Crease in ear lobe and Paxil withdrawal

[Juwane]

I am 23 year old male and as you can see from my signature I have used Paxil for 3 1/2 months on 40mg daily, and these days I am weaning. My plan is to go for 10mg drops every two weeks.

This morning I have noticed a crease on my right earlobe (right from my point of view), which has become a new source of anxiety for me now. I just want to confirm if anyone else has this. Note that I am 23, am not obese, do not smoke or drink alcohol, and my family has no history of heart disease; but at the same time I am inactive for the most time and do not have any kind of exercise (even walking) since starting tapering.

Could this be a serious matter that should make me worried? Could it be related to Paxil withdrawal?

[TryingtoGetWell]

I'm old enough to be your grandmother, and I've had creases (deep indented lines) come and go occasionally on my earlobes for decades, long before paxil. I never gave them any thought and never had problems from them. I just figured it was from sleeping on my side!

I got curious while replying to your post so I just went and looked in the mirror (I have very long hair so I have no idea when I last looked at my ears!). I don't see any creases on either ear, so they do go away! I've noticed some people seem to have them permanently, so it may just be an inherited characteristic - those people were at least my age, often older, and I knew them long ago and they didn't have any problems from those creases.

If you're concerned it might put your mind at rest to mention it to your doctor next time you see him, but based on my experience I really doubt it's anything to worry about.

But I hope you won't mind if I say I'm concerned about your taper plan. It may work fine for you - some people are able to go off these meds quickly with no problem. But for many people going off that fast, with such large drops, causes problems that can last a long time (longer than doing a slow taper, ironically). That's what happened to me, so I want to suggest you try smaller drops and wait a bit longer between drops until you determine how your body reacts to the tapering. You may find you stabilize at two weeks, but you may find you need longer to avoid causing needless problems for yourself.

Always feel free to post here if you have any questions as you taper. People here care and are glad to help. Don't be frightened by some of the bad problems you read about (like cases like mine!) - bear in mind that those are almost always people who didn't know to do a slow taper but are the people who needed to do that - except we didn't know about it at the time! Now we've learned from how others tapered differently and more successfully, and try to help other people know that if you start running into problems doing things differently can save you a lot of misery.

[Juwane]

TryingtoGetWell, thanks for the long reply. However, this is probably the first time I've had this crease (I say probably the first time, because it may have happened before and I may not have noticed it; so either it may never have happened before, or it many have happened with my noticing it). God forbid, if this is something serious, what is the first step should I take, have my blood pressure checked?

As for the taper plan, then we should also taking into account the fact that I've taken Paxil for about 3 1/2 months only, and the fact that I did not feel any withdrawal symptoms until now, though I do believe that it is too early for me to get any symptoms.

EDIT: Also, these days there are times when feel as if something is crawling in my ear, and this happens in the right ear only. The feeling is there for less than a minute before going away.

[Juwane]

I just had my blood pressure checked, it was 120/70.

[scotty]

Am I missing something here....why is a crease in an ear such a big problem, especially if it's been there prior to this?

[LCrawford67]

A crease in your ear is nothing more than a crease in your ear. It's not a withdrawal symptom.

[Juwane]

Originally Posted by scotty

Am I missing something here....why is a crease in an ear such a big problem, especially if it's been there prior to this?

I stated previously that it might have been there prior to this, but I am not sure, because I did not notice it, nor did I take the trouble of noticing it. It could also mean that it might never have been there before, and that this is the first time it is there.

[scotia21]

Juwane - I think that you are just anxious about health concerns due to the meds and your quick tapering schedule. I really have never noticed whether or not I have creases in my ears and am not even going to bother to look. I have never heard of any medical condition associated with a crease in the ear and I am betting that it is nothing. Are you doing any sort of counseling to help you deal with the issues that brought you to Paxil in the first place?

[Juwane]

Originally Posted by scotia21

Juwane - I think that you are just anxious about health concerns due to the meds and your quick tapering schedule. I really have never noticed whether or not I have creases in my ears and am not even going to bother to look. I have never heard of any medical condition associated with a crease in the ear and I am betting that it is nothing. Are you doing any sort of counseling to help you deal with the issues that brought you to Paxil in the first place?

The reason why the crease in my ear is making me anxious is because there are many websites on the internet stating that a crease on the ear lobe could mean having heart diseases. If you search for that on the internet, you will find many websites like these.

No, I am not doing any counseling, but the issue that brought me to Paxil was a single traumatic event in which I (wrongly) believed that I was going to die in a few minutes, at which I had my first panic attack. After that I always had anxiety because I thought panic attacks were dangerous. Now since I am weaning off Paxil, I don't know how it will be when I am finally off this drug.

[LCrawford67]

You're 23 years old, I doubt very seriously you have heart disease and upon further reading about this ear crease/heart disease connection - it's from studies done in 1991. There are many articles about this and this is one from Dr. Weil, that I'd believe before any random studies over a decade old.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA40053...t-Trouble.html

Here's another article regarding how the whole thing got started.

http://www.uabhealth.org/17677/

[Juwane]

Originally Posted by LCrawford67

You're 23 years old, I doubt very seriously you have heart disease and upon further reading about this ear crease/heart disease connection - it's from studies done in 1991. There are many articles about this and this is one from Dr. Weil, that I'd believe before any random studies over a decade old.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA40053...t-Trouble.html

Here's another article regarding how the whole thing got started.

http://www.uabhealth.org/17677/

In the drweil article, it says:

Researchers do agree that the presence of these creases probably isn't significant in Native Americans and Asians.

Does this also include South Asians?

[LCrawford67]

I wouldn't know. Juwane, seriously....this isn't something I'd even give a second thought about.

But, the fact that you saw a crease in your ear lobe, got worried about it, and obviously started Googling; is of bigger concern. You obviously have some health anxieties that you need to address here and this is where CBT could really benefit you.

[Juwane]

Originally Posted by LCrawford67

But, the fact that you saw a crease in your ear lobe, got worried about it, and obviously started Googling; is of bigger concern. You obviously have some health anxieties that you need to address here and this is where CBT could really benefit you.

Actually, I had read about this on the internet before I saw a crease in my ear lobe. Since I knew that there were studies that it could relate to heart diseases, I naturally got anxious. Heart disease is not something to be sneezed at.

I don't get anxious at every change that occurs in the body, except that if I have heard or read somewhere beforehand that it could be serious. For example, a pimple on my face will not make me anxious, but a high blood pressure will. What does CBT have to do with all this?

[LCrawford67]

Heart disease runs on my mother's side of the family - Grandmother, mom, uncle - so I'm fully aware of the seriousness of heart disease. And using that as an example; I have a much greater risk of heart disease than you do, and I have no ear lobe crease. So again, put things in perspective.

You can read many things about ANYTHING and scare youself silly and what CBT has to do with it is, if anxiety is an issue for you, and it obviously is, then therapy will teach you ways of coping with your anxiety.

[carolyn]

As someone who suffers with health anxiety (particularly centered around my heart and lungs), I agree with Laurie. It's very important to be able to cope with anxiety and to be able to keep health scares in perspective (note that I can tell other people that but not believe it myself )

[babs]

Well crap, I've never heard of this before so of course I just checked both my lobes and both have creases. I don't suffer from health anxiety but nevertheless am not thrilled about it, especially since my father had heart disease.

[scotty]

Believe me....this is no firm indicator of anything, despite what you can find on google.

[carolyn]

Heck, I don't have hanging ear lobes at all!

[Songbird]

I must admit, I've never heard of ear lobe creases before now!

[edrophis]

Sometimes google can become your worst enemy,that is my experience anyway.

[Juwane]

Originally Posted by TryingtoGetWell

I'm old enough to be your grandmother, and I've had creases (deep indented lines) come and go occasionally on my earlobes for decades, long before paxil. I never gave them any thought and never had problems from them. I just figured it was from sleeping on my side!

I tell you, sleeping on one's side has nothing to do with creases in ear lobes. I always sleep on my side; I never sleep in the supine position. But this crease in my ear lobe has appeared overnight.

I first read about ear lobe creases and their possible relation to heart problems from this thread (see page 2 for posts by JudyGee):

http://www.paxilprogress.org/forums/...ad.php?t=15332

[scotty]

Originally Posted by carolyn

Heck, I don't have hanging ear lobes at all!

roflmao! With all that happens in withdrawal, I have to say that ear creases are the least of our worries!

[scotia21]

Juwane - you really need to step away from the Google and not sit and read about this stuff on the Internet. Would it be possible for you to find a therapist who does CBT?

[Juwane]

Originally Posted by scotia21

Juwane - you really need to step away from the Google and not sit and read about this stuff on the Internet. Would it be possible for you to find a therapist who does CBT?

I don't know. Right now I am somewhere else, not in Saudi Arabia, but somewhere else for my studies, and I don't know much about the places here, so I will have to postpone this until I'm back to Saudia. Besides, I don't think CBT is going to help me.

In the mean time, I may go for EKG for my heart, just to put my mind at ease.

[LCrawford67]

Originally Posted by Juwane

Besides, I don't think CBT is going to help me.

You don't think CBT will help, but a pill will, or did? How do you know, unless you try?

You were willing to swallow Paxil, in spite of everything we told you when you first started taking it, but in this you don't have any interest, when again, many here have told you how well it's worked for them?