Gray: Introduction

[Gray]

I was placed on 5mg Paxil in May 2014. I was at the time withdrawing from Klonipin; a member of the Benzo family.

In June 2014 I came off K and the Paxil was upped to 10mg.

Here I am at 7 months free from K and continuing my slow taper from Paxil (see signature). I went from 6mg to 5mg eight days ago.

 

Mentally I feel great !  Physically not so good, dizziness has returned, itchy skin, aching muscles, feeling fatigued.

BUT I am trying to hold steady and not rush things.

I became highly allergic to nickel during my first withdrawal and this seems to have been heightend by my withdrawal from Paxil. Has anybody else gone through anything similar?

Continued healing to all who read this.

 

 

[dalsaan]

Hey Gray,

 

Welcome to the forum.   Sorry you aren't feeling so good physically.   How long are you waiting between drops?   Do you symptoms settle down between the drops?

 

Your signature didn't seem to work, please have another go

 

Dalsaan

[mammaP]

Hi Gray, welcome to SA. Please read our tips on tapering paxil http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/405-tips-for-tapering-off-paxil-paroxetine/

 

We recommend tapering 10% of the current dose every 4 weeks. If you are feeling withdrawal symptoms

then generally it means the cut was too big. Going from 6mg to 5mg is closer to 20% and to continue at this rate you

would likely feel some more severe withdrawal eventually. Paxil is nasty to get off and slowly is the way to win this race.

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1024-why-taper-by-10-of-my-dosage/

 

The most important is the 3 KIS http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/6632-the-rule-of-3kis-keep-it-simple-keep-it-slow-keep-it-stable/

 

Many people find that magnesium is helpful when tapering and in withdrawal. http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1300-magnesium-natures-calcium-channel-blocker/

 

And omega 3 http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/36-king-of-supplements-omega-3-fatty-acids-fish-oil/

[Gray]

Thank you for your answers.

I realised after reading the information on this site that yes I did step down by too much.

 

I learned the first time that slow and steady is best; same rules apply this time round as well.

I shall hang out with my 5 mg for a while and continue at 10%.

The article on magnesium was interesting, I'm going to give it a try. The only other med I am taking is a fish oil capsule and 500mg of vit. C.

[Fresh]

Hi Gray ,       After years of ssri's I developed a toxic level of copper . . .    I wonder if there's a heavy metal connection.

[Gray]

Thanks Fresh,

                   I'm begininning to think that there is possibly a connection. Proving it is something else.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens when I'm finally off Paxil.

How are you feeling now?

[Fresh]

Hi Gray  , sorry it's taken me a few days.     I'm feeling sooo much better now , no longer in severe w/d.

Am having copper level tested in the next week , so will keep you posted.

What are the symptoms of nickel allergy?   And how are you doing with the other symptoms in the past week?

[Gray]

Hi Fresh,

        The nickel allergy started about the time that I wanted to withdraw from Klonopin and my dr said ok stop !

So I did ! That's whe

My skin especially my hands were intensly itchy. Thought it might be withdrawal, but a patch test confirmed I was allergic to nickel. So I have coated keys etc with nail polish, and I wear cotton gloves most of the time.

The thing is it's just my hands that are itchy most of the time.

 

Here in the US nickel levels in items, are not as well regulated as in other parts of the world !!!  So for the past two years i've had a lot of steroid creams which do provide relief. Then I stop using it and I'm back to square one.

Trying to be mindful of my diet is starting to help. Not too many grains,lettuce cabbage beans etc.

Paxil wise I'm at 5mg the jump from 6mg was too much but 21/2 weeks out things are starting to feel easier, symptoms not as intense.

Taking 600 mg of Vit. E am and pm 1000mg Vit C to help chelate any nickel out of my system.

At least now my hands don't look dry and ugh ! I apply a mosturizing cream 5-6 times a day.

Waiting to see if anything improves when I finally come off Paxil.  Staying positive.

 

Thanks for the PM

[cymbaltawithdrawal5600]

If you were dropping at 10% of the CURRENT dose you would be at 6.5 mg for January and your next drop would be to ~5.9 mg (pretty close to 6 mg still). You don't say what your dose of K was, how often you dropped and how big your cuts were. It is entirely possible that your benzo wd was too fast and you might be compounding it with a too fast taper of paxil, nickel allergy notwithstanding.

[Rhiannon]

Glad to hear your symptoms are settling down, that's a good sign! Give it a few more weeks though before cutting again. I'm glad to hear you're going to go to the 10% type taper (which at 5 mg, your next cut would be 0.5 or a half mg).

 

It's pretty common for people to do better at the higher doses and then to get hit as they get to lower doses. That's because the way the drugs work, you get the most effect per milligram at the lowest doses, and at the higher doses the extra milligrams don't produce as much change. It's logarithmic/exponential, if that means anything to you.

 

Basically, the way to compensate for this is to base cuts on a percentage of your current dose, not your starting dose. 

 

Sounds like you're planning to do it that way from now on. I think you'll find that will help a lot. You just have to keep making the cuts smaller as the doses get smaller.

 

Sorry about the nickel allergy, I'm afraid I don't have much to help there. I have chemical sensitivities and they are definitely made worse both by the drugs and by withdrawal. But I'm not sure if that's the same thing or not.

[Rhiannon]

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/6036-why-taper-paper-demonstrates-importance-of-gradual-change-in-plasma-concentration/

 

The charts there show you how tapering needs to be a curve (reducing your cuts at lower doses) and not a straight line. 

[Gray]

Glad to hear your symptoms are settling down, that's a good sign! Give it a few more weeks though before cutting again. I'm glad to hear you're going to go to the 10% type taper (which at 5 mg, your next cut would be 0.5 or a half mg).

 

It's pretty common for people to do better at the higher doses and then to get hit as they get to lower doses. That's because the way the drugs work, you get the most effect per milligram at the lowest doses, and at the higher doses the extra milligrams don't produce as much change. It's logarithmic/exponential, if that means anything to you.

 

Basically, the way to compensate for this is to base cuts on a percentage of your current dose, not your starting dose. 

 

Sounds like you're planning to do it that way from now on. I think you'll find that will help a lot. You just have to keep making the cuts smaller as the doses get smaller.

 

Sorry about the nickel allergy, I'm afraid I don't have much to help there. I have chemical sensitivities and they are definitely made worse both by the drugs and by withdrawal. But I'm not sure if that's the same thing or not.

[Gray]

Rhi,

Thank you so much for all the information.

I do believe the nickel allergy is related......some how.

The fact that just my hands are affected is so frustrting.

My motto now is SLOW AND STEADY,

[Gray]

The last three weeks have been horrible.

I thought I was doing really well, felt good. Then it hit. My husband became seriously ill, which seemed to halt the recovery process.

Now

I wake up every other hour, started taking magnesium at night which helps

Tried a Vitamin B supplement which left me totally jittery. I seem to be soo sensitive to Vitamins.

I go to see my doctor next week and I'm terrified she will want to reinstate medication.

I have a hard time shutting off the "what ifs?"

I need to be here for my husband, but I need to help myself too. Is this a wave?

Paxil was prescribed to help me withdraw from Klonopin.......side effects of Paxil were horrible too.

 

I am meditating which helps and exercising when I can. Diet is good. ( Type 1 diabetic)

Any advice would be welcome.

[Petunia]

Hi Gray,

 

I moved this post from the symptoms forum to your introduction/update thread here because it's related to your own situation specifically. Please use this thread to track progress, write about symptoms, ask questions and communicate with the community, add to it whenever you want.

 

How have you been tapering since January?  Are you still at 6mg?

 

Petunia.

[Gray]

Hi Petunia,

              No I'm not tapering. I stopped Paxil in April. Not the slow and steady route I wanted.

I know I'm now probably paying the price.

I've been reading the boards on reinstating. I talk to my doctor tomorrow.

My husband is doing well now,so now I have to figure out how to get me back on track.

 

 

Thanks,

              Gray