and then bam seizures!omg i was scared...after i came too,I crawled to the phone to call my mom and she rushed over(living 2 hrs away)saw me in the bathroom completly emansiated,severe dehydration,starvation...i mean literaly the bathroom was filled with puke,the walls the bathtub,,,sorry if to graphic but thats how disgusting it was.So to the conclusion,I went to the er were they had to give me a shot of something put me on ivs for 2 days.
So ssri's can be fatal,if it wasnt for me calling my mom,I think I would have rotted in my bathroom!

I weaned off Effexor XR for 20 months, counting daily the beads and almost at the end of the taper I got horrible physical withdrawal symptoms for the most part of this year. I can relate to what you wrote, except for the convulsing part. I too went to the ER a few times. If interested in reading about it, visit the RESEARCHERS thread (sticky) at the top.

[sickgirl]

Thanks for sharing your effexor experience,I'm so sorry that you had to go through that hell,and everyone here!Just to let people know I'm not on hardcore painkillers(narcotics)I'm on ultram since I had my son via c-section,I had one epidural and a spinal that pinched nerves in my spine....it was an emergency c-section so they had to do it fast I was hemmoriging.