Quitter Double edged 'Paroxetine' sword

[Quitter]

Greetings,

 

For me, I believe Paroxetine has been a blessing and a curse. I've suffered a lifetime of social anxiety. I've fought through it solo for over 40 years until I finally sought professional help. I started seeing Physiatrists, Counselors, and attending Group therapy sessions. Well, after 2 years of these activities I am happy (and my wife and kids are also happy) to say that my social anxiety is gone. The extremely high levels of fear, adrenalin rush, etc.. that I experience prior to any social event is gone. However, I am NOT happy to say that a side effect of this activity has been a a great deal of tiredness, lethargy, depression. To the point where I have not been able to keep up with my work activities and am in peril of losing my job!

 

As part of my Physiatrist treatment, I have been prescribed Paroxetine 30mg daily. Very, very, slowly, over a one year period, I slept more and more until sleeping was ALL I wanted to do. I no longer had anything in life I looked forward to doing but… on the bright side… no social anxiety though J. It was then that my Physiatrist started prescribing ‘add-on’ anti-depressants. This only served to add additional side effects to the mix. Unfortunately, one of these ‘add-on’ meds (Wellbutin) caused me to have a seizure and a $15,000 hospital bill L.

 

My Physiatrist lowered my Paroxetine dosage to 20mg over a week ago with no side effects so far. I am getting a tiny bit of my strength back but am getting VERY upset of this lack of energy and am considering going COLD TURKEY on Paroxetine. I will not be a problem quitting the other ‘add-on’ anti-depressants I’ve been prescribed because I’ve only taken each one at a time for short periods and have never seen bad reactions stopping them.

 

[Quitter]

I'm glad I've found this website...I'm understanding more now that I've read some of these member posts. My "Paxil induced depression" is now coming into focus. I'm now thinking that my doctor had me on too high of a dose all along and I have been feeling like a zombie because of it. Not a "Paxil induced Depression" after all?, just a dead, emotionless state. When I asked my doctor if paxil caused my depression she said she didn't think so, then proceeded to add additional 'add-on' medications (Instead of lowering my paxil dose). Now I think I'm understanding a little clearer. I think I've been over medicated for quite some time....

 

Practicing Medicine eh? Well, I think I’ll practice a bit myself and quit paxil to test the waters of withdraw symptoms. I’ve neglected my life and occupation due to being a ‘paxil zombie’ long enough. Who knows, maybe I really NEED to be on Paxil… just a lower dose? At this point, I REALLY need to know fast, I need to get some energy back, some enthusiasm for my job back before it’s too late.

[Claudius]

My Physiatrist lowered my Paroxetine dosage to 20mg over a week ago with no side effects so far. I am getting a tiny bit of my strength back but am getting VERY upset of this lack of energy and am considering going COLD TURKEY on Paroxetine. I will not be a problem quitting the other ‘add-on’ anti-depressants I’ve been prescribed because I’ve only taken each one at a time for short periods and have never seen bad reactions stopping them.

 

 

PLEASE never do this! I did it and almost paid with my life for it. Now 6 years after cold turkey I am still recovering.

Paroxetine is one of the most addictive substances in the world and needs to be patered of VERY slowly. Even the last 5 mg can be a hell of a ride.

[Quitter]

Thanks for the advise. Probably the Paroxetine but I'm just not worried as I should be, I seem to feel I can do it for some reason. I've read others mention the "bad experience" of withdraw but I haven't yet found a detailed description of withdraw symptoms. Would you happen have a link to some withdraw symptoms?

[Sparrow]

Quitter, one of the moderators will be along to advise you in more depth, but I just wanted to jump in and underscore what Claudius said: do NOT NOT NOT cold turkey the paroxetine.

 

This entire forum is filled with people who've experienced the horrible, debilitating effects of suddenly stopping or tapering off psychotropic drugs too quickly. Even your drop from 30 mg to 20 mg a week ago is precipitous.

 

Read this thread for info on tapering paroxetine:

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/405-tips-for-tapering-off-paxil-paroxetine/?hl=paroxetine

 

Please don't make the mistake that many of us here have made, and are paying for dearly.

[Jemima]

I wholeheartedly agree with Claudius and Sparrow about cold turkey withdrawal.  This is one of the worst things you can do to yourself. Paxil is just possibly the worst of the worst antidepressants to quit and your having been on and off of other antidepressants makes it far more likely that you will have extremely uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms.  Most people are able to go on and off a few of these drugs with no apparent harm done, especially if they've only been taken for a few weeks, but the damage to the central nervous system builds up and - WHAM!

 

Antidepressants change the physical structure of the central nervous system including the brain. This changes do not go "Poof!" and disappear as soon as the drug is out of your body, but remain for months to years while your CNS repairs itself and gets back to normal. Stopping the drug abruptly is like yanking a crutch away from someone with a broken leg - down he goes!  Tapering by 10% or less as we recommend allows the CNS to have some support and time to adapt as the drug is slowly, slowly removed from the body.

 

Please read this topic Introduction to Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and take some time to browse through the Introductions, were you'll find many hair-raising stories of cold-turkey withdrawal. If you're aiming to get on unemployment compensation, cold turkey is a pretty sure bet.

 

Welcome to the forum.  You'll find lots of good information and friendly support here.