cold turkey

been on 20mg for about 2.5 yrs....went cold about 2 days ago....ive read that tapering is the recommended, but that cold turkey does work for some...ive got the heart palpitations and serious headaches so far......how long will this last for those of you who have gone cold turkey.......ive flushed the supply down, so there is no bottle to go to........any suggestions on coping?

Hey! day 10 better. caution 2 the rest of u knuckleheads. be careful my first few days I had real bad vertigo/dizzy spells. Most of us work, well...some of us work, anyway I work with heavy equip/tools and working would have been out of the question and VERY irresponsable. I am going back monday. I am lucky my bosses are in recovery too and are very understanding. like most I did not know about KICKIN this stuff, but I know about kicking "this too shall pass" IT HURTS!. After surfin my stairs "twice" I realized the dangers of trying to do too much!. My experince strength and hope is; take it easy! I found if I watched tv and did not move my head around too much that luke & darth would put the light sabers in my head away. WE CAN do this!. I do not reccomend cold turkey to anyone!. I thought I had the flu or something at first. Till I stumbled into this site.see post on 12/17. tapering would be much better I am shur. I figured out I stopped the day after juvi court 12/10. So ... ten days, much better today still tweeking , but balence/equlib much improved. I had real bad headache day three, lasted 24 hrs. Too anyone who is new like me, hang in there Notorious read your post and realized I should share some support, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!. If I"we" can kick slammin heroin/meth speedballs and drinking for two years,WE CAN DO THIS!. I do not think I could stay sane and clean in early recovery with out the pax! & N.A./A.A. It helped big time. Today I am happy joyful & FREE!. keep coming back, it works! your worth it, so work it. P.S. If your using/drinking and your life is "unmanageable". meds won't help till your clean tweeking in palm springs.

Several years of 20 mgs daily to zero overnight. 12 days in to it. I do not recommend this approach. Please taper off gradually. That being said, I am hoping I have turned the corner and the zaps are becoming more manageable. I confess that xanax has helped me from jumping right out of my freakin skin. I also owe a debt of gratitude to my treadmill. Paxil kept me in a state of mild tranquility. I gained weight. Losing paxil, my physiological state has been kicked up a few notches and I have been losing weight. To burn off this excess energy my treadmill has been a real help. I am gradually moving back into social activities.

Notorius, how are you doing?

I have been taking Paxil CR 25mg. for just over six months. I started cutting my pills in half.. I really have not had that many side effects doing it this way (for about a week now). I am hoping to go the 1/4 after Christmas. My symptoms may not be as bad due to the fact that I have not been taking this crap as long as others. After reading this web site I decided to get off ASAP. Good Luck to you. S

day 5....i think, the f'in headaches/dizziness/zaps are unreal and are constantly there with the heart palpitations... and am pretty much tired all the time........ive been forcing myself to go to the gym to try and do some cardio, but its tough when you feel like your gonna fall off the machine....i think the exercise and h20 does help though............a lot of emotions seem to have surfaced since i axed this stuff.....in retrospect, it really numbs you to, pretty much society and everyone around you........im kind of glad i am going cold turkey, b/c i would not want to drag this thing on for months, but iunderstand that its a tough road either way for those who haven't gone cold...........my girlfriend is having a tough time w/this though b/c i am really moody and am not really in the xmas spirit.......im just hoping it gets better each day........sleeping is tough, i seem to sleep for a few hrs, then am up for a while........i'll make it though, i look at it as mind over matter in a lot of ways........i've had tons of physical surgeries, but never experienced mental/brain pain, which this seems to give me.....oh well, happy holidays to all and keep the faith!! ( oh, i just remembered, i went and signed the petition on www.petiononline.com (i think thats it_)........

I want to quit 'cold turkey' like you are. Spent all week reading other people's experiences with withdrawal and it scares the hell out of me. I work at a middle school so have until Jan. 2 off - thought this would be a good time to quit 'ct'. Of course what a time to choose - the Holidays! I'm determined to make it through this. Hang in there notorious!

Originally Posted by Anonymous

I want to quit 'cold turkey' like you are. Spent all week reading other people's experiences with withdrawal and it scares the hell out of me. I work at a middle school so have until Jan. 2 off - thought this would be a good time to quit 'ct'. Of course what a time to choose - the Holidays! I'm determined to make it through this. Hang in there notorious!

I too am a teacher on a winter haitus. This is exacly what I have done. Trade the holdiay cheer for holiday withdrawals. It's kind of a race. Which comes first - recovery or face the class with brain zaps. I pray for the former.

Yeah - what a time to quit paxil. But the time off gives me time to suffer through the symptoms. I don't want to go back to school acting weird.......with brain zaps or depression...nothing weird yet...this morning I felt anxious - lightheaded -...took 1/2 of a 20 mg pill so I could go xmas shopping...tommorrow I'm taking nothing...

good luck all!
Merry Christmas

I am off cold turkey since the first week of November and still hanging in there.

Notorious asked how long will this last....I was feeling somewhat fuctional by weeks three to four. (It is different for everyone.) Also asked about coping....get a huge bottle of dramamine! It seems to help with the vertigo and nausea. Take it very easy on yourself. You are in for a rough ride...try not to overdo on top of that. I really hope your girlfriend understands what is happening to you. I had to keep my mouth shut for weeks because everything that came out was ugly and abusive. Keep in mind that is the drug talking and not you.

I can honestly say I am not sure how anyone could work through a cold turkey quit. Luckily, I do not work outside the home. I would also advise against it for most. (Very incapacitating for me!)

Well, that is all the advice I have for ya. Hope everyone had happy holidays. Hang in there.

I will be thinking and praying for you guys...I know what kind of hell you are in right now.

Faye

Day three with no paxil - took 1/2 of 20 tuesday - before that nothing for 2-3 days. Lightheadness/dizziness - headache every day - stomach upset - loss of appetite - I can deal with this so far....knowing that I'm getting off this stuff makes me happier than I've been in 3 years! My boyfriend is a wonderful support system also. I just hope that the symptoms don't get really severe - but I'llhang in there!

Here are a few suggestions to help with withdrawal:

Ginger capsules (for nausea--very effective)
Bonine or Dramamine (for dizziness/vertigo)
Aleve (for headache/body aches)
Chamomile tea (for sleep disturbance)

Multivitamin
Vit C 1000 mg, divided 500 in AM/PM
Vit E 400 IU
Vit B-complex 50 (take in AM since may cause sleep disturbance)
Fish oil (8 capsules) or flaxseed oil capsules (omega-3 essential fatty acids)

Read about the interesting medical study using fish oil in THE OMEGA-3 CONNECTION by A. Stoll. You can read 40 pages of excerpts on amazon.com if you bring up the title and scroll down.

Drink lots of water (keep a water bottle handy)
Exercise at least 30 min/day
Avoid caffeine and alcohol
Eat a higher protein, lower carb diet (avoid sugar!)
Get sufficient rest

Check out the website www.radiantrecovery.com regarding diet and mood. Read the part about Brain Chemistry 101. POTATOES, NOT PROZAC is a book that will give you some real insight into how diet can affect one's mood.

Hope you find this info helpful. Happy New Year!

Did you say 8 capsules of fish oil a day? REALLY? All at one time?

I checked up on it...read a bunch of articles...sounds like something worth trying but I also found several warnings about gastrointesinal disturbance...like I don't have enough of that already. I also could not find any studies about taking such large dosages of fish oil over a long period of time. I guess I am just skeptical.

Does it make you feel sick? Has anyone had any problems? How many of you have tried it? Any success?

Faye

Yes, I take 8 capsules but not all at once. I take half in the AM and half in the PM. They're kind of large, so it just makes it easier. If you read THE OMEGA-3 CONNECTION by A. Stoll about the research study done, the amount given to patients was very high. I can't remember the exact amount. It probably has to be at quite high levels in order to make much of an effect. (I'd have to consult the book again to know what was used.)

At any rate, no, I haven't had any problem with indigestion or anything like that. I take my vitamins and supplements with meals, for the most part. Occasionally, I do sort of burp (sounds very lady-like, huh?) the fish oil taste. That's kind of "yuck," but not horrendous. Have you ever tried ginger capsules when you feel nauseated? They work very well.

There are some others on this site that also take the fish oil. I think JulieG is one. Even if you don't take the fish oil, there are foods that you might want to incorporate into your diet to increase the omega-3s naturally. One tends to have higher levels of omega-6s, and that throws off the best balance.

NM,

Thanks for the info. I wish I had time to read! I barely had time to read over the shortened articles I was able to find on the net but it sounds very promising. That is why I am relying more on first person accounts. It sounds as if you have read the book. So far I have not had anyone here lead me in the wrong direction.

I am going to try the fish oil...but I may start off at four capsules for a couple of weeks to see how my system handles it. I know it may not have much effect at that level but I think I would rather try and ease into it. I am glad to hear that you do not have to take all eight horse pills at once.

I picked up the least expensive pills that were available at my pharmacy. Do you think that it makes much of a difference I also found warnings that you should take vitamin E supplements if you are going on this sort of regimine...heard anything about that I picked up some just in case.

I can not see me eating omega-3 rich food as I do not like any kind of seafood in the first place. I did notice that some foods other than fish are on the list and I think I will look into that.

I have not tried the ginger capsules yet. The dramamine works well for me.

Thanks so much for the info.

Be well.

Faye

Yessss.... we do feel gooood today!. I started thinking today, about when I went on a little over a year ago. I had lot o side effects head/stomach/tired tired tired. ect It lasted 4 to 8 weeks. I started pax at the advice of treatment counselor. When I got clean and sober my life was a wreck. Looking at more time. Basicilly homless. And I had lost everything sweet in life. Not ever wanting to use again, or go back to prision. I was going to change my life!. Situational depression was the dual diagnosis, and pax was "suggested". I was and still am willing to go to ANY! lengths for my recovery. so we tryed it , Paxil cr helped me get thru the hardest Time in my life. Today the quality of my problems is much better,and I never planned on long term use of Anti depressents. Day 17 Cold turkey, back to work this week and a little tense about things, My symptoms are much better now "Weaker" I figure 4 to 8 weeks just like going on and I hope to be normal......... ? normal for me anyway. I hope everyone Is well and merry christmas. Hang in thair all! It is getting better with everyday. Just Remember "WE ARE WORTH IT"

NOTORIOUS HERE,
HANGIN IN THERE, DAY 11, THE VERTIGO AND NAUSEAU IS MUCH BETTER, ITS THE INTENSITY AND DEGREE OF THE "ZAPS" THAT HAS BEEN REDUCED.....STILL DRINKIN A TON OF H20 THOUGH......HOPE ALL HAD A GOOD XMAS AND WILL HAVE A SAFE NEW YEAR......STILL ON VACATION, BUT HAVE TO GO BACK TO WORK ON THURS, SO WE'LL SEE HOW I FUNCTION AT WORK. I AM SO GLAD I DECIDED TO AXE THE PAX OVER MY VACATION, I CAN'T REALLY IMAGINE GOING THROUGH THE ZAPS AT WORK AND TRYING TO FUNCTION...TAKE CARE ALL!!