Paxil withdrawal anxiety
Common Questions and Answers about Paxil withdrawal anxiety
paxil
My doc stated that I could switch over to Lexapro from Paxil so I took both for 2 weeks then dropped Paxil all together. Could I still be feeling the affects of Paxil withdrawal? I felt good after 2 weeks and even tried to come down on my Klonopin a couple of days after my paxil ended. Mistake! Just wanting to know if anybody had the same issues and how long do I need to plan on suffering? This is getting old and I'm ready to feel like my old self again.
So I guess the anxiety could be a mixture of your original anxiety issues, plus withdrawal. I know it sounds odd saying withdrawal after a year, but you are still taking the medication. A friend of mine was on antidepressants and it took him years to get off them fully.
I was on Paxil 5 years ago for divorce anxiety and tapered off slowly and it was fine. I just started it again because of general anxiety issues. I have just taken it 5 mg for 5 days then 10 mg for two days then, 5 mg for 1 day, 2.5 mg for 1 day then quit. I am having the worst anxiety. My counselor tells me that this was such a small dose for such a small time I should not be having any reactions, but I cannot pull out of the anxiety. I tried .50 mg melatonin last night, and am worse.
I was recently on paxil for anxiety until I realized all of the side effects that I was getting including gaining weight. I talked to my doctor and he said I could wean myself off. I was taking 20 mg. He said 10 mg for 2 weeks and then 5mg for 2 weeks, after start wellbutrin. However, I didn't make it that far. Just by one week of going Down to 10 mg I was vomiting, running to the bathroom. Nervousness, dizzy, brain zap and a fuzzy feeling in my head, sweating, VERY emotional.
I recently spoke with my own psychiatrist about the breakthrough anxiety I was having, and about my Paxil concerns, and his recommendation was to up my Paxil dose to 60 mg/day or to augment with Buspar. I am a successful Art Director, a husband, and a father. I am so afraid that I will eventually lose those things that are most precious to me if I ever have to come off of this antidepressant. Any insight or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Kind regards.
Sounds like it's mostly the withdrawal from the Paxil. Going on and coming off Paxil are always really horrible. Symptoms will subside once your Seretonin starts firing normally again.
You may want to start taking 5HTP to help with the withdrawal. You can buy this product at any drugstore or even walmart. It really does work to increase seretonin.
I am a 20 year old, 5'2", 115lb. female and for the past year or so I've been on Paxil, but my entire experience with Paxil is that it makes me nauseous and shake no matter how long I take it for. My body can't seem to get over the side-effects, so for a while I was only taking the Paxil every three to four days (they were extended-release pills) and I seemed to be alright. But for the past few weeks I decided to try to get off Paxil completely.
Heroin in far worse physiologically, and Paxil far worse emotionally to withdraw from. And Paxil withdrawal can last a whole lot longer. But the reason it's not addictive is, to be technically considered addictive, you have to need to continually increase the dose to get the same effect. That's not true of ssris. But addiction is actually a medical term that has found it's way into our common lexicon in all kinds of erroneous ways.
The Zoloft, as you discovered, doesn't get rid of Paxil withdrawal, so you have no idea what's causing this -- the Paxil or the Zoloft. That's the downside of moving immediately from one med to another without completing a nice slow taper from the one first. Especially Paxil, which is known to have a strong withdrawal. If the Zoloft proves problematic, taper it down slowly; don't do this again.
Or did you quit recently and suddenly experience a lot of anxiety different from what you experienced before going on Paxil, which might indicate a withdrawal problem from the Paxil. Paxil is one of the most difficult meds to stop taking, and after one stops taking it has the reputation of not working again or one has to take a lot more than one took originally to get the same results.
Had the same effect with Prozac and Zoloft -- no effects, no side effects. SNRIs aren't usually used for anxiety alone because they can be stimulating due to the effect on norepinephrine, they're usually used where depression is the primary problem. You never know until you try, of course. You say, though, you're only suffering from what doesn't sound like the kind of intense anxiety that usually calls for medication, though I certainly could be reading that wrong.
Do a search on the forum about Paxil withdrawal symptoms.I went on it for a while and my doctor said its good for anxiety and is non addictive!not only was it worse for my condition-it increased my anxiety,but getting off it was a nightmare!Brain zaps,extreme anxiety insomnia etc.speak to your doctor about this possibility.
Sorry to hear you are having a rough time. Like you say, everyone's different and I personally found paxil a godsend for anxiety.
Four years ago I tapered off Paxil, and within a short time the physiological stuff turned into a profound depression, constant anxiety, anticipatory anxiety, memory problems, lack of ability to enjoy anything much or think of anything but how anxious and depressed I am. My psychiatrist at that time never told me about withdrawal, nor did he tell me while I was going through it, and by the time I found out about it on the internet months had passed.
t sound like withdrawal, it sounds like the Paxil was working and without it you still have the anxiety problem. Withdrawal symptoms are many and different for all of us, but they aren't the exact same thing we had before we went on medication. They're odd and they create different issues than we had before. So again, most likely, you're not ready to come off medication yet since you're problem hasn't been solved.
Paxil should be done on at least a six week taper. It's a tough one to withdraw from. The problem with shifting directly from one to another is you can't tell whether what you're suffering is withdrawal from the last drug or side effects from the new one, so it's impossible for your psychiatrist to help you adapt. Now, because Paxil is so hard to withdraw from for some people, what some psychiatrists do is put you on a little liquid prozac to ease the withdrawal.
I went to the ER and they told me that I could have died but the dr was sure it was just anxiety because he said Paxil is safe. He said I should have no withdrawals. Well when I went back on Paxil it all stopped. The migraines I had, I just knew I had a brain tumor but didn't. It was severe 24/7 headaches!! The flushing was bad too. I took Loratab years back and came off and had 3 days of withdrawals but with the Paxil, the withdrawals don't end.
I am a 20 year old, 5'2", 115lb. female and for the past year or so I've been on Paxil, but my entire experience with Paxil is that it makes me nauseous and shake no matter how long I take it for. My body can't seem to get over the side-effects, so for a while I was only taking the Paxil every three to four days (they were extended-release pills) and I seemed to be alright. But for the past few weeks I decided to try to get off Paxil completely.
I was on Paxil for a few months and came off and experienced massive withdrawal, worse then my previous Loratab addiction. I came off cold turkey but immediately switched to Zoloft. I was on a high dose of Paxil. The only ache I had was a massive headache 24/7. Massive!! I went back on Paxil for two weeks and I'm off again but it's odd that I have no headache but I have the most horrible back pain. I never had this before starting Paxil.
I have been weaning off Paxil from Paxil CR 25 mg, now on Paxil 10 mg (to avoid withdrawal) because I have been on for probably 10 years now. Unfortunately, after about 3 weeks on the lower dose I feel my lack of motivation, melancholy feelings, being less able to handle frustration with work etc all coming back. I really do not want to go back up on my dose of Paxil since it has such severe withdrawal effects if I ever go off it again.
What are your symptoms now? Usually withdrawal canl include nausea, anxiety, headaches, brain zaps,trouble sleeping and other possible symptoms.
Make sure you very slowly taper off the Paxil before starting the new drug. You want to know what effects are withdrawal from Paxil and which are side effects from the new drug, and Paxil can take a long time to wean off of. Be safe.
I was prescribed Paxil CR, 12.5mg for anxiety. I have been on it for about 3 months and week. It helped somewhat but there are days when I don't feel like myself. I would rather make some lifestyle changes to combat my anxiety. So, my doctor told me to stop taking it. I was afraid because of the horror stories that I've heard. So, he gave me a prescription for the regular Paxil; take 2 10mg for the first 3 days and then 1 pill a day for two days. I have the prescription...
I felt like I had the flu and very achy. Very bad withdrawal effects. I was then put on regular paxil 40 mg daily and I constantly had the eye zaps and strong depersonalization feelings like I was in a constant withdrawal.
I was then switched to Lexapro 20 mg. It seemed better than the Paxil but I was still getting the eye zaps and depersonalization but to a lesser extent.
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