A Question For NM and anyone else

Hey NM - as I stated before (on a previous message) my doctor wants me to stay at each decreased dose for a month at a time. I was wondering if a two week stay between decreases would be long enough. A month at a time seems like an awfully long time. I would like to get through this mess as fast as possible but with the least amount of painful withdrawals. Oh yea, I am planning on dropping 2.5 mgs after 20. Sometimes I just forget to say things the right way. I call these times "half-time events" from my brain. Shoot, I've been finding myself doing weird things the last couple of weeks. Like last nite - my husband woke me up and asked me why I had a coffee cup, in the kitchen, filled with water and the cigarette lighter from the car laying in the cup of water ! I know I'm more absent minded since starting my decrease, but this is absolutely ridiculous !! I hope it doesn't get any worse. I do more walking circles at work too, forgetting what I'm doing or where I'm going. I hope this is all this paxil decreasing and nothing else. Is anybody else doing weird things too? Am kinda worried about this.

[safarigal]

Jackie,

Sounds like Paxhell withdrawal to me. Now, if you are already starting to suffer withdrawal symptoms why would you want to taper any faster than your doc recommends? I also would love to get through this withdrawal as fast as possible BUT I need to let my brain adjust to each decrease. Some decreases I've found that I need to wait 1 month whereas others have taken only my brain 2 weeks to stabilize. My suggestion is to decrease in small increments and see how you adjust.

I hate all of this withdrawal. It zaps the energy out of me and I wish it was over with. I can't tell you how many times I've just wanted to quit right now. Then I think about the repercussions of cold turkey. The zaps, the headaches, the nausea, confusion, etc etc and I remember why I'm going slow.

Take it easy!!

JulieD

I know you're right Julie D but sometimes I have the tendency to get impatient. If it takes a month at a time, I'll do it. I just wondered if anyone was able to do it in two week time frames. And you're right about energy etc. I don't know what it is to have any energy anymore, but I'm doing the vitamins like NM suggested. I think it's starting to help a little. You might want to think about trying the vit's if you aren't already on them. They are basically for heart and circulation, immune system, and energy. Hopefully my brain will straighten out somewhat so I quit doing so many weird and dumb things. It really makes me feel like an imbecile. Everybody at work laughs at me, but I think they are starting to understand (at least my boss does). Wishing you better and healthier days.

my docter told me to do it in TWO MONTH intervals (1/2 pill every two months) and i'm still suffering withdrawal. I think taking it super slow is the key.

and yeah my brains super slow and strange too. i can't EVER make my order at starbucks in the morning (not difficult, venti iced coffee and biscotti---- yesterday i said i wanted a drip and a scone, today i said i wanted a drip---- my boyfriend looked at me in astonishment) now when i walk in they place the order for me.

[Paxil Junkie]

it all depends on ur body really, dont let the doctor tell u when to go down let u tell u when to go down, ull be able to know when ur ready to go down, some can do it in 2 week intervals, hell some can do it in 1 week intervals, others need 1 2 3 months or more till it feels ok to drop down

[JulieG]

I agree with paxilJunkie. Let your body and brain be your guide.

i agree too. i would have thought originally 2 month intervals were too long, but i'm finding otherwise, yet for some people 2 weeks is just fine too. it all depends on how your body deals with the withdrawal.

feel good! :P

Hi, Jackie and everyone! Well, when I started this odyssey of withdrawal, it was against the better (?????) judgment of my psych. His opinion was that I would need to be on an antidepressant the rest of my days. NOT! I read and read and read so many books and articles, you wouldn't believe it. I also read and heeded the anecdotal experiences posted here. The really crucial advice given by the professionals as well as us peons was that ya had to take it SLO-O-O-OW... the slower the better. Also, the best advice has been to make really small decreases in the dose.

My psych had me drop from 60 mg to 45 mg (a 25% decrease) when I said I wanted to get off this stuff. That was just prior to a trip I had to take. Wasn't that just the absolute best advice of what NOT to do?! I don't know if these doctors are just not too well informed or what, but they sure give directions for failure and then blame how lousy you're feeling on relapse. 2 good books are by Dr. Peter Breggin: THE ANTIDEPRESSANT FACT BOOK and also YOUR DRUG MAY BE YOUR PROBLEM. He says to keep dose reductions to 10% of the current dose.

I totally agree with the others here who have said to let your body be your guide. I have made some reductions after a couple of weeks and others after a couple of *months*--either withdrawal symptoms or other circumstances dictated what I should do. The lower I got with the dose, the smaller the reduction each time and the longer I've stayed at the new dose. I know many people fail when they are almost to the zero mark. I do not want to be one of them. When I got to 10 mg, I stayed there for 2 months. Then I started my decent--just 1 mg at a time, using the Paxil suspension (liquid.) At 5 mg, I stayed for 6 weeks. I've been at 3 mg for 3 weeks now. The withdrawal symptoms crop up when least expected. I can deal with the physical ones better than the emotional ones. There have been some drops that have been pretty difficult. I was doing pretty well the first days at 3 and then for about 10 days, I felt very down and anxious. Now I seem to have evened out.

I've been dealing pretty well with the withdrawal symptoms. I firmly believe the vitamin/supplement concoction is helping. I have not been as good lately with my diet (too many carbs!!) and exercise plan. That makes a big difference, too. Drinking water is a good thing.

I have to say that I'm feeling pretty good. I'm so glad that the horrific nightmares have left. I sleep better. No zaps lately. A few muscle twitches have returned. I'm able to handle most of what I've been dealt. My bottom-line advice is to go slower than you think you need to go. I've been on this "journey" for going on 14 months. I'm not quite there yet. I know my brain needs time to recuperate and to take over on the chemical functions that Paxil affected. If you go slowly, you give your brain time. Will it mean no permanent adverse effects in the longrun? Who knows. But I do think that your chances for a full recovery increase when you don't rush things. Others who support a cold turkey approach will differ. Perhaps they can update us on how they are feeling and progressing further down the line and we can compare notes. Good luck!!

Thanks for all your indv. thoughts and advice. After today, I'm probably going to just hang with a month at a time. I really had a bad morning. I wrote the other day about the strange thing I did with the coffee cup and lighter. Now this morning I had another bad day, and I'm really worried that my mind is flipping out. I was in a client's room this morning, and I swear I saw something small, about the size of my 3-4 lb dog, run past me and go under the bed. I was surprised to say the least as its a residental aid facility. I finally looked under the bed and everywhere and there wasn't a darn thing moving around in that room. Then I go to another room and I swear the call light came on but I don't remember even being close to the darn thing and no one else was in the room. I this the friggin paxil decrease??? I don't know whether to talk to my doctor about this or not. I've never had a problem before like this in my whole 51 years of being on this earth. I just want to scream !!!!!!!!

[JulieG]

When I tapered too fast I was at work and I saw a bunch of birds swarm down at me. I threw up my arms to shield my face and ducked. In front of my boss. Nice way to establish and maintain credibility. I see things in the room and turn to see what it was and nothing is there. I have begun to just stop looking. Of course one day I kept seeing something small on the floor at work and ignored it until it ran over my foot. This time it was real. It was a little field mouse. I told my doctor and he asked me if I was hearing voices too, which made me feel worse.

Julie, your story made me laugh--thanks! I can just see you and the birds! Hey, the mouse punchline was cute. Hang in there. Wishing you well.

i can't help but laugh about your stories. only because i can relate. sometimes i have "out of body" experiences when i say things totally wrong and different words come out of my mouth. for a couple of days i would have these weird 'slips' i think they're what people are calling zaps. i'd be sitting putting on makeup and whoosh the world would blink off for a millisecond... or like i was a robot a nd my power switch would get flipped off and then immediately on. not quite onconscious, but not quite 'in control' either.
i'm sounding crazy i know. my boyfriend's been driving us to work since these started.
feel good everoyone, hearing stories totally helps me feel less insane and more accepting of these symptoms.

The tale of your birds and then the little mouse finally made me smile. I guess we can just be all "crazy" together. ha I'm sorry to say this, but I really am so glad to hear that I'm not the only one having this problem. I'm not glad that you guys have this problem too, it's just that it's nice to know that I'm not alone. I will try to relax a little more about this stuff if it happens to me again. Thanks, Julie and Grumpygirl !

I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate you communicating with me also. I know I must seem like a bouncing ball with my questions and thoughts changing all the time. Of course, my mind feels like that ball - it's just going different directions continously. Anyway, thanks so much for all your help !