Aa
Long-term Paxil withdrawal
I was taken off Paxil nearly three years ago by a psychiatrist, who used about a six week taper. At first I suffered a lot of disorientation and insomnia, then it evolved into intense depression, constant anxiety, and worse anxiety attacks. I was put on the drug for anxiety attacks. It's three years later and I'm still in constant anxiety, my phobias are way worse, and deeply depressed, so I ended up with three problems where I was only being originally treated for one. My psychiatrist didn't or refused to recognize this as Paxil withdrawal, but eventually I was able to go on the Net and find out what it was, but I can't find anyone who can tell me what to do about such a persistent problem. I'm now on Lexapro, but it hasn't helped much. I know now that if my psychiatrist had put me right back on Paxil and tapered more slowly I might have done much better, but he didn't offer that alternative or ever explain Paxil withdrawal to me, so here I am. Do you know of anyone I can talk to about this, who might have researched this problem; I haven't been able to find anyone, and several practitioners have refused to see me at all, probably because I lack income or they don't want to buck the pharmaceutical industry. I really don't know. I've lost three years of my life already. How do I find someone who truly knows how to help? The three psychiatrists I've seen are truly clueless about the drugs they prescribe.
If you've read the previous thread, I'm the guy who's been suffering for three years, but keep in mind that's an extreme case. My problem is partly physical but mostly emotional, which is way worse. What I would recommend is that you try taking fish oil supplements. Many have suggested they reduce or eliminate the electric shock part of withdrawal. I never got the electric shocks probably because I was already taking fish oil and other natural supplements. Give it a try -- it's good for you anyway. I recommend the Omega 3 by Nordic Naturals because I trust the purity of the fish they use.
I've been off paxil for 6 months and still experiencing the bizarre supposedly non-existent physical side effects. I have what they are calling "zaps" on paxil withdrawl support sites. It is like electricity shooting down my spine and into my limbs. I thought at first I had a spinal injury or worse MS, after several tests later and a lot of web searching I realized these showed up around the same time I started going off paxil and are consistent with what other users experienced. My doctor just says I do extreme things with my body (I'm a professional dancer) and things like this will happen. I have danced since I was 5.... 25 years total and never had anything like this. Why would it happen now? Especially when xrays, bone scans and catscans show NOTHING no bone joint or nerve damage. It is the paxil withdrawl. I'm just hoping I'm not going to be like this forever. It is scary and disorienting, and it triggers anxiety. It IS NOT caused by anxiety. I will be fine and happy dancin along and then I move my head in a nodding manner in some choreography and lighting shoots painfully through my body. Thanks Glaxo smith kline! You guys really screwed me! Doctors and pharmicists and drug pushing companies can jeep telling us it's all in our heads. We're an easy target.. anxiety sufferers and depressed persons...loonies. I was put on this for MILD INSOMNIA. There was a time when they told people electroshock didn't have side effects too. I'd really like to talk to someone that has been off (completely) for 6+ months. How long does this last?
It's beginning to feel like it. I feel I've been pretty fortunate with my health (in the past).
(A foot caught in the spokes of a bike, a fall from the school roof, a splinter in my bottom, being knocked off my bike and then run over, an asthma attack, sprained ankles, blisters, cuts and bruises, slipped discs, being knocked out after a car accident, many knocks to the head (one I tried to imitate my sister belly flopping into the pool and I donged my head on the bottom -very silly. Another was at the gym when I hit my head on an olympic bar I was about to bench press -very dumb. And someone hit me in the head with a steel rod), I don't count the near drowning (despite being blue) as that was very peaceful and relaxing. And other than scarlet fever, bronchitis and hay-fever I've been pretty healthy. Psych stuff not included.
You're many decades older than me and you definitely sound much healthier.
I might end up a tragic old arthritic lady bumping into everyone with her scooter or zimmer frame. Hopefully not though.
I don't think it necessarily means it's genetic, probably more environmental.
Never! Many clinicians would be out of business if they were to do that.
In the private sector there is more accountability though and people just wouldn't go back if they weren't getting results, or something, from the visit.
I'm open to things, to a degree. I'm very conservative or traditional so things way outside the square would be challenging for me to receive and accept.
God? Based on science it seems unlikely. However, I believe many people have a need to believe.
I don't trust but I do pray for trust, guidance, understanding and safety. During the period in which I was threatened with ect that was about all I did -pray. I feel someone is looking out for me, goodness knows why, but often I do feel protected. I believe everything in life happens for a reason.
I believe in spirituality but that's about as far as I can commit at this time.
We probably don't see very well as we have concussion from walking into it.
True. I find microscopic stuff incredibly challenging, I prefer macro.
The ancient Greeks library would have been fascinating to have accessed.
Our blueprints affect how we perceive things. I believe these can be changed.
Nature vs nurture? Chicken or egg??
It can be about greed and not humanity.
Maybe they weren't withdrawal symptoms but new side-effects (as one would expect when starting a new medication)?
With some medications you need a period of time between them. Maybe the health products could have contributed??
I haven't done a lot of research on bi-polar. People can have hypo-manic phases. Maybe you're just stuck in the depressive phase?
Perhaps you could try doing a search on both bi-polar I and II?
I feel my life changed significantly following my admission to the psych ward. My symptoms on discharge were different and in my opinion worse than on admission. My parents complained about the treatment I received, illegally, while in hospital. The hospital did take responsibility for the discharge planning and the process has since been changed.
I have a lot to say about how things were worse, etc but now is perhaps not such a good time.
I've been feeling suicidal again and it's perhaps not a good idea for me to be re-visiting stuff that can potentially trigger me.
(I forgot to add the fracture from being restrained by big fat mental health professionals to my list of injuries/ illnesses).
J
(A foot caught in the spokes of a bike, a fall from the school roof, a splinter in my bottom, being knocked off my bike and then run over, an asthma attack, sprained ankles, blisters, cuts and bruises, slipped discs, being knocked out after a car accident, many knocks to the head (one I tried to imitate my sister belly flopping into the pool and I donged my head on the bottom -very silly. Another was at the gym when I hit my head on an olympic bar I was about to bench press -very dumb. And someone hit me in the head with a steel rod), I don't count the near drowning (despite being blue) as that was very peaceful and relaxing. And other than scarlet fever, bronchitis and hay-fever I've been pretty healthy. Psych stuff not included.
You're many decades older than me and you definitely sound much healthier.
I might end up a tragic old arthritic lady bumping into everyone with her scooter or zimmer frame. Hopefully not though.
I don't think it necessarily means it's genetic, probably more environmental.
Never! Many clinicians would be out of business if they were to do that.
In the private sector there is more accountability though and people just wouldn't go back if they weren't getting results, or something, from the visit.
I'm open to things, to a degree. I'm very conservative or traditional so things way outside the square would be challenging for me to receive and accept.
God? Based on science it seems unlikely. However, I believe many people have a need to believe.
I don't trust but I do pray for trust, guidance, understanding and safety. During the period in which I was threatened with ect that was about all I did -pray. I feel someone is looking out for me, goodness knows why, but often I do feel protected. I believe everything in life happens for a reason.
I believe in spirituality but that's about as far as I can commit at this time.
We probably don't see very well as we have concussion from walking into it.
True. I find microscopic stuff incredibly challenging, I prefer macro.
The ancient Greeks library would have been fascinating to have accessed.
Our blueprints affect how we perceive things. I believe these can be changed.
Nature vs nurture? Chicken or egg??
It can be about greed and not humanity.
Maybe they weren't withdrawal symptoms but new side-effects (as one would expect when starting a new medication)?
With some medications you need a period of time between them. Maybe the health products could have contributed??
I haven't done a lot of research on bi-polar. People can have hypo-manic phases. Maybe you're just stuck in the depressive phase?
Perhaps you could try doing a search on both bi-polar I and II?
I feel my life changed significantly following my admission to the psych ward. My symptoms on discharge were different and in my opinion worse than on admission. My parents complained about the treatment I received, illegally, while in hospital. The hospital did take responsibility for the discharge planning and the process has since been changed.
I have a lot to say about how things were worse, etc but now is perhaps not such a good time.
I've been feeling suicidal again and it's perhaps not a good idea for me to be re-visiting stuff that can potentially trigger me.
(I forgot to add the fracture from being restrained by big fat mental health professionals to my list of injuries/ illnesses).
J
Again forgot something. Tryptophan isn't necessarily so good for building serotonin in the brain. Works for some, but most serotonin in the body isn't in the brain, it's in the gut and other places as well. Hard to get it where you want it. 5HTP, a step up on the chain of tryptophan, works better. Anyway, I tried it and tyrosine, but it made the withdrawal worse. As i said, my intention after quitting Paxil was to try and do it with natural stuff, but after quitting everything fed into the withdrawal instead of working as it would normally. Or not work at all. Everything made me worse, or most everything. Going off Paxil just did something very weird to me, and to a lot of people, though I hear it's not as bad as going off effexor.
My psychiatrist keeps trying to tell me I'm bipolar. I keep asking where the manic episodes are -- where's the fun part? He's such a dork, when I need more than a refill I pay for a psychiatrist out of my health plan.
My psychiatrist keeps trying to tell me I'm bipolar. I keep asking where the manic episodes are -- where's the fun part? He's such a dork, when I need more than a refill I pay for a psychiatrist out of my health plan.
Sounds like you've been through the wringer with your health. Fortunately, my body has been relatively healthy. So far, anyway.
Oh yeah, I had issues before going off Paxil. That's why I ended up on it. I suffered from depressive episodes following break-ups, but the real bad one was when I got the panic attacks/agoraphobia. My sister had it, too. Not sure what that means. But through all that I was functional, and didn't have nearly the intensity of things I have now, nor the combination. Just a completely different animal.
I had a girlfriend who was a nurse and studied some kind of energy healing, but it was illegal to practice it so she only did it when people were sleeping. There are people who work with energy fields, who can see them; I saw one a couple of times, he was from Poland and was brought to the US because he had been very successful. Here's the great thing about it -- it didn't work, so he gave me my money back. Ever hear of any practitioner giving you your money back because they failed to help? I'm not really a believer in most of these things, but I'm not a disbeliever, either. It's like God -- no way to prove it one way or the other, so it's more a matter of faith than reason. But it would be equally wrong to discount all these things -- life is a mystery, most truth is hidden to us so far. Amazing how the ancient Hindus and Greeks knew a wall really isn't solid, it just looks like it is because we don't see very well. Now we know it's made up of microscopic particles with lots of space between them, constantly moving, not solid at all, but people have known this for centuries, they just couldn't prove it. Now we can.
I think a combination of techniques is probably best. The cognitive idea that no matter what you learn in therapy, you'll still be conditioned by the way you think makes sense to me, though it never helped me (yet). But it also has always seemed important to learn if there is a first cause. I don't know, my sister and I never spent much time together, she was seven years older and we spent much of our lives living in separate cities, but to have the same mental illness is more than coincidence. That would argue for some biological cause. But who knows? We also grew up with the same family.
I believe it's illegal in this country to use children in drug trials, so companies go to Africa and buy their way in sometimes. Usually ends in scandal and lawsuits. But they also kick out anyone who's more than moderately ill from studies, and you'd be surprised at few people are studied, how short the studies are, how few people the drugs help, and how well placebo does. It's not all about money, but too much about money.
Oh yeah, I had issues before going off Paxil. That's why I ended up on it. I suffered from depressive episodes following break-ups, but the real bad one was when I got the panic attacks/agoraphobia. My sister had it, too. Not sure what that means. But through all that I was functional, and didn't have nearly the intensity of things I have now, nor the combination. Just a completely different animal.
I had a girlfriend who was a nurse and studied some kind of energy healing, but it was illegal to practice it so she only did it when people were sleeping. There are people who work with energy fields, who can see them; I saw one a couple of times, he was from Poland and was brought to the US because he had been very successful. Here's the great thing about it -- it didn't work, so he gave me my money back. Ever hear of any practitioner giving you your money back because they failed to help? I'm not really a believer in most of these things, but I'm not a disbeliever, either. It's like God -- no way to prove it one way or the other, so it's more a matter of faith than reason. But it would be equally wrong to discount all these things -- life is a mystery, most truth is hidden to us so far. Amazing how the ancient Hindus and Greeks knew a wall really isn't solid, it just looks like it is because we don't see very well. Now we know it's made up of microscopic particles with lots of space between them, constantly moving, not solid at all, but people have known this for centuries, they just couldn't prove it. Now we can.
I think a combination of techniques is probably best. The cognitive idea that no matter what you learn in therapy, you'll still be conditioned by the way you think makes sense to me, though it never helped me (yet). But it also has always seemed important to learn if there is a first cause. I don't know, my sister and I never spent much time together, she was seven years older and we spent much of our lives living in separate cities, but to have the same mental illness is more than coincidence. That would argue for some biological cause. But who knows? We also grew up with the same family.
I believe it's illegal in this country to use children in drug trials, so companies go to Africa and buy their way in sometimes. Usually ends in scandal and lawsuits. But they also kick out anyone who's more than moderately ill from studies, and you'd be surprised at few people are studied, how short the studies are, how few people the drugs help, and how well placebo does. It's not all about money, but too much about money.
Hi
You did mention managing health food stores in a previous post.
One of your comments reminded me of exorcisms. That wasn't what I was referring too though. That is something I would never recommend to anyone.
Some people report relief after acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicines, etc.
I rang the psych emergency team one day when I felt I was in crisis and the PET team member told me how when he'd been really sick he'd been divined. Similar to divining for water. Personally, I wasn't sure who was sicker, he or I. Anyway, he said this person diagnosed him with Leptospirosis.
When I was in hospital I had a reaction to one of the medications I was given and was having problems breathing. One of the nurses started doing this energy field thing on me. I didn't think it was appropriate, nor had I consented to it. I was somewhat relieved when the doctor came running into the room.
Anyway, there are lots of alternative and traditional ways of healing on the market. People just need to be extremely cautious regarding them and their claims.
In some cities and countries it is probably safer to drive than cycle, etc. Beijing was probably a good example.
Some people choose to take precursors for certain chemicals they are said to be deficient in. For example, L-Trotophan (excuse my spelling) for serotonin and L-Tyrosine for dopamine.
Maybe you projected elements of yourself onto your character?
Boring for whom? The reader or the writer?
It sounds like there were issues before the medication was stopped.
I agree. I would think it would be the other way round. Symptoms in adults may also be experienced in children. I'm not sure how many children are recruited for drug trials. That's just semantics though.
Some anti-depressants are said to reduce both anxiety and depression.
Co-morbidity is probably fairly common with psych diagnoses.
I have bpd. The % of bpd with depression is said to be 50, while the % of depression with bpd is only 15. I'm not sure about the stats for anxiety.
I guess the important thing is diagnosing the primary issue. It must be quite difficult at times to do this. Easier in acute situations I expect.
With the number of disorders and the potential criteria one can present with ... I guess it makes a doctors job challenging (and interesting).
I think the onus is on finding the best treatment for us. No two people are the same and can respond to completely different treatments.
With regards to therapy, my current preference is for psychoanalysis.
Everyone claims their therapies are successful. CBT, DBT, CAT, TFP, etc, etc.
We just need to find something that works for us.
When you're in the right treatment it just seems to flow. That has been my experience. If it's a tug of war then something is wrong or going on.
J
You did mention managing health food stores in a previous post.
One of your comments reminded me of exorcisms. That wasn't what I was referring too though. That is something I would never recommend to anyone.
Some people report relief after acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicines, etc.
I rang the psych emergency team one day when I felt I was in crisis and the PET team member told me how when he'd been really sick he'd been divined. Similar to divining for water. Personally, I wasn't sure who was sicker, he or I. Anyway, he said this person diagnosed him with Leptospirosis.
When I was in hospital I had a reaction to one of the medications I was given and was having problems breathing. One of the nurses started doing this energy field thing on me. I didn't think it was appropriate, nor had I consented to it. I was somewhat relieved when the doctor came running into the room.
Anyway, there are lots of alternative and traditional ways of healing on the market. People just need to be extremely cautious regarding them and their claims.
In some cities and countries it is probably safer to drive than cycle, etc. Beijing was probably a good example.
Some people choose to take precursors for certain chemicals they are said to be deficient in. For example, L-Trotophan (excuse my spelling) for serotonin and L-Tyrosine for dopamine.
Maybe you projected elements of yourself onto your character?
Boring for whom? The reader or the writer?
It sounds like there were issues before the medication was stopped.
I agree. I would think it would be the other way round. Symptoms in adults may also be experienced in children. I'm not sure how many children are recruited for drug trials. That's just semantics though.
Some anti-depressants are said to reduce both anxiety and depression.
Co-morbidity is probably fairly common with psych diagnoses.
I have bpd. The % of bpd with depression is said to be 50, while the % of depression with bpd is only 15. I'm not sure about the stats for anxiety.
I guess the important thing is diagnosing the primary issue. It must be quite difficult at times to do this. Easier in acute situations I expect.
With the number of disorders and the potential criteria one can present with ... I guess it makes a doctors job challenging (and interesting).
I think the onus is on finding the best treatment for us. No two people are the same and can respond to completely different treatments.
With regards to therapy, my current preference is for psychoanalysis.
Everyone claims their therapies are successful. CBT, DBT, CAT, TFP, etc, etc.
We just need to find something that works for us.
When you're in the right treatment it just seems to flow. That has been my experience. If it's a tug of war then something is wrong or going on.
J
You are reading content posted in the Depression/Mental Health Forum
15 signs that it’s more than just the blues
Can depression and anxiety cause heart disease? Get the facts in this Missouri Medicine report.
Simple, drug-free tips to banish the blues.
A guide to 10 common phobias.
Are there grounds to recommend coffee consumption? Recent studies perk interest.
For many, mental health care is prohibitively expensive. Dr. Rebecca Resnik provides a guide on how to find free or reduced-fee treatment in your area
