paxil hell

When I position my eyes to the right or left, without moving my head, I experience extreme vertigo….yet “its non addictive”

Every nerve and cell within me is screaming … and I experience “electrical-jolt” type sensations throughout my entire body… yet “it’s non addictive”

The nausea I experience everyday is so terrible that I feel as if I could go on throwing up for hours, yet its “non additive”

My brain feels as if it’s “swimming inside of my skull…yet it’s “non addictive”

My heart flutters so fast and sporadically, I feel as if at any moment, my heart will explode and I will drop dead with a heart attack. Yet its “non addictive”

It’s been approximately 5 days since my last dose of Paxil, and I will never touch another SSRI EVER again.

The side effects of this drug are extremely annoying.(Weight gain, short term memory loss, insomnia, loss of libido etc) to name a few.

But NOTHING compares to the nightmarish HELL of coming off one of these anti-depressant type drugs.

Paxil and Effexor are notorious for having the worst discontinuation syndrome ever.

Ah, yes but “doctors” will tell you these drugs are perfectly safe, but what they don’t tell is that SHOULD you EVER decide to get off the drug, you will be in for the ride of your life!

I am not discriminating against these drugs, I DO believe they help a lot of people, infact they saved my own life a few different times but I don’t believe they are meant to be used “indefinitely”

Paxil is a nice big band-aid. It takes all of your negative emotions, and tucks them away neatly in a box where you never have to really deal with anything.

But when you come off, or try to (many people fail numerous times and go back on the drug because the withdrawal symptoms are extremely unbearable), you experience a hell you never knew existed.

Then…that nice little box that was tucked away neatly is now OPEN, and every emotion you ever had in your entire existence is let out all at once, like a pack of roaring lions.

At this point be prepared for ANYTHING to make you cry. Shit that happened ten years ago will make you cry. You will be fine one moment and the next you will be sobbing uncontrollably.

You will feel like you want to die.

These are typical symptoms of “discontinuation syndrome” which doctors sometimes fail to recognize as being “real’

But anyone who’s ever tried to get off of one of these drugs will tell you, it’s VERY real.

Doctors get paid big bucks every time they write a prescription, and they get pushed big time to prescribe these drugs to people, for just about any complaint or ailment.

The pharmaceutical companies are making massive amounts of money on our misery, and keep cashing in because it’s so hard for us to get off these anti-depressant type drugs.

Is this a mere coincidence? Kind of makes you wonder doesn’t it?

If you are on a medication, and it’s working for you great, stick with it!!

I am not a doctor, and I am NOT suggesting that anyone goes off their medication! I am just providing some useful information for individuals who are having a hard time with the withdrawal process.

Have courage and be strong. You will get through it.

Talk with your doctor and always speak your concerns. You KNOW your body best. It is always CRUCIAL in your recovery to always wean off these drugs slowly; it will make the withdrawal process smoother and easier. NEVER go off cold turkey. It is very dangerous, due to the fact of suicidal tendency.

You are not alone; there are countless others out there that are experiencing the same horror. You will survive.

If you’re looking for some additional help with these matters, here are a few sites I have found to be very beneficial.

You are not alone!

http://www.paxilprogress.org/pdf/Paxil-Withdr...

http://www.paxilprogress.org/forums/

http://www.quitpaxil.org/Main/advice.htm

I’ve been taking anti depressant medications Proxac, Paxil for over 12 years now. It has helped me out but now I think I have reached a point where I want to taper it off. I am on a low dosage and am feeling good. I am noticing that the Paxil is making me feel very lethargic in the mornings and even during the day here lately for the past 3 months. I would like to know if there are other individuals who have been on the drug for a long period of time and have been able to successfully taper off the drug and how they did it. The tapering process does scare me because I don’t want any old symptoms to reappear even though I have been doing well for a while. Please respond with any suggestions and support for me.

Hi Shannon,

Have you been able to taper off the drug successfully? I'm in the process of wanting to taper off the drug.

I am tapering off paxil and down to 10 mg/day and has been hell with the rebound anxiety, depression, zaps, pain etc. I have been on it for about a year and it helped me deal with loss and anxiety but it numbed me emotionally, it has seriously screwed up my physical health and has resulted in elevated liver enzymes, fatigue, lethargy, and muscle pain. The withdrawals from this drugs are aweful and include more of the above with the brain zaps, mood swings and rebound depression. This is the 3rd SSRI that I have been on and all have had similar effects. These drugs are for short term use but Dr.'s are prescribing them for too long. My dr. did not even know that Paxil had to be discontinued slowly and recommended that i stop cold turkey!!! I am an educated and trained health worker and told what I knew and he did not believe me and consulted with a psychiatrist who validated what I told him. He looked pathetic and ashamed. I believe that this type of issue is rampant and primary dr.'s should not prescribe these drugs for lack of knowledge!!!
When I start to feel somewhat physically better I am going to begin to work-out again to avoid a return of the depression, which is what I believe that most of us are lacking with the busy stressed- out lives. Depression is very common especially in the US because we do not take care of ourselves. If everyone walked outside or on a treadmill for 30 minutes, 3-4x a week, ate healthier then the pharm companies would go out of business. This experience has opened my eyes b/c when I stopped working out I began to have anxiety issues.

Tapering off Paxil wrote:

Hi Shannon,
Have you been able to taper off the drug successfully? I'm in the process of wanting to taper off the drug.

I started to wean myself gradually, and basically got to a point where I was only taking my proper dosage every few days when I felt I really needed it.

Today is my 6th day without ANY paxil, and I have to be truthful, it is rough. I have pms right now , which I am sure isn't helping with my irritability, but this anger I am experiencing is not like me at ALL. I am not an angry person whatsoever. I am SO MAD at this drug for disrupting my body and my brain. I suspect I will relapse, but i am willing to take that chance. I am going to try to find NATURAL ways to heal myself, ie music, writing, meditation...my pets ,etc...

When I start to feel like everything is collapsing around me, I remind myself that THIS isn't reality. Things aren't THAT bad. That it's just my brain's current perception of things, and when I am feeling better, my perception will change.

I have lots of lorazepam to help me through the really rough spots, and I know I will get through this!!!! And you will too!!!

God bless...

I'm tapering off Paxil right now. Just lowered to 7 mg a day but it is causing me to feel constant agitation. It's hard to explain. I've been taking the medicine for a long time, over 12 years, but i really don't want to rely on the medicine. I am also just physically tired throughout the day. Is anyone also experienceing this? do you think that individuals who take the medicine for so many years can get off of it? How are you doing Shannon with your tapering off? Thank you. I just need support through this process.

I actually did really well with Paxil CR (I was put on it back in March). A little jittery at some times, especially when drinking coffee or soda, but I just adjusted my intake of that.

Thanks to my insurance company not wanting to pony up for the brand-name Paxil CR, I was switched to the Mylan Paroxetine CR generic version. I started taking the generic 6/12 and have been getting gradually worse symptoms of dizziness, drowsiness and general "mental fog." It's getting so bad that when I wake up I am not rested and all I want to do is go back to sleep. I can't read without getting really dizzy and I can barely retain information. This is particularly bad because I'm a student. It takes me longer to form verbal or physical responses. I feel vaguely drunk.

I think it's a bad idea to be switched drugs without working through the switch with the prescriber (nurse prac/doc/whoever). I'm more irritated that I switched from something that worked to something that's definitely not working.

Now my insurance company is giving me, my prescriber, and my pharmacy issues because they don't want to have to pay the higher cost. If there WAS a generic that worked well for me, I would love to switch. Until that occurs, leave me alone and don't switch my meds on me! I'm now back on Paxil CR brand with medical necessity and the insurance company can bite me.

I was on Paxil for almost five years before I finally decided to get off it. My psychiatrist gave me Prozac to help with Paxil withdrawal, but I was nervous about the Prozac so I just did a gradual withdrawal of the Paxil. Withdrawal was pure hell: brain zaps and rage being the worst effect. It's been over five months now. I feel fine, except for lethargy (which is probably normal for me) and some residual depression, which I'll die with before I take another SSRI/SNRI.

During my five years with Paxil, I never shed a tear. In fact, I was emotionally dead. I despise Paxil. YMMV.

I used to love my paroxetine.
But now I get the zaps every single day and believe it or not I am not even quitting or tapering off. I'm taking the same dose I always have but now I'm getting the zaps without missing any doses.
I give a moment of silence for the rest of you who know what I'm saying that it feels like you have been robbed of yourself.

I am having those exact same problems, the "zapping "mind jolt" whenever I move my eyes left to right. This has been happening for 2 months, and its not stopping. I'm off of the drug now for the first week, and its still not stopping? I don't think I can take much more of this, what am I supposed to do? did it ever stop for you?

I was taking Paxil for over a year until a month ago when I lost my health insurance. Before stopping completely I weened on what was left of my medication until it was gone and went through cold turkey and many other side effects. There were times I thought I wouldn't live through it or wanted to just kill myself, but now I'm Paxil free with a few symptoms still lingering, mainly the head zaps.

Basically drinking several liters of water each day helped, but not so much that I get an upset stomach. My best bet would be to take some Omega 3 fatty acids or fish oil to help with the head zaps, and try eating some chocolate since that's supposed to have an abundant amount of serotonin in it. It helped, but had to take Tylenol from time to time to help with the headaches and Pepto Bismol when I had an upset stomach. Also tried generic brand sleeping pills to get a good nights rest but woke up numerous times in cold turkey.

Dustin, depending on how long you've been on Paxil it could take weeks or perhaps years before it can get out of your system and your brain chemistry balances out. There have been people who have taken Paxil for years and can't function without it. If I knew more about how Paxil works I wouldn't have been on it but just about any antidepressant drug will screw around with your sanity.

Last week I saw my doctor for an annual physical check up. She told me I am was few pounds underweight and prescribed paroxetine for weight gain because I do at times get moody and lose appetite. I picked up happily my medication thinking, that's a cool idea to take a pill and gain a few pounds + get happier. She NEVER told me about ANY side effects! or ANY withdrawal syndrome!!! She told me I should take the med for a few months and if i don't like it i can stop ANY TIME!! What is gong on?? Is there some sort of conspiracy?