How to solve immediate stomach pains with weaning off Paxil?

[gamblersdaughter]

Hi, brand new in this portal. i've been prescribed with 30mg of Paxil for the last 4-5 months - haven't noticed a huge difference. still having major panic attacks, mental breakdowns, etc. cut to the last week - my doc has prescribed me 10mg of Lexapro. asked me to start taking half dosage of paxil until i get the lexapro.

i am experiencing some MAJOR withdrawals. fogginess, extreme nausea, severe stomach pain. some days have gone by and the only thing that stayed is the stomach pain.

any tips to get through the day with the stomach pain? been going on at work and it's super distracting but don't want to take days off.  

[real_jimmy]

I think that Probiotic foods such as curd or taking in other forms that are available in tablet forms is very good both for the digestion as well as mind.

[Paxiled]

I'm not sure curds is the best choice here.  Dairy is one of the biggest causes of digestive problems, and this includes fermented or cultured dairy, though those are less likely to be a problem.  Fermented veggies such as kim chi or sauerkraut are much better and safer for use as prebiotics than dairy products if stomach problems exist.  The only probiotic known to help with this kind of thing is bifidobacteria, so make sure your probiotics contain a lot of it.  Make sure you buy them from the refrigerated section of the best health food store you can find so you have some confidence they are still alive.  As to the Paxil, get another prescription.  This might take a long time for you to do it right -- it all depends on how bad the withdrawal is, and if you let it go and it's bad, it can stick around for a while long after you've stopped taking it.  The best way with these meds is the preventive way, which is to do it right the first time around.  Why risk it because of some inconvenience?  Most likely you'll be fine, most people go through a bad few weeks with Paxil and then recover, but some don't.  Again, don't see any good reason for not doing this in the safest way.  Peace.  

[Paxiled]

To Jade.  I have no idea what your medical issues are nor do I have any medical expertise.  I have had a lot of experience with natural medicine, however, and I wonder if your problem doesn't get better because of the long-term taking of suppressant medication?  Obviously, you know a lot more about what's going on than I do, but a lot of doctors turn digestive problems from things that can be fixed into things that can't be by not knowing there are other ways to fix things.  I have no idea, again, if you're in this position, and I'm guessing you're not, but even serious illnesses in that area can heal if the body is allowed to do so.  Most of the time the common thing with digestive problems, including gluten problems, krohn's disease, etc. is chronic inflammation.  If you can get that under control the problem has a chance to heal.  If you can't, you can't, and you do what you have to.  In my own case, I had intestinal ulcer when I was pretty young, and the standard treatment for that is a lifetime of antacids.  But I had a doctor who told me to learn to meditate and, along with natural remedies, it solved my problem.  I again got digestive problems because of taking antidepressants, and again, docs wanted me to take the meds but I used the natural stuff and some magnesium and solved the problem.  So while this may not apply at all to you, Jade, as you seem to have a serious condition, I do want others to know that docs aren't always the best way to deal with certain problems because they don't study all of medicine, only pharmaceutical medicine, which is often the best medicine and often isn't.  So, right now I have to take ibuprofen, which I'm not supposed to take because of the ulcer history but am trying so I might avoid more invasive medical things.  For this I'm taking the drug, because nothing natural is strong enough to fight against what ibuprofen does to my stomach.  But when I stop, I will go back to my natural remedies to heal the damage I'm causing.  Peace. all.

[Paxiled]

Okay, those OTC meds are okay for short term use but don't take them for any length of time.  They suppress acid production, and your digestive system must produce that acid in order to digest protein and minerals.  So it makes more.  And so you take more med.  And it produces more acid.  And so on.  Tums have a form of calcium in them that causes things like kidney stones, so again, don't want to go there to often.  But that's a side issue, your issue is you have a doctor who doesn't know how to administer these meds.  Is your doc a general doc or a psychiatrist?  General docs are horrible at this, as they don't get any special education on how to properly administer these meds -- or any meds-- which includes how to take you off of them.  Your problem is that you're in withdrawal, not the stomach problem.  That's a side effect of a taper that is way too fast for this drug.  It's too fast for you.  You need to slow it down and see if that doesn't help.  Cutting it in half is like quitting cold turkey and you don't do that with Paxil, no way.  You taper off of any of these meds as slowly as you need to, as individuals react very differently to doing this, but most people have a problem with Paxil.  It shouldn't have been the first drug to try for that reason.  Starting the Lexapro won't necessarily help a bit with withdrawing from the Paxil, and you might end up with two sets of side effects -- those from starting the Lex, and those from quitting the Pax.  Slow down -- just go down 10 mg for awhile and see how you do.  If that's fine, then after your brain is adjusted to that dose, you go down again, until you're off,and then you can decide what to do next.  If you want a stomach remedy in the meantime that will probably help without suppressing your digestive system, try some aloe vera juice or some DGL, a form of licorice, or some peppermint oil enteric coated capsules or some slippery elm caps.  Lots of things out there that work well and won't suppress the acid, they instead work by reducing inflammation in the digestive tract and healing the lining.  But again, that's not the main problem here.

[Jade59]

Yes, of course take any acid reducers short term for the reasons you listed.  I've been on Protonix over 2 yrs now.  I talked to my pharmacist because I was concerned.  I know B vitamins or anything with B vitamins in them don't..um...my memory went blank...they dont Absorb well when taking acid reducers and especially PPI's such as Protonix.  

My surgeon said this could be remedied by getting a B12 or just a B shot if I should get low.  My pharmacist also said my surgeon must think the benefits out weigh the side effects, but I switch back and forth from Protonix to OTC's  all the time.  

Again, of course these meds should be taken short term, unless one has a severe condition like mine.  

[gamblersdaughter]

I am a heavily active in fitness - that being said, a healthy diet is laced in. I try to consume probiotics maybe 2-3 times a week. drink lots of water and have ginger tea on deck lol. i feel like i am conscious of what i consume.

definitely not opposed to spicy/junk food - but really try to limit junk food to two times a week.
but thank you real_jimmy for your input. My doc is actually a NP - the clinic i'm a part of is referred through MEDI-CAL...and i hate to negatively speak upon the clinic i attend to...but i definitely have my opinions about my practitioner. but i also would rather have her, than keep switching around and being prescribed/taper off medications. the problem with slowing down tapering is that i have a limited amount of Paxil left :/ so i'm going to try my best to really be mindful of what i consume.

peppermint is a great option.

wish me luck! this whole switching to different meds .... i had no idea what i was getting into!

[Jade59]

Please write back and tell me if anything worked, and how you're feeling.  

[Jade59]

Good, it looks like you live in the US.  If you buy those products at CVS, they will refund your money if something doesn't work.  

[specialmom]

That's a great tip Jade, I didn't know that!

[Jade59]

Yup, you can return ANYTHING.  Even if it's been opened...which of course you have to open it, otherwise how would you know you don't like it/it doesn't work, etc.  Just need the receipt...and I think it has to be within a month.  

[Jade59]

Hey there...I have a lot of stomach problems myself, although not from withdrawal.  Due to a lot of experience, I do know about the pain and what helps.

There are many OTC acid reducers.  Cimetidine works best for me.  You can try that first, and if it doesn't work, there are others such as Famotadine and Ranitidine.  All the above are H2 blockers.  They bring relief fairly quickly.  

If none of those work, you can get into the Protein Pump Inhibitors such as Omeprazole (Losec, Omesec, Prilosec OTC).  These don't work as quickly as the first ones I listed.    

Tums is also an alternative.  

You can also use Dramamine for the nausea.  Please be careful with it, though, since you're already feeling 'foggy'.  

Wishing you the best~

[gamblersdaughter]

Thank you thank you for the detailed response. I appreciate it. I've always had a mindset to *not* take any OTC meds as possible. I also had an assumption that they wouldn't work ?? cause i'm taking a med that's severely causing it.  but given the circumstances, i need to make some room for change.

I will try your suggestions and see how they pan out. also going to try to limit my acidic intake.

[Jade59]

Just fyi...all the OTC meds I listed used to be by prescription only.  When it was put on the shelf and available to the public, the mg's were reduced, of course.  Yes, and do watch your diet.  

And read the packaging carefully to see about interactions.  

I do hope *something* works.  Stomach pain is awful.  You don't smoke, do you?  I ended up with duodenal ulcers and ultimately, a gastric bypass.  No fun.