sungirl: Intro

[sungirl]

Hi,

 

Not really sure what this is supposed to look like, but here goes. 

 

Began Wellbutrin and Paxil (don't remember doses) fall 2004 after major anxiety over a move. (I've experienced depression and anxiety since childhood.)  I successfully tapered and remained off the Wellbutrin, but 3 months after Paxil taper experienced huge crash and reinstated.  This happened the same way the second time I tapered.  Both times the anxiety was way worse than any I had ever experienced and I knew it had something to do with withdrawal but my doctors did not believe me. I have been on 20mg/day. 

 

A year and a half ago I decided to try to taper again.  Was originally tapering by 5mg at a time and got to 10 but was having difficulty.  I found some helpful articles by Dr. Stuart Shipko and contacted him.  Following his advice, and with my doctor's support, I went back to 10 and have been tapering by 1mg/month.  I was down to 5mg when we went through some major life traumas.  Still felt fine until tapered to 4.5, went back to 5, but started experiencing symptoms without realizing what it was (felt like my heart was pounding a lot/felt wired but did not feel anxious)  Symptoms gradually have gotten worse and worse. Started to updose by 2 mg, 2 nights ago. 

 

Hoping I can stabilize, I feel terrible right now and don't want to live like this! Honestly not sure if I will complete the taper or not at this point I just want to stabilize.

Edited October 3, 2017 by baroquep

[baroquep]

Hi Sungirl,

 

Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants (SA).  I am glad you found the site.  It's good to hear that you were able to able to receive guidance from Dr. Stuart Shipko and now have the support of your doctor to help you get back on track.  Paxil, from what I have read is a particularly difficult drug to withdrawal from and am not surprised to hear that you had difficulty when trying to reduce by such a large percentage of your dose.  I am currently tapering from Effexor which is another antidepressant that is notoriously difficult to taper from and have found that I have to be very careful when decreasing my dose and have to do very long holds in-between decreases.  

 

Going on and off psychiatric drugs over the years can make your central nervous system (CNS) sensitive to any changes and is likely why you are having so much difficulty at this time.  From now on, you should probably assume that this is true for you and be very careful with all drugs, psychiatric or otherwise, and even some supplements and foods.  I am a little concerned that up-dosing  by 2mg might cause your CNS further distress as it is generally recommended to start with a very small dose, say 0.25mg, and then titrate up only if necessary.  More is not necessarily better and when your CNS has already been destabilized it is best to be extra cautious when up-dosing.     

 

After Reinstating or Up-Dosing - How long to Stabilize?

 

Surviving Antidepressants recommends tapering by 10% of your current dose with at a hold of at least four weeks before your next decrease.  The 10% taper recommendation is a harm reduction approach to going off psychiatric drugs.  Some people may have to taper at an even more conservative rate as they are very sensitive to even the smallest drops.  

 

What is Withdrawal Syndrome?
Before you begin tapering what you need to know
Why taper by 10% of my dosage?
Tips for Tapering off Paxil/Paroxetine

Without having more detailed information with respect to your drug/tapering history it will be difficult to make any recommendations.  We ask all of our members to fill out a signature so that all of your information can be read at a glance.  This helps moderators determine you current situation and we would ask that you follow the instructions at the link below.

 

Instructions:  Withdrawal History Signature

 

 •    Please leave out symptoms and diagnoses.
 •    A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs. 
 •    Any drugs prior to 24 months ago can just be listed with start and stop years.
 •    Please use actual dates or approximate dates (mid-June, Late October) rather than relative time frames (last week, 3 months ago)
 •    Spell out months, e.g. "October" or "Oct."; 9/1/2016 can be interpreted as Jan. 9, 2016 or Sept. 1, 2016.

 

I know that I have given you a lot of information to digest, so please take your time and familiarize yourself with the recommendations made here.  If you have any questions or need clarification, please post back here in your introduction topic and one of the moderators will stop by to help.

 

Please feel free to connect with members of the Surviving Antidepressants community by posting in their introduction topics, they are a supportive group, know what you are going through and are here to help.  

 

[MollyN]

Hi Sungirl! You're doing great, paxil is so difficult to withdraw from. So many of us have done what you've done and had numerous goes at it, trying to find a way that doesn't make life entirely unbearable!

 

The slow taper recommended here seems to work really well for so many people (I didn't do it myself and am kind of paying for it now!) 

 

As for your journal, you can write whatever you want in here, and people will come and find you and respond to you here, so feel free to ask your questions here and also if you have the chance and feel like it, have a look at other's journals - there are plenty of us who are specifically struggling off paxil if that's where you want to start xxx all the best, let us know what you decide to do xxxmollyn

 

[sungirl]

Has anyone tried mindfulness training/meditation to overcome anxiety?  How do people cope on the bad days?  Just trying to encourage myself that this will get better...

[baroquep]

Hi Sungirl, I've merged your new topic regarding mindfulness training/meditation back into your introduction thread as we ask that you post all questions in your introduction topic.  If you could please post all of your questions here in your introduction thread rather than starting a new topic, it would be most appreciated.  It's best if you post in your introduction thread so that all of the moderators can view information relating to your situation in one place rather than having to search multiple threads for information.  

Regarding mindfulness training/mediation, many of our members here have used this technique to help cope with anxiety.  I am attaching a couple of links that you might find helpful.

Mindfulness and Acceptance
Non-drug Techniques to Cope with Emotional Symptoms
Guided Meditations / Calming Videos / Sleep Hypnosis

[nz11]

SG any update.

Havent heard from you since last year