Viper73: need help please on Paxil

[viper73]

I just found out I got the shingles,

i think my shingles is going away maybe in 1 to 2 weeks.  It’s been 3 weeks are ready that I got the shingles. I been depressed the whole 3 weeks so far. I just started to cry for the first time in 5 and a half months, on January 24, I had two episodes of suicidal urge and I want to do it and then the feelings just stop the next day. But this pass 3 weeks I feel depress I don’t know is it my depression is coming back, I have one episode of suicidal thought this week. I was ok for 3 to 4 months until May 20 I got depress, Is this a another wave I am having.

[ChessieCat]

It's not unusual for withdrawal symptoms and/or low mood to increase during times of stress.  Stress can be external or internal, bad or good.

 

At this time your body is busy trying to fight a virus (think about how we feel when we have a cold) so that is highly likely the cause of how you are feeling at this time.  Try to eat healthily and keep stress to a minimum, ie lots of self care.

[viper73]

Hi a little update, I am 22 months with no Prozac. I was doing ok from September 2019 to March 15 2020, just some up and down feeling, But on March 15 I think I got a cold not a flu. I think I am in a wave right now. My symptoms is depression I rate my depression 2 out 10 (10 is bad) and anxiety 3 out of 10. Crying  is 1 out 10. My panic attacks is like 2 out of 10, I don’t know I getting better because I have window like for 5 to 6 month but do have some bad days in between. In the beginning my window last around 2-3 weeks only And the depression, anxiety, crying spell and panic attacks was like a 7-9 out of 10. But now my symptoms is like 2 to 3 out of 10. Do think is my cold that cause my to have a wave. This is my longest window I have 5 to 6 months.

[Colonial]

Any stress or like illness can bring symptoms back.  Jumping off from 1.67 probably didn't help but who can be sure.

Hope You start feeling better soon! 🙂

[apace41]

I agree with Colonial, Viper.  A cold could certainly have triggered a wave for you, but it is equally possible that this is just your body continuing the healing process.  It sounds like the symptoms are annoying but manageable so the best thing you can do is give yourself a little extra room and self-compassion.  Lay low for a while and the wave will undoubtedly pass and you will, hopefully, emerge a little stronger on the other side.

 

You are doing very well.

 

Best,

 

Andy

[JanCarol]

Hey Viper - 

 

I'm a little confused by your signature - can you edit it to include ACTUAL DATES (month, year) that you made those changes?  This is important for moderators, to know at a glance, how long it has been since you jumped off the 1.67 mg?

Additionally, you post that you have been off Prozac - do you mean Paxil?  Or did you somehow get Prozac in there, too?

 

With the first dose of these drugs, something in our brain changes.

I believe that we can get better after leaving the drugs behind, but whatever that change was, tends to make us more sensitive.

I'm over 4 years out from my last dose, and I know I still need to work at managing my mood and health.  I need those sun-walks, I need my daily practice, I need my dietary restrictions, I need my supplements (I see Chessie wants you on Mag, Vit C & D, Fish Oil).  I need my meditations and my communities (tai chi, karate, yoga, meditation, shamanic groups).  Right now, in "social isolation" that community is hard to get, so I'm trying to make and accept more phone calls to hear friendly voices.

I can omit some of these tools and practices, but not for long.  I can skip a day (I skipped tai chi & physio yesterday - but back at it today), or I can skip a practice (I miss supplements sometimes, and don't freak out about it) - but on the whole, I have to maintain these things in order to stay stable.  Failure to do so - or stress - or big events - or long days - and I can crash, just as if I were diagnosed again...

So - breathe.  I have a formula, if a mood lasts for 3 days, I double down on practices.  If a mood lasts for 3 weeks, I ask for help (usually from a friend, but sometimes from a medical professional).  Breathe - this, too, will pass.

Like Apace said - you're doing fine!

I hope you see the sun today!

[viper73]

Hi Jancarol,

 

I was on Paxil 20 to 30mg for I think 22 years, I try to tape twice and fail. The second time I try I went to the hospital. They try to Reinstate paxil and it’s didn’t work so we try prozac 20mg. I was on 20mg for 1month and went down to 10mg and stay on 10mg for 10 month after that I taper down for 10 month to 1.67mg and I crash because stupid me decided to try take CBD oil when was at 1.67mg I take CBD oil for only 6 days just 1 to 2 drop a day. I crash at 1.67mg with very bad symptoms so I decided to quit CBD oil and the prozac. It’s been 22 months I off of everything. Oh by the way I was using tdcs on June 2019 for 5 weeks I think it didn’t work I stop on July 15 2019 but after that around September my window last 5-7 months. You think that the tdcs make my window last longer or that it’s just me.

 

[Shep]

It's possible tdcs worked for you, Viper. Some find it relaxing. Or it's possible you are recovering and your windows started lasting longer naturally. 

 

Here are members' experiences and links to more information on tdcs and other like devices: 

 

Neurostimulation for withdrawal?

 

Alpha-Stim, Fisher Wallace Sota Biotuner, PoNS, and similar devices

[viper73]

Thanks Shep, I hope it me not The tdcs that give me the window. 

[viper73]

Hi

 

please help

 

i need to ask a question, has anyone has Hypnic Jerking while they about to fall asleep. I got them for 5 days in a row and no sleep. Tonight is my 6 days will this go away, or should I go back to benzo.

 

[ChessieCat]

hypnic-hypnagogic-jerks-when-falling-asleep

 

[ChessieCat]

And if you do an internet search for:  hypnic jerks common

 

From https://www.sleepadvisor.org/hypnic-jerking/

 

Quote

According to an article published in the Journal of Sleep Medicine, hypnic jerks are quite common, with up to 70% of the people of all ages and genders experiencing them.

 

[viper73]

Yes I know , hypnic jerks, but do people’s get insomnia for a long time and the Hynix jerks just stop

 

Edited November 1, 2020 by ChessieCat
unbolded

[ChessieCat]

I suggest you read what others have posted in that link.  You could also ask your question there, which would is more likely to be seen by other members who have an "interest" or experience with hypnic jerks.

[viper73]

Hi I didn’t sleep for 9 days, I went to see the doctor he give me 10mg of paxil and 0.5mg of clonazepam to take for sleep, so far I take it for 11days, because I was suicidal, so that why I went back to taking antidepressants and a benzo, I wait unit I get stable first before I start tapper, I wait and see if one month or two months if I feel better, than I tapped the benzo first, how long should I tapper the 0.5mg of clonazepam, should I tapper the clonazepam for 6 months. Because I only take it for 2 months. After that I will tapper the paxil for like 10% every two weeks or 10% every month. Oh I just find out that I have sleep apnea, I am going to buy the Cpap machine I hope it will help my insomnia, anxiety and depression too.

[Altostrata]

What instructions did the doctor give you?

 

Have you been taking both Paxil and clonazepam for 11 days?

 

Please add the month and year to all the events in your signature.

[manymoretodays]

Hi Viper73,

To update your signature go to: Account Settings > click on signature(it's on the left), and then don't forget to hit SAVE, when you are done

 

You may have to condense some of your previous history.

Putting a SHORT version of your recent history of reducing or discontinuing drugs in your signature helps people understand your context when they read your posts.

 

Your signature appears under all your posts.

 

Staff needs this information to answer your questions. In your signature, we need to see

- Exactly what you're taking now, with dosages and when you started each drug

- What you were taking before, with dosages and start and stop dates

 

As the signature is limited to 12 lines, we expect you will condense your drug history. The last few years usually will do.

 

FOR READABILITY, SHORT LINES ARE BEST.

• A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs
• Include ALL drugs, doses, and dates (starting and stopping)
• Any drugs prior to 24 months ago can just be listed with start and stop years
• Use actual dates or approximate dates (e.g. mid-June 2018) rather than relative time frames (e.g. 3 months ago)
• Spell out months (e.g. "January" or "Jan" as 9/1/2016 can be interpreted as 9 Jan 2016 or 1 Sept 2016)
• Please leave out symptoms and diagnoses

 

Example:

2001–2002 paroxetine 
2003  citalopram 
2004  paroxetine
2008  paroxetine slow taper down to 2016 Aug off paroxetine
2016  citalopram May 20mg  Oct slow taper down
2018  citalopram 13 Feb 4.6mg 15 Mar 4.4mg 29 Apr 4.2mg

 

If you edit your signature, the new one replaces any prior signature. It will appear in your signature under all your posts, even your old posts. If you want to save the information in the old signature, copy it and save it in a file on your computer or in a post in your Introductions topic.

 

Are you sleeping now?  Sleep is so important, to how we feel.  I hope that you have managed to get some.

For now, I will just give you a link to some non-drug sleeping tips, that may be helpful in addition to your Cpap machine.

Tips to help sleep: so many of us have that awful withdrawal insomnia

some of these may help regardless of your WD(withdrawal) status now.

 

Also, please see Alto's questions above and answer.

 

Best, L, P, H, and G,

mmt

 

 

[viper73]

Start taking paxil 10mg and clonazepam 0.5mg on nov 06, 2020. If I am stable on 10mg of paxil  and 0.5mg of clonazepam for 1-2 months, which one to tapper first and for how long should I taper, if I go by the 10% rule a month for paxil it will take me 5.9 years to get off of 10mg of paxil and around  10% off of 0.5 mg clonazepam every 2 weeks it will take me 1.8 years. Total will be almost 8years to get off of both?. Need help can I taper faster since I will be only taking two month on both.

[Altostrata]

23 hours ago, Altostrata said:

What instructions did the doctor give you?

 

Surely since you sought the advice of a physician, you made a treatment plan?

[Colonial]

29 minutes ago, viper73 said:

10% off of 0.5 mg clonazepam every 2 weeks it will take me 1.8 years.

 

Dropping every 2 weeks is very aggressive.

There is a large gap from your last post in March to November when you first began to report the insomnia.

Can you think of anything that would have induced this severe a round of insomnia for 9 days?

It would seem if you went on Paxil and a benzo to counter so severe an issue you would have to figure out why that happened first before you can plan a taper.

Did you have any other medications, herbs, alcohol, drugs, anything to destabilize your system?

 

 

[viper73]

I have depression, anxiety and harm ocd, when I stop my harm ocd Compulsion I start to have high anxiety that when I get the sleep jerks for 9 days. That why I went back to take the paxil and clonazepam, so if I am stable for 2 month witch one to tapper first and for how long should I tapper thanks

[Colonial]

2 minutes ago, viper73 said:

when I stop my harm ocd Compulsion I start to have high anxiety that when I get the sleep jerks for 9 days.

 

I do not know what this means

[viper73]

I stop ocd compulsion that when I get high anxiety. So how should I tapper, since I only will take it for two months each? Should i tapper fast because I only take it for two months, I will start my Cpap mechine for sleep apnea in four days. Or should I quit the paxil 10mg cold turkey I only take for 11 days so far

[Colonial]

 

6 minutes ago, viper73 said:

Should i tapper fast because I only take it for two months,

 

Have you ever thought that Perhaps the reason you keep relapsing into depression, anxiety and OCD is because you keep tapering too fast?

Why do you want to taper if your just going to go back on in another 2-3 years and continue this cycle which can only be making you worse and causing these issues.

Perhaps if you do a proper tamper, Paxil first how ever many years it takes and then the benzo how ever many years more you won't keep finding yourself in this place.

 

 

[Colonial]

8 minutes ago, viper73 said:

I stop ocd compulsion that when I get high anxiety.

 

I still do not know what this means.

Please try to re translate from French into different English words

[viper73]

Should I stop the paxil I only take for 11 days so far

[Colonial]

Have you started sleeping better?

If so, then it was probably adding the benzo that helped that quick and not the Paxil.

If not, then you need to figure out how you are going to solve the insomnia first.

Have you discussed non drug coping mechanisms with your doctor??

 

Please answer this question:

 

11 minutes ago, viper73 said:

I stop ocd compulsion that when I get high anxiety.

 

I still do not know what this means.

Please try to re translate from French into different English words

[manymoretodays]

Hi viper73,

You had sent me this PM:

Start taking paxil 10mg and clonazepam 0.5mg on nov 06, 2020. If I am stable on 10mg of paxil  and 0.5mg of clonazepam for 1-2 months, which one to tapper first and for how long should I taper, if I go by the 10% rule a month for paxil it will take me 5.9 years to get off of 10mg of paxil and around  10% off of 0.5 mg clonazepam every 2 weeks it will take me 1.8 years. Total will be almost 8years to get off of both?. Need help can I taper faster since I will be only taking two month on both.

This looks like a question you might have asked right here too, on your Introduction thread/topic, which would be the best place for your questions.

That way, other members may benefit as well. 

We, generally work through questions from members, in the order that they come in.

 

Are you in the hospital now?

How are you doing/feeling now?

Thank you for updating your signature.

When do you take your drug(s)?

 

We usually recommend tapering the AD first, and then the benzo. 

 

You had said you had insomnia, I think, that led to your being put back on medications?  Is that what led you back to being on medications?

 

You will want to be in a good place prior to beginning a taper:

Before you begin tapering- what you need to know

 

Back later.  I'm headed into the dentist today. Ugh.

 

Best, L, P, H, and G,

mmt

Edited November 18, 2020 by manymoretodays

[viper73]

So if I restart taking the paxil and clonazepam for 2 weeks now. If I tapper the paxil 10mg how long should i tapper the Paxil if i only take it for 2 weeks and after I finished the paxil tapper then how long should I tapper the clonazepam 0.5mg can I quit both of them cold turkey because I only take them for 2 weeks

 

thanks

[Gridley]

15 minutes ago, viper73 said:

So if I restart taking the paxil and clonazepam for 2 weeks now. If I tapper the paxil 10mg how long should i tapper the Paxil if i only take it for 2 weeks and after I finished the paxil tapper then how long should I tapper the clonazepam 0.5mg can I quit both of them cold turkey because I only take them for 2 weeks

 

thanks

If I understand correctly, you've been taking 10mg Paxil for two weeks and 0.5 Clonazepam also for two weeks.  Is that correct?

 

If you are in the hospital, there's not much we can do for you while you're there.  You can tell them our recommendations but they likely won't pay any attention to them.

 

Regarding the Paxil, a person is at risk of withdrawal from an antidepressant after taking it for one month.  Therefore, it is probable that you could quit taking the Paxil now without a taper.  Or you can continue taking it if you decide that's what's best for you.  In the future, if you decide to quit, you would need to taper at a rate of 10% of current dose every four weeks.  Keep in mind that Paxil is one of the most difficult drugs to taper.

 

It's a somewhat different story with the benzo, Clonazepam.  A person can become physiologically dependent on a benzo after taking it from 2-to-4 weeks on a regular basis.  I've read that a member of BenzoBuddies reported physiological dependency after ten days of regular use.  So it's unknown whether you're dependent at this point or not.  You would have to decide whether you want to taper the Clonazepam or to just stop.  If you are dependent, we would recommend tapering at our usual rate of 10% of current dose every four weeks.  If you decide stay on the drugs and later to aper, we recommend tapering only one drug at a time, and in your case the first drug to taper would be Paxil.

 

However, we recommend making only one change at a time.  You could consider stopping the Paxil now and see how you react to that change.

 

 

 

 

[viper73]

Thanks for your advice. I’m not in the hospital anymore. Stayed 6 days. Been out for 5,days now. I feel depressed and a bit suicidal. Should I quit paxil cold turkey now ( been on it 11 days) and clonazepam 13 days?

[Gridley]

4 minutes ago, viper73 said:

Should I quit paxil cold turkey now ( been on it 11 days) and clonazepam 13 days?

In my previous post I gave you all the information I have about the various factors in the situation.  Please re-read that post carefully. There are several unknowns and no certainties.  You will have to make the decision for yourself.

[viper73]

I think I will stay on both long term until I feel stable, and then I will taper the paxil 10mg first even though it will take me 6 years to get off of paxil and then I will wean myself of off clonazepam 0.5 it will take me 1.8 -3 years to wean off of clonazepam total years to wean off both is 7.9 to 9 years. If I wean like this I might not have window and wave. Because right now I have window and wave for the pass 4.5 years. Right now I am fixing my mistakes 4.5 years ago for tapping to fast, I learn my lesson well this time, the slower the tapper that how you win the race.

[mustafa]

2 hours ago, viper73 said:

I think I will stay on both long term until I feel stable, and then I will taper the paxil 10mg first even though it will take me 6 years to get off of paxil and then I will wean myself of off clonazepam 0.5 it will take me 1.8 -3 years to wean off of clonazepam total years to wean off both is 7.9 to 9 years. If I wean like this I might not have window and wave. Because right now I have window and wave for the pass 4.5 years. Right now I am fixing my mistakes 4.5 years ago for tapping to fast, I learn my lesson well this time, the slower the tapper that how you win the race.

My dear viper73,

I dont think u should waste the months u stayed off of the drugs; as I rember you arent taking any drugs for months now so why to be back to have them again and if u are obliged to do that I think u should take a very low dose and try to care yourself with food and self care methods 

[manymoretodays]

Hi Viper73,

How is your sleep right now?  The last couple of nights?

Are you getting any help there to cope with the low feelings and fears/anxiety or obsessions?  Practical help?   Or beginning to learn some non-drug coping skills?

There are a few links on the first page, here, on your introduction, to some non-drug coping that might help you now.  It's always good to be seeking, and learning new skills.

 

Are you feeling at all more stable yet?

And yes, I wonder too, if you might be able to get by on a little lower dose of your Paxil now.  And then when you do start tapering, you'd have less to get off of.

 

Update us soon, right here, and let us know how you are doing.  Thank you.

 

L, P, H, and G,

mmt

 

 

[viper73]

I only taking both paxil and clonazepam for 12 days, so if I go back to rescue does for both or just paxil for now and I need the clonazepam 0,5 for sleep for now. I just went and try Cpap mechine for sleep apnea and I feel good. Or should I just take both of them until I Stabilize and tapper the paxil 10mg first for 2-3 years and then I tapper clonazepam 0.5 for 1.8 - 3 years. Because I tapper to fast the other times and I  going though window and wave for 4.5 years. If I tapper properly this time I hope I don’t get any wave at all. Or should I go take paxil 2mg for a month to two for now and then tapper the paxil 2mg, just stay on 0.5 clonazepam and tapper clonazepam after I finished the paxil 2mg tapper

I hope you reply 

thanks.