TonyW: tinnitus must go

[TonyW]

TonyW

 

Short version of my history - please do let me know if you'd like to hear more details:

 

After 10 years on 25mg Paxil CR to treat social anxiety/anxiety/mild depression I decided it was time to quit. 

 

Quit cold turkey and 40 days later (and after going through increased heartbeat, sleep misadjustment, and brain zaps, all of which are not a problem anymore), I feel really good overall but severe tinnitus kicked in and it's killing me.

 

After reading a lot here (thank you so much for existing), I decided to reinstate starting tomorrow (thinking of starting with 1/4 of 25mg or less depending on feedback in this thread) and go from there.

 

I will log my progress here, hopefully it will help people in a similar situation in the future.

 

Thanks for reading!

Edited May 13, 2020 by Gridley

[Gridley]

Welcome to SA, TonyW.

 

We recommend reinstating with a very small dose, and I'm concerned that 1/4 of 25mg will be too much and could overwhelm your sensitized system.   I'd recommend reinstating 1mg Paxil.  Please read:

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms. -- at least the first page of the topic

 

It takes about 4 days for a dose change to get to get to full state in the blood and a bit longer for it to register in the brain.  The effect should get stronger during that time.  If 1mg is enough, it still may take some weeks or months for your nervous system to settle down.  You probably will continue to have windows and waves (ups and downs) but symptoms won't be as intense.  

 

This link explains how to get the 1mg dose you'll need for your reinstatement.

 

Tips for tapering off Paxil (paroxetine)

 

We don't recommend a lot of supplements on SA, as many members report being sensitive to them due to our over-reactive nervous systems, but two supplements that we do recommend are magnesium (glycinate is a good form) and omega 3 (fish oil). Many people find these to be calming to the nervous system. 

 

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker 

 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 

 

Add in one at a time and at a low dose in case you do experience problems.

 

This is your Introduction topic, where you can ask questions and connect with other members.  We're glad you found your way here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FindRest]

Tonyw, I wanted to give you some encouragement regarding the tinnitus. I too struggled with it. Once I reinstated a small amount (Effexor in my case), the tinnitus improved greatly. It didn’t happen right away, but it noticeably improved within weeks. One thing I have found is that this symptom also goes in the ‘waves and windows’ cycle like other symptoms where some weeks/days I don’t notice it much, then suddenly it’ll reappear or get worse. Once I realized this, it was a lot easier riding out the wave, knowing it would get better again. 
 

Good luck on your reinstatement!

[TonyW]

Thank you Gridley, FindRest and everyone else looking at this thread. It is great to know that there are people out there rooting for you.

 

I chose to start with 1/8 of 25mg. Took my first reinstatement dose this AM. Tinnitus has stabilized since yesterday (constant tone/volume) which will allow me to track how things work out more easily. I will update the following information every day or so:

 

Day: 0

Dose: 3mg

Tinnitus: strong but constant

Sleep: normal schedule

Heartbeat: normal

Other: N/A

[TonyW]

Day: 1

Dose: 3mg

Tinnitus: variable throughout the day for my surprise. Right now (7:30PM) it is not quite as loud as I was used to, likely because of the nap mentioned below

Sleep: normal schedule including a 2-hour nap in the afternoon

Heartbeat: I have seen a brief moment of arrhythmia but nothing particularly of concern

Other: unmotivated to do anything

 

[Erell]

hello Tony,

 

And welcome  on board !

 

Please add a signature.  Include drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements in the last 12-24 months. Also include supplements. This will help us give you the most accurate advice we can. 

• Any drugs and supplements 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. 
• Please leave out symptoms and diagnoses. 
• A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs. 
• This is a direct link to your signature:  Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

 

Take care ❤️

 

[TonyW]

Hi @Erell, it's done now. Quite short but it's all there is to it.

 

So:

 

Day: 2

Dose: ˜3mg. I have cut a pill in 8 pieces and sizes are not equal; scale arriving soon, I am planning on crushing a pill and weighting 3mg instead

Tinnitus: intense, steady. Most of the time I don't even notice it's there but when I do it does not bother me. Still want it to go away though

Sleep: slept less than usual

Heartbeat: nothing worth of notice

Other: vision feels a bit foggy

 

 

[TonyW]

Day 4: no news and sticking to the plan, confident that we will get the job done sooner or later.

[TonyW]

Day 5: all of a sudden, major improvements. Tinnitus today is 50% of what it was previous days.

 

On another note, I'm feeling very emotional, and it is difficult not to cry when I listen to my favorite music.

[Cocopuffz17]

2 hours ago, TonyW said:

Day 5: all of a sudden, major improvements. Tinnitus today is 50% of what it was previous days.

 

On another note, I'm feeling very emotional, and it is difficult not to cry when I listen to my favorite music.

That is great,

 

Yes, these are normal. I went through this emotional state over songs. But I absolutely love it. I was literally unable to cry or feel much emotion on paroxetine. I am 15 months off of. I still have a nagging headache and tinnitus. BUT they have improved greatly. I would suggest stabilizing and going through a slow taper to minimize the effects of the withdrawal. 

[TonyW]

Great to hear from you Coco, I read your introduction thread from end to end prior to joining this site and your optimism was quite the inspiration for what I am doing now, and for my own confidence and optimism. I hope you'll be 100% recovered soon.

 

One day closer to full recovery!

[Cocopuffz17]

11 hours ago, TonyW said:

Great to hear from you Coco, I read your introduction thread from end to end prior to joining this site and your optimism was quite the inspiration for what I am doing now, and for my own confidence and optimism. I hope you'll be 100% recovered soon.

 

One day closer to full recovery!

 

Hey! That is awesome!  I am glad I can help you .  If you have any questions don't hesitate to inbox me! Thanks! It will come! The body is amazing and once you give it the proper fuel and a great mindset you will get through anything. It was not easy. I relied heavily on this website to get me through the times when I thought there was no possible way to get through it. Especially considering people who haven't gone through it do not understand and alot of doctors downright deny it. 

 

I just had a 14.5 mile bike ride and did 200 pushups and 200 situps. As you know there was a time when I was physical incapable of doing 1 pushup when the fatigue was so crushing. 

 

Absolutely ! Everyday that passes is one day closer to being healed  You will get through it, This forum has all the tools to get off this medication!

[TonyW]

Day 7: It's back. So these are the waves and windows people talk about, huh? 

 

I have just realized something quite scary: I don't know what I should feel anymore. I can't recall what things looked liked before I started taking Paxil 10 years ago and when I see people here talking about depersonalisation, lack of emotions, akhatisia etc I realize I don't even know if there is anything wrong with me. But one step at a time, let's make a successful reinstatement to treat tinnitus and then we think about other stuff.

 

PS: I have managed to lose both my survivingantidepressants password & access to my email. How can I either recover my password or update my email here? Thank you.

[TonyW]

Day 9: tinnitus does not seem to be improving. I will wait 2 full weeks before I ask for your help in order to decide what to do next.

[Altostrata]

On 5/19/2020 at 5:07 PM, TonyW said:

Day 5: all of a sudden, major improvements. Tinnitus today is 50% of what it was previous days.

 

So tinnitus decreased but didn't go away? Or did it come back full-force again? Is it worse at any particular times of day?

 

Are you taking any drugs other than Paxil?

[TonyW]

Hi Alto. Yes it decreased but came back full-force the following day.

 

It used to start quieter in AM and increase in volume during the day. Currently though it is loud and basically steady the entire day. I have been paying more attention to try to understand if any variations in volume are related to my mood or activity.

 

Paxil is the only drug I am taking and the only one I ever took for anxiety/depression.

[FindRest]

Do you take any supplements/vitamins?

[TonyW]

I do not, I am considering magnesium and/or fish oil per Gridley's suggestion but I am afraid it will jeopardized my ability to understand the effect of Paxil itself during reinstatement.

[FindRest]

I think it’s probably a good idea to wait a little longer before introducing magnesium or any other supplement. When you do, make sure to try a little at a time. Magnesium made me a little anxious. Eventually, I opened a capsule and dumped maybe 1/8th of it into a smaller capsule and took that. I’ve just recently started doing this, after my reinstatement symptoms subsided some.

 

About the tinnitus...I think it’s a good sign that it improved a bit shortly after reinstatement.  Sorry that it came back strong. Hopefully, you’ll notice it going back down soon.  I’ll be interested to see what Alto recommends. I could see where a small updose might help ... but perhaps it could also indicate your reinstatement is too high ... or maybe you just need to give it a little more time. Who knows?!! That’s what’s so hard about all of this. 
 

One thing that has helped me on those “loud” days is telling Alexa to “play white noise”. There are also some white noise apps available for your phone/tablet. I just have them playing in the background. 

[TonyW]

Day 10: there's no fixed volume pattern that I can recognize anymore. Today it was very loud when I woke up, then it decreased during the morning and then became very loud, so I decided to take a nap by 1 or 2pm since it helped in the past. But not today, I woke up to a very loud noise at 3pm or so. I forget about it, even if very loud, if there's background noise such as TV. No other major symptoms worth mentioning.

[TonyW]

Day 13: today was a good day again, so it's 2 good days out of 13 total.

 

I said I'd wait 2 full weeks but I'm ready to define the next phase already.

 

Two more weeks @ 3mg a day. No supplements, no other changes as I need to make sure how my body and mind are reacting to this dosage. How does that sound? Would you recommend anything different than this? I am obviously open to suggestions.

 

Thank you!

[TonyW]

Hi @Altostrata and everyone else reading this, I would love to hear your thoughts on my last post. Thanks!

[Altostrata]

Observing your symptom pattern is the best way to find out the effect of a drug or reinstatement.

 

Is the tinnitus coming in waves now?

[TonyW]

Hi, thanks for the answer. Yes, it is coming in waves.

 

Should I consider increasing the dosage or better wait a little longer?

[PerAsperaAdAstra]

Hi @TonyW how are you doing now? Saw your post in my introduction topic and wondered how you were doing as fellow Paxil fighter.