Newbie Here

[MrMetry]

Good Morning All, I'm Don and I'm so glad I found this site. Let's see a little about me, I had been taking Paxil since 1997. A few months back I really began to wonder about what life would be like without this stuff. I had suffered some of the side effects from it, reduced labido, and that (I believe I read the term here) beige feeling. I was never really sad, but I don't recall ever being really happy. Anway, to cut to the chase, it has been about six weeks since I've had any Paxil at all, I awoke last night to find myself gripped in absolute terror, fearing for both my sanity and my personal well-being. I took 20 mg of Paxil and was sleeping within an hour. I've awoken this morning not feeling anyway near as bad as I did last night but I do feel a little fearful (don't want a repeat of last night) and don't know whether I should just go back on the drug or not. I called my doc this morning to tell him. His initial response was that after six weeks I should be through the discontinuation syndrome but when I told him how that one dose seemed to help he said that was also a good indicator that the symptoms could be just that, discontinuation syndrome.

Anyway, any and all comments welcome- please. Your support is most appreciated.

[Homerbcool]

First WElcome to PaxilProgress...this site is a real life site..so some stuff cna be reality scary...

You cold turkeyed from 10mg, which is a big time no-no..to some, some folks have no issues but most do, you will se some members who have gone through the hell of cold turkey...in fact some of them were guided by their medical professinoal to do just that...cold turkey.

I am not a medical expert, but if you have been off for so long and a single pill made you feel better, I dare say it was a placebo affect....

I do not have much more to offer on the medical side...there are others like Scotty who can help you more with the initial "do I stay on paxil?"..."will it contiue to work?"...do i stay off it"....all of these type questions

[MrMetry]

Good Morning Brian, thanks so much for your post. I know you know how much just talking about this helps. Do you think I should contact Scotty directly? The questions you put forth are the exact questions running through my head right now. Imagine that! Thanks for being here. I'm pushing myself up and out the house to head over to the gym. I'll check back in on my return.

Thanks again.

Don

[Homerbcool]

I would pm (private message) Scotty or Katesmom...but I know these fine women....and others like LCcrawford, Cally will check out your thread and offer advice as well...

Your taper was way way way way way too fast...you have undoubtedly thrown your mental state into a mental state...but it is okay, it has been recognized and with our help we can get you through all of the crap you may see...

After re-reading your tapering...I would suggest that you go back to 10mg and see if this stabilizes..stay at 10 for at least three weeks....in the meantime, see if you can get liquid paxhell..this will make the tapering to med free land, easier, less painful and more exacting....

once you stabilize on 10 mg..then taper 10% of the dose, stay at 9 mg for at least one month..then go to 8.1mg for three weeks at least...now HERE IS THE KEY....MAKE SURE YOU HAVE STABLIZED BEFORE DROPPING ANY DOSE!!!

You may have some bizarre feeligns, some bizarre dreams and maybe loads of interesting things in between...mood swings...un-focused thought patterns..sex issues...energy issues...and my biggest challenge - motivation issues....

But know this..it is not you it is the paxhell...oh and call it for what it is

discontinuation syndrome = WITHDRAWAL!!! discontinuation syndrome is just the fancy word GSK made up to help fight the negative publicity surrounding this miserable, god for saken, led to market under false pretenses...poison!!

[rdjanis]

Welcome Don!! Yeah, you tapered too fast. I would suggest going back on a lower dose, stabilize, then start your wean. The fact that you were on paxil for such a long period your wean should be done very slowly in order not to cause havoc.

Take care.

[Johnnny off Paxil]

after 10 years and this type of taper...thats just simply way too fast.. in practice here your taper needs to be done over a period of 1 year..so I would recommend , go back to 10mg..see how you feel and then when you think you've stabilized then slowly, slowly, very slowly..taper down.
So if you're ok at 10mg..then 1 month from now..9.5....next month 9.0..next. 8.5..etc..you will want to also look into getting some liquid paxil .

You didn't state why you started Paxil in the first place,,,,, what happened...is this still and issue?

Lastly you will want to make some dietary changes to help you along the way..the first things that would needed to be avoided is any caffeine and alcohol.

Regards, Johnny

[LCrawford67]

Welcome, Don! Go back to a dose that works for you, get stable, then taper 10% every 3 weeks. Doctors don't know crap about this drug, which just blows my mind after all these years. But, that's a rant for another time

If you can, get a prescription for liquid Paxil, which will help you immensly for your taper. Also, here's a link to a spreadsheet, which will help you with proper dosing and give you a time frame. Instructions are inlcuded. Best of luck to you!

http://www.paxilprogress.org/forums/...ering+schedule

[scotty]

LOL!! We all say the same thing!

Mr....I'm copying and pasteing here what I pm'd you..

After 10 years on Paxil, cold turkey is not what you want to do. You're doc is woefully misinformed, as you can tell if you've read this site.
6 weeks is not to long to consider a restart. BUT what you might want to consider is going on 10mg instead of the 20. The 10 may be enough to stop the craziness of cold turkey, but would also give you a head start for a future wean from a lower dose. If the 10 doesn't give you relief, then go to 15 (yes, this will require pill cutting). When you find the dose that stabilizes you, stay on it for a few months. At that point you could wean MUCH slower towards that goal of being paxil free.
This process takes ALOT of patience, but it can be done!!

[Sunnedaz]

Yep, I totally agree that you've stopped too fast. I've been taking liquid Paxil for 5 months and only decrease my dosage AFTER I stablized. If I went too fast, I became very anxious and had to go back to my former dosage. Six weeks ago, I started decreasing my dosage by .10 ml each week. So far so good. Plus, it's a great incentive to drop a little bit, every week. When I dropped from 20 mg to 12.5 CR, I had severe Paxil withdrawal for almost 9 months. Due to this website, I learned the right way to wean off of this dreadul stuff. The slower you decrease your dosage, the easier it will be on your system. Hang in there kiddo, you can do it!

[Buxy`s Back]

i cold turkied back in 2002 and was off it for 10 weeks,at this point the symptoms were unbearable,so i ended up going back on,yes immidiate relief,i thought i had cracked it but within 10 minutes i felt worse then ever,it took me a few weeks for symptoms to really let up but the physical a lot longer,the others are right,go back on now at the lower dose and taper a lot more slowly,i think if you cold turkied 6 weeks ago you will be in for a bumpy ride if the siht hits the fan so to speak

[MrMetry]

Good Morning,

Thanks to one and all for the unbelievable response to my post. I know I can do you with you guys what I could never do alone. Here's some more about me: I believe I was originally prescribed the drug to alleviate anxiety. I went to rehab in 1997 to get off of alcohol and benzos primarily. The benzos were a gift from another kindly doctor. After years of the havoc that drinking can cause a person xanax had brought me to another level of what I thought nirvana at the time. Anyway, I got all of five days in rehab thanks to my wonderful insurance plan. After a couple of days of rolling around on the floor screaming and crying I thought the worst was over and I'd never have to feel that way again UNTIL this latest trip into quitting. I'm sorry if this post bounces around but my head is kinda bouncing around right now. So, let's see, I've been benzo free for ten years and alcohol free for eight. Man, those old habits die hard. I'm a member of Alcoholics Anonymous and, thankfully I'm off today, so I can attend a meeting at noon. So, that's why I KNOW we can do together what I could never do alone. I'll amend my signature when I get back, I also take 75 mg of Trazadone each night as well. Is that yet another adventure in my future? I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Love to all and I'll check back here when i return.

Don

[Katesmom]

Don,

Know that SSRIs are very different from these other substances you have used in the past. They are not a drug you detox from. "Getting it out of your system" is NOT the goal with SSRIs. This is because the drug itself does not cause an immediate response. Rather, over time, these drugs change the structure of the brain in a physical way. Then, the brain becomes dependent on these meds to make sense of this new structure on a day to day basis. As a result, simply detox the meds won't repair the changes to the brain; only time will do that.

The goal here is to slowly, methodically allow your brain to make sense of the change you want to make. The cells won't instantly regenerate just because you make a decision to stop taking the med. So, you have to wean your brain off needing the drug to make sense of all those neurotransmitters. If you give your brain the time it needs, there will not be so much internal or external chaos and you will be able to lead a somewhat normal life.

[Casey1231]

Hi,

I believe we have some similarities, I have been a sober member of AA for 12 years, also had to kick a xanax addiction in early sobriety, and have been on paxil for 12 years. You definitely have to withdraw slooooowly. I am using liquid paxil and anticipate it will take me a year or more.

I also gave up cigarettes (6 years ago) and caffeine (about 6 months ago), because I need my body as healthy and even-keeled as possible. Take your time, educate yourself, because doctors don't know **** about this, but the people here do.

Best of luck!

[Chrysalis]

Welcome to PP, Mr. Metry.

I see that you also have been taking Trazodone along with Paxhell. So have I, for many years. Do you take it for sleep?

I take 25 mg of Traz at bedtime for sleep, and it knocks me out within about 20 minutes. Being a lifelong insomniac, sleep has been a godsend. However, once I get free of the Paxhell, I am going to try tapering off the Trazodone, as well, and try to find a natural sleep remedy instead, such as tart cherry extract, valerian, melatonin, skullcap, etc.

I doubt if it's a good idea to taper off both Paxhell and Trazodone at once, as it might be difficult to tell what is causing what as far as side effects, etc.

It wasn't until recently that I discovered that the two (Pax and Traz) are not really supposed to be prescribed together, though doctors evidently do it all the time.

Margaret

[TryingtoGetWell]

Originally Posted by Katesmom

Don,

Know that SSRIs are very different from these other substances you have used in the past. They are not a drug you detox from. "Getting it out of your system" is NOT the goal with SSRIs. This is because the drug itself does not cause an immediate response. Rather, over time, these drugs change the structure of the brain in a physical way. Then, the brain becomes dependent on these meds to make sense of this new structure on a day to day basis. As a result, simply detox the meds won't repair the changes to the brain; only time will do that.

The goal here is to slowly, methodically allow your brain to make sense of the change you want to make. The cells won't instantly regenerate just because you make a decision to stop taking the med. So, you have to wean your brain off needing the drug to make sense of all those neurotransmitters. If you give your brain the time it needs, there will not be so much internal or external chaos and you will be able to lead a somewhat normal life.

Don,

I replied to your PM before I checked for new posts. I'm so glad you posted; you've gotten some excellent advice, which I expected. You can go ahead and read my PM reply, but it says essentially what these replies say, only mine was more succinct and didn't give you the specifics or explanations you need to taper slowly.

Kim's (Katesmom's) explanation of why the slow taper is advised is absolutely ELOQUENT and should be part of an overall protocol for what this group is trying to communicate (and is something every doctor should read as well!). I referred to this concept in my PM but Kim's explanation is far better explained.

Most people INCLUDING DOCTORS think of SSRIs as just increasing (or more accurately, enhancing utilization of) serotonin. From what I've learned from prodigious reading on this group, it appears that when antidepressants affect one neurotransmitter level, the other neurotransmitter levels are also changed as they respond to the change in the one the medication acts on. Since neurotransmitters act in coordination, many brain/nervous system functions are affected. That's apparently why a slow taper is essential, to give everything time to heal and rebalance from a smaller jolt to its altered condition, rather than hitting it with a huge jolt it can't cope with by too large or fast a drop.

The only thing I'd add to these posts is that once you stabilize back on paxil and start tapering, you at least start the wean very slowly. Some people (I am one of them) don't feel the full effects of decreasing paxil for as much as 3-4 weeks. Until you learn when it's safe for your body to reduce dosage again, it would be best to go slow.

I'm so glad you have AA as support, and you'll find this group a tremendous support as well. Please keep us updated on how you do and feel free to post as often as you need to, and by all means PM me again if you want to.

By the way, I ignored "The Lounge" at first, but now find it's a great way to get through hard times, as well as enjoy a very witty and intelligent group of people. The General Discussion and other forums give the information and feedback you need for WD, but the lounge can be a great way to get through difficult times and really helps get your mind off how you're feeling!

[Homerbcool]

Don

i too am an alcohoic..7yrs. 8 months and14 days...no AA..just myself.

I agree one - tackle one thing at a time...

oh and the lounge is a great way to let some steam off..we can be a bunch of wierdos but harmless.

[TryingtoGetWell]

Originally Posted by Homerbcool

oh and the lounge is a great way to let some steam off..we can be a bunch of wierdos but harmless.

Homer is our fearless leader in weird (not to detract from Tim's and others' awesome contributions in that category!!!) but our weirdness is not only harmless it's therapeutic.

It was a big step forward for me at the height of WD to even force a polite smile. I never thought I could laugh again, and my friends were saying things like, "But you used to be so bubbly"! (I never thought of myself as bubbly, but certainly life-loving and with a great sense of humor). After "going to the lounge" after having thought I'd never be able to laugh again, I often find myself laughing so hard I can't stop.

(The lounge is also a great place to ask questions about things that have nothing to do with WD, and also to vent about life problems that aren't directly caused by WD but are always just what you don't need when you're going through WD!!!)

[Katesmom]

going to the lounge

LOL! Now I know. . .if people get too wound up or upset, I'm going to start 'sending them to the lounge'!

Seriously, Don, this is the most embracing, friendly group of people I could ever imagine. It amazes me daily!

[Tigerlily]

Hi

I just wanted to say that I was c/t off Effexor and Trazadone at the same time, and it was utter hell. PLEASE DO NOT EVEN THINK OF TAPERING MORE THAN ONE DRUG AT A TIME. I drank a fair amount of alcohol, but was so ill from the cold turkey that I could not touch it or caffeine for 6 months - so technically went through an alcohol and caffeine w/d at the same time too.

I should have gone back up in dose and then tapered. Follow the advice from the other members (who are a lot more senior than me). Doctors in general are dangerously ignorant. You have nothing to lose by doing it more slowly.

My thoughts are with you and I wish you much light on your journey. Take good care of yourself.

Tigerlily

[Kristin]

Originally Posted by Homerbcool

I am not a medical expert, but if you have been off for so long and a single pill made you feel better, I dare say it was a placebo affect....

Homer, you can say it but I have to reiterate what I posted elsewhere. I was off 8 weeks, sitting at work barely able to spell a word or write a sentence. I felt in an LSD haze barely able to look my client in the eyes and talk to them as I was in a far different world than they were. I mwas having visual hallucinations and could barely keep my car between the lines. I took half my previous dose and within 2 hours I could spell, write, converse, socialize, drive and felt restored to normal. TOTALLY NORMAL! I assure you, my experience was not a placebo effect. Of course, I interpretted it completely wrong, thinking this confirmed my diagnosis of mental illness.

Anyway, MrMetry, welcome to the site! I also did OK until 8 weeks out when I couldn't function anymore. I tapered too fast. But subsequently, I tapered over 12 months and had success. We're glad to help you do the same.

[lckansas]

Hi, All. Mr. Metry, I am a newbie, also. I didn't know that Trazadone shouldn't be prescribed with Paxil. When I first went on Paxil, I didn't sleep for the first two weeks. (Maybe that should have given me a clue.) My physician prescribed Trazadone, BUT it gave me instant hallucinations, so I got taken off that faster than anything! Not being able to sleep have seriously impacted my fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue; which I was diagnosed with prior to being placed on Paxil. Now I'm wondering how much of my symptoms have simply been Paxil related side effects. Anyone else out there have Fibro?

[MrMetry]

Hello All, I can't begin to describe how much help you all have been for me today. What started out this morning as a complete nightmare has now devolved to mild anxiety and an upset stomach. I really haven't been able to eat anything today but I did have a protein shake a couple of hours back. While I took a 20 Mg dose about one AM, I was trying to wait till bed time tonight before I took another dose. I have just taken 10 mg and will try to see how the 10 Mg doses progress over the next couple of days. I will check back in here and let you guys know how I'm feeling and if concensus deems a further increase before beginning the taper I will do so. Thanks again to everyone. Much love to all... Don

[TryingtoGetWell]

Originally Posted by MrMetry

Hello All, I can't begin to describe how much help you all have been for me today. What started out this morning as a complete nightmare has now devolved to mild anxiety and an upset stomach. I really haven't been able to eat anything today but I did have a protein shake a couple of hours back. While I took a 20 Mg dose about one AM, I was trying to wait till bed time tonight before I took another dose. I have just taken 10 mg and will try to see how the 10 Mg doses progress over the next couple of days. I will check back in here and let you guys know how I'm feeling and if concensus deems a further increase before beginning the taper I will do so. Thanks again to everyone. Much love to all... Don

Don,

I'm so glad you're doing better. But I'm concerned about your taking paxil in divided doses. I'm no expert on this and expect others more knowledgeable will chime in with advice, but there have been posts here recently about how taking the med at various times of the day puts the body on a "roller coaster." I'll try to find the links. Don't worry, one day of it won't do anything bad to you. But it's probably best to find a dose that will stabilize you (may take a little while, be patient -- paxil didn't start working for you right away when you originally started taking it, right?) and then take it once a day regularly, following Laurie's (Scotty's) directions, til you're stabilized to where you can begin a slo-o-o-ow taper.

P.S. Love the avatar!!!!

[MrMetry]

Good Morning, Thanks for the info Trying. I will try to find the stabilizing dose and take it once daily. I awoke this morning very anxious, although I did sleep straight through for seven hours. It was like I had to get up and move but was afraid to. I got up, put the coffee on, showered but when I used my cologne this morning the smell overwhelmed me to the point of being sick.

[MrMetry]

PS That is me on the Pony. I can't understand why, I had all my Roy Rogers cowboy gear, that my mom would dress me up like a salesman for the Pony Shot!?!