Hello, everyone.

Hello everyone. I'm new here.

I've been on Paxil for 9 years, 20 mg/day. I tried to go off a few times, maybe 6-7 years ago. I tried both cold T and tapering. In the end I stayed on it because it did seem to be helping.

I started when I was finishing graduate school, under extreme stress, and moving to a new city, and starting a new job. Considering that I always had anxiety problems since a child, it was getting to the point of physical breakdown.

I always new about the withdrawal. In the first few years I was pretty bad about remembering to take the pill. I found that if I missed two in a row by the end of the day I was getting what you guys call the zaps. (That's a pretty good description. I always called them micro-dizzy-spells.)

At this point I am very stress free. I'm fairly well-established, stable job, house, everything I could want (Corvette Z06 and a 1969 GTO). So when I was late ordering my prescription I thought it would be a good time to try discontinuing it again.

So I split my last two doses (20 mg into 4 10 mg), and took those, followed by 2 days without it. I felt 100% symptom-free this morning, but pretty severe zaps tonight. I took a 10 mg dose (my prescription came in) this evening.

So I'm going to see how it goes.

DanZ

[Scott]

hi dan,

you should really try to stay on 10mg at least for a month.. i'd even say 15 but if you can manage 10 that's a huge deal having been on it 9 years. It can take a few weeks for most symptoms to show up so that's why it's good to take it carefully. Slow and steady is the best way.

We'll see how I feel. I was going to go cold turkey, but after reading a bit on the net I am concerned there might be health risks.

DanZ

[Scott]

yeah after 9 years of use you'd better not go that way..

[scotty]

juliod, what people need to recognize is that your not just weaning off a drug! You are giving your brain chemistry time to adjust to the change. This is one of the big misconceptions that most in the psychiatric community don't admit. A classic drug weaning(ie off prednisone) can be done in a few days because its action in the body isn't altering a neurotransmitter. The readjustment of these neurotransmitters takes time. Think of it as time for your brain to heal. Weaning quickly doesn't make it go any faster!The brain still needs the time. Slow weaning lets the brain and it's neurotransmitters slowly readjust to a changing environment which results is less trauma(notice I said less not none!). After 9 years on paxil this will not happen overnight. Stay at 10mg for 4 weeks and then start decreasing by 2.5 mg with each wean. What we recommend here is to not wean again until you are symptom free.

[mapleleafgirl25]

tapering slow is the best way...i was on paxil for only 2.5 years..the first time i tried to go off of it..i did it too fast..and freaked out after 8 days...this time however i tapered from my dose of 20mgs..for 3 months..and i am now paxil free one month..and have had a just a few minor withdrawal symptoms..but of course everyone is different and i can only speak for myself..but tapering slower is better..and as Laurie has said..your brain needs to adjust..it doesnt happen overnight...

good luck..

Mapleleafgirl25

Thanks for the supportive messages.

One problem with weaning I have been thinking of is that the brain will not begin adjusting until the dose is reduced to a level that requires an adjustment. I've read several accounts of people who weaned without effects until dropping below some value, like 10mg/d, only to get severe symptoms then. That suggests to me that their real effective dose was 10 mg/d and any extra was just wasted. The brain was still saturated until the threshold level, and only then the withdrawal started.

One thing I wnat to see for myself is what sort of symptoms I get. So far it's just been zaps and Kafka-dreams. My discontinuation has been this way (doses in mg/day):

...20, 20, 20, 10, 10, 10, 10, 0, 0, 10, 0 (today).

DanZ

BTW, I'm a biologist (Ph.D., Columbia University).

DanZ

[Scott]

Originally Posted by juliod

Thanks for the supportive messages.

One problem with weaning I have been thinking of is that the brain will not begin adjusting until the dose is reduced to a level that requires an adjustment. I've read several accounts of people who weaned without effects until dropping below some value, like 10mg/d, only to get severe symptoms then. That suggests to me that their real effective dose was 10 mg/d and any extra was just wasted. The brain was still saturated until the threshold level, and only then the withdrawal started.

One thing I wnat to see for myself is what sort of symptoms I get. So far it's just been zaps and Kafka-dreams. My discontinuation has been this way (doses in mg/day):

...20, 20, 20, 10, 10, 10, 10, 0, 0, 10, 0 (today).

DanZ

if you notice symptoms you've begun adjusting.. the worse they are the faster you've gone in the taper. It's true about going below 10mg with this drug. I hope you don't have problems but for some reason the full line of symptoms doesn't always appear for 2 weeks.

[scotty]

Juliod, my son didn't experience any withdrawal effects until 5-7 days into the wean, they would last about a 7-10 days. After all symptoms were gone then we would drop again.Skipping days for weaning isn't really a great way to go since paxil's halflife is so short. A smaller daily dose keeps things alot more level. when you skip days your basically going cold turkey and then starting paxil again, then cold turkey. Very hard on the old brain!!

Gotta Love Columbia!! Especially when they do a Clinical Trial study that helps get a black box warning!

[Maddy]

Juliod...It is way better when you are tapering to NOT skip days. Just keep gradually lowering your dose after you don't feel any withdrawl symtoms anymore.