insomniac: tapering off Seroxat/Paxil - how do I get hold of or make a liquid when it won't dissolve?

[insomniac]

I have been on Paxil for 20 years. I was originally put on it for reactive depression from getting fibromyalgia .  I don't need it now. I am not depressed anymore.

 

My problem is that there is no liquid Seroxat /Paxil available here.

 

 I first tried bridging to Prozac. I found that moving from Seroxat to Prozac was too hard.

 

I then tried dissolving it in water but  my  Seroxat tablets do not suspend or dissolve in water.  They  sink to the bottom of the glass. 

 

Does anyone know a reputable online pharmacy that sells liquid paxil and ships to Israel?

 

There was a suggestion of using "Ora Plus" suspension liquid on this forum to dissolve insoluble tablets.

 I can easily buy Ora Plus  from ebay with international shipping.  What puts me off is that all the reviews of that on Amazon involve people using it to suspend tablets they give to their dogs and cats!

It also contains some nasty sounding chemicals. The shipping cost is crazy too. But that doesn't worry me as much as the other two reasons.

 

I take the gsk - glaxo smith kline version of Seroxat. I take 3/4 of a tablet - 15mg.  It's the same tablet distributed to the whole of the European Union.

Has anyone here successfully tapered off that without the liquid Seroxat?

If so how did you do it?

 

Anyone know an online pharmacy that sells liquid Paxil that ships to Israel?

 

 

 

 

 

[scallywag]

insomniac -- Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants (SA)

 

Seroxat/Paxil is not soluble in water, as you've discovered.  You can still use water titration, you just need to draw your dose from the centre of a mix that has been freshly shaken.  Working with a suspension (where there are undissolved particles) is discussed in our topic on Making a liquid from a tablet or capsules .

 

Several of our members have tapered paroxetine using a digital scale to weigh the non-standard doses. One member, brassmonkey (also a moderator), has just recently completed his taper and is adjusting very well to life at 0 mg. You can find others tapering paroxetine by clicking on the tags on this page, just below your topic title.

 

I can't answer your questions about getting liquid paxil across borders.  If you're interested in people using Ora-plus for HUMAN use, two members discuss using ora-plus to create liquid olanzapine (Zyprexa) starting at this link: Tapering Zyprexa.

 

A few topics relevant to your situation:

What is withdrawal syndrome.

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?.

Tips for tapering off Paxil (paroxetine)

Using a digital scale to measure doses.

 

Thank you for taking time to post a signature. Please add new doses and the date you started it as your taper progresses.  How did you reduce from 20 mg to 15?  Please put those details in your signature. 

 

This is YOUR introduction topic -- the place for you to ask questions, record symptoms, share your progress, and connect with other members of the SA community. I hope you'll find the information in the SA forums helpful for your situation. I'm sorry that you are in the position that you need the information, but am glad that you found us.

[insomniac]

My computer broke so I had to delay answering.

 

I just wanted to say a quick thank you.

 

Your answer has helped me start on a 10% taper of the Seroxat.

What you wrote about it not needing to disolve helped the most - and the links are helpful too.

 

In answer to your question, I never was on 20mg Seroxat .
15mg Seroxat was the maximum I have ever taken of an antidepressant drug. Doctors  tried to push me to take 20mg but  I used to have severe Irritable Bowel Syndrome and my stomach could never tolerate  higher doses.

 

I will be back  if I have any problems.

Thank you again

[insomniac]

I apologise for bother:
What do you do if you forget you were tapering and accidently take the full dose?
Can you still continue with the regular schedule and be OK?

 

Two weeks in to my first 10% reduction and I accidently took the full dose today.

 

Original plan was to reduce 10% per month

[CaptainCool]

Hi Insomniac,

 

Any luck in getting hold of Seroxat/Paxil Liquid via international shipping ?

[insomniac]

No, I gave up searching for liquid Paxil.

 

Instead I found a video on youtube, which I have since lost. It basically said to use a nail file and scales and one of those pill holders. You need to do some maths and then prepare ahead a months supply of tablets with 10% worth of drug shaved off. Then the following month prepare ahead a months worth of drug with another 10% of the last dose shaved off, and so on.

 

In short you weigh a paxil tablet. Let's say it is 1.5g.
That is 1500mg.

Using a nail file you shave off 150mg. Making sure the tablet weighs 1350mg (1500-150= 1350mg)
You do this for a months supply of tablets. Each tablet will weigh slightly different so you do the maths individually for each tablet.

 

 

In 2 months I got to 20% off but could not taper more due to got horrible agitation symptoms from drug withdrawal.  Then my dad suddenly got cancer and died. I reinstated my original dose as I I could not continue tapering while in mourning.  It is stupid to taper during extreme stress and bereavement. 

I will still attempt again in the future, but this time I will go slower than 10% per month. I see that I need a slower pace than the average.

[Altostrata]

We have instructions for making your own liquid Paxil in Tips for tapering off Paxil (paroxetine)

 

Please read the links the moderators work so hard to give you. Crushing the tablet will help it dissolve.

[insomniac]

I did read that link on how to make liquid Paxil. It seems a poor way to do it because for every tablet you have to put it in the fridge to let it dissolve for 2 hours, even if you crush it.  

 

I understood from the video that you have to do that every time before every single dose.

 

For practical purposes it  is better to have a method that prepares large amounts of doses in advance.

 

 

 

 

[arwilliams]

I agree with you about the liquid tapering process.  It isn't feasible for people with jobs and buzzy/traveling to try a liquid taper every day.  I have taken chemistry classes and dissolving even salt in water took way to long to have a consistent uniform dissolve when time stricken .  I am using a precision scale for now because it doesnt really add more time every night and have no idea what I am going to do later.

[ChessieCat]

You could always make it the night before.

[Carmie]

Hi insomniac, 

 

How are you doing?💚

[insomniac]

I have not succeeded.

I gave up liquid tapering and bought a digital scale.  I managed to  get to about 12 or 3mg from 15mg.  Then 3 months later my Dad died and I felt depressed about that and went back to my original dose of  15mg. When the depression got very bad from bereavement I learned not to raise the tablet more and instead took saffron supplement. It helped better than raising seroxat would have. I have really given up trying to get off seroxat for now because it is so hard. It is harder than getting of benzopines.

[Carmie]

Hi insomniac, 

 

I’m so sorry to hear about the death of your dad, that must be very hard for you.

 

Could you please update your signature. Thank you. How are you doing now? 

 

Sending hugs🤗

[insomniac]

I was struggling before but now want to restart tapering. I have one question : In the past I have been helped a lot with depression with Saffron extract:
https://il.iherb.com/pr/Life-Extension-Optimized-Saffron-with-Satiereal-60-Vegetarian-Capsules/23953

The problem with Saffron is that you have to take it 6 weeks on and then 6 weeks off. Would it help tapering?

 

[insomniac]

I now want to restart tapering. I have one question :
 

Would it be OK to take Saffron while tapering off Seroxat?
https://il.iherb.com/pr/Life-Extension-Optimized-Saffron-with-Satiereal-60-Vegetarian-Capsules/23953

Or would it make it harder to taper?

The problem with Saffron is that you have to take it 6 weeks on and then 6 weeks off it because it is bad to be on it more than 6 weeks.

 

[brassmonkey]

Saffron has a reputation of being effective for depression and anxiety, and for a healthy person it would probably be fine.  However, it works by raising the level of serotonin in the body, so in that regard it is just a natural SSRI.  It would not be a good idea to take it along with Seroxat.  It's side effects alone could cause problems as you couldn't tell what was a Saffron side effect and what was ADWD. Then there would be the problem of serotonin toxicity that could possibly happen.  I would stay away from it.

[insomniac]

I have no side effects on saffron at all. I took it for a short time together with the seroxat in the past.

But now I understand that it will complicate the tapering process. I'll keep away from it then. Thanks