paxil withdrawal ( not typical symptoms)

[Lynch03]

I have been on Paxil for about a year not and have recently weened myself off of it , I have experience physical side effects ( brain zaps mostly ) but they have recently sub-sided and since I weened the medicine pretty slow it really didn't bother me as they were pretty mild. I have been experiencing many mental side effects that have seem to have persisted , many of which are word finding difficulties , which leaves me suddenly stopping in the middle of sentences not able to find  a word which goes a long with the context of my sentence. This has not happend before. I have also had trouble bringing out my ideas/thoughts , for example I'll no what I have to say but I have trouble forming it into words. It seems as if this maybe a concentration problem but it's hard to say. It is really bothersome and seems to fluctuate from week to week ,  some days ill feel back to normal. I just don't feel the same because of this ,it is as if I am a lot more sluggish in my ability to process my thoughts. I have found similar accounts online , very few though. My physical effects have seemingly stopped but these remain. My fear is that my brain was damaged in some way and it is permanent , is it something that will go away in due time?? Is this even a documented side-effect of paxil?? Please any responses would be appreciated , thanks.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

The most likely cause of these symptoms is a heightened self awareness because you have become too self observant and too worried.  The medication is out of your system, there are no long term brain effects, just try to let your normal flow take over as much as possible and this will all go away.

[MedusasWisdom]

Just as a comment to many of the posts I've read from the Doctors here....The withdrawal from stopping Paxil CR abruptly is UNIMAGINABLE HORROR!
I didn't have enough money to get my Paxil CR 35mg prescrition filled this month, so I took the samples of the 12.5 mg that I still had from back when I first started for the past week. Sunday I took my last one.  Tuesday mid morning I started feeling really dizzy/ light-headed.  By late Tuesday afternoon I was an emotional mess and very sensitive to sound and touch.
(Lucky for me, I suppose, I live in New Orleans and Tuesday was Mardi Gras, so I had the day off.)
This morning I'm experiencing this severe dizziness and weird sensations in my head.  Like if the world is zooming in and out...One moment I'm ok mentally, the next I'm crying hysterically...and I'm at the office!!!
I have gotten my friend to go to my doc's office (I moved an hour away) to pick up some samples so I can have something to take till payday, b/c this is the worst feeling- it's truly indescribable and you can't understand it unless you've been there.
I see most of the doctors here saying that such symptoms are "not typical" of Paxil/ Paxil CR....and I know I was not supposed to quit it abruptly...but this is just a warning to those of you who may be like me and have NO health insurance and may be suffering from the poor US economy right now.
Always keep some on hand if you think you're going to run out!
Thanks for listening!

[helltopay]

Medusa, I can really relate.  My doctor's office told me that they "ran out" and can't get anymore from the drug company.  Since I'm disabled but not yet receiving any benefits.....I can't pay for drugs.  So the cold turkey withdrawal was forced on me.  What hell.  I'm so miserable without medication, especially with the additional physical problem.  I cry a lot and feel like crawling out of my skin most of the time, not to mention the act that the anti-depressant was apparently keeping the physical pain at bay.  No one should be put through this because of lack of insurance or money and someone should be held responsible for it.