Paxil Withdrawl

[Michelle]

I was put on Paxil 5 months ago for postpartem depression. It worked great! I've been weaning off it for about a month and a half now and having a terrible time. Like the others in this forum, I'm experiencing dizziness, nausia, headaches (all day, every day), but what I haven't heard from anyone is numbing.

I've been experiencing occassional numbing in my hands and feet. Is this a possible symptom of withdrawl from this drug?

I've talked to both the prescribing doctor (my gynocologist) and my medical doctor, and both say that none of these symptoms are a result of Paxil. My research via the internet has told me something just the opposite.

I'm currently cutting my doses into 4ths and taking just 5 mg. a day. I'm still experiencing these miserable effects. It's pretty difficult to deal with when I work full time and take care of two young children (2 1/2 yrs. and 5 months).

Could the numbing be from Paxil? And, is there anything I can do to reduce these terrible side effects? How long do the side effects usually last? I've already asked both of my doctors and they both deny that Paxil is the cause, but have no other answers as to what the problems are from.

[toothfairie]

hi and sorry you are going thru this....i saw you posted on a really old thread....you might want to go to top of the page and hit "post a question" and start a new post on the forum....that way more people can see it and they can give you some help/support and advice....i've never taken Paxil so i have no experience with it....but i'm sure alot of people on here have...if you post a new question then they will chime and and help...

[sooners_niners]

I've been on Paxil since 1994. I was put on it due to panic attacks. I now feel as if I am just a shell of myself, could care less if I lived or died. I find no joy in anything in life and the only reason I am still here is because I couldn't do such a thing to my son & wife. I would go to the pharmacy back in '94 and tell them the side effects I was getting after missing just ONE dose and they looked at me like I was stupid. Now they all have names (i.e., brain zaps etc.). I have tried to get off Paxil with a doctor, the brain zaps I get, they only way I can explain them is they are like your computer, when it blinks for just a second, it's like my brain and CNS zap, and it happens anywhere from every 30 seconds to every couple of minutes. I have to lay down and close my eyes. I don't know what to do. I had one doctor tell me I may just have to be on it for life. What if they stop making it then? If I didn't have a wife and son I would end this madness once and for all, because I wake up each day saying, "Crap, I'm still here" and that's not a life worth living. Payed for a few corporate yachts I imagine, hope they enjoy them. I don't know how they can sleep at night knowing what they have done to so many lives, families etc.
One doctor tried to feed me the crap that the withdrawals don't last that long, on and on and on, I said "Have you ever had a panic attack before?" She answered "no". Just because you study things out of medical journals and books, doesn't mean you even have a clue A) what a panic attack feels like B) what brain zaps feel like withdrawing from Paxil. I would love to meet a doctor that has taken Paxil for a long term use, and discuss his/her reactions to withdrawals and such, but good luck finding one.

[suzybou]

I am at the end of a weaning off the paxil cr . I have been working on this for about 50 days. I am down to 10 mg. a day and only have 5 days to go. the way I feel now I don't think it is just going away. The head ache was bad but it has been gone for a few days. It is the crying that is hard to handle. I start crying midmorning and it come and goes till bed time. The shocks in my feet are very painful they wake me up at night. I hope this is over soon.

[sbman1]

the doctors that prescribe paxil to you do not tell you that you are going to turn into a fat blob.  most people will gain weight and a lot of it.  i never had a weight problem before i took paxil.  now one of the main reasons i am quitting is because i'm fat.  that alone depresses me more than the reasons i thought i needed paxil.  the doctors do not tell you that the withdrawal symptoms are probably worse than weening off of heroin. i am down to 5 mg from 20 and having a hell of a time.  i will do it and i will never go back on the fatxil again.

[StellaStone]

I started Paxil for PMS/PMDD,
It worked immediately and was just what I needed.  Unfortunately, I've gained about 30 pounds.  I'm starting a new doctor monitored diet and I was told to try and get off of Paxil.

Unfortunately, I tried to quit Paxil the same time I was having an upper respiratory infection.  I thought I had an inner ear infection.  I'm so relieved to hear that others have experienced the dizziness.  It was horrible.  

I'm going to be switching to Prozac.  Has anyone had experience switching from Paxil to another SSRI?  I'm hoping the symptoms are less than when I went cold turkey.  Please let me know if you have had tried the switching.

[HelpinUtah]

This is very interesting.  Years ago, I went to a doctor with some symptoms like, swollen lymph nodes, spots on my tongue, fatigue and pain in every joint.  He told me I was depressed and anxious without running any tests and put me on Paxil and Xanax.  I took it like I was told.  But, the symptoms never went away.  I went to my GYN who said, "WHAT!"  And, he sent me to another doctor, that doctor tested me for Lyme Disease and guess what?  That's what it was!  I was being treated for anxiety and depression for 2 years before I was diagnosed.  I was lucky I had a doctor experienced in Lyme Disease and she was able to help me and I'm 100% better today.  

However, I don't remember having withdrawals from Paxil or the Xanax at the time.  Maybe I did, but didn't realize it.  

Anyway, good luck to everyone who is experiencing this!  I'm so sorry!!!

[kuteyes]

I have been taking paxil for aproximately 6 years.  After having these withdrawal symtoms control my life for all this time (frankly i now take them to avoid the symtoms rather than to cure depression) I have decided to take control and stop taking them.  Its my third day without any tablets.  I started by cutting my doses in half to every other day.  I then cut the tablet in half to half every other day and now i have decided that i am taking no more.  I am off work, i have nothing planned for the next month (other than to get off paxil). I really hope the symptoms will start fading by day 6

[sweetmomma_7]

I use to work at a Dr.s office awhile back. What I learned about Paxil is that it will cause wd symptoms and is really a nasty pill to take. We also learned that for some people it did work well and others said that it made them feel really bad. But all said they had wd's if they ran out or stoped taking it. As I'm sure you all know, you must lower your dose slowly and not just stop it. Now I have been on Prozac and Zoloft with both of those I was able to quit at any time and not have any problems with that. Right now I am on Prozac for migraines and depression I ran out of them yesterday and wont have them until tomorrow but am feeling fine. It takes Prozac and Zoloft a little bit of time before it is out of your system. I will never go on Paxil just because of everything I have learned about it.

Hope I could help,

sweetmomma

[907baby]

I totally know what you mean. I currently take 80mgs of Paxil.  One time a new doctor would only prescribe me 60mg, and I thought it would be okay. Never again.  I was trying to drive and all of a sudden every song on the radio was so terribly sad that they ALL made me brake down.  Then at home, every tv show. I mean Oprah occasionally makes me cry, but come on! I have heard though that the CR is much much different, and a doctor told me that if I feel like coming off Paxil to try CR and THEN wean, and that it should be much better.  Something about it leaving your body more gradually.  Maybe you could mention it to you doc.

[doc1111]

I had been taking 30mg of paxil for 13 years. I went off paxil unintentionally. I only have veterans medical so I have have to go to a VA to get my meds. I was up north visiting family. I drove up from Tennessee. I ran out of paxil. A calamity happened in my family and I just never gave itt a thought. I knew nothing of the withdrawls or that there were any at all.What I went through I could never go through again. Started with sick-sick stomach, then total exhaustion. I had to crawl upstairs to go to the bathroom, sometimes I couldn't make it and had to go back to  the couch. When I finally realized that it might be from the paxil I started to go to the computer in the next room but could just walk halfway and back to the couch. It took me 2 days to finally get to it but was so exhausted could not lift my arms to use the keyboard. After 2 nights with no sleep or food I had a friend join me. Whenever I got up to walk a little person in a yellow raincoat with the hood up  ran in front of me and kept to the left of me continually waving. Then the serious stuff began. One time one of the chairs in the room turned into a donut and floated through the wall. By the time I arrived at the hospital in the ambulance I could not moved my arms and legs. I was never told about any of this.  Doc

[MARUKA]

HI!! MY NAME IS MARY, I HAVE BEEN TAKING 20MG OF PAXIL FOR TWO YEAR AND A HALF FOR PANIC ATACKS AND DEPRESSION, TODAY IS MY SECOND DAY WITH 10 MG. AND I HAVEN'T FEEL ANY BAD SYMPTOM, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF STOPING TAKING THIS MEDICATION WILL HELP ME TO LOSE THIS 50 POUNDS THAT I GAIN WHEN I STARED TAKING PAXIL.

[IBKleen]

p_od,

You are posting on a thread that was started 7 years ago. these people are not here any longer.

You need to go to the top of this page..hit the "post a question" button and start your own post. There are a lot of good people here to help you. Hope to see you out there.

[p_od]

For more than 12 years have have taken benzos to help me sleep.  Xanax .5mg at bedtime for many years, which was very effective for me. I never had to increase dose, nor did I have a problem when I had periodical breaks. Then my md thought I should try this "safer" medication, I agreed. The name of the medication was clonazepam. Within a short time I had to increase my bedtime dose to 2mg to get to sleep. After 4+ yrs I decided to get off them as they lost there effectiveness. I was prescribed ambien cr. After 3 days a started having feelings of overwhelming anxiety, like a constant panic attack. Day 12 was just as bad as  the first, if not worse. I thought I was having a reaction to the ambien and stopped and went back on the clonazepam. After my next md appt, I stopped taken clonazepam again, with a sm. dose of xanax for sleep. I thought at last I get to sleep. Again at day 3, those feelings came back. I'm like what the hell is going on. The best way I can explain it is like all of my brain neurons  are on overdrive, horrible. I never imagined I would have a phyical addiction to this "safer medication".I'm on day 10 and miserable. Even the sm amount of xanax was of little help.   This medication has been out of my system for several days, why do I still feel like this? How long will it last?

[smrags]

My father is going through extreme Paxil withdrawal. He has been off it for one month and his symptoms are getting more severe. He now is experiencing vertigo. He is 63 years old. His MD has him on Wellbutrin, dramamine and an anti-nausea med. We're all terribly concerned. How long should this take to get out of his system?

[Tracey1982]

wow i feel like a nutcase LOL.  i was put on 40mg from day one.  it isn't working out for me and it's been almost 3 months i think.  this is the most AWFUL thing I have ever had to do.  My doctor just told me to stop taking it.  That's it.  I was smart enough to wean and break the pills in half each night, and I did it for a week.  I didn't know Paxil was such a monster.  The constant ZAPS in my head that make my legs and feet twitch while I am walking in a store.  I saw the lights on a cop car and a firetruck and it sent the zaps crazy, which sent my heart crazy and I thought I was going to DIE.  I have a 5 and 1 year old, and they see mommy as an angry weirdo right now.  My fingers and toes started going numb today when the zapping happens.  Paxil never should have been put on the market.  This was their way of making sure they had customers.  Keep the crazies coming and their pockets lined...  The government should force them to make a drug to get rid of the withdrawal symptoms that is covered by insurance companies just as the Paxil is.  We shouldn't have to feel this way for MONTHS to get our lives back.

[froggie74]

try this ............   http://www.quitpaxil.info/index.htm
***@****

[MaryDD]

I am the same, I have been on Paxil 10mg for about a year, but was taking 20mg for 8 years.  I am going to get off this because I too want to stop the medication.  Was given to me 9 years ago in the Dr. office when he asked how I was and I started crying because me and my fiancee' broke up.  I have been on ever since because I always had relationship problems, so I thought what the heck, now 9 years have passed so quickly.  I decided to stop this medication.  Today I have missed my 10mg dose and I am thinking I should go home today after work and start the 5mg for a while since I have read all these horror stories.  Just missing the one dose today has me fuzzy headed and a headache.  So I am going to try cutting the 10mg in half for about a month, then taper from there like maybe 5mg ever other day for a week and then the next week, every 3 days, then the next week, 1 a week.  What does anyone think about that?  Please reply!!

[sassycass]

I am beening tampered off paxil after being on it for almost 4 yrs. at 60mg. I have had the worst headaches almost to the point i thought of going to the hospital. I have felt so bad since my dose has been reduced.  Right now the headaches is the worst of all because nomatter what i take it does not go away.
                          In misry

[Joeyem]

I have been on Paxil 20 Mil for 6 years, felt very good, no aniety, panic problems.  Now I'm tapering to 10 Mil  then hopefully off.  It is extremely hard, getting hot feelings and nausous feelings.  Headaches and dull feeling in my head, less concentration.  How long will this last, and when should I lower dose to 5 mil?  Also gained 25 pounds over the course of 6 years.  
Thanks!  

[WendyMiddleton]

I have not seen any comments on the very vivid dreams that are enough to chase me back to Paxil over and over.  After running out and being financially unable to pick up my refil for 5 days, I have decided to quit.  I am doing a 50% dose reduction every few days.  I have many other health problems and did not realize that all of my weird symptoms were from the Paxil withdrawl.  Thank you all for sharing!!!

[Jasminegirl]

I started Paxil about 6 months ago.  I got on it due to social anxiety.  I love the way I feel, I no longer am nervous all the time.  It had been a blessing up until about 2 months ago when I noticed the scale.  I have put on 15 pounds already.  Not good.  I am a short chick too so 15 pounds can feel like 50.  I have went from 25mg to 5 mg over the past month.  Sometimes I get dizzy and nauseas but for the most part 5mg is ok.  I am hoping to go off of it completely so that way I can get back to my normal size.  I am the largest I have ever been in my whole life.  Anyway, that is my Paxil story and I wish all of you luck.

[Kristi]

I have been on the withdrawl train from clonapin, wich sucked and now Paxil. The Psyciatrist and MD told me that neither drug had any withdrawl symptoms. As an RN I have learned that Doc's are not well trained in the real effects of this drug. The info they get is from the drug companies.  I have been having a terrible time with coming off Paxil, nausea, drunk feeling, dizziness and difficulty thinking.

I have sought out the help of an acupuncturist. The treatments seem to help. My advice to anyone going through withdrawl is to seek out aternative medicine practioner. They know the effects of medications.  They actually listen and  believe thier patients.

[Emily]

I am on Paxil and just saw the 20/20 segment on Paxil withdrawl.  I am wondering if anyone else has experienced emotional outbursts while ON Paxil?  I am fine most of the time but have bursts of anger and some mild paranoia that I most definitely did not have before going on the medication.

[chris]

I am trying to come off of Paxil and am living in hell right now, I have every symptom mentioned, ANY advice on how to ease the discomfort. My children dont understand, and my husband things I am more of nut than I was when I was originally put on paxil. How much longer, I am on day six. please email me,***@****