weaning from Paxil

[CaitlynIN]

Hello,
I have been on Paxil for nearly 10 years after having been diagnosed with anxiety and panic attacks, which was causing depression. The dosage was upped when there was a serious illness in my family and I was the primary 'go to' person. I now would like to wean myself from Paxil but every time I cut back -- much less go more than two days without a dose -- I get sick, flu-like, insomnia, headaches that are nearly migraines and extremely edgy. Does anyone have any advice on how to do this? I am currently on 40 mg. Thank you.

[gwolverine]

I also took Paxil a few years back.  I didnt know that you had to come off slowly and wow that was bad!  It actually took me nearly 6mos to ean off because i had to go really slowly.  Take your time.  Dont rush it, as it could make you feel worse.  

[sumone]

I totally know where you're coming from. When I would miss a day or two when I was on Paxil I felt horrible withdrawl- headache, nausea, diarrhea.  When I first attempted to wean myself I believe I tried to just halve my dose and or take my doses every other day, but found that to drastic a change for my body to handle without feeling ill.  I eventually weaned myself off of Paxil by very gradually taking smaller amounts of the pill. My prescribed daily dosage was 1 pill  and I basically just broke my pills into fourths taking 3/4 a pill a day for about a week or two, 1/2 a pill a day for a week or so, and finally 1/4 a pill for two weeks or so. I'm no doctor of course, this is just what I came up with personally for myself. You may want to ask your doctor for a weaning plan specific to you and your dosage. Seeing as your dosage is a larger one you'll probably want to subtract even smaller increments than just 1/4 of your total daily dose, and it may ultimately take a bit longer to finish the weaning.