withdrawal hell please advise...

Hi i'm new here - thanks for a really good support group!

I have read the withdrawal FAQs but still have questions... Would really appreciate help. I've been on and off paxil before (almost 5 years' intermitent use), and the side effects and withdrawal have always been hard. But for some reason this time is going really badly and I'm quite worried.

I was taking 10mg/day for the last 7 months, which worked for my social anxiety BUT made me really lethargic, caused nightmares, teeth grinding, and killed my libido! The worst was being so so tired all the time, so I decided to stop, and try an alternative route (supplements etc.)

To withdraw I cut down to 5mg a day for 2 weeks then 2.5 mg a day for 2 weeks, then stopped about 5 days ago. The last 5 days have been the worst- I have bad head whooshes, frequent zaps, hot flashes, major exhaustion, extremely vivid dreams, and periods where I have problems stringing a sentence together (really difficult to engage in sensible conversation).

All this is ok as long as i can trust it to go away soon - am starting a new job in less than a month, and need to be functioning... It's going to be hard enough coping with my original anxiety issues unmedicated - I really don't need ongoing withdrawal problems too.

I am determined not to go back on paxil (would only do this if it was dangerous not to) because i want to try and get started with some supplements before I start work, but I am a bit scared of what I'm currently going through.

So my main questions are:
- When will these withdrawal symptoms stop? (Surely once it's left my system completely things should begin to normalise?)
- Am i taking serious risks by stopping relatively quickly like this? (I don't want to keep feeling like this in a month's time).

Thank you so much for advice/ answers...
Kat xx

[Scott]

Surely once it's left my system completely things should begin to normalise?

yeah but no quicker than if you tapered more slowly.. you should go back on 5mg and wait to adjust.

[silence4now]

Hello purplekat....I took low dose for reasons you described.....5 mg for about 2 months and had no problems at all until withdrawal. What you're describing sounds very normal for someone going through Paxil withdrawal. Give yourself 3-6 months for the worst withdrawal symptoms to subside. Hopefully you won't be one who has protracted withdrawal. If you can't deal with that right now, then Scott has made a good suggestion. There is no other alternative except maybe switching to another SSRI like Lexapro which will not give you the libido problems.

[darcyb]

Hi Kat! I don't think there's a quick exit here, so keep it real and just do what you can. You can try to cope with the new job by going back on a low dose for the drug, but that doesn't progress your withdrawal from the behavior/mindset/ideas that got you on it in the first place. When you withdraw from Paxil, you're also withdrawing from the behavior that got you on it. So choose to cope carefully and with full awareness.

It can take several months before the symptoms fade away enough, so you may still have to deal with stuff when you start your job. See the weakness in the "need to be functioning" argument as not promoting your health, and only serving the dollar.

You can't make money if your too ill, so focus on your health FIRST.

[-Ell]

I'm going on 3 months now and I still have side effects at time. HOWEVER....go into that job looking at it as a help! I after 19 years just within the last 6 months took income tax classes and am working from January - February doing taxes. It has actually helped me to have something else to do but worry about how I'm feeling! Just inform someone you trust there what you are doing and to be in your corner!

I keep alprazolam in my pocket for those really tough moments and then I move on!

We all know what you are feeling and are here for you!

lisa

Thanks everyone for being there just when i need you!!
Just a few things...

Firstly, i really don't want to go back on the paxil, because i want to try alternatives,maybe Rhodiola (am going to see a nutritionist in a couple of weeks), and I'm sure it is not advisable to mix with SSRIs. I have time off, and support at the moment, so if i have to suffer some cold turkey effects over the next 2-3 weeks, I am prepared to go through it. That's why I want to do this now... I know my health is more important than the dollar, but i think it will really help me psychologically if I can get into my work, get on with the people, etc - things like that make me feel 'normal' in a nice way - like you Lisa, i think that it's quite therapeutic to engage in something constructive, developing skills, thinking about other stuff! It definitely helps me to believe i'm not a victim, which is so important for someone who has traditionally suffered from low self confidence...

I'm still a bit concerned / confused about a couple of things:

- I don't understand how withdrawal effects can carry on for longer than a couple of weeks? When I've done it before it hasn't lasted that long... What kind of ongoing effects are possible? More of these whooshes and concentration problems? (If so, i don't think i can work very well...) What kind of effects do you still have Lisa? (and anybody else who's stopped?)

- If it might take 3-6 months to get through this, does that mean it could be dangerous to take stuff like 5-HTP or other brain supplements until then? If so my plans may be too ambitious, but like i said I don't want to admit defeat to this thing!!

Thank you all again.... Kat xx

[Tara71]

5-HTP won't hurt you... my doctor recommended it as an aid in withdrawal, everywhere under 10mg with no risk of 'seratonin syndrome'. But I can tell you the slurring and loss of words will last for at least three months, along with ongoing headaches, forgetfullness and other problems that will effect your work. I ended up having to go back up on Paxil.

[scotty]

Purplekat, Paxil withdrawal is hard!! What makes it harder is that everyone responds differently. Some are able to come off with NO problem at all(though not many!). My son,Ryan(16) is off completely since April 2004 and I have to say he's been really good with no physical/emotional side effects since November. But coming off started in February 2004 and the wean ended in April 2004. So you can see this can take a while. The good news is it slowly gets better. The good days start to win over the bad ones. Don't give up, don't assume it's a return of the "original" reason you went on paxil. In Ryan's case he's better now that before he went on paxil. There's hope, keep posting.

[RR]

Originally Posted by PurpleKat

I am determined not to go back on paxil (would only do this if it was dangerous not to)

Based on your comments your presenting symptoms are such that I would venture to say you are headed for "The Grand Tour." Fortunately for you though, you've still got a window of time where restarting (I hesitate to call it) the "drug" and then tapering off at a far more gradual rate would be well worth considering. I understand your desire NOT to to go back on Paxil ... at the same time I don't think you want to risk becoming a withdrawal horror story.

An alternative worth considering is switching to Prozac (which has a much longer metabolic "half life") and then tapering off that drug. With that in mind, here's a link I suggest you visit and review all material presented very carefully: http://www.benzo.org.uk/healy.htm

You got some serious decisions to make. Be careful.

I am so scared now... What's a 'withdrawal horror story'? I am generally very level headed but now i don't know what to do. I think I might have to try switching to another SSRI because once I start work I just can't afford to feel out of it, and also I won't have any more long periods of time to go through withdrawal... (I'm in my mid 20s and just starting my career). Does anyone know which other SSRIs are good for social anxiety? NB Prozac didn't work for me.

Thank you all..... (Scaredy-) Kat xx

[Scott]

Originally Posted by PurpleKat

I am so scared now... What's a 'withdrawal horror story'? I am generally very level headed but now i don't know what to do. I think I might have to try switching to another SSRI because once I start work I just can't afford to feel out of it, and also I won't have any more long periods of time to go through withdrawal... (I'm in my mid 20s and just starting my career). Does anyone know which other SSRIs are good for social anxiety? NB Prozac didn't work for me.

Thank you all..... (Scaredy-) Kat xx

there is no quick out.. the best thing to do is taper slowly.. you can't speed up the process of healing your brain, which is the slowest healing part of the body and the most complex system in the universe. Read this link
http://www.antidepressantsfacts.com/reaction.htm

Lexapro may work or it may not.. you wouldn't need more than 5mg of it if you did take it. But with me, i went on it and my ears rang for 2 months.. i'm still trying to get off it. am now on 2.5mg..

[elisa]

Paxil was promoted as an anti-anxiety drug by GSK. ALL antidepressants are - well - antidepressants.

For some these drugs might work for anxiety, but a lot of people end up taking benzo's (anti-anxiety drugs) in addition to the AD's.

Before you make up your mind, please visit some of these websites:

www.antidepressantsfacts.com
www.crazymeds.org
www.prozactruth.com
www.drugawareness.com
www.benzo.org.uk (for info on anti-anxiety drugs)

Make sure that your decision will be an informed one

[RockSinger]

Whatever you do don't go to a 150mg mega dose of Effexor (Venlafaxine). Thats what the pusher poked down my throat after pulling me off Paxil Cold turk.

All of these new age mind drugs are bad..........but some are worse........Paxil and Effexor are definatley ones NOT to experiment with.

Either go back on a little Pax and wean......or do a little Prozac and have somebody you trust keep and eye on you........and DON'T DOUBT them when they tell you your NOT DOING SO GOOD........

You need support at a time when your mind can play tricks on you........good support.

And believe me......you can be somebodey you don't want to be.......and not even realize it.

I don't want to scare you.........or make you panic......this is just touchy.....and can be dangerous........it has to be done methodically................

If you take the right steps.....you can make through the other side of this with your sanity and all of your family still in one piece.......

Doing this half assed can tear your life up pretty bad.

Also... would it help to switch to a NARI like Reboxetine/Edronax?? I've heard this is good for social phobia... See link http://www.reboxetine.com/ Any info very much appreciated!

Kxx

...Just saw other posts too- thanks everyone. Looks like all this stuff is junk. wish i'd never gone on it. Will do lots more reading and thinking, but for now i'm still gonna stick out this withdrawal while i have the time and support - this can't get any worse i suppose. Back soon...

[Light]

Originally Posted by PurpleKat

Also... would it help to switch to a NARI like Reboxetine?? I've heard this is good for social phobia... Any info very much appreciated

Kxx

Probably not because if I remember correctly it only works on norepinphrine so it wouldn't address the serotonin mediated withdrawal at all. Don't know much about reboxetine though. You can look it up on www.rxlist.com

[scotty]

Purplekat, We're here all the time. Come often, ask questions,relate weird things that may seem totally off the wall to you. Believe me I couldn't believe how similar the experiences were.

[jeanc]

Hi everybody: I'm new to this site, and reading PurpleKat's posts and the responses.

I am so grateful to have found this site since my doctor insisted that I "must take Paxil" after having successfully withdrawn from it once, a few years ago. Since then, I've learned better, but have not found a doctor who is aware of these Paxil problems.

And I just want to say to Brdgrl, something that I feel is important:

Re: I keep alprazolam in my pocket for those really tough moments and then I move on!

Please be very careful with this Xanax also. It is another very difficult drug to come off. I managed to do so with great difficulty, due to having no medical support - but I had my prescription changed to Valium, which has a longer half life, and I am off them both, and would never go back on either.

I can relate to all these withdrawal nightmares, and have come down from my Paxil too quickly - I now know from what I've learned on this site. I shall go back to taking 5mg myself and maybe this zapping will stop. I've been up all night because I couldn't stay in bed with it. The Zapping, that is. But just a week ago, I had made myself go out although I was feeling very weak and tired. I was sitting in a restaurant at dinner time and didn't know what hit me. First the headache and nausea. Then the abdominal pains. I thought I may have food poisoning. I ended up in the hospital ER, with a CT Scan, a Lumbar puncture, and the next night my daughter called an ambulance for me - against my wishes, and I was back in the ER again; this time passing a lot of blood through my intestines. I'm sure all this would have passed, but I ended up getting admitted for a nightmare stay in a hospital. None of the doctors there wanted to honour my insistence on 15mg Paxil. They said it didn't matter, to take 20mg. To not take any atall. But I did what I thought made sense. I stuck to the 15mg. and have since come down to 10mg. I thought I could just stop taking it at that point, but now I see that's not a good idea.

Thank you so much, everybody on this site, and especially those who started it; there is such a need for it, and what am I doing living in the New York area with not a doctor to be found who even knows or admits to this Paxil problem? Even the neurologist at the hospital wasn't aware. I wouldn't wish this on anybody, but I sometimes do wish that physicians had personal experiences with some of these medications, so that they would at least know that a problem CAN exist; we don't invent this stuff - I didn't realise that the ZAP was from the Paxil until I read it on a website a few months ago.
Oh well, keep plugging. Thank you all again.

[RR]

Originally Posted by jeanc

have not found a doctor who is aware of these Paxil problems.

Glaxo could bring every doctor in the world up to speed on the withdrawal problem in seven to ten days -- max. It is unconscionable that they are not doing this, but when your company is making BILLIONS off a products what does it matter if thousands of people suffer horribly, with some dying. We're going to fix this....

Originally Posted by jeanc

I thought I may have food poisoning.

That's exactly how I described how I felt on the second day of my FOURTH (and thank God final) withdrawal attempt -- and only after dropping ONE milligram in liquid form. Like I had SEVERE food poisoning.It was only just the beginning....

Originally Posted by jeanc

what am I doing living in the New York area with not a doctor to be found who even knows or admits to this Paxil problem? Even the neurologist at the hospital wasn't aware.

Its simple. GSK has done everything it can to keep the truth about Paxil from the medical professional and general public. And it has to stop. Part of SSRI Citizen's outreach program includes a public awareness campaign to send a Paxil information packet out to every doctor in the United States two times a year.

Visit SSRI Citizen in a few days/weeks for an update under "The Dangers Of SSRIs" for some new information soon to posted about GSK and Paxil. (See link address below.)

[silence4now]

I think that most of these docs know that there is a "discontinuation" syndrome but genuinely believe that the benefits of the drugs far outweight the risks, and view it as no more of a problem than coming off of caffeine or some other stimulant. Again this probably goes back to the marketing campaign by GSK and other manufacturers of ADs, which we all here know is a pack of lies.

[jeanc]

Thank you Rob Robinson for your help and for your information. You're right of course -but as an RN (my most recent and maybe last career) - what ever happened to doctors listening to their patients? But maybe they never really did, and maybe they never will - but they'll listen to a salesman from a pharmaceutical company; and many of these sales people are possibly RN's too.

Every time I go into a doctor's waiting room and see someone with a bulky briefcase, I feel like staging a performance to the world about, "don't just sit there. Can't you see what's going on? These people are in here to sell your doctor on prescribing some "wonder" drug for you; some drug that they have never taken and that your doctor will likely never take either."
and saying,
"You have rights, you have freedoms. You can say, "no." You can actually refuse to take a drug."

But I've found that the public wants to believe that they can trust their doctor's judgment. It is a security blanket for them, and one can't blame them for that. After all, if one can't trust their own doctor, then what hope do they have in even staying alive? And a lot of them are older patients, and one can't blame them for wanting peace and quiet. And a lot of them are younger, coping with jobs, raising children. Where are these people to go if not to their own doctor?

But it's people who ask questions, nuisances like me - questioning, making waves, daring to think for themselves, experiencing their own true reality, and finding that parts of the system don't make any sense - it's people like me that they'd just like to shut the hell up, and throw out of the way, for making such a scene, and upsetting everybody.

Can't blame them for that either; how frightening it is to have to some nut talking about dangers of medications, when that's what they want, because they are feeling so ill.

Maybe that's coherent, and maybe that's not; but part of my mind is coherent, and part of it is still on Paxil. Stuffed behind a wall of something that used to let me through.

[scotty]

JeanC, Welcome to the board! As a fellow RN of 21 years I can sit here and almost read your mind "How did I not know about this stuff?", "Why are the doctors that I've trusted for so long not doing the research?", etc... I've been through all those questions and more!! The last year has been an eye opener for me in my personal life and professional life. I'm not the same nurse that went into work and took everybit of information as fact. It's sad that it almost took losing my son to make me wake up and see the flaws in the medical system that I work in. But my son is alive and well(and off Paxil!) and I'm now the "big mouth" talking to anyone who will listen to the dangers of ssri's!!

[davedood]

Originally Posted by scotty

JeanC, Welcome to the board! As a fellow RN of 21 years I can sit here and almost read your mind "How did I not know about this stuff?", "Why are the doctors that I've trusted for so long not doing the research?", etc... I've been through all those questions and more!! The last year has been an eye opener for me in my personal life and professional life. I'm not the same nurse that went into work and took everybit of information as fact. It's sad that it almost took losing my son to make me wake up and see the flaws in the medical system that I work in. But my son is alive and well(and off Paxil!) and I'm now the "big mouth" talking to anyone who will listen to the dangers of ssri's!!

Yeah, but she snorts when she laughs.

[scotty]

Sitting here.... Snorting!!!!

[jeanc]

Originally Posted by scotty

JeanC, Welcome to the board! As a fellow RN of 21 years I can sit here and almost read your mind "How did I not know about this stuff?", "Why are the doctors that I've trusted for so long not doing the research?", etc... I've been through all those questions and more!! The last year has been an eye opener for me in my personal life and professional life. I'm not the same nurse that went into work and took everybit of information as fact. It's sad that it almost took losing my son to make me wake up and see the flaws in the medical system that I work in. But my son is alive and well(and off Paxil!) and I'm now the "big mouth" talking to anyone who will listen to the dangers of ssri's!!

I read all these responses that suddenly started pouring in, and started crying my eyes out; with such relief and so touched to know that there are some real, thinking people out there who care about what happens to others, because they know that it could be, or even is, ....... themselves. There are people out there who can still put themselves into other peoples' shoes and offer themselves and their stories to help another person. For the most part, my experience has shown me that this is not to be found in the healthcare arena; at least not easily. What a sad commentary.

And you, Scotty - having been a trusting person, believing all was well - to almost lose your son? After 16 years of investing your whole being into what his future would be for him? And working as an RN? I can't begin to imagine what it was like as the questions? what questions? became real, and to sink in to your whole belief sytem and into your whole being. I can't begin to imagine what it would be like to watch my child become somebody that I could no longer fathom, understand, and to watch him struggle and suffer with a medication that had been approved by the FDA.

If I hadn't found this site, I'd still only be a 67 year old woman who felt alone, who just filed for divorce, who is awake all night and sleeping away the daylight, struggling with a mind and a body that's gone haywire, who just got out of the hospital where the CT Scans luckily found nothing of note, that I know of; good news since I battled advanced Ovarian Cancer since 1992.

Of course, I am still this same person, with the same history, and the same things going on in my life, but now there's something different; instead of feeling alone with this, I feel stronger. That is the crucial difference. To have a sense of one's own strength makes, for me, all the difference between having a mindset full of a vague question marks and "maybe's" to now having a mindset full of the idea, "this is possible."