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GiveMeHope: I Quit Paxil


GiveMeHope

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I quit Paxil on April 23, 2016 after six to eight years/20mg daily dose.  Went through 72 hours of hell. Day 9 felt "broken" 8 weeks ago my life became a living nightmare. Dug deep on the web, found this forum. I think I have dysautonomia; I know I do. Will I make it??

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GiveMeHope, Welcome to SA. I'm glad that you've found us and sorry that you need information about antidepressant withdrawal. I hope you'll find the information helpful and suggestions worth considering. Going cold-turkey off 20 mg Paxil after 6-8 years is one heckuva jump. 
To answer your key question: You will make it.
 
When I looked up dysautonomia, I saw significant overlap with symptoms withdrawal of withdrawal syndrome. Read more about w/d here: What is withdrawal syndrome. What specific symptoms are you experiencing that lead you to consider dysautonomia?
 
Are you open to reinstating a tiny dose, as in 1 mg or less, of Paxil? Some people experience fewer and less intense symptoms after a 4-7 day trial of a small dose; some don't. Those who do continue at that dose then taper off it. I'm not suggesting you reinstate right now, I'm simply asking whether you are open to the idea.
Read our topic About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptomsand come back with any questions
 
As you may have discovered, we suggest people take it slowly cutting their current dose by 10% or less and maintaining that dose for 4 weeks. For more details about that and the reasons why, read  Why taper by 10% of my dosage?
 
Would you take a couple of minutes to create a signature?  It helps the moderating team respond more completely if we can see your meds and withdrawal history below each of your posts. Please put your withdrawal history in signature

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.
1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results

Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to  0.0 mg  Aug. 12; details here


scallywag's Introduction
Online spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet

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