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968908 tn?1274871115

Serotonin Syndrome

I feel i need to write this just incase anyone else experiences this as it can become serious and has even taken the lives of people in severe cases.....

I have been wondering why i haven't been able to tolerate going back onto Paxil, have tried several times with the same effect each time, very unplesant symptoms which after stumbling upon a web-site i have found the answer to which my doctors didn't even feel obligated to inform me about.

So, after i took 5mg of Paxil roughly half an hour later i suddenly have a head rush, followed by becoming extremely hot and break out in a intense sweat, my pupils become big and i start to feel great agitation.  My reflexes become overactive with a great sense of sensitivity upon walking, which causes more agitation which can make me feel like i could have a seizure and i suffer twicthing of random parts of my body....... After roughly 12 to 24 hours of this occuring the sysmtoms settle down but then i am left with pain in the souls of my feet with pain in the bottom of my back or general pain and stiffness along my spine...... This can last several days and become fairly intense requiring a walking stick and pain killers....

Treatment really depends on the severity of the symptoms, mine according to this and several other web-sites are mild and require discontinuing the drug and taking benzo's to treat the agitation.  Moderate to severe means hospital intervention with drugs, fluids etc...... due to metobolic acidosis, organ faliure etc....

If anyone experiences any of these symtoms or a combination of these they need to contact their doc or local hospital because if treatment isn't sort and the tablets are continued to be taken serious reaction can occur...... This is basically Serotion poisening of the nervous system.  Now i know what this is and how serious it is i will not be trying these tablets ever again and i will scream this from the roof tops to each and every doc who trys to put them upon me.  Paxiled told me to trust my instincts, cause i knew something terrible was wrong and i didn't listen to my instincts and this could of killed me if it had of gotten severe.  So for goodness sake trust your instincts on the drugs you are taking.  If it don't feel right and ur instincts are telling you what you are feeling is totally wrong then scream from the roof tops until someone listens to you.....

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968908 tn?1274871115
Chrissy...... Hiya, Yes you can if you are allergic to a drug, it can cause an effect as soon as u put it in your mouth, depending on the severity of the allergy.  If your body has an intolerance to a drug it can also cause a reaction fairly swiftly....my doc thinks i have an intolerance to SSRI's and SNRI's, but he never mentioned this syndrome.

RCA...... The only medication i am taking at the moment is Propanalol 40mg x 2 daily for GAD.  I was prescribed Risperidone 0.5mg to be taken as an when i need them, but over the last several months have only taken 3 or 4 tablets and haven't touched them for the last 3 months. So as you see i'm only taking a beta-blocker which would not interfer or add to my serotoin level......

Paxil and drugs of such nature have only been on the market since the early 1990's, paxil was introduced to the public in 1992. For people who have taken this drug for muitlple years (like myself, i took it for 14 years only to come off in March this year) research on the long term effects of drug use would only start to be gathered now.  These drugs are not perfect, they alter the chemistry of the brain and who knows what this long term alteration actually does on a celluar level....

I personally feel that due to being on this drug for a lengthy time of 14 years then coming off and suffering severe withdrawal for 3 months while weening, it has altered my brain chemistry, which now that i am trying to go back onto this drug my brain is refusing to allow it, due to damage on a celluar level.....Hense why i am reacting with such intense and severe side effects.  

I gaurentee that within the next 20 years or so after further research is done there will be a report made available to the public, stating the damage these drugs actually do on a long term basis....Paxil is highly contraversal anyway, with it's reputation for high suicide risk amoung the younger population and withdrawl effects.... it's only time b4 this is established.  

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Avatar universal
Julie

I happen to take Paxil and I dont think you can feel any effect after only 30 mins on a 5mg dose. When starting most SSRI's there is a period of adjustment where your body needs to get used to the chemicals you are putting into it.
Serotonin Syndrome is when you have too much serotinin in your system. Quite honestly 5mg is the lowest dose you can go on, in fact not even an effective treatment dose at 20mg is maintance for Paxil. I know as I have been on this drug for about 10 yrs.
I have also experience this syndrome when 1st starting paxil, My dr wanted me to switch from zoloft to zoloft but wanted me to wean off and had me start the paxil at 10mg. Needless to say it was too much. I had more than trembles and sweats, i had diarerah, my vision was distorted the room looked like it was flipping around me, i was tired beyind belief but could not sleep. At this time I was also taking klonopin so he had me stop both meds and just increase the klonopin a dose and drink lots of fluid. Within 24-36 hrs i started feeling normal again.
I do recall when i 1st started SSRI;s I felt great discomfort and even a little mroe added anxiety. This subsided after a few weeks of dosing. The 1st 3 days are the worst i believe.
You neglected to mention what your prescribing Dr had said about this episode you had. I am curious to here there thoughts.


  
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968908 tn?1274871115
can i ask are you a doctor?????
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968908 tn?1274871115
erm no i'm sure that this is Serotonin syndrome cause for 1 i am not taking any other serotopic drugs, such as you suggest.  Also my symptoms fit to a tee, and this is trusting my instincts.  There is no 'test' to diganose this condition, only supportive care. If you go onto any web-site regarding this you will see that all the symtoms i have spoken of are in the 'mild to moderate' cat...

Thank-you for trying to diganose my smyptoms though and taking your time to respond.... xxx
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