prickles and surges

Sitting here crying for the past hour, I've begun to feel like this won't end. After being off of Paxil for a week or maybe it's more...I can't seem to recall...I feel like I don't know me anymore. The electrical surges come at least one per minute. I feel like someone is pricking my fingers and toes with pins. I must've gone out in my sleep last night and gotten into a huge fight...I ache like I did. I'm the heaviest I ever have been in my life. I feel disgusting. I'm 160 (5'7") and I've never been over 140. I yell at my boyfriend like he's a piece of ****...over nothing...I always ask him if he's mad at me. I'm surprised he's still around. I have no more Paxil. If I did have it I'd probably sit on my front porch and use it to pelt passers-by. I don't remember the last 5 minutes of my commute home from work today. I can't get an appointment with my primary care physician for 2 months. She's the one who put me on this crap. Now, after 2 years I feel like I no longer know myself. It turns out that I probably never needed it to begin with. I was just in a complacently unhappy relationship where I was made to feel responsible for everything that went wrong. If we were out of toilet paper...it must've been my fault. Now I'm trying to be ME again. Outbursts and apathy overwhelm me. I couldn't feel before, but now I don't know who I am or what feelings are real. 5 zaps in the past 30 seconds. This is insane. Should I go to the ER? Should I lie down and let my heart pound and the tears trickle down my face. Between the pin pricks and the HUGE heart pounding episodes (2-3 beats) then barely being able to feel my heart beat and the tears and the zaps and....and...and........ What now?

[Scott]

how much were you on and i'm guessing you didn't taper the drug.. if you can't afford the meds go to your doctor anyhow without an appointment and tell them to give you free samples. You can't just stop this medication without tapering. O and everything you're feeling is totally normal for what you're going through. Don't judge yourself on how you feel right now, we've all been through it.

[MizzT]

Hi Leslie
You POOR thing!!!!! I feel so bad for you. Did you just stop the paxil or did you wean off it slowly??

If you did quit cold turkey you should call and refill the prescrip and start weaning really slowly. It may take a week or two back on your regular dose to stabilize out again. But going really slowly seems to be the only way to not have such severe symptoms.

I (on the stupider side) quit cold turkey January 2003. It was pure hell.
I was impatient and did not want to ever put another pill in my mouth. And I paid for it with a long recovery. But im ok now. So dont start thinking that this is forever.

As for why you went on paxil in the first place.....sounds like you were with my EX. Was his name Matt??
But if your boyfriend now is being supportive to you thru this all....dont treat him like ****. beat up a pillow.....go outside and scream.....but try your best not to beat up the team players. you will need them in the long run.

Start taking magnesium glycinate. More than likely your Mg is depleted and this causes more stress on the body. It will ease the anger and anxiety.
Bach's Flower Remedy - Rescue Remedy is good for anxiety
Bach's Flower Remedy - Cherry Plum is good for Anger.
Omega 3 Fish Oil is good for the brain.
B Vitamins are good for nerve and brain function but can be a stimulant and can make anxiety worse for some.
Avoid all stuff like St. John's Wort and 5-HTP etc untl you are at least a month clean of the paxil if you choose to use them at all.

And if its too bad to take go to the ER. TELL them its paxil withdrawal and dont put up with any **** from them that its relapse anxiety or something else. You can also find posts about how to obtain free samples of paxil to help you get thru a weaning process.

I hope this helps some
Beverly

[dar7726]

I agree with what Scott and Beverly have said so far.

The only thing I would think to add, is get a good food souce vitamin/mineral formula. You need to rebuild your body with nutrients to help you get through the withdrawal. The simplier the better.

Take out as much sugar, white flour and carbs right now that you can. Your sugar is probably jumping all over the place. Drink lots and lots of water. Do light tia chi (sp?) like exercises, even if you are in pain. Do what you can.

Also Noni is something I highly recommend for the pain if you can afford it. Take an oz or so 3 times a day. Give it a few weeks but you will see results. The pain, can go on for much longer than you think.
I've been off the ssri's for a bit over 3 months and still experience some fibro type symptoms.

Try not to take any other drugs or stimulants, they will only compound the problem. Be gentle with yourself. Say to yourself, I'm not going to judge myself for 6 months because I don't know what is me and what is drug withdrawal. Then at the 6 month mark, reavaluate and see if you want to extend that time.

I also highly recommend the fish oil. I know someone on the board says they have had a bad experience with it. But it could have been the brand.
It is good for brain function.

Still to this day, 3 months off. A great deal of the time, I feel like I'm not feeling anything. But I persist, cause I know in my heart of hearts that it is this damn poison.

This too shall pass!!!! Remember that!!!!!

Blessings,
Darlene

[silence4now]

I feel for you! Those first 2 weeks are tough, especially if you are going cold turkey. If you feel that your life is in danger, then go to the ER. I had to once and felt like it a few more times after that. But unfortunately I didn't know to tell them that I was withdrawing from Paxil (not that it would have mattered since most docs don't seem to know anything about it anyway). I don't know if going back on and tapering will improve your withdrawal experience though, as it's always the worst when you get to 0 mg whether you've tapered or not.... If you can hang on, and just keep going, the worst may be over soon. Try not to worry about the weight for now, just take one day at a time. Down the road, when things are more stable you can concentrate on the weight and getting into a healthy routine. The Magnesium helps me, and also Tylenol, and sometimes Benedryl or Zantac to settle my gut and help me sleep.

Leslie- I am new here also. My first post last night was about the brain zaps. I know it is very scarey. This symptom is my worst right now. Zaps come about every few seconds about 3 seconds between each zap. I too am worried about this. But just know that this is a normal part of the withdrawl. What ever normal is concerning Paxil. I got some very good advise from the precious people here and I will listen to them because they have been there. Hang in and know you are not alone with this, they understand here. nana

I finally took half of a percocet last night to keep the pain at bay that I was feeling on every square inch of my skin...no muscle aches just superficial PAIN...no matter what was in contact with my skin. This morning I woke up and could barely stand. My boyfriend took me to the ER and I told them what I thought was going on. They said it was Paxil w/drawal (no kidding...now what?) and put me BACK on Paxil with no set taper. Ummm...not a happy camper. Is there no other solution? I'm on 25mg CR...anyone have a taper that will likely work without this kind of pain? They told me to stay home for two days and try to get as much sleep as possible. How long would it take if I could barrel through cold turkey since I've already been off for about a week? I don't know what to do. My Mom sent me some Xanax...I thought about trying to use them to counter the symptoms...I'm unsure.

[MizzT]

HiLeslie

3 Weeks for the major crap to ease

My Cold Turkey went like this.....day 1 i started feeling dizzy and nauseas.
Days 2 - 3 maybe were the same but getting much worse with horrible nightmares. Day 4 - 7 maybe were i think the worst of it because of the feeling that my brain had turned to jello or liquid and was sloshing around in my head. Zaps were constant and really violent. the pain you describe was there. But i was really mentally sick and hearing voices and hallucinating my *** off during that time.

The second week was rough too. The third week started getting better.
Weeks 4 - 6 was another phase of it getting better. After 6 weeks i was pretty good. After that it was a process of healing that kind of shifts and changes over the next year or year and a half. But if you start doing the supplements i think you can really facilitate the process.

Its VERY hard on your entire system to quit cold turkey....but once i was a week off it i wasnt going back. In no way am i suggesting you do this. This is just my personal experience and timeline of going cold turkey.

I have also run the gammut of symptoms including fibromyalgia, hallucinations, voices, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, suicidal ideation, self harm, zaps, muscle spasms that were out of control, intense pain that lasted about 7 months, and twitches that i still have. I still have difficulty with emotions....and under times of stress i have difficulty with words and the feeling of being in a fog. But its WAY WAY better now.
I also have a stress cough now. a bad hack and lung congestion when i get stressed out.

But i survived and i think i am really doing great these days considering. So dont ever feel trapped by the meds. you can and will get off them if that is what you choose.

Best to you
Beverly

[silence4now]

Day 3 and 4 after quitting cold turkey were frightening because I didn't know what was happening. By week 2 I had discovered that it was all due to Paxil withdrawal and I began to feel better just knowing I wasn't going to die (not yet anyway). At that point, there was no way in hell I was going back on and tapering off. Week 3-10 have been up and down. The worst has been continuous chest pain (like a heart attack) with numbness in my arm and insomnia, but I haven't had the zaps as much as others. I've been able to continue working and trying to go about my normal routine as much as possible. It helps to keep going to take your mind off the weird pain and jitters. The withdrawal symptoms do tend to get less intense and less frequent as time goes on. Tylenol PM works good too, and so does Benedryl for getting some sleep.