Paxil 10mg - Trying to taper 😞

[ozylozy]

Was prescribed 20mg of Paxil apx 15 years ago for GAD and a couple of nasty panic attacks (tried a few other SSRI’s before success with Paxil).  Got the anxiety under control for which I was extremely grateful.  Five years ago I got down to 10mgs by myself and have been stuck there ever since.  Have consulted a few doctors over the last 5 years on how to get off Paxil with failure every time I try.  Mostly they suggest just taking 10mgs every other day for a month then, every third day for a month and so on.  That nearly killed me….awful awful anxiety, headache, insomnia, dizziness, nausea, diarrhoea etc etc etc.  And each time I try this I fall apart and end up back on the 10mg merry-go-round.  I realised I  need more help than any doctor knows of so here I am…….feeling very shaky after another failed attempt and seeking info

[Emonda]

Welcome @ozylozy,

 

2 hours ago, ozylozy said:

Five years ago I got down to 10mgs by myself and have been stuck there ever since.

 

Well done on getting down to 10mg from 20mg. What steps did you take to reach 10mg? Did you notice symptoms at the time of the reduction?

 

2 hours ago, ozylozy said:

Mostly they suggest just taking 10mgs every other day for a month then, every third day for a month and so on.

 

Not good advice: Never skip doses to taper. Doctors in Australia should know this these days, as the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines have recently been adopted in that country.

 

2 hours ago, ozylozy said:

That nearly killed me….awful awful anxiety, headache, insomnia, dizziness, nausea, diarrhoea etc etc etc.

 

These sound like typical WD symptoms: Daily Checklist of Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms (PDF).

 

2 hours ago, ozylozy said:

I realised I  need more help than any doctor knows of so here I am

Why taper by 10% of my dosage? The reductions should get smaller and smaller each month, for example: 10mg, 9mg, 8.1mg, 7.3mg etc. This process involves a degree of trial and error, as there is no way of predicting how an individual will respond. Importantly, if you develop unpleasant side effects from tapering, halt the taper, give yourself time to settle, and once stable, taper more slowly and by smaller amounts moving forward. The experience of others suggests that the lower you go in dose, the slower you need to go with tapering.

Some people find tapering by smaller weekly amounts more tolerable. You can read more about this approach here: The Brassmonkey Slide Method of Micro-tapering

2 hours ago, ozylozy said:

feeling very shaky after another failed attempt and seeking info

 

You don't want to start another tapering attempt when feeling like this. You need to be stable / in a good place. Can you provide details of this failed attempt in your signature?

 

We don't suggest many supplements, but two that many of us find helpful are magnesium and omega-3 fish oil. Here are the links for info about those. Add one at a time and start with a low dose to see how it affects you. 

Magnesium

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil)

Avoid alcohol.

Don't change the manufacturer of your AD.

Once again, welcome to S.A.

Emonda

[ozylozy]

Thank you Edmonda, wish I knew of Surviving Antidepressants a long time ago.  I’m making my way around all the info.  So much to learn