Stopping Paxil (paroxetine) after one day? 5mg?

[rwg68]

Hi,
Will there be any withdrawal symptoms if Paxil is discontinued after one day? Only took 5mg. It was given to my father for anxiety. However, the anxiety had naturally lessened by the time he went to the doctor. We still went for treatment to be on the safe side because he had been having it for like a week.
Now that i have read about the withdrawal, i don't want him to use it. He was beginning to feel better anyway.
Will it be alright to discontinue it now? Please help and thanks in advance.

[rwg68]

Thank you everyone for answering. We went to a different psychiatrist and like specialmom said he is giving talk therapy along with medication.  My father is now given fluoxetine. He himself feels more confident with the new doctor and he is almost back to normal now. I highly appreciate your support, it meant a lot. :)  

[Paxiled]

I'm not going to go that far -- Specialmom makes some good points, too.  Paxil did help me with my anxiety, though not as much as I thought it did.  It has helped a lot of people.  It has also not helped a lot of people, which is true of all drugs -- sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.  The biggest problem with Paxil is that most people who take it are going to have the devil's time stopping it, and most are going to gain a ton of weight.  That is important information for anyone to know before taking a med, but doctors almost never tell us the downsides of meds when they prescribe them nor are primary care physicians expert in treating mental disorders or in diagnosing them correctly.  This is where I part from specialmom on this post -- listening to doctors can kill you.  As with any profession, some are better than others, and some are better at knowing what they know and what they don't know than others.  Doctors take an oath to first do no harm.  That means always using the least harmful approach first if life is not immediately in danger.  The poster here is talking about someone who's problem seems to have been temporary and is alleviating by itself, as these problems usually do.  Doctors are only trained to give medication or do nothing -- they aren't trained in psychology (even psychiatrists are only lightly trained in psychology).  This is something I've found out the hard way, and had to also see others suffering on many forums on the internet where we end up having to go because our doctors aren't listening to us.  For me, I've half in specialmom's corner here and half in Lightseeker's, and I hope, as specialmom said, that seeing this difference of opinion in people who have used these meds will at the least help anyone reading this to, as has become the cliche, trust but verify.

[specialmom]

I think everyone comes to this forum with their own educational credentials and experience and that is what is great about MedHelp.  Posters can get different perspectives.  There is not a right or wrong answer here and posters can hear different perspectives from which to form their own opinion on.  The medications available including paxil and Effexor have been very helpful and in fact, life saving to many many people.  

I am glad that you, rwg68, see my point that whether or not to take medication for his anxiety is between your dad and his doctor.  We, those of us on the internet, should not interfere with your father's care ultimately.  Every patient should arm themselves with information but stepping in and saying someone should or should not take medication for something that a physician has prescribed it for is overstepping bounds.  We couldn't possibly know the answer to that question.  You mention that 'it was pretty bad'.  Well, your father's doctor keyed in on that and has tried to provide help.  If your dad is doing better, he should talk to his doctor and perhaps alter the plan.  :>)  Again, you sound like a really caring and kind hearted daughter.  
There are times medication is warranted and psychologists themselves will tell you that with clinical anxiety, the best results come from a combination of medication and talk therapy/behavioral therapy.  

Wishing you the best and here to talk if you need it.  hugs

[TheLightSeeker]

It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.
---Mark Twain---

"The medications available including Paxil and Effexor have been very helpful and in fact, life saving to many many people." Hmm.
-Antidepressants aren’t as safe or as effective as advertised!
-
Paxil (Paroxetine) was found to be no better than  the placebo.
Under a new initiative to publish corrections to misreported trials, The BMJ (formerly known as the British Medical Journal) published a study showing that the popular antidepressant paroxetine (sold as Paxil in the US and Seroxat in the UK) is neither SAFE nor effective for adolescents with depression. It is the first trial to be reanalyzed and published by The BMJ under its initiative called RIAT (Restoring Invisible and Abandoned Trials), which encourages abandoned or misreported studies to be published or formally corrected to ensure doctors and patients have complete and  accurate information to make treatment decisions.
Study 329 has become infamous. Funded by the manufacturer of paroxetine, SmithKline Beecham, now GSK, it was quickly dubbed by the US Food and Drug Administration a “failed trial,” as neither treatment was found to be better than placebo. We learnt that the paper was drafted not by any of the 22 listed authors but by a writer paid by the manufacturer. But most alarmingly, reports emerged of serious adverse effects of paroxetine (paxil) in adolescents, including self harm and suicidal ideation. In 2012 the US Department of Justice, investigating a failure to report safety data and other misconduct by GSK, settled criminal and civil proceedings with a record $3billion fine. Efforts to get the authors, the journal that published the trial , the professional society that publishes the journal, and the authors’ institutions to act or even respond to criticism have failed.

Given this history, there was little doubt that the study needed restoration. That the original authors chose not to do this came as little surprise. The restorative authors set to work accessing and analysing the clinical study report and patient level data. From this immense task they concluded that there is no advantage of paroxetine or imipramine over placebo. They also uncovered “serious, severe, and suicide related adverse events” that had been overlooked or hidden.

The RIAT re-analysis marks a new chapter in the story of Study 329, showing the remarkable power of open data. But it also shows how much our current systems are failing patients and the public. It should not have taken 14 years to get to this point. It shows that we need regulation, and perhaps legislation, to ensure that the results of all clinical trials are made publicly available and that individual patient data are available for legitimate independent third party scrutiny.
--Cite as: BMJ 2015;351:h4973
Cheers Everyone!
Niko

[Paxiled]

Well, yes, some information is subjective, but some is objective.  It is not in question that Paxil and Effexor are the hardest of all antidepressants to take and quit taking, and should only be used as last resort medications, not first resort.  GlaxoSmithKline, the manufacturer of Paxil, has been fined by every regulatory body for lying about this drug when it first came out and has been sued successfully (it was settled out of court because initial discovery discovered so much difficulty stopping this med and that the company knew this and lied about it).  Since there are alternatives if medication was needed, and it doesn't appear to be necessary at all, why start with a drug that is, objectively, from the evidence from its actual usage, so hard to stop taking once you start, that comes with a great likelihood of weight gain, I mean, for some people this is the only drug that works but for most there are safer ones to use.  But in this case, if your father had an anxiety problem, usually the first place we're sent is to a therapist, not given a drug.  LightSeeker is right on this one.

[rwg68]

thank you very much for responding. he has not experienced any change so far. it is a relief to know that there wouldn't be any terrible withdrawal symptoms if he decides to not use it. :)

[rwg68]

i suppose i did overreact to all the negative reviews on the internet like you said. i will let my father decide. and yes, the condition was pretty serious at the onset though it subsided on its own. so i can see why the doctor recommended a strong drug. thank you very much for respondidng :)

[specialmom]

Hi, I agree that your dad was on the lowest dose possible and took it for just one dose, it would not affect him days later.  

He could be having symptoms for why they wanted to put you on paxil in the first place.  Paxil is a medication that has start up side effects that for most are pretty mild and peter out the longer one is on it.  At 6 to 8 weeks, in general for SSRI's, a person has the therapeutic effect of the medication and the transient or start up side effects are gone.   That's why these drugs are well tolerated once a person gets to that point in taking it.  

Please don't interfere with your father's care.  Far too many people try to play doctor.  If your father has concerns, he should talk to his physician.  If he is feeling better, then he may decide that he does not want to take medication for it.  But do not let fear to cause you to step in and take over what is ultimately his decision about whether he thinks he needs help with anxiety.  And always remember, talking to a doctor is best.  The internet is full of stories of positives and negatives and often,  mostly negatives as those are the people that take the time to write about it.  These medications would not be used as they are if everyone had the same experience as those that write all of the negatives they experienced.  SSRI's do help a tremendous amount of people.  Something your dad said triggered his doctor to offer him help.  

HE may decide he doesnt' care to take medication at this time.  And that is fine and an appropriate choice if he is feeling pretty good most of the time.  But again, he needs to discuss that with his doctor.  

This is just my opinion, of course as any information you get here is someone's opinion.  No one is right or wrong----  it is how we see things.  So, I respect those who say that one should never take medication.  I have a different view knowing many that it hs made their life much better.  And they did not experience any withdrawel when they tapered down (took incrementally smaller doses) and stopped the medication.  

Again, it's fine for him not to take it if it is his decision but it should be based on how he is feeling as his guide.  Best of luck to you both.  You sound like a caring daughter.