Paxil Withdrawl...UGH!

[naturalchick11]

Hi, I was on Paxil 20mg for two years. I decided that I wanted to get of the medication mid July of this year because I felt like I really didn't need the medicine anymore. I went to my family doctor to be weaned off. He told me that I should take 10 mg for a week and then stop all together. I asked him if I would experience any side effects from going off of the medication. He told me no. So I did what he instructed me to do. Within that first day of being completely off Paxil, I woke up in tears.  I was crying and I didn't know why! I just felt so sad. Then within a couple of days, I was feeling really tired and lost my appetite. I would get hungry and want to eat, but then when the food was in front of my face, I couldn't stand the smell of it and couldn't eat! I went back to the doctor telling him what I was experiencing. He acted like he had no idea why I was feeling that way and told me maybe I was just "sensitive". He gave me some medicine for me loss of appetite and that really helped. I started to feel like myself again for a week. But then I started to feel sad again and had some anxiety set in. I was having nightmares and not able to sleep. I was having body zaps and feeling dizzy/headache/head pressure. (I still am experiencing some head pressure to this day!) The body zaps are gone now. And I am able to sleep fine with no nightmares. The only thing I'm experiencing now is bouts of sadness/anxiety, back/shoulder pain, head pressure, and I'm still feeling like I'm tired and should have more energy than this. I feel like I am in control of the sadness/anxiety. I can brush it off most of the times, but there are times when it feels like it takes over. It never causes me to not function (Thank God), but I feel like I have to fight to be happy. It takes a lot of effort sometimes. I feel like the sadness that I get is mostly from the physical symptoms I get. Trust me, I've been to the emergency room to see if everything was okay and all of my bloodwork came back fine. They told me my heart is beautiful :-). I know that the physical sensations have to be from symptoms of discontinuation. They irratate me and I know they bring me down. I don't even look at myself as being a depressed person. My life is beautiful and blessed, but I really feel like these withdrawl symptoms are what is causing me to feel like this. Its been 4 months since I've stopped taking Paxil. Is normal for discontinuation sysmptoms of Paxil to last this long? Most of the time I hear that they last btwn 3 weeks to a month. Then I hear other cases where people said it took them about a year to feel like themselves again. And then my other question is was I weaned off of Paxil too fast? Thanks for your feedback!

[naturalchick11]

I have tried breathing techniques many times but I feel like I don't have the time to take out for breathing! haha. Maybe I just need to make myself do it. And you say that some of the brain fucntions have gone to sleep? I don't quite understand that. But thanks for the advice.

[hava]

Some of the brain functions were sent to sleep.Something to get your normal body functions back towards normal. Follow this breathing technique, twice a day and let me know how you get on. This works gradually, so allow weeks.You will notice some benefit in days.
Kapalbhati pranayam -(Do it before eating)
Build up your timing gradually.If you feel tired or dizzy, stop and resume after one minute.
Push air forcefully out through the nose about once per second. Stomach will itself go in(contract in). The breathing in(through the nose) will happen automatically. Establish a rhythm and do for 20 to 30 minutes twice a day. Children under 15 years – do 5 to 10 minutes twice a day.
Not for pregnant women. Seriously ill people do it gently.