About Paxil WIthdrawal

[amanda]

I have been trying to get off paxil...I've been on it almost 4 years.  I've tried to get off of it once before but b/c of stressful events in my life, the panic returned.  I've been feeling good this time, no anxiety or panic.  (I'm down to 10 mg. from 40 mg.)  But when I move my eyes to the left or right or up or down, I get a disturbing feeling of a zap-like nervousness, and an increased heart rate.  Because of this, I am afraid to move my eyes too much.  I know this sounds ridiculous, but I am truly concerned about it.  Has anyone heard of this before?  And what can I do about it? I'm tired of being on meds, and I have gained around 40 lbs on it.

[puddin]

I know this is probably not the best way to handle this...it might even be dangerous to some people....BUT....drinking REALLY helped me out with the symptoms....I don't drink enough to get drunk or anything...just a little buzzed....Not a real good solution for feeling "normal" at work ;)....but at least you can get rid of the eye-zaps while you are at home :)


Puddin

puddin_***@****

[tom]

WOW Im so glad i came here, my whole point of looking in these message boards was hope to find someone else who knew what those eye/head movement things were! the only thing is mine are from taking remeron. the past two days have been really bad , i been scared to the point of panic, just out of the blue i would feel ike im getting shocks through my whole body particularly the head the <brain> i get them from walking , turning my head, and mostly from moving my eyes in any direction or opening or closing them ive been so scared cause i feel ike im just gonna shut down when these happen and they do alot!!! im glad im not alone. now i just need to know how to make them stop!

[diann]

I've been calling it brain shock! I questioned my Physician about it and he just got a perplexed look and blew it off. What had happened was that I ran out of my Paxil and didn't have any insurance. My girlfriend gave me one of her old bottles of Paxil and said that they were still good. Well they weren't! After about a week of taking them I thought I was going to die. Major hot flashes, heart palpitations, dizzy beyond belief,numbness over various parts of my upper torso, panic, eye and brain zaps. I felt like I was being electrocuted everytime I moved my eyes or head. You can't convince me that it was anything other than withdrawl from Paxil because once I had my prescription filled I was absolutely fine within 2 days. Occasionally I get a brain zap when it's time to take another pill but other than that I feel great on it. I definitely will taper off when it's time. I'm in no hurry to be feeling like that ever again. Misery loves company so I'm glad to know that i'm not alone!

[FRANKIE]

     There is a question which I wanted to ask,

     for anyone who had been depressed for a long time

     do you experience unexplained hair loss, dry skin, and other physical symptoms of illness, which doctors say you are
     perfectly fine?

[MJagates]

I was on Paxil for about 6 years for depression.  It was a fairly new drug at the time.  Worked great for the depression, but if I missed even 1 days dose, got the eye zaps and electrical shock feeling.  Paxil stopped working after about 6 years, so Dr. started me on something else, can't remember what, but at same time, SLOWLY weaned me off the Paxil by dosing down 5 mg at a time every 2 weeks.  It worked being weaned off it that way, but I think being on another anti-depressant helped also.

[MJagates]

I was on Paxil for about 6 years for depression and it worked great, but noticed if I missed even 1 day's dose would get the eye zaps and electric shock feeling.  It was a pretty new drug at that time.  

It stopped working for me after about 6 years.  Doctor put me on another anti-depressant (sorry, can't remember which one, may have been Prozac, Wellbutrin, or Effexor)and at the same time SLOWLY weaned me off the Paxil, reducing it by 5 mg. every 2 weeks.  I had no withdrawal symptoms this way. but I think you really need to also be on a similar drug for it to work this way.