Paxill Is Tough

[ufcfan]

I've been trying to get off of Paxill and I'm having so much trouble. It seems so odd that the withdrawls would be so bad for a medicine that is supposed to help you would be so hard on you to quit using. I stopped taking it for a while then I went back on it because I thought it was a bad idea to just stop without talking to my doctor. Then when it was all said and done I decided to try to stop one more time cold turkey because I'm just so tired of feeling chemichally castrated and just felt that it couldn't be that hard to stop. I feel awful and I don't know what to do because I'm scared to get back on it just to have to taper off it again. How long will this horrible feeling last? It seems like it's just getting worse!

[ufcfan]

I know you guys are right and I shouldn't have just stopped taking the medication without talking to my doctor it just gets frustrating sometimes.The side effects are as follows: headache, nausea, lack of energy, dizziness or vertigo, increased anxiety, increased irritability, brain zaps or the feeling of an electrical current starting at my head and running all the down to my toes, constant thoughts of bad things or feelings from the past, crying spells, diarrhea, general feeling of uncomfortably almost like I just want to jump out of my skin, an unusual scratching sound coming from my ears, very scary and vivid dreams that seem to bother me throughout the day, and the only positive thing that I've noticed so far is that I've got my sex drive back rather quickly. Wow. When you write it all down it almost sounds much worse than it feels! Almost but not quite. I go to see the doctor on Monday so I'll talk to her and figure something out. I hope.

[paranoid_cataclysm]

It's not a good idea to stop a psych med cold turkey, this can sometimes have long lasting, negative effects on the brain and body.  Don't stop a medication without your doctor's help.  It can take months to properly taper off a medication but if done right you might not even experience withdrawal symptoms that you're aware of.

[AJ39]

I know I hate the withdrawl symptoms. Have you tried talking to your dr. about another med that has less 'decreased sexual' side effects? and start that med it will then decrease the withdrawl from paxil. How are feeling - depressed, anxious, nauseous, etc.? I'll try finding out how long paxil stays in your system.  Hang in there, your brain will start making serintonin to replace the paxil. keep talking to us. it helps.