Paxil Worries

Lawgirl01 · Post by **Lawgirl01** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 10:43 am

Hi everyone,
I was wondering if any of you have ever taken paxil, are taking, and I'm most curious if anyone has successfully weened themselves off of it? I hoped to go to my Doctor in the beginning of January, and hopefully start weaning myself off (I'm currently taking 10 mg). My worries are this: I researched online last night and found horrible information concerning paxil...articles, forums, videos from ABC news and Fox news etc. People said it was like coming off heroin?! And they talked about these "zaps"...electrical shock like things in your brain. Anyway, I didn't seem to come across a "success" story, which worried me tremendously. I start law school in the fall, and the last thing I need is awful withdrawal symptoms or a relapse into depression (because of the withdrawal). Thanks for any experiences or advice you have to share.
God Bless

Emmas_Mommy · Post by **Emmas_Mommy** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 5:21 pm

I was on paxil for year and took my self off. My doctor was mad at me over it but oh well I just didn't like the way it made me feel I was on 25mg and I just quit it it didn't bother me at all.

Searching for some peace · Post by **Searching for some peace** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 6:59 pm

I have been on Paxil Cr 25mg for five years and a few months ago it stopped working for me so my doctor and I tried something new so I had to ween off of the paxil and I am not if it is like coming off of herion since i have never experianced that but the zaps are very real. I have been on and off of the medication a few times (now back on and doing great) and everytime the withdrawls were terrible. I don't believe they really studied this medication on how it effects people when comming off of it. All i can tell you is that it is a terrible thing to go through, I am not going to lie. Symptoms include...anxiety...mood swings....bouts of anger...some depression...zaps all day...nightmares..night sweats. BUT i would like to tell you that my friend who is also taking paxil has been slowly been weening off of it and has been off of it for a few weeks now and seems to be doing much better with the withdrawls subsiding. You seem to be on a very low dose so that may help matter...I wish you the best and hang in there the withdrawl wont kill you its just very uncomfortable for a few weeks and you should be fine after that.

Cindy V · Post by **Cindy V** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 9:25 pm

i took Paxil for 4 years after the death of my husband I took my self off without weaning myself and I had no side effects at all... I think that every medicine works differently for each person...

Lawgirl01 · Post by **Lawgirl01** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:33 pm

Thanks for all your comments and advice. I went to the doctor a few days ago due to a nasty head cold

, and I talked to him a little bit about my medications. He said we would talk further in the beginning of January...he wanted me to concentrate on getting through my law apps and test this month first. So, all I can do is try, and pray of course. We'll see how it goes...

Ken B. · Post by **Ken B.** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 3:54 pm

Hi, I quit taking Effexor 5 months ago, and the withdraw symptoms where like you described, the "brain zaps" are accually the electrical synapsis in your brain firing, you can feel them when you stop taking the meds because the meds slow brain function so much, that when you stop taking them, the pathways are "rusty" for a lack of a better term. The solution to this problem believe it or not, is fish-oil, and the more the better. I'm not making this up, I found this info on the web, at theroadback.com. they have alot of natural solutions for withdraw, and a ton of helpful info. check it out. They recommend a drawn out program of weaning off meds, which if I had to do it over, I would probably take, I quit cold turkey, and the help I found reduced my suffering considerable. It was still bad, but tolerable.
Good luck!

wizzy · Post by **wizzy** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 4:08 pm

I also took 10mg of Paxil. I have weaned off on several occasions. It works well for my anxiety, but I have been told it's a pretty dirty drug, so even if you decide to take meds in the future you may try something different. As for the withdrawal it truly does vary between individuals. I never experienced the zaps, but experience vertigo during the withdrawal. Im my opinion it's a lot like the flu. I did have some increased anxiety and was more emotional. It's challenging but doable. Just make sure you have a good support system in place and take it slow.