Cocopuffz - 11 years on paroxetine. It's nothing but a bad memory now. I am now free!!

[Martina]

13 hours ago, Cocopuffz17 said:

Hey!! Interesting you mention that. I supplemented really aggressively for 2 years. I am currently coming off of all the supplements I was on to see if the headaches/tinnitus may be caused by them. Yes, I use 300 mg of magnesium citrate daily and found it really helped with anxiety. I most recently cut out my Vitamin D supplement and feel less energized. But I am going to stick to my plan and see if getting off these helps. If not I will go back to what has worked for me. 

 

What you mentioned sounds like me when I was on the drug. I was like in constant fight or flight mode, so tired and couldn't fall asleep. 

 

Your English is good  

Hey, thanks for answering. Yes, comming off Paxil is hell as its much, much stronger then other antidepressants on the market. Just wanted to tell you...i also took vitD as i was apparently deficient in it(did blood tests) and i felt awful taking it, it made me super anxious and irritable and i just couldnt understand why. Then i read a book on vitamin D and realised that it needs magnesium to be processed and if a person is mg deficient, excess calcium builds up and makes anxiety worse. I stopped taking all together. Now im gonna try Mg only, in a form of magnesium chloride. Its cheap and apparently the easiest mg to absorb. 

I also developed Hashimotos, an autoimmune thyroid disease, so im not sure if my symptoms are due to thyroid issues or withdrawal.

 

Just one more question, have you felt stupid, unable to focus and demented(short term memory issues, extreme) at any point during withdrawal? I feel really stupid at the moment, as if my brain is numb and "frozen". 😕

You look great, i'm happy for you, i cant wait to get "to the other side". I wanna be like you 😊👍❤

 

Oh, drinking water helped, caffeine and dehydration  make anxiety worse. It can sometimes cause tinnitus and flushes mg out of your system. 

 

 

[ChessieCat]

Hi @Martina and welcome to SA,

 

Please start an Introduction for yourself so that we can get to know you and you will also be able to be assisted by SA staff and supported and encouraged by other SA members.

 

Please start a topic about yourself in this forum

 

Edited April 11, 2021 by ChessieCat

[Cocopuffz17]

On 3/20/2021 at 5:40 AM, Martina said:

Hey, thanks for answering. Yes, comming off Paxil is hell as its much, much stronger then other antidepressants on the market. Just wanted to tell you...i also took vitD as i was apparently deficient in it(did blood tests) and i felt awful taking it, it made me super anxious and irritable and i just couldnt understand why. Then i read a book on vitamin D and realised that it needs magnesium to be processed and if a person is mg deficient, excess calcium builds up and makes anxiety worse. I stopped taking all together. Now im gonna try Mg only, in a form of magnesium chloride. Its cheap and apparently the easiest mg to absorb. 

I also developed Hashimotos, an autoimmune thyroid disease, so im not sure if my symptoms are due to thyroid issues or withdrawal.

 

Just one more question, have you felt stupid, unable to focus and demented(short term memory issues, extreme) at any point during withdrawal? I feel really stupid at the moment, as if my brain is numb and "frozen". 😕

You look great, i'm happy for you, i cant wait to get "to the other side". I wanna be like you 😊👍❤

 

Oh, drinking water helped, caffeine and dehydration  make anxiety worse. It can sometimes cause tinnitus and flushes mg out of your system. 

 

 

 

You are welcome  Yes... yes it is. I never ever would of thought it would of been this hard before coming off of it myself. That is interesting. I have not heard of the magnesium part... but have heard of Vitamin K being needed to stop the calcium build. I guess either way I take both.

 

That is unfortunate when that happens because it is hard to tell what is causing what. Especially with the vast array of symptoms that withdrawals presents. 

 

Absolutely, I was unable to do the job I went to school for because I could not add 2 + 2. I averaged almost 90% in school for my trade with much harder mathematical calculations. My short term memory is slowly but surely coming back. It was absolute crap for a year or more.... I was unable to remember things from literally 10-15 seconds ago. It will get better! I know it is hard to see that now but it does. I thought it would never ever get better. Now I feel daily what I dreamt about feeling like a mere 18 months ago. 

 

Thanks  You can do it! Personally I am really big on nutrition changes as they helped me the most. Our last message I mentioned I was going to come off all my supplements.... which I did and it sucked. So I went roughly 3 weeks without them and am now back on them. I experienced brain zaps for the first time since coming off of paxil after reducing my omega 3 fish oil. They got progressively worse the longer I did not take the supplement. I reinstated the omega 3 fish oil I have been using and within a day the brain zaps are gone. So I will continue to take my supplements for the foreseeable future and come off them when I feel like I am more capable! 

 

Yes, I only drink water now. During my acute withdrawals I was drinking SO much water I cannot remember exactly but it was between 20-30 cups a day and I was still thirsty as could be. I have slowly started reintroducing caffeinated coffee and sometimes it spikes my anxiety and causes me to literally break out in a sweat like I just did a workout. 

 

I am hoping all the best for you  Have a great week! 

[Phoenixmama]

@Cocopuffz17 hi how are you these days , I read your story over and over 

[Cocopuffz17]

1 hour ago, Phoenixmama said:

@Cocopuffz17 hi how are you these days , I read your story over and over 

Hey! I am doing well in comparison to how I have felt in the past. I really only have headaches/tinnitus left. I do get some random symptoms but they are so minimal compared to what I had that it is not even worth mentioning. I did stop my supplements for over a month and my headaches went absolutely crazy .... so I will continue them for the foreseeable future and try coming off them again. 

 

I hope things get better for you. I know how hard this can be to get through. 

[Phoenixmama]

@Cocopuffz17 I’m in a new deep dark state and I don’t know what to do my body it hot and my feelings are dreadful , I feel like I’m going to lose my job and life and I’m so scared and sad 

[Paxil3days]

On 7/17/2020 at 3:57 PM, Cocopuffz17 said:

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS POST

 

YAYAYAY! Now I was at 0..........Not so fast. This is where the real challenge came for me. A few days later I felt absolutely awful. I would puke all day. I combated it by using tums. I actually had knew this might happen as I had a conversation with a friend and she said that they prescribe the same drugs to dogs and if they come off them too fast they puke. Low and behold I started puking my guts out. But it gave me time to think.... why would my body want to puke all of a sudden. An increase in pH level of my stomach acid. So I used tums to neutralize this spike and it was the only day I had to, thankfully! What I learned is this drug acts like a PPI's (proton pump inhibitor)  Mine being suppressed for over 4000 days and now being able to function normal increased my pH too much and that is why I started puking. I wish I would of had pH tests done on my stomach acid pre/post to see the results.  I had roughly a 2-3 month window of feeling well after this. 

 

After that "Honeymoon" period I got crushed by symptoms. Post acute withdrawals I could barely function and these hit way harder than the acute withdrawals I had. This is when I joined SA as I thought I would never get through it. But I kept leaning on the success stories and that people went through and got through it! For over a year from May 2019 to May 2020 roughly. I got absolutely crushed. I experienced every symptom on the list minus brain zaps. My muscles would twitch randomly, vertigo, anxiety, depression , flu like symptoms, tinnitus(all day), headaches(all day), complete loss of libido,fire going through my veins, terrible nightmares,suicidal ideations, blurred vision, inability to focus, anhedonia, metallic taste in my mouth, crushing fatigue, my skin would shed at excessive rates, brain fog(I literally could not add 2 + 2 in my head), loss of memory and hallucinations. These symptoms came and went, cycling for over a year. 

 

 

This picture is from January of 2020. I was getting smashed with headaches/tinnitus on and off for over a year. The further I got away from my last dose the more spaced out they became. These two symptoms and fatigue were the ones that pushed me to the absolute limit. They would not stop, but there was zero chance I was letting this get the better of me. They are almost gone now!!!  I listened to 1000's of hours of motivational videos on youtube. They are what got me through this constant onslaught of headaches/ringing ears. I would turn the music louder so I couldn't hear my ears ring and this was my relief. 

 

I am a Journeyman Electrician by trade and I was unable to go back into that field at this time as I could not bear the challenge of having to make critical decisions. I ended up taking another job for 55% of the pay for almost the entire year as I healed. I am very fortunate that I was able to work while going through this as I know many aren't and I can see exactly why. I was so close to quitting my job and living off money I had saved up and if it got worse I would of used my line of credit and lived off of it till I was capable of working again.

 

 I told myself 1 year I can make 1 year and ill get through this. I hit one year and was feeling way better than when I made that original statement. So now I tell myself 2 years. I took my last dose ever of this poison on February 12, 2019. I am just past 17 months and every month I feel better than the last and symptoms just keep dropping off the list. When I was in the worst pain of my life I never thought this was possible. Do not listen to your mind, you will get through this. Feed your mind positive thoughts and your body healthy foods. The window and waves pattern is exactly how I healed. At the start the waves were way longer than the windows. This slowly but surely reversed its tide. I now have way more windows than waves. I am not 100% as I still get headaches and tinnitus. These happen very little compared to when I had them 24 hrs a day for many months. I only dreamed of feeling this well a year ago. It is now reality 

 

Coming off of this medication made me realize how much a zombie I was on it. I was unable to cry or feel emotions except extreme rage. Since coming off of it. I am now able to cry  I get goosebumps from certain situations in life now which is amazingly refreshing .  I can now look at other human beings and see their emotions and understand what they are feeling. I was such a zombie that I did not feel anything different when someone was crying or smiling. The best way I can describe it is I was on autopilot and was so damn close to being this way for my entire life. So all these health conditions that pushed me to my mental limit are truly a blessing in disguise as it forced me to get off this poison and finally feel real emotions again. I can now be out in nature and feel connected to the world  

 

I always had masseuses/physiotherapists ask me to relax and not be so tense. I did not know any better that my muscles were always contracted from this medication and it was a struggle for my body to heal with my muscle being contracted all the time and limited blood flow to go in to the muscles. Another big one was the clotting of my blood. My blood would not clot while on the medication. Now it clots normal after coming off of it. All these subtle things that I did not notice as I was so zombied on the medication but were little signs I wish I knew to look for.  

Yes,  I am angry that I had to go through this. But anger does no good. I want to help as many people as I can. I know for a fact I would of not been able to get through it without this forum! 

 

After all these health conditions, blood tests, surgeries and numerous doctor visits not one doctor even considered it being the medication. They all knew I was on it. These drugs are extremely powerful and very challenging to get off of. You can do it though, I am proof! 

 

Keep pushing your best days are ahead of you!! The past is there for you to learn from! If you dwell on the past you will never enjoy your future. Always remember everyday that passes is one day closer to being healed   

 

I love you all! You will get through this! Never stop smiling!!! 

 

@Cocopuffz17 great story and inspiration , I only took Paxil 3 days and had all of the symptoms of folks who had taken it for years , I went CT due to extreme nausea and the severe WD symptoms settled in . I had an adverse reaction. I am here to ask you as I am slowly feeling myself heal, when did you know you beginning to feel free of the WD symptoms? 
 

Also when did you begin any exercise routine? As symptoms are getting less and less I am happier and motivated but there is fear that things will come back? What helps you get back into normal routine? 

[Cocopuffz17]

On 5/17/2021 at 7:03 PM, Phoenixmama said:

@Cocopuffz17 I’m in a new deep dark state and I don’t know what to do my body it hot and my feelings are dreadful , I feel like I’m going to lose my job and life and I’m so scared and sad 

 

This makes me so sad to read  Are you having any improvements since you stopped taking your med? 

[Phoenixmama]

Didn’t mean lose my life but everything I worked hard for, yes I am better today Rosetta is brilliant and has broken down what’s going on with me . At the time when I have these feelings it’s like I can’t even remember I’m in withdraw it’s like I’m drowning... but I’m learning , thank you for responding I really appreciate all of you here on SA ❤️

[Cocopuffz17]

19 hours ago, Phoenixmama said:

Didn’t mean lose my life but everything I worked hard for, yes I am better today Rosetta is brilliant and has broken down what’s going on with me . At the time when I have these feelings it’s like I can’t even remember I’m in withdraw it’s like I’m drowning... but I’m learning , thank you for responding I really appreciate all of you here on SA ❤️

 

I know but still it is an extremely tough thing to go through and really sucks the energy out of you. Yes, when you are in a rough patch its hard to think of the good things. It will get better and it does get better. You are welcome. I am thankful for everyone here as well! 

[Phoenixmama]

@Paxil3days hi how are you doing this week

[Paxil3days]

23 hours ago, Phoenixmama said:

@Paxil3days hi how are you doing this week

@Phoenixmama hi I feel like I am stabilizing however it is still inconsistent. How are you? 

[Phoenixmama]

@Paxil3days  hi , im still having the ups and downs , what is stabilizing and how do i know when i'm doing it 

[Phoenixmama]

@Paxil3days i keep getting that feeling like i"m stuck in this forever feeling and crying , and missing me 

[Paxil3days]

12 minutes ago, Phoenixmama said:

@Paxil3days i keep getting that feeling like i"m stuck in this forever feeling and crying , and missing me 

Well it is a very inconsistent healing process to say the least. Focus on what has gotten better slowly even if it’s very very small. I think that would be important right now for you. 

[Phoenixmama]

@paxil3days so does it mean like your waves and windows are steady and your symptoms and low ?

[Phoenixmama]

@Cocopuffz17 whats the name of the book you read by dr G i tried looking it up i cant find it 

[Cocopuffz17]

46 minutes ago, Phoenixmama said:

@Cocopuffz17 whats the name of the book you read by dr G i tried looking it up i cant find it 

Hey the book I follow is The Plant Paradox by Dr.Gundry. You can find it on Amazon.

[Phoenixmama]

thanks @Cocopuffz17

 

[Phoenixmama]

I would like some help from anyone, I'm at a point where i don't know if I'm having windows anymore I haven't felt like my self in a long time , i used to have moments where i did  , now its just like I'm not having super high bad emotions at a moment but i still feel down and , then there is the high emotions where i can feel its a wave , i had a symptom return yesterday which was nausea and dizziness and flu like symptoms haven't had that in a while... 

i just want to know if there's a point where the windows are are just no symptoms but a you still don't feel good and  you are unmotivated.... i miss the windows i use to get a couple weeks ago at least i had something to look forward to... anyone please help!!! thank you 

[Phoenixmama]

how do i know when withdraw is over ??? or coming to an end ? how will i know if my cns is stabilized ? how do i know what part of withdraw I'm in ? anyone 

[Cocopuffz17]

25 minutes ago, Phoenixmama said:

how do i know when withdraw is over ??? or coming to an end ? how will i know if my cns is stabilized ? how do i know what part of withdraw I'm in ? anyone 

This is a very tough question to answer. For me personally I don’t even remember what it was like before medication. I just know the worst part is over and every month that I get further away from my last dose I feel better and experience emotions that I did not have for over a decade. 

[Phoenixmama]

I understand, even though I was only on celexa for a very short time , I noticed the emotion thing first , I couldn’t cry and that scared me really really bad because I’m an emotional person naturally and I love to feel , also I felt very very far away from my daughter even though she was right next to me and I felt a disconnection from me and my soul and spirit , when my feelings came back I was so grateful 

[Rondasavage]

Hey @Cocopuffz17i was wondering Is the plant paradox still working abs how bad your social anxiety been.

[Rondasavage]

Hey another question @Cocopuffz17what helped with the physical symptoms of anxiety was it the plant paradox diet and working out? I feel like my body is mostly in fight or flight mode.

[Cocopuffz17]

On 6/4/2021 at 1:48 AM, Rondasavage said:

Hey @Cocopuffz17i was wondering Is the plant paradox still working abs how bad your social anxiety been.

 

Yes, it helps. Interesting you mention this as I am messing around with a friend and doing a 20k calorie challenge in a day. So I am going to be eating terrible food and I have been eating garbage food to prepare. I have noticed a huge uptick in anxiety with eating garbage food. So in the following 2 weeks after this I will be back at it and fully expect my anxiety to lessen again.

On 6/4/2021 at 3:37 PM, Rondasavage said:

Hey another question @Cocopuffz17what helped with the physical symptoms of anxiety was it the plant paradox diet and working out? I feel like my body is mostly in fight or flight mode.

 

Both, I notice an almost instant relief when I workout, but I also noticed if I worked out too hard I had a crash the following days. Nutrition was by far the best improvement in my mood. Both physically and mentally. 

[Rondasavage]

56 minutes ago, Cocopuffz17 said:

 

Yes, it helps. Interesting you mention this as I am messing around with a friend and doing a 20k calorie challenge in a day. So I am going to be eating terrible food and I have been eating garbage food to prepare. I have noticed a huge uptick in anxiety with eating garbage food. So in the following 2 weeks after this I will be back at it and fully expect my anxiety to lessen again.

 

Both, I notice an almost instant relief when I workout, but I also noticed if I worked out too hard I had a crash the following days. Nutrition was by far the best improvement in my mood. Both physically and mentally. 

Ok thank you so much I appreciate it. I’m going to start the plant paradox diet real soon. Are you still taking magnesium and is it helping you feel more calm and relaxed?

[Cocopuffz17]

2 minutes ago, Rondasavage said:

Ok thank you so much I appreciate it. I’m going to start the plant paradox diet real soon. Are you still taking magnesium and is it helping you feel more calm and relaxed?

You are welcome! 
 

Yes, I started seeing a naturopath and I am working towards upping my magnesium to 600mg. I was on 300 mg for a long time. 

[Rondasavage]

32 minutes ago, Cocopuffz17 said:

You are welcome! 
 

Yes, I started seeing a naturopath and I am working towards upping my magnesium to 600mg. I was on 300 mg for a long time. 

Ok good one last question what magnesium are you taking??? 

[Cocopuffz17]

17 minutes ago, Rondasavage said:

Ok good one last question what magnesium are you taking??? 

I take magnesium citrate. Many say it causes looser bowel movements. I have not experienced this. If it does I have been told magnesium glycinate is  not as hard on ya. 

[Evey]

Thank you for sharing your story, you gave me hope. After 7 years on paroxetine my last dose was 3 weeks ago. I can’t even put in words what I am feeling, is being very hard but I will not give up 🙏

[Kimboslice]

Hey Coco. 
 

I hope your well?

After seeing the success yourself and others have had changing your diet, I’m contemplating whether to start and follow the plant paradox.

I was hoping you’d be happy to answer a couple of questions on points about the diets restrictions that make me little apprehensive. 
1. I am very much into weight training and cardio (running) and am worried whether the restrictive nature of the diet  will make it impossible consume enough calories to maintain my body mass? 
2. how difficult is it to source and shop for food that comply’s with the diet plan? For example I like meat.. like a lot, so I’d need to locate a credible supplier/Farmer I can trust. And the same goes for veg. 

3. Can it be maintained inexpensively? My income currently isn’t fantastic so I haven’t much flexibility to allocate a vast amount more of my funds toward food. Any advice on working within a budget but still being able to eat well?

 

Any insight would be a great help.

 

 

[Cocopuffz17]

On 6/10/2021 at 8:32 AM, Evey said:

Thank you for sharing your story, you gave me hope. After 7 years on paroxetine my last dose was 3 weeks ago. I can’t even put in words what I am feeling, is being very hard but I will not give up 🙏

 

Hey, you are welcome. I know how you feel and it does get better. There is going to be hard days and good days. But remember one day it will flip and the bad days will dwindle away and the good days will be plentiful. You got this! 

 

On 6/11/2021 at 7:17 AM, Kimboslice said:

Hey Coco. 
 

I hope your well?

After seeing the success yourself and others have had changing your diet, I’m contemplating whether to start and follow the plant paradox.

I was hoping you’d be happy to answer a couple of questions on points about the diets restrictions that make me little apprehensive. 
1. I am very much into weight training and cardio (running) and am worried whether the restrictive nature of the diet  will make it impossible consume enough calories to maintain my body mass? 
2. how difficult is it to source and shop for food that comply’s with the diet plan? For example I like meat.. like a lot, so I’d need to locate a credible supplier/Farmer I can trust. And the same goes for veg. 

3. Can it be maintained inexpensively? My income currently isn’t fantastic so I haven’t much flexibility to allocate a vast amount more of my funds toward food. Any advice on working within a budget but still being able to eat well?

 

Any insight would be a great help.

 

 

 

Hey Kimbo,

 

1. I don't do much weight training. I have been able to increase my cardio sooo much since starting this nutrition lifestyle. I could not run a 5k while on paxil. I have now ran over 100 in the last year and thrown in some 5k's. Me personally I have just increased my olive oil intake for calorie intake. But I am going to start incorporating more meats to get more calories. I get a majority of my calories from nuts and olive oil currently.

 

2. I have had zero issues with this. I have found that once I started looking for it there is TONS of farmers around where I live that have compliant foods. There is local farmer markets here and lots of farmers who have grass fed/finished meats around my area. Costco also has a lot of organic products that are perfect and you cannot beat their prices.

 

3. I personally found it to be cheaper. I used to eat out and spend a lot of money that way. Now I eat way cheaper with buying the raw ingredients and not spending anywhere near what I used to out at restaurants. I bet I cut my expenses by 98% on meals at restaurants. This is where Costco helps out as well. When I compare prices to the amount of product I receive in some cases it is like a 75% savings. 

 

 

[Rondasavage]

Hey @Cocopuffz17one more question did you experience shortness of breath when you had bad anxiety. I have social anxiety a little bit so when I get around people my body is like consistent fight or flight mode and I get shortness of breath what helped with that the magnesium and the plant paradox or what?

[ViolinStudent]

Very setzy pic at the end

[ViolinStudent]

On 6/10/2021 at 3:32 PM, Evey said:

Thank you for sharing your story, you gave me hope. After 7 years on paroxetine my last dose was 3 weeks ago. I can’t even put in words what I am feeling, is being very hard but I will not give up 🙏

Omg what symptoms do you have? Currently I got tinnitus since reducing and I’m now on 4mg