Coming off of Paxil CR 12.5 mg

I have been taking Paxil CR 12.5 mg for approximately 6 years now. This is NOT something I want to continue. I have been trying to come off of them slowly...for the past week I have been taking them once every other day oppose to once every day. I was doing fine until the 7th day! I am experiencing severe dizziness, extremely bad headaches (which I have never had before), nausea...bad dreams throughout the night. WHAT DO I DO??? Should I continue to do every other day...for how long before I can cut back more? This is absolutely miserable... would it be best to quit cold turkey and suffer a week or so?

[M4Y0U]

Hello there,

It is not a coincidence if it happened on 7th day. It is approx. the time it takes to suffer from withdrawal symptoms due to the ''chemical imbalances'' taking place again in your brain.

Being on Paxil for 6 years we can say your brain is now well used to having the chemicals boost and this is why you should not quit cold turkey or do what you are doing right now. You should tapper off slowly, and the best advice i can give you is to work on a withdrawal plan with your doctor. What you want to avoid is the symptoms you mentioned in your post due to a sudden destabilization of your neurotransmitters.

Please get an app. with your doctor as soon as possible and don't try to do the whole procedure on your own.

[Paxiled]

And not a regular doc, but a psychiatrist well versed in this problem.  Paxil is a difficult med, so take it slow to avoid needless suffering.  Your tapering schedule should be one suited to you, not to some general schedule in a book.  

[chickamin]

You have been on this drug along time. This is going to take you along time to come down from it, maybe even a year or more. I think if you go to xxx.xxx and check out what Dr. Ann Blake Tracy has to say and listen to the tape, Help, I Can't , Its about how to withdrawal safely from these drugs. You can down load it, it is about 90 min. If you can't find it there search the web for Dr. Ann Blake Tracy and you should be able to find it. If all that fails contact Dr. Tracy, through drugawarness.org.  she has been great about contact with those such as yourself. She has personally called me and now she e-mails me as I came down too fast and now have to do what I can so as not to deal with worse withdrawls. Going back on is not the answer, nor is trying another drug to help. These drugs are killing people and most doctors and psychologist, themselves are not aware of alot of the effects. Dr. Tracy has spent over 10 years researshing these drugs and their effects, plus has written a book on this, which you can find also on her sight. Pleas give her a try and good luck and God bless

[Paxiled]

Gotta disagree with the comment that one should never go back on these meds.  First of all, some people do not find anything else helpful -- therapy doesn't have a very good track record, either.  It's the best we have, but that doesn't mean it works even most of the time for people with serious problems.  And the only way to cut short a severe withdrawal is to go back on the med and taper more slowly.  Otherwise, you can suffer protracted withdrawals which might last a long time or never end; mine never has.  If my psychiatrist hadn't been a quack and had told me about withdrawal and put me back on Paxil and tapered more slowly my life wouldn't have been the hell it's been the last three and a half years plus.  Anyone who tells you there's one treatment that will suit everyone hasn't been paying attention.  For a good book on this issue, read The Anti-Depressant Solution by Joseph Glanville, who is a clinician, not someone just doing research.

[Paxiled]

By the way, I don't mean to imply my reaction is common; it is in fact so rare nobody knows what to do about it.  But protracted withdrawals aren't that rare, and the main point is, if you don't have to suffer, why do so?