Paxil quitting cold turkey and now going through severe withdrawals!

[lcastro790]

I quit taking paxil cold turkey about a week ago and now have been going through hell on earth! Nightmares, hallucinating, diahrrea, dizziness, zapping spells through my whole body, shakiness, crying, etc. I wish I never started taking them in the first place! I gained 40 pounds in the six months I took paxil, and my sex drive has dissappeared 100%! I feel like I am walking through water all day day long. Someone please let me know that there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel, I do not want to touch another one of those damn pills!!!!!!!!!!!

[lcastro790]

Thanks for responding! I am doing a little better today. I still am afraid to drive because of the occassional brain zaps, I would hate to put other people at risk, especially my two kids. My husband has been driving me everywhere. I quit cold turkey because I had already emphasized to my doctor that I had been gaining weight because of the meds and he dismissed it, saying to just "cut back on my carbs." I got frustrated and thought, "I'll just do this myself then." I have been going to a therapist for some past issues, I haven't had an appointment with her yet since stopping the meds though. When I talk to my parents on the phone they say I sound like I'm drunk, and my sister says it sounds like I am on an acid trip! I've never done drugs or drank alcohol in my life so this has been quite the experience.

Another really good piece of advice for anyone, never go into a kids bouncy house when withdrawaling from paxil! lol That threw me for a loop the other day.

[nursegirl6572]

Oh my, I'm so sorry you are going through this.  This is why you should never abruptly stop any medication on your own.  Paxil is notoriously hard to come off, even under a doctor's guidance at times.

You won't feel this awful forever, but it is impossible to even try to guess at how long until you feel like "you" again.  In addition to the physical symptoms, there are usually emotional ones too, when stopping cold turkey.

My advice to you is to let your doctor know what is going on.  With a week already under your belt, it is highly unlikely that you could start over and do this the optimal way, with a SLOW taper, but there are things he/she may be able to recommend to help ease your symptoms.

Also, you need to have alternate plan in place foe treating whatever the original reason for the Paxil was (depression, anxiety, both).  I would recommend seeing a psychiatrist for that.

You're in my thoughts, I really do hope you feel better soon.  Also, maybe this will be a little bit of a tough lesson for you as to WHY it is never good to stop ANY med abruptly, without the blessing of our doctors.  Do let us know how you're doing!