SwampGal: horrible headaches?

[SwampGal]

Hello beautiful people, I am new here.  I apologise if this topic was already covered  a million times, but.... I am rather hopeless right now. 

 

I've been reducing my paroxetine dosage.  The last reduction was from 20mg to 10mg a day. About  a week or so passed of me taking this new 10mg dose and I started having TERRIBLE headaches. Mainly it's my temples, my jaw, my teeth. 

Have any of you had this problem ? How did you cope? I mean, I could be taking ibuprofen everyday,but it's been more than a week and that in itself has side effects... So I'm looking for something, just about anything that could help. 

[baroquep]

Hi Swampgal, 

 

Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants, so glad that you found the site.  Please know that what you are experiencing is completely normal under the circumstances.  Unfortunately when a psychiatric drug is tapered too quickly, by too high a dose, or taken on alternate days, it causes the central nervous system (CNS) to destabilize and results in withdrawal. 

 

Surviving Antidepressants recommends tapering by 10% of your current dose with at a hold of at least four weeks before your next decrease.  The The 10% taper recommendation is a harm reduction approach to going off psychiatric drugs.  Some people may have to taper at an even more conservative rate.  

I order to get a clear picture of what you are dealing with, we ask all of our members to fill out a withdrawal signature history so that all of your information can be read at a glance.  This helps moderators immensely and we would ask that you follow the instructions at the link below.

 

Instructions:  Withdrawal History Signature

 

I don't want to inundate you with too much information before we get more details from you regarding your tapering/drug history but will include a link that provides more details on the protocols recommended by Surviving Antidepressants and the only way, in my opinion, to get off of these drugs safely with minimal withdrawal symptoms.

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

To help you deal with the headaches, I've provided a few links so that you can read up on various self-care techniques that have been used by members of this community to help ease withdrawal symptoms.  Many people experiencing withdrawal have also found relief by supplementing with Omega 3 and magnesium which can help calm the nervous system and I've also included those links below.

 

Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms
Non-drug techniques for dealing with physical pain

Omega-3 Fish Oil

Magnesium

Hope these links are helpful.  Please feel free to connect with other members of the community here in your intro, Surviving Antidepressants is an amazing community with supportive members that know what you are dealing with and are here to help.

 

 

Edited August 30, 2017 by baroquep

[LexAnger]

Each time I dropped dose too much, I would have the most intolerable headache along with others. Those drops are within 10%. 

Giving the short time you have been on 10mg, it's a great chance to updose and taper slow from there to avoid the headache continuing along with others possible.

[SwampGal]

Thank  you. This means a lot to me. This whole thing really can make one feel alone and hopeless and I am glad that I found this forum.

 

So, today I've bought a magnesium citrate-based supplement and a bottle of fish oil capsules ( I am not based in the US, hence the brand names are different here, but I think I got the one with the biggest omega-3 content)  . We don't have mag glycinate here, but I'm  thinking of buying it on ebay, I've read that this particular form of magnesium  is worth trying out...?

 

Maybe there's something else I could be taking to soothe my headaches? Oh maaan, I'd try just about anything.

[baroquep]

Hi Swampgal, glad to hear that you are going to start those supplements, they have been very helpful during my taper when I've run into trouble.   I'd be leary of supplements purchased on eBay, might be best to stick to local products just to be on the safe side.

 

As LexAnger mentioned above, reinstatement of a small amount of Zoloft may help to ease your headaches.  I wanted to see your withdrawal signature history before making this recommendation as its best to get a history beforehand.  What works for one person won't necessarily work for another and I tend to be cautious about everything when it comes to tapering off of antipdepressants as they are so unpredictable.

 

Please have a look at the link below so that you understand what is involved in reinstating antidepressants and feel free to come back and post again if you need additional information or clarification.