PhilD New member

[PhilD]

Hi,  I've been trapped on Seroxat off and on (mainly on) for 25 years.  Some positive changes in my life have led me to have another go at getting off them.  I tapered off really slowly over the course of a year and haven't taken any now for about 2 months.  I didn't expect it to be easy, but it's going better than it has in the past.  There are dark, hopeless days and yesterday I was tempted to go back on them, but didn't.  I just went to bed and felt better for an hour's rest.  It's hard work on my wife with me being morose, lacking in humour and argumentative, which makes me feel very guilty.  It's often been this that's made me go back to the pills.  I'd really like some reassurance from anyone who has successfully broken free of this drug, that there is light at the end of the tunnel - that life will get better if I can just hold on.  I'm not really used to forums, but feel I need to reach out about this as it has dominated my life so much.

[Altostrata]

Welcome. @PhilD

 

We have many people here tapering paroxetine, which is a particularly difficult drug to quit. Yes, people do finally recover from withdrawal syndrome.

 

Irritability is a common withdrawal symptom, as are spells of moodiness and other waves and windows of symptoms. How's your sleep?

 

Many people find these to be helpful:

 

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 

 

You might try a low dose of one at a time to see what it does for you.

 

 

To help us out, follow these instructions Please put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature You may need to use a computer to do this.

[NardilTime]

I didn’t come off paroxetine but I did come off venlafaxine which users report is just as difficult (or close to). All I can say is, for me, the mission was DON’T LOOK BACK! I told myself that once I was off that was it, I’d never touch another one of those pills again. I’m 20 months off and while I still feel a bit wobbly I’m definitely far past the worst of it. I was on it for 20 years and I definitely questioned daily whether it was the drugs or some “underlying condition” that was hurting me. But after a decade of being tortured by the side effects (and getting akathisia) I could never risk that again. I’m so glad I never buckled. I’m slowly getting back to the person I should have been without these drugs. It’s a slow and very difficult process but the rewards are worth it. We all have to make our own decisions on this, but I can definitely say that in time you will heal. All my prayers are going your way. 

[LostInCanada]

@PhilD hi and welcome to SA. You are in the right place! You are definitely experiencing withdrawal so if you were to reinstate after 2 months you would want it to be a microdose. The moderators could suggest the dosage if you decide to do that. Then you would taper no more than 10% of the current dose every 4 weeks, til you could jump off at 0.016mg. But if you are functional you might want to stay the course. Can you make a drug signature with your drug history? That would help. Tysm 👍

[PhilD]

Thanks everyone for helpful comments.  I'm taking an omega 3 supplement and am sleeping OK.  I'll try the magnesium.

Everywhere I look it says that exercise is good, which I suppose it is for most things.  I have to make such an effort to do this, though - it's never come naturally!

If it can help, even a little bit, that will hopefully be enough inspiration to get moving.

[PhilD]

sorted the signature thing!

[Go2zero]

47 minutes ago, PhilD said:

Everywhere I look it says that exercise is good, which I suppose it is for most things.

Exercise is very good. But light exercise. Do not overdo it. It could trigger symptoms when you go too extreme.

[jon1]

Yes, light exercise can be helpful. If you feel that's too much, or triggers too many symptoms, at least make sure you sit outside as much as possible when the sun is out.

 

At least that will get some natural vitamin D into your system, as well as a host of other benefits that supplements don't provide, plus no side effects.

[PhilD]

It's got to the point that I can't go on in this state, so I'm going to go back to the pills.  Everything is just so relentlessly sad and hopeless.  Things coming up in my life (that I'd normally not be worried about) are filling me with dread.  I'm eating well, stopped drinking 6 months ago, am taking omega 3 supplements.  The pills are calling louder and louder and I know they'll bring relief.  The side effects and dependence on these awful tablets is preferable to the bleakness of my life.  I feel like trying 10mg daily, but someone above suggested a microdose if reinstating - not quite sure how much that would be.  I have 20 and 30mg pills that can be cut in half, so my options are 10, 15, 20 or 30.  I thought I'd try the lower of these and hope it just lifts me up sufficiently to make me able to function.  Any suggestions?

 

[LostInCanada]

@PhilD you should just try a reinstatement of 1mg. You have been off for a couple months so too large a reinstatement can make things worse. There are threads on making your own liquid on measuring the dose with a syringe also using a scale to cut and weigh the pills. @Go2zero can verify how to reinstate safely.

[Faure]

I’m sorry to hear you are feeling so bad. Unfortunately it sounds like you tapered too fast off these meds.  A 10% taper of the most recent dose takes around 3 years to complete and your taper was 6 months. 
 

A mod will be able to advise you a very low dose to reinstate and you would do well to try a very low dose first as having had two months off the drug your body will likely find a large reinstatement too much and you’ll feel even worse. The more you go on and off these drugs the larger the toll on your body, so you really do only want the minimum dose to relieve the symptoms and make them bearable. 
 

To reinstate you will needed to make your own liquid and get hold of a syringe. I got one from Boots. I recently started making my own liquid and wrote about it here on 24 March. 

You might like to read this thread about reinstatement. 

 

Please do not despair. Once you stabilise we will be able to help you taper off so that you don’t get these awful withdrawal effects. I am doing a very successful taper following a few failed attempts, the last one I was very ill.  It is possible to get off, but much more slowly than you have tried in the past.  Hopefully as the US gets going today someone will be along to suggest an amount to reinstate, it will likely be 1mg. And you will need to take that consistently for a week to start seeing any effects as it takes about this long for it to register in the body. 

[Go2zero]

Hi PhilD,

 

Both @LostInCanada and @Faure gave great advice above!.

 

Please understand that reinstating a higher dose may make things worse and may create an effect called kindling 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/27800-hypersensitivity-and-kindling/

 

Paroxetine is  a difficult drug to taper. And when one stops too fast or stops Cold Turkey, extreme withdrawal symptoms may occur.

 

The best way to try to treat this, is a very low dosage reinstatement. Best is to start very low and see if that helps to enlighten the symptoms. Do not expect miracles within some days. This needs to settle, which will take time.

 

Do understand that reinstating a higher dose most often does not enlighten the way one would think. After stopping or tapering too fast, it will not help (most often) to go back to a dose where one was doing OK with before. He is where kindling can come in....! So please beware.

 

If I were you I would start reinstatement at 1mg and wait at least 10 days to see if some improvement comes.

 

It may be helpful to make daily notes for yourself how you are feeling and what symptoms you experience and in what degree. You may also write them here. 

 

You can make a 1mg instatement by taking liquid paroxetine (oral solution). Which is available in the UK. As alternative, you could also make your own liquid yourself from pills if you would prefer that.

 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/2693-how-to-make-a-liquid-from-tablets-or-capsules/

 

[PhilD]

Thanks everyone for advice here.  I've made liquid and am on 1mg a day, which seems to be taking the edge off the withdrawal symptoms after a couple of days.  In the past, I've jumped back on a higher dose after giving up, which has worked, but it feels a lot more positive to be on a microdose.  

[Faure]

Hey @PhilD, thanks for letting us know what you’ve done and how you’re feeling. I hope it continues to take the edge off after some more time. Keep us posted as to how you’re doing ☺️