Cold Turkey off 30mg of Paxil a day!

[eddiematz]

I am new here, just yesterday I stumbled (no pun intended) on to this great web site and all I can say Is Thanks! I was unaware of the whole story and effects of withdrawls. I am on my seventh day of "cold turkey" off of 30mg of Paxil for the past 2 1/2 years and I am in hell right now, but think the "light is ahead" and I am going to be strong and make it. I was up most of the night reading and researching the posts, replys, journals and the e-book, knowledge is the key to my recovery and I do feel the zaps are bothering me most. I just wanted to say hi and I want to learn as must as I can and I know all these people know the effects and treatment from experiance and I thank you all for your help.
Day eight coming up tomorrow! YIKES!

EddieMatz
Palm Springs, CA

[tootall]

Glad you found the site! It has been a Godsend for me. I just started weening off 30mg after being on it for 5 years and 2 failed withdrawal attemps. Fun Stuff!! Glad you're trying to get rid of it!!

[eddiematz]

Thanks for the post, it's so nice to know we're not alone. I hope this attempt does not fail me becasue I really get sick just thinking of taking Paxil again in any mg. I am tired of being so detached from life and wanting to just lay around and do nothing with my life. Let's support each other, e-mail anytime for help!

Thanks,
Eddie:

[tootall]

I'd love to be in contact. I'll private message you my email and ims and stuff. I'd like to know how the cold turkey works for you, I'm getting antsy going slowly and I just started. My name is Bekkah!

[Charlie]

A word to the wise, Cold Turkey is very dangerous.... To the point even GSK warns against it.

[scotty]

Originally Posted by Charlie

A word to the wise, Cold Turkey is very dangerous.... To the point even GSK warns against it.

Welcome Eddie! If you've read alot of this site you have learned that cold turkey is probably not the way to go. It's your choice, but please let those around you know what you are doing. Behavior can get bizarre, and in some cases dangerous, in cold turkey withdrawal.

Also know that you can go back on Paxil and wean, which is always a safer and more successful approach.

[Katesmom]

If you plan cold turkey, you're setting yourself up for failure. In about a week or two you will start feeling what withdrawal really is like. It won't let up.

Cold turkey is like a train going down a hill with no brakes. You can hold on tight and pray you don't get derailed, but that's about all the control you have. A slow taper tempers the withdrawal symptoms and allows you to slow down or stop whenever things get rough or it's inconvenient for you life.

I am someone who survived cold turkey. I was on 20mg for 20 months. I could not have held down a full time job for the first year off of paxil. I had huge chunks of time during my first six months where I could not care for my daughter and that was my ONLY responsibility. I still am enduring the waves of withdrawal 19 months later. Cold turkey is NOT worth it. It throws the brain into total chaos. You think you are being tough and taking 'control' of your brain back, but you are really just leaving a brain that is dependent on paxil for some semblance of normalcy into a state where nothing makes any sense.

[tootall]

WOW! So definately no cold turkey. I'm having a bad day because someone made me feel like I was weak for not being able to go cold turkey. Glad I know some people who know what they're talking about.

[Katesmom]

Even the GSK literature warns against cold turkey! It's horribly uncomfortable at best and life-threatening at worst! People who even taper too quickly have been known to get suicidal and homicidal ideation from out of the blue. This is not something to be messed around with!

[nicemom]

cold turkey is definatly not the way to go. Faster is not better and there are no sissies in this. c/t at 30 mg is insane in my opinion. You will be lucky to make it. The decison is yours but the safer way to go is to taper down so your brain does not have the shock of the drug just disappearing. When I went c/t the first couple of weeks were great, I had alot of energy even though I was dizzy and nausious, but in the 3rd week things took a very different turn and I got horrendous anxiety day and night. It was very hard. If I had to do it over again I would taper.

We are here to support everyone no matter what route they take to get off these drugs. Wishing you luck in whatever you decide. Forgot to say....Welcome~!!

[Katesmom]

My first week I felt amazing! Now I know I was manic. The next week, I had dizziness, then zaps. I crashed in week three or four. You could not have dynamited me out of bed for the next week!

[colours]

Cold turkey is not the way to go. My husband is a wreck because of it and has destroyed himself, our marriage and his relationship with his kids. Please rethink. I lost everything I believe in and so has he. He is in a very difficult place right now. His life will never be the same. The son he has cherished does not want anything to do with him. He has done a lot of damage to him.

[LinLou]

I cold turkey'd off half of the lowest dose of Zoloft....a crumb ( 12.5mg of Zoloft, which is equivalent to about 5 mg of Paxil ). After trying to be tough and endure the symptoms, I gave up and tried to reinstate. Trouble was, after a certain amount of time off the drug and once in a florid withdrawal state, reinstating can make you much sicker and the drug won't work for you anymore. It becomes your enemy.

So I was stuck having to ride this cold turkey withdrawal out and it's been hell. I had to leave my job and I have no life because I am too debilitated with withdrawal symptoms. I've been off for a tad over 1 year now, and still sick. I'd give anything to be able to undue what I did, go back on the drug and do it right. But my body goes berserk with SSRI's now.

Cold turkeying from 30 mg of Paxil....sort of like jumping off a skyscraper instead of taking the stairs down.

[tootall]

Hey Again! Can't send you private messages! Maybe because you're still new! But anyway.... if you have aim my sn is tootallwilley. Have a great weekend!

[Sunnysideup]

Cold turkey from 30 mg. has got to be a nightmare!! Hope you go back up and taper!! Sending prayers and good thoughts your way!!

[Kristin]

I don't believe anyone has mentioned that cold turkey, in the experience of the folks on this site, often takes much, much longer to recover from in the long run. The taper allows small adjustments for the brain and allows time to heal along the way. We help a lot of people through cold turkey, warning them in advance, only to have them need to go back on to taper and then some find their body rejects the drug and they are caught in hell. As well, read about increased suicide risk with changes of 5 mg or more up or down.

[eddiematz]

Thank you for all the ideas and support, I will go to the doctor on Monday and research more this weekend. The people all around me are going to the site to read, learn and support me. I really think by all the info I already feel that i'm in week three and it should be fine, but if not I will choose to taper then, but I will not wait if I feel anything is too horrible to take. I spoke to a nutritionest and a pharmasist and said to eat lots of protien ( chicken, fish & asparagus) etc. and it will help a lot. He said I seemed very sure of my decision and to stop Paxil and that I could come back and talk as much as I want, he seems to think a month should do it? Anyway thanks and keep me in your thoughts, as I do all of you!

Eddie

[scotty]

30% of those who come off Paxil don't have major problems...70% do. Why take that chance? Nope, a month to recover from two years of use at 30mg is no where near what it may take.

Please have others read here, that's a GREAT idea for support, but please read more about cold turkey. I believe we've had one person make it through cold turkey, and she is back on another drug after years of problems.

Hey,become a "weaner" and hang out with us!!!

[eddiematz]

You are so nice and I have five "Weiner" dogs at home who also give me love and suport too, how funny for you to choose that term. I must clear up something, I have only been on 30mg for a year and I think 25mg or 20mg before that. When I asked the doctor to get off paxil last year he suggest 30mg, because he thougt I needed more to feel better, law suit maybe. Thanks again, I may just become a Weiner opps! "weaner"!

[tootall]

Hey that's funny, that's exactly what my doctor did to me. I swear we could all win lawsuits. I mean he said this in 2003 and there was research out then.

[Petrucci]

eddiematz hi welcome to the board. hang in there buddy you will make it. and you are right knowledge is power. the more you know about your illness the more you will know how to deal and help your it.
i think the same way you do.

[scotty]

Originally Posted by tootall

Hey that's funny, that's exactly what my doctor did to me. I swear we could all win lawsuits. I mean he said this in 2003 and there was research out then.

It's much easier for a doc to write a prescription for a larger amount than explain why he didn't warn you about withdrawal and poop out!

[Katesmom]

No lawsuits, folks! At this point, docs are just going by what the drug reps are telling them. They really don't know or don't want to believe.

Eddie, three weeks is about the point of no return after cold turkey. If it is bad then, the drug could really turn on you.

[Zoloftfree]

i went cold turkey off zoloft and still have problems from it and it has been almost 2 years. i did not see any improvement for 15 months. please think about reconsidering going cold turkey.

as bad as these drugs can be, if your body can metabolize paxil okay, staying on paxil is actually safer than an abrupt withdrawal or cold turkey off it it. it is the abrupt withdrawal off a psychotropic drug that can do the damage.

sorry if this advice is unsolicited as i just want to prevent what happened to me from happening to you.

one more thing, after a certain amount of time going cold turkey off paxil, from as early as 2 weeks to 4 weeks, going back to will not necessarily help your withdrawal symptoms. this is because the damage done to the nervous system already sets in at this point. please keep in mind.

[mapleleafgirl25]

DANGER!!! DANGER!! DANGER!!!..cold turkey is dangerous!!!..please consider going back on and then tapering over a long period of time!!!..

michele