Paxil Withdrawal

[Cathy]

How long is withdrawal from Paxil supposed to take?  I have been off it for 5 days now and still feel the ocean-like, electrical shock-like, cymbal-crashing feeling in my head.  Can I expect this to end anytime soon?

[Jaime]

Please educate yourself on the effects Paxil can, and most likely will, have on you or whomever uses it and attempts to stop taking the drug. I am a current sufferer of Paxil Withdrawal. Please read the following information...

PAXIL WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS MIMIC HEROIN WITHDRAWAL! posted by Shawn Allen on September 06, 1999 at 04:24:49:

: Tell your Doctors, and perhaps they will make the connection! How hard has it been for you to wean yourself from Paxil? It's as agonizing as coming off of heroin..and shares most of the same symptoms and long term effects! While researching an answer to all of the awful symptoms I experienced during my Paxil withdrawal, I was unable to find any medical resources listing Paxil as a source of these particular symptoms we all experience. Guess where I kept finding my search results directing me to? Heroin withdrawal. The symptoms associated with heroin withdrawal that are similar to Paxil withdrawal are: nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, restlessness, and leg movements, or jerking. While heroin produces muscle and bone pain, insomnia, and cold flashes with goose bumps ("cold turkey"), which are not identical to Paxil withdrawal, the Paxil symptoms of headache, "electric shocks", dizziness and hot flashes as well as psychotic mental state (violent anger/hopeless depression, unwanted suicidal/homicidal thinking) are similarly debilitating and certainly result in the return to the use of the drug (paxil) in the same way that heroin produces that result! Most experts agree that the major withdrawal symptoms peak between 24 and 48 hours after the last dose of heroin and subside after about a week. However, some people have shown persistent withdrawal signs for many months. I think that most of us (the "experts" on paxil withdrawal!

[Scott]

I have been off Paxil for 3 weeks and I am still having withdrawl. It has gotten better. I am no longer sick to
my stomach. I am still dizzy,when I shift my eyes,there
is a popping in my head,and I havent lost any of the 25
pounds I gained.

[Scott]

I have been off Paxil for 3 weeks and I am still having withdrawl. It has gotten better. I am no longer sick to
my stomach. I am still dizzy,when I shift my eyes,there
is a popping in my head,and I havent lost any of the 25
pounds I gained.

[[email protected]]

you may copy my entire book free from my web
www.biochemimbal-behavior.com  /you may also link it to
your web if you wish   also look up on any search
engine abram hoffer /also look up www.orthomed.com /
also look up crimetimes( the fellow who has it has
spent years with biochemical behavior research  / there
are many correct answers out there if you know where
to look-we didn't know what to do either-we have had 5
schiz in our family and all are totally functional and
going on with life. we were truly stupid,ignorant,self
absorbed with our own pains much less recognition of
our loved one's pains-finally we got some answers
after much struggle for all concerned. there is a
spiritual reason why you have to see and experience
these pains but you as we will probably only see
behavior as good or bad and from that you judge your
loved ones. that is is extremely arrogant and faulty
reasoning and is a big waste of time and energy for
all. if i can help- 270 684 9233   correct
biochemicals first,including anything that goes into
the organism including food,air,liquids,thoughts-find
out if certain conditions exist such as brain
allergies from foods,find out if electrial stimuli is
trapped,find out about pyrroles in
urine,bacteria,fungi,parasites, etc/ get them away from
all sugar,gluten products and don't forget rye.oats
are also gluten,get them away from all dairy
products,food coloring dyes,food additives and
phosphates and sugar in soft drinks fruits should only
be eaten in between meals and not everyday -any sugar
eaten with a meal will take over all digestive time
and stop all other foods and liquids until that sugar
is digested and this causes stagnant foods and luquids
because ogf the digestive waiting time and then
fungi,bacteria etc -all from eating sugar at a meal
with the meal.- you should be having bowel movements three times per day.the fellow who invented gatorade bob cade at the univ of fla. took all of his royalities
from gatorade sales and spent it on his own research
into cassemorphins7 from dairy products. for example
some autistic children have 46 times more powerful
than morphine reactions at the synapsis levels in the
brain and we wonder why a autistic child may not speak
or react in a certain way./and stay away from doctors
who are not doing continuing research now since most
allopathic doctors in this country don't even know how
a cell functions.your reaction to them is extremely
important since if you use talk therapy or talk
yourself to them they are in fact reduplicating new
cells which also have emotions attached that are
harmful and cause even farther damage. the more you
talk to them the worse the cells duplicate. however
you have to be compassionate and understanding for
them so you must allow them to talk about whatever is
the problem for sometime. however you don't bring up
past difficulties at all period.try always to calm
their spirit which calms their organism and starts to
bring about new cellular growth even though the
damaged cells are either there as real cells or by
memory of those cells. we all have different levels of awareness or enlightment on many levels including physical,mental and spiritual. try talking to someone who is mentally retarded and see if you get through. however they may have far more spiritual awareness than you have. so please get away from judgements and harsh evaulations about everything in the world and get on with helping someone with a different level come to a higher level.for all the cells in the
body-organism it takes 6 years for all to duplicate
themselves into new cells-some are nano-second
reproductions and some take 6 years- also a startling
bit of information is that even though the cells have
been replaced by new cells the emotions of the
original cells is still alive and stays with the human
forever and i mean forever. if you are also so
inclined to believe in past energies such as karma
then you have even more emotions from past experiences
in different humans for past times. any foreign body
entering into the organism must be readable by the
cellular blueprint in our bodies. the body only and i
say only reads simple molecular
structures.example,there is a big difference between a
cooked apple and a raw apple because of its molecular
structure. when it is simple molecular structure it
goes counterclockwise into the center of the cell and
the next generation of cells is correctly duplicated.
however if it is a complex molecule(and if you have
ever seen ssri such as ritalin,prozac,soloft etc you
will know what i mean by complex molecule. these
complex molecules spin off their electrons clockwise
away from the nucleus of the cell-thus denying growth
for the cells and future cell divisions plus cause
free-radicals which then bind to other protein
molecules throughout the body and cause these other
cell to disfunction-all diseases have a cellular root
cause either by deficiency or dependency. Also all and
i say all diseases whether or not we are talking about
schiz or cancer have a acidic condiction at the
cellular level. disease doesnot exist withour an acid
condition period. however the margin of balance is
very difficult to maintain. get away from your own
pains and start looking for the real reasons why you
have to figure these things out. everyone since ovum
and sperm has a an ongoing search for health and
prevention of illnesses for the sole purpose of intent
and purpose on a spiritual level .the body is only a
case to carry the spirit but the spirit can be highly
damaged by a bad carrying case-your body if you have
bad health. learn from why you are searching-there is
a reason. we know of 40+nutrients that every cell in the body must have-some need large amounts of this and that and others cells only trace amounts-there may be 500 more nutrients we have not found that cells need but these 40 we do know are needed in each cell.step one-the nutrients that are all
non-toxic at these amounts regardless of body size are
vitamin b1 400mg,b2 400mg,b3 3000mg,b6 2000mg,zinc
100mg,and vitamin c 3000 to 20,000md  start at3000mg
and then add 1000mg each day until diarrhea-loose
stool is fine and desireable but not diarrhea-it may 6
or 7 weeks to work up to 20000mg but very important.
vit b3 works in the nadh pathway which then creates
trypophane which then creates seretonin which is
extremely essential to thought processes.take all
nutrients after meals in 3 divided doses.step 2 addmanganese 30mg every
otherday,calcium-magnesium1000-500mg(2:1
ratio)efa(essential fatty acids)omega 3/6/9/ balanced
and gaba 500mg,glycine 500mg,lysine500mg and taurine
500mg   allopathic doctors will say vit b3 will hurt
your liver-vit c will cause kidney stones-that is
total nonsense and shows how stupid the doctors are.
start readin everything you can get your hands on by
abram hoffer and doris rapp. check out quarry press in
ontario canada for hoffer. testing contact dr wm shaw
at the great plains lab in overland park kansas.also a
wonderful doctor who has had outstanding results in so
many diseases from schiz to cancer is hugh riordan at
the center for the improvement of health internationalin wichita kansas. for the benefit of your loved ones please utilize this information-ronald dishinger    
-----------------------------------

[sarah]

I am relieved to know I am not alone, I have experienced all of the above, most of all dizzy, distached feeling from my mind.  My legs twitch and I am hearing things that aren't there.  These are just the beginning.  I have only been off the medicine for five days and the feelings have gotten worse instead of better.  It's nice to know someone else is feeling the same way I am.  

[connie in vegas]

i fainted vomited was dizzy you name it i had it, but the worst was the "zzt zzt" otherwise known as the electric shock feeling AND sound , when i watch a discovery channel program and heard other people discribe that particular symptom i just broke down i knew then i wasnt crazy. i think my symptoms were so bad because i went cold turkey . i gain 30 lbs, so that was why i got off .am still suffering from depression but i just try to ride it out .anyway thanks for helping to know i am not alone.

[Pam]

I'm going through all of the above now!  This is my second attempt at stopping Paxil.  I was on 50mg at maximum, and I was able to taper down to 10mg with only mild vesions of the symptoms described.  I went from 50 to 40 to 30 to 20 (you can go in 5mg increments if you have the right pills --- I only had 40's and 30's available this time), staying on EACH dose for TWO WEEKS.  This makes for a very long withdrawal period, but I was not too uncomfortable.  

After 20mg, I went down to 15mg for 2 weeks, then 10mg for almost 2 weeks.  Next I planned to go to 5mg, then start skipping days.  But around that time I got VERY depressed and my doctor recommended stopping the Paxil altogether immediately and starting a different drug.  Now my physical symptoms are much worse.  Has anyone else started another antidepressant during Paxil withdrawal?

Besides snacking, my suggestions for partial relief of withdrawal symptoms are decongestant (Sudafed) or Dramamine (for motion sickness).  One or the other of these usually helps.

***@****

[Ryan]

I am beginning today to ween myself off Paxil. I am taking a half dose every day for two weeks. ( 5mg/day ) After that I will stop completely. I am experiencing all of the same symptoms.. Nausea, headache, fish-bowl feeling, lack of focus, just an all around fuzzy feeling. I have found that if I take a few small hits off a joint, NOT ENOUGH TO GET HIGH!!! It takes the edge off. I can hardly feel the effects of the marijuana, and the nausea and vertigo seem to subside for about a half an hour. I hope these feelings go away and someday soon I am back to normal....
Good luck to everyone else trying to get off.... Just hang in there. A body without Paxil is MUCH healthier than a body with Paxil.

[buffy]

I stopped taking Paxil a couple of weeks back.  I think my last pill was on a Thursday.  By Saturday night I was experiencing the symptoms everyone described above.  Monday morning I came to work, mistaking the feeling for low blood sugar.  I filled up on Coke and sweets, something I rarely do, and nothing happened.  I began to feel the following:

Detached from my body
Light head
Faint feeling
Tingling in my head
Like if I cut myself I would bleed forever

Those are just some of the symptoms.  I was rushed to the doctor and he mistook the feelings for anxiety since I had stopped the Paxil.  The moment I took the pill again, I began to feel better.  Just yesterday I had stopped taking Paxil, I was out.  Man, the feelings start to come quick.  

One thing I suggest, and one thing I did, taking a Metabolife.  This helps immediately and gets you off of the antidepressants.  Thanks.

[Anne]

Amen!  After 8 months of usage (20 mg/day), I have tried to reduce to 10mg three times/week.  Both times, I have been sick as a dog!  Headaches including the toothaches, electric zaps, vomiting and cramps, diarrhea, even the first yeast infection I have had in my whole (49 yr) life.  Thankfully no dizziness or "disjointed" feeling.  I have taken only 5 mgs twice in the last 2 1/2 weeks and still do not feel well.  I have never reacted like this to any drug, and as far as I'm concerned, this fits my definition of a narcotic.  I hope this ends soon - I am more concerned to continue it than to wait out this hell!

[dead nancy]

hi, everybody.

just wanted to say thanks for the accounts here of paxil withdrawal. if you've read this page this far, you know the drill about the drug and its withdrawal symptoms. it's just nice to know that i don't have the flu, and the brain flashes will go away.

and it really is pretty excellent to enjoy sex again. i'll weather the swimmy feeling.

xox,
dn

[kim]

My doctor said I could quit Paxil cold turkey, with no side effects.  It didn't sound right to me, so I cut from 10 to 5 mg's for a few weeks, then tried to skip a day now and then.  I lay awake from 12:30 to 4am every night, awakened by night sweats.  I feel anxious and nauseated and jittery. I've gone back to 10 mg's for a while, but don't feel as good as I did before.  It sounds like tapering off like I'm doing is a good idea, but the bottom line seems to be that I just have to get off of it and bear what comes my way.  Besides snacking, are there any other helpful ideas?  Supplements?  My email address is ***@****.

[Derek Hansen]

I am 14 and I started taking paxil about a month ago. I was taking for a small twoitch I had in my face. About 3 weeks after I started taking it I began to have terrible stomach pains I belive were caused by trapped gas.  My doctor didn't think that the gas was caused by the paxil . He wanted to have an experiment to see if it was caused by the paxil. He imeadeatly took me off it.

I was fine for a few days after that.  My stomach pains stared going away and I thought I was getting better.  Until I started having withdrawls.  I constantly felt dizzy, I had a bad head ache and I felt like I was going to throw up. I am usualy fine if I sit or lay down, but I can't walk. In fact I fell down the stairs twice yesterday because I can't walk good because of dizzieness.

I have missed a couple weeks of school already.  Since this is my first years of high school my grades are really important,.  Myt mother went to the school to get my school work, but I am so dizzie I can't consintrate. I am lookining through this thing and I can find lots of errors.  I can't even type good.  

Paxil worked good for my face twitching and it helped with social anxyity, but it is not worth the side effects.  Any suggestions about how to lessen or stop the side effects e-mail me at Playstation-***@****. Thanks!

[JG]

To all the dr's,pharms,and smithkline & beecham sales reps, I hope you all burn in hell for ignoring the torcher of paxil withdrawl. When I was presciribed paxil I wasn't told of the extreme withdrawl symptoms. Word of the withdrawl problem had long been heard of at the time of my dr. prescibing paxil. I'd rather go back to the panic attacks than deal with the nausea, diziness, headaches, nervousness, and the added anxiety of not knowing how long this nightmare will last. I've seen some postings about a class action lawsuit being implemented. Well, count me in. E-mail me if you know of any info regarding any treatments for the withdrawls or the lawsuit against smithkline & Beecham. e-mail (***@****)

[Caroline]

i'd like to mention one side-effect
that I think was linked to my
paxil (taking AND withdrawal)
but I'm not sure...
it is TOOTH ache.
I feel like I have a few cavities in
my mouth near the back...
the pain is spread
in my jaw.

Anyone else has that feeling?

My 2 cents :
usually, tooth ache goes
hand in hand with flue-like
symptoms.
But I don't have the flue
(I am happy that it's not winter
(I am in quebec) and
that germs are not floating aroud me.)

[Caroline]

I took Paxil for three weeks (starting 4 weeks ago).

I am not a regular user of anti-depressants
although I have had major depressive "episodes" in my life,
one during which I was hospitalized.

What I do with prozac (2 times a year) is take
it for a while until the placebo effects
kick in ;-) (or real effects?
The anti-depressant effects are supposed
to kick in after 3-4 weekgs, with me
it takes 3-4 days !!!)

I took paxil ONLY once before(three years ago) but
did not get
to the third of my prescription because
of nightmares and zombie feeling.

SO 4 WEEKS AGO, I took Paxil for 3 weeks, not from
a prescription but from someone else's
(my dad).

I was better quite quickly (although I
first woke up at 5h00 every morning
and had weird dreams - it didn't matter
cause it made me feel better altogether.
Placebo? Umm... I don't think so.)

After 3 weeks, I ran out of what
I had taken from my father's
and did not want to get
a prescription of my own because
I felt STRONG and better, felt
I was able
to be happy without meds.

So I went cold-turkey...

from an alternative dosage
(from beginning of the 3 weeks
I had taken the drug) of 10 than
20 than back to 10 than 20 and so on
all through my taking the drug.

First 3 days = just fine.

Than.......
On the 4rth day, horrific nightmares.
Mood swings (I snap when I can't get to
swim one day, cry for an hour, my
face muscles ache form the sobbering....)
Feel nauseatous but mostly
DIZZY
First I felt dizzy when standing up and moving
my eyes or head.
It has gotten worst and worst...
no longer crying of nauseatous
but MORE AND MORE DIZZY.
It has been more than a week
and now I am afraid to walk outside,
I have the feeling I a swimming in zig-zag.
(Swimming has helped me a lot
though, it makes me feeeel GOOOOOOD
mood-wise).
I am paraplegic and use a chair once in
a while and the rest of the time -almost always-
use braces and crutches.
Well nowadays, I use my wheel chair most of the time.
Waking up in the morning is very difficult
because it's like my ear-equilibrium is
not functioning.
It's hard to sit in my bed.
I am afraid to fall from the toilet....
If that's not an addictive drug,
what is ?
If you get severe withdrawal
symptoms from discontinuation of a drug,
then that's addictive, no?
Excuse my english.
I am French.

[steve]

i stopped taking paxil 20 mg yesterday and went on wellbutrin today will i experence withdrawal from the paxil or will the wellbutrin prevent it

[wade]

I'm going through Paxil withdrawls right now, as I type this.  I had no idea until a few weeks ago, when I stopped taking Paxil.  I take Lithium and Paxil, but while on Paxil, I seemed to have lost that "drive" in my day to day work.  Sex drive, well it surely diminished.  Very difficult to reach that special point, have to concentrate beyond belief to reach it.  Paxil seems great, if you have no responsibilities in life, but being a partner in a company, it drastically affected my performance.

A few weeks ago, I decided to stop taking it.  I didn't know of any side effects, nor did I anticipate any.  After the second day, I started having symptoms of dizziness, nausea, disorientation, confusion, sleepiness, and vomiting.  I thought I was getting sick, and after the third day, thought I should go ahead and take Paxil again to see if it was the cause.  Sure enough, after taking it, I started feeling better.  I stopped again two days ago, and it's starting to hit me hard again.

I'm dizzy, disoriented, confused, cannot focus, and feel like vomiting.  I have some Prozac (which never seemed to do anything for me) and was wondering if I could use it to wean off Paxil, and if it would help with any of the symptoms?  I have to get off this stuff, I need my "productive" self back again.

[kane]

I was on Paxil for 2 months and for a while it seemed like a God send.  It got into my system quicker than Prozac (which I was on previously for 3 years) and helped with an obsessive behavior that I have.  

Then the side effects hit.  I couldn't sleep for a full night (a problem I have NEVER had, I can nap anywhere, anytime) and I was constipated for days.  I took laxitives and fish oil up to four times a day as my doctor advised and nothing.  I looked 6 months pregnant.  It also became very difficult to have an orgasm.  

I told my doctor that I wanted back on Prozac, but she insisted that the "grandfather" of SSRI's wasn't as good.  After I couldn't stand the Paxil anymore I called my doctor that I was going to quit the Paxil and that she had to get me back on Prozac.  She never told me of the withdrawls I would have!!  This should be a cause for a doctor to lose their license!  

Lori, I completely understand where your coming from.  I, too, couldn't describe my symptoms, I could just say I was feeling woozy.  I felt like my head and limbs were disjoined from by body and I was nauzeated all the time.  My heart raced and I becamed paranoid.  I no longer trusted my self to drive.  Thank God I had friends to get me through this. It felt like I was withdrawing from heroin or something.

Any doctor that doesn't acknowledge that there are severe effects to the discontinuation of Paxil should have their license revoked.  To top it off, my doctor said that I was probably the only person in America that had these side effects.  Thanks to this Forum, I know I am not alone.

[Justin]

My sister in-law is taking 75mg of Effexor, She swichted from paxil to effexor in the week without tappering. She is also involved in other durg use ( alchol,pot, tabaco). She is having alot of problems and wants to get off effexor. My original concern is that can Marijana interact with effexor? She needs help but is scared to tell the doctor that she does pot too.
Thanks ,
        Justin

[Carol Jones]

I am currently on Paxil 20 mg a day,  I have been on this now for close to a year,  Before the drug I was severely depressed- I have tried many anti-depressants ie: Prozac, Zoloft, Wellbrutrin, and now Paxil-  The paxil has been a wonder drug for me- I actually have a normal life now.

However the down side is the weight gain-  I have gained a tremendous amount of weight in the year that Ive taken this.

This is very sad to me- for fear that if I keep going I could weigh more and more.   I do exercise (not as much as I should), Ive just started back and I hope this will help.

I want to eventually get off the Paxil,  however I dont know if I can ever be off an  anti-depressant.


Carol

[chris]

I was on Paxil for about 2 years after 4 major life events. I have to say that Paxil did initially help but the side effects eventually became my reason for tapering down (10mg to 0 in 2 weeks) and eventually stopping. During my Paxil days(20mg/day)I experienced headaches, loss of memory, dizziness, blurred vision, sexual dysfunction, always feeling tired, restless sleep, popping sounds in my head, etc. I have tapered down a few times to see how I would feel and  even though the side effects were minimized I found myself feeling increasingly anxious and panicky. So I would return to 10mg/day which for a while was a bearable comfort point. After a few days the afore mentioned side effects would reappear. So as of Jan 28th I am Paxil free! My symptoms during withdrawal have been nausea, dizziness, feelings of disassociation, increased anxiety and momentary feelings of panic, (these could occur during the day or after awaking mid-night), 'brain zapping' sounds when turning eyes back and forth, tiredness, moodswings, heightened emotions, numb lips, aching teeth, frustration, easily moved to anger. It is now Feb 15th and even though many symptoms have lessened I am still experiencing moments of increased anxiety and panic, heightened emotions, tiredness, numb lips and aching teeth. Lack of ability to mentally focus on tasks.(One of my main reasons for discontinuing Paxil is that I am now in school and I could not retain information) If anyone has experienced the numb lips or aching teeth I would like to know anything about that. My email is ***@****    Thanks! Good Luck!

[Guinevere]

Jezus, I have BPD (PTSD/DDNOS/EDNOS/Depression/Anxiety/etc) and I am trying to come off my Paxil. All of this stuff was happening to me too, and I thought I was going completely postal! I don't feel so bad anymore!!! Thanks!!

Guin

[lori]

I have been on several antidepressant medications since I was about fourteen, and the one I found which worked the best for me was Paxil.  Now I am 22 years old and ready to try to handle my life without the aid of SSRI drugs (this is a personal choice, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with being on an antidepressant or anything like that).  I asked my psychiatrist why I get a dizzy, nauseating feeling if I miss a dose.  He told me there are no known withdrawal symptoms, so I thought, okay, maybe it's just me.  So when it finally felt like the right time to start weaning myself off of Paxil, I followed his instructions.  For one week, take one pill every other day (I was on a 20 mg dose), and for the second week, skip two days and on the third day take it.  The way I felt, I don't know, it felt like I was withdrawing from some hard-core drug (I don't know anything about drug withdrawal symptoms, but this is what I imagined it might feel like).  I was dizzy, nauseous, extremely irritated, angry, hot-tempered, and the weirdest thing of all were these little buzzing or flashing feelings in my head (I started calling them "brain flashes" for lack of a better name)when I turned my head or moved my eyes from side to side.  My sleep schedule was completely thrown off.  Basically, I felt like a zombie.  I don't think I have ever been in so much anguish before in my whole life, and the whole time I was thinking, "What the hell is happening to my brain? My body?" It has now been three weeks since I took my last pill, and most of the physical symptoms have subsided, although I am still very irritable, annoyed, intolerant, overly-emotional, and prone to violent thoughts.  I don't know if the rest of this will disappear in time, but I really hope so. The only positive effect I've noticed while being off of Paxil is that my sex drive has increased considerably, and the actual physical act of sex has felt better than I can ever remember.  I was wondering if anyone else has experienced any of the above, and I'd appreciate feedback of any kind.  Thank you.