Please help me get off of this evil drug!!!!

I took Paxil CR 12.5 for three weeks, then my doc upped my dosage to 25, which I have taken for 6 days. I hate the way I feel on this stuff and I want off it. Will I have to slowly ween off it even though it's only been about a month? How do I do it? My doctor said there were no side effects and that it is not addictive at all. I am just SO angry and feel misled and violated! This stuff sucks!

[lifeisbeautiful222]

Have you tried coming off yet? Usually doctors procedure is to cut your pills in half for a week or two and then take half a pill every other day. Maybe try that first and if you feel like you are having withdrawals the you will probably have to go a lot slower. Luckily you have not been on it that long so you may not have severe withdrawals! Its good that you are getting off early.

[MizzT]

I hate to contradict something that someone else says...but i have to jump in here. You should NOT take the pills every other day.
Paxil has a half life of 21 hours. You MUST take some every day as you wean. every other day is playing ping pong with your brain. on again off again.

Reduce your dose by just several mgs for like a week and see how you feel. Once you are sure there are little if no symptoms....then reduce it again. The last like 10 mgs everyone says are the worst so go slowly.

With any luck you will have mild symptoms....you have not been on it long.

Dont freak yourself out.....just be dillegent and keep dropping doses until you are off it. Come here and ask questions. and try not to worry about it.

You WILL get off it. and you will be fine.

Best of all things to you!
Beverly

[Ariella]

Tell your doctor how the upped dosage feels, and reserve the right to disagree with dose suggestions. You aren't being forced to take these meds.

Beverly is right. Skipping days is a bad idea in that it swings you up and down too much and can lead to greater discomfort as you teeter between side effects of a new dose and withdrawal symptoms from a lowered dose. Since you felt better on the lower dose, go back on that one and then decide the new strategy.

Figure out how to reduce gradually. Dr. David Healy switches his patients to liquid Prozac when they want to get off Paxil. That's a clever way of doing it since quantities can be reduced very easily in liquid form. There is a liquid form of Paxil but it's very hard to get.

You're going to have to strike a balance for yourself based on your sense of tolerance between how fast you want off and how gradual you can go to minimize withdrawal symptom severity.

It's not fair that you have to go through this, but we'll try to help ok? We've been there. I've been there. Journal your experience whenever you can.

[lifeisbeautiful222]

Yeah I think its bad too, I was just describing how my doctor told me to do it the first time.

[donna0099]

HELLO I NEED HELP BAD! I HAVE WRITTEN A FEW TIMES BUT NOW I REALLY NEED HELP I AM VERY SHAKY AND VERY WEEPY WRITING THHIS PLEASE FORGIVE ME... RECENTLY THE PSYCHIATRIST I HAVE BEEN SEEING FOR MANY YEARS DECIDED I NEEED TO COME PAXIL..... IHAVE BEEN ON IT 4 YEARS AND PROZAC BEFORE THAT FOR 6 YEARS. I HAD SEEN HIM OFF AND ON FOR 6 YEARS BEFORE DECIDING TO TAKE ANY MEDS ... ( I WAS SUFFERING FROM PANIC DISORDER AND MILD DEPRESSION ) ANYWAY SORRY TO GO ON BUT 14 DAYS AGO I STARTED TO WEAN MYSELF THE WAY HE INSTRUCTED ME ( I WAS ON 20 MG )
HE SAID TO TAKE 10 MG FOR TEN DAYS THEN 10MGS EVERY SECOND DAY WELL I AM A MESS ... FEELING AWFUL DIAREEHA , NAUSEA, ELECTRIC BUZZ FEELING WHEN I TURN MY HEAD OR TAKE A STEP TO WALK .... I FEEL REALLY PANICKY , HE WANTS 10 DAYS HALF , 10 DAYS OF HALF EVERY SECOND DAY AND NONE FOR A WEEK, THEN GONNA TRY A NEW TRIAL DRUG DULOXETINE . DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO HELP ME PLEASE... I CAN';T STOP CRYING AND I NO I CAN'T DO THIS ... BUT I DESPERATELY NEED OFF BECAUSE OF WEIGHT GAIN I HAVE TYPE TWO DIABETES AND HIGH CHOLESTEROL; AND IT MAKES ME EAT ,, I HAVE TO GET OFF IT BUT I CAN'T HANDLE THESE FEELINGS.... I DIDN'T KNOW IT WOULD FEEL LIKE THIS WHEN I WAS READING ALL THE POSTINGS ON THIS SITE... I THOUGHT I WOULD BE OKAY... CAN ITRUST HIM? HAVE TO WORK , HAVE A TEENAGER TO LOOK AFTER TOO. AND MY HUSBAND .

[MizzT]

Hi Donna
10 mgs is way too much of a drop in dose. You should get a copy of the withdrawal guide available here. It explains a whole lot and gives a really good weaning schedule.

You probably only want to drop like 1 or 2 mgs at a time. and you will need to stay at that new dose for at least a couple weeks to make sure there are no symptoms. Then make another small cut in dose.
That is really the only way to get off the drug with little to no symptoms.....unless of course you are of the lucky few who do not have symptoms.

Go back on at the 20 mgs daily and level back out and start to wean off it again. Be patient. Youve been on it for several years. Just let your body adjust gently to the changes.

Oh....and do not take it every other day. That is a really bad idea. Paxil has a half life of just 21 hours. Taking it every other day is playing ping pong with your serotonin levels and will make you feel really bad.
you need to take it every day and slowly reduce the amount.

Paxili depletes magnesium. Consider taking a magnesium supplement like Magnesium glycinate. It will help the anxiety and tears as well as your gut and stress levels. Fish oil is another good brain food supplement.

Be patient. Stay as calm as possible and keep as positive as you can about it. People here have a lot of experience with withdrawal here and we are happy to help ease your process thru it as best we can.


Beverly

[scotty]

Just another person to tell you to go back to 20mg and start again!! Slow weaning is the only way to go. Please do some research on Duloxetine before you go on it .There have been some pretty negative reports coming out.

[donna0099]

Thank you guys so much if i didn't have this place to go to the last few days i'm sure i would be bonkers i greatly appreciate you even taking the time to reply to me , because i am nobody to you... i am gonna follow your advice scotty and defonz for sure i'm gonna send for the withdrawal guide tomorrow morning and when i see my psy. on july 7 tell him i want to go slow and do not want duloxetine i mean it's only in the trial period and i don't want to be a guinea pig... today i'm warn out tired and stomach is really upset , tomorrow i'm going back to 20 mg and start anew ... thanks again guys God bless you !

[scotty]

"do not want duloxetine i mean it's only in the trial period and i don't want to be a guinea pig."

Way to take control of your life!!! Congratulations!!!

[Scott]

donna until you find a psy that has been on the drug and come off just assume they really dont know what its like. You have to taper off very slowly. Judging how long youve been on ssri's I would say it should take you at least 3 or 4 months to fully come off the drug. You shouldnt cut more than 2.5mg at a time once you get to 10mg. Give yourself 2 to 3 weeks between each cut for symptoms to even show up.

[donna0099]

scotty 27 .... thanks sounds good to me! i feel it is the right thing to do too ..

[donna0099]

Hello everyone after the last few days of hell ( reducing my dose too fast ) i've gone back on the 20mgs , scotty i am going to take your advice and wean myself off slower, i've sent for the withdrawal guide, and i'm gonna call my psychiatrist tomorrow and tell him i couldn;t do it and that i am not going to participate in the trial testing for duloxetine, thank you guys so much. I feel nervous about telling him but i have to do this for me , i mean somewhere down the road i my end up on something else but i need off this... [/code]

[MizzT]

Originally Posted by donna0099

and i'm gonna call my psychiatrist tomorrow and tell him i couldn;t do it and that i am not going to participate in the trial testing for duloxetine, thank you guys so much. I feel nervous about telling him but i have to do this for me

YEAH DONNA!!! good for you girl!!!
Dont you feel nervous about telling him at all!!! Tell him you want him to take the duloxetine for a few months and let you know how it goes.

I just read about duloxetine....the connection between Lilly and Beringer Ingerheim (aka ex nazis) That sounds like one evil chemical! Antipsychotics from hell!!!

Id also ask the shrink what tests he plans to run to prove that you are in need of a heavy antipsychotic.

You stand up for yourself...."But i have to do this for me"
EXACTLY!!! just that alone will give you the boost you need! Then take it slow and easy off the paxil and see where you are at. Take time to assess it and then judge what you need to do.

Best to you!
Beverly

[donna0099]

yeah thanks beverly you're right i just read an article about Tracey Johnson God love her ... she was taking the drug " duloxetine" no way am i taking that.... yeah and you're right let the dr.s use themselves as guinea pigs that's what they did in the days of Jekyll and Hyde hahah but
seriously thanks ...

[MizzT]

that's Right!!! Tracey Johnson was in the Cymbalta trials, wasnt she?!?!?
YIKES! run away fast!

i think i heard that whole trial was a disaster!
Nice!
just another psych drug about to be unleashed on the masses without proper trials.

Thank goodness for forums like this.
Beverly

[donna0099]

HI JUST A FOLLOW UP , WENT TO MY PSYCHIATRIST TODAY THE PLAN NOW IS BACK ON 20 MG TO LEVEL OUT FOR THE REST OF JULY, THEN 15 MGS A DAY FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST , THEN 10 MGS A DAY FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER THEN I GO BACK TO SEE HIM AND GO FROM THERE ... THAT NIGHTMARE LAST WEEK WAS UNREAL , IT FELT LIKE I WAS IN A MOVIE OR SOMETHING ... BUT NOW I'LL SEE HOW THINGS GO ( I THINK HE WAS A BIT EMBARASSED TODAY WHEN I WAS EXPLAINING WHAT I HAD GONE THROUGH FOLLOWING HIS TOO QUICK WEANING ADVICE ... " SHAME , SHAME ON HIM"!

[MizzT]

Hi Donna!

Glad to hear you feeling a little better!!
Your wean schedule might still be a little fast tho. If you go to 15 mgs and feel bad....back up to like 18 mgs.....and only go 2 mgs down at a time.
then 1 mg at a time below 10 mgs.
It will take longer but be easier on your body and brain.

stay happy!!!
Beverly

[scotty]

Good for you Donna!!! Listen to your body while weaning.

[elisa]

Hi Donna,

Good for you Donna!

I am tapering too, every 4 weeks, and so far so good. No withdrawl side effects yet!

Health Canada sent all doctors an advisory of strong warnings for anti-depressants, especially about getting on and off the medications. He should have read it. Good for you that YOU told him what he was supposed to know!!

Come to visit here whenever you want or need, because all members know more than the doctor does.

A 19 year old student committed suicide while on clinical trial for Cymbalta. She was one of five.

You have the right to decide what goes in your body. The doctor doesn't.

Take care.

[donna0099]

Eliza what dose were you taking daily? Is this your first attempt to get off the drug?

[elisa]

Hi Donna,

Currently, I am on Effexor XR. I was on Paxil too but it made me so anxious that I could not take the drug. I took almost all AD's (separately) over the last 8 years. Not even one worked for me. So I settled for the one with the most tolerable (?) side effects.

Okay, I was on 225 mg of Effexor and they are capsules. I am tapering 37.5 mg every 4 weeks. Now I am down to 112.50 mg. NO withdrawl effects, just the regular side effects which are pretty lousy.

I read that reducing the pills by 5-10 % is the route to go. Wait for 3-4 weeks and then if all is fine, reduce again by the same percentage. When you are down to 10 mg or so, then reduce by even a smaller dose because the last mg. are the most difficult.

Donna, I hope that you will be doing better in a few days. Take care of yourself.

i have been Paxil free for ten days, after doing extensive internet research I decided to try the immunocal supplement. I weaned quickly from 40, 30, to 20 in two weeks. I have been taking Paxil for six years at 40 mg po qd, and have tried to wean off of it twice before with horrible results. This time I decided to quit over the long holiday weekend and take my chances. I purchased ten packets of immunocal from ebay and on Saturday July 3, I quit cold turkey. First day was great with the immunocal, I had tons of energy, next day was BAD with nausea, vertigo and zaps etc.. took two packets each day...still have zaps...but have been working and feeling pretty darn good...I'd call it a miracle after my other two attempts. I'm not 100% but I am Paxil free and hoping to lose some of this weight. I have lost 5 pounds this first week. I was desperate to get some more immunocal and QUICK, so ordered a box online and have been taking two every day. Today only took one, and have more zaps than before. I will NEVER go back to Paxil, not worth the weight gain and the withdrawal is the WORST. I'm taking omega 3 capsules every day, too. Started with one a day and am up to three a day. I"m free of Paxil. If I can do it so can YOU>..Good luck, Mary

[Pat Shields]

Have been reading all this, and feel compelled to add that there IS another way, and that is cold turkey (as the above post)- but how many can handle it? It is pretty bad. Just keep in mind that it is an option, and there are those of us who have come through to the other side, and it is very survivable, so far 100% survival rate. I compare it to ripping the bandage off the scab - you can prolong the pain by trying to cause yourself less pain, but if you do it all at once, then it is over. To me, paxil tapering is like picking at the scab every day and expecting the bloody mess to heal.

[donna0099]

Patricia how long did it take for you ? I have to work going through this outside of my home unless i go on stress leave but i don't know if i could do that. Did you have really bad symptoms?