Paxil Withdrawal
I added a 4th Celexa, bringing my dose to 80 mg. In the US, that is considered too much but in Europe, according to my doctor, they use as much as 100 mg. Since I was on a high dose of Paxil, I probably will need the 100 mg eventually. My psychiatrist said that although the Paxil is now out of my system, my body is craving the Paxil and the Celexa does not satisfy the craving. Therefore, it will be about 6 more weeks until the craving is gone. In the meantime, I will continue to have days where I have no energy and the world seems dark and negative to me. Also, my GAD (anxiety disorder) is pushing through too. I have some old time anticipatory anxiety and social anxiety.
Considering the fact that I could be suffering way more, and have not had to resort to going back on a low dose of Paxil as many people do, I feel I am doing well. I look forward to feeling better most of the time. It’s a bummer that a good part of the summer will be spent in emotional low gear. For now, there is no other medication change but we might increase the neurontin if my anxiety gets really uncomfortable. And there is always a xanax in a real emergency. So far I have not needed a xanax, and that is saying a lot. I would appreciate comments from other people who have gone off paxil.
Tags: paxil withdrawal, paxil, neurontin, klonopin, anti-anxiety medication, generalized anxiety disorder, GAD, CBT, cognitive behavior therapy, worry, psychotherapy, Celexa, paxil CR. psychiatrist
- Posted in : generalized anxiety disorder
- Author : freebird
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You have an amazing blog
I just stumbled across it and I marvelled at your dedication. I have suffered from major anxiety for over ten years. An over zelous doctor prescribed a drug called Rivotril or better known as clomazepam. I was new to drugs and I honestly thought he had given me a mood stabiliser. Well. Now I have been weaning off the nasty benzo family for four years. I went from the Rivotril to Diazepam, Valium was apparently the best drug to use, or thats just what Doctors in Australia use. I am now down to 2 and a half 5mg tablets a day, from 6. Its taken almost three years to get here.
Thanks to my new Doc and a regimented but careful withdrawal from benzos, my life is on the up and up.
I had to see a new Doc, cause Mr. Prescription made life hell, and not better. My new Doc has since discovered that because of my PTSD, I have unusually high amounts of adrenaline. All tests were done for Pheyochromosytoma etc etc. Since he started me on Beta Blockers to reduce the amount of Adrenaline in my system, the changes are amazing. I feel almost human again. I have suffered from PTSD since childhood. Depression and Anxiety have weaved themselves into my life for years, and when my daughter was born I got Post Partum Depression.
I have been hospitalised twice for my depression, and my anxiety has made life unbearable for me at times. I honestly wonder how many people with major anxiety would benefit from testing to see where their Adrenaline levels are at.
This is very interesting. I have never heard of this issue of adrenaline levels. Any other people out there who have discovered this about themselves?
46 y/o single male. After nine years straight on Paxil for depression and GAD, I decided I wanted to have sexual feelings again, so I stopped taking it - first cutting the dose down 1/2, for a week, then stopping 100%. I should say, my normal dose was usually 30 mg a day. But i had done okay on 20 mg a day too. After stopping about a week, I noticed an increase in stomach upset, and vertigo. But then, things seem to settle in nicely and I was finally tackling projects that I’d just left undone done for years-work around the house, mostly. About three weeks into it, I noticed more motivation, but also more agitation-if things weren’t just ‘right’ feeling frustratred and rather pissed off, and feeling impatient and having almost constant butterflies in the stomach. Feeling I need to be on gaurd that I might say something rude to a coworker or friend if they irritated me. Now, 5 weeks after stopping, I’m getting what I’d say is ‘lots of anxiety’, and I am somewhat agitated. I feel tear-y and it doesn’t take much for me to choke up with a lump in my throat. I’m having fairly strong freelings of guilt-especially over a girlfriend I recently split off with.
It is hard for me to aim my focus away from the dystopic (is that the right word?) feelings that seem to with me almost all the time.
I will say, my sexual feelings did come back nicely after about two weeks off the drug. for about 1 week I was, what I’d term, rather hypersexul-almost like being as horny as a teenager again. This kind of worried me, and I’m glad it lasted only a week. But now I’m sort of too keyed up to pursue these things. I often have an upset stomach, and if I eat I have indegestion. I am getting anticipatory anxiety, and that’s pretty uncomfortable. I want to be around people, and then I get uncomfortable and want to be left alone.
Any thoughts on this out there- is all this from the paxil clearing my body, or am I going back to my old self again, or maybe something that’s in-between? My deprseeions were always characterized by agitation, anxiety, somatic complaints, anticipatory anxiety and generalized aprehension.
I have been seeing a weekly therapist for, well, years off and on. But really, finding a doctor willing to prescribe even small amounts of minor tranquilizers is difficult because I have a history of alcohol abuse.
I don’t like the idea of needing to go back on an ssri again, because the side effects aren’t much fun. I was considering going back to a 10 mg a day dose of paxil; but if what I’m going through now is really my body craving paxil again, maybe I shold try to ride it out?
As usualy, finding a medical person who can give any type of definative answer on these issues is tough in my experience. I get a lot of, ‘well, we can try this and maybe that, which sometimes works for some people, but we have no idea why and you might try ginseng and warm baths…’, etc. Isn’t this the last thing you want to hear when you’re going to someone for help? Hum.
Anyway, first thing on Monday, I’m going to get scheduled to see (another) psychiatrist.
Dee,
I must say that I am surprised you can’t see that your old GAD and Social Anxiety symptoms are returning. Why would you think that you would feel ok w/o the Paxil? Did you wean yourself off the Paxil, or were you supervised?
My psychiatrist tells me that even after the Paxil is out of your system, your nerve endings still are “wild”, looking for the Paxil to calm them down. He said it can be several months before this stops.
I can understand you wanting to stop the Paxil. I was taking it for about 13 years…….a much higher dose I might add…..And only after switching to Celexa do I realize the side effects. Sexually I am much more alive and also, on the Paxil I now realize that I was hungry all the time! NOw i am not hungry like that and I lost about 6 pounds becuase of this.
Although the Celexa is not yet replacing the Paxil completely in terms of my needs, the Neurontin is WONDERFUL. Please ask your new doctor about adding Neurontin to your regimen. It works great to quiety the anxiety.
Good luck, Dee. And don’t hesitate to take the medication you need to feel better. Those feelings you described are very familiar. How can you be willing to live like that?
I am 66 years old and I am going on my 4th week off paxil-neurontin and caffiene. I am now in the GAD phase and needing ambien to help me in the eve. I don’t know how long I will have to go through this but I am convince that paxil is out inspite of the feelings. My nerve ending are just going to have to be patience (joke) for the time being. My psychiatrist has told me in our first session that paxil has such strong withdrawal effects that he will not even prescribe it to a patience.
My sex life that had been dead for the years that I have been a zolfoft-prosec-wellbutrin-and paxil and is quickly come back to life in just a few days if paxil withdrawal. I think of that and I say-it’s worth the pain of a few weeks of paxil withdrawal as well as the other drugs to once again begin to feel not just the bad but the good.
Dear Tony,
I agree with you about the Paxil. However, I don’t think it is necessary to suffer from anxiety. There are other medications out there. I am doing great on Celexa and Neurontin now. I have a better sex life and I have lost about 8 pounds. I did not realize how hungry the Paxil had made me. The withdrawal from the paxil is gradual, but it does end. Let me know how you are doing.
Imagine being on paxil, klonopine, seroquel. For a long time and then going to jail on informal charges that get dropped 20 days later. While in jail I detoxed against my will with no help from no one no nurses no drugs. and crammed in a dorm with real criminals OMG! I will never be the same. I still dose like 10mgs of paxil to push off the Electro Zap feeling which is the worst sideffect I can say there is along with sensitivity to light. It was tough coming off klonopine it took 17 days of No sleep, convulsing, anxiety with no relief, spasams, hallucinating, auditory delusions sweating, irritableness. I thought I was going to die for real. I never thought i would ever have to go thru that coming off paxil and klonopine. But the hardest is the paxil its been 3 months now and I am still not even off it. when i got out I put myself on the lowest dosage to ease the effects off it not being in my system. and have continued this dosage cause as soon as a few days or hours go by. The zaps come back and I hate them. My doc tried to put me on prozac! I was like no I declined to fill the perscription. It seems im stuck this way, Unless I decide to deal with theses debilitating left over effects. They wont go away and i have so little in my body after detoxing it feels like the last part of this is the zaps and id be fine, but they suck so bad im afriad to stop…..
Hello Dee,
I am not sure if you will be reading this as it has been over a year since you posted. I was hoping to find out how long your upset stomach lasted once you got off the Paxil. I am entering week three of detox and it is rough. I started getting sick in week two, and for the last 3 days I can’t keep anything down at night. I feel pretty good in the morning, but around 4ish pm I start feeling sick and I can’t keep anything down. My emotional roller coaster has gotten better but I still am getting terrible headaches. So bad they confine me to bed. And I can’t take anything for them, because they only happen at night and I throw up anything I eat or drink at night.
Beginning in day 5 off Paxil I felt like I had a major head cold. I was blowing my nose every few minutes and felt very dizzy. I even snored at night it was so bad and my husband says I have never snored before. I still have a runny nose, and feel congested in my head.
I am looking for some encouragement from anyone who has experienced similar symptoms. I am wondering if maybe I have the flu on top of withdrawal because it is hard to imagine that Paxil could cause all this pain!!
Thank you in advance.
Lucy
I’m not sure if anyone will read this because the last post was so long ago. I am a mess. I went on Paxil last summer for panic attacks and anxiety and was fine (minus the lack of sex drive) but then missed three days a couple weeks ago due to a prescription snafu. I went into withdrawal (shaking, confusion, depression, panic attacks, vertigo, tripping, hard time walking, feeling like i was under water, hearing issues) and went back on the pills immediately. I am not myself. I’ve ben having panic attacks, have cut up my arms, and felt suicidal the other night and had to go to the ER. I went to a new doc and she is taking me off Paxil. She had me go from 20 mg to 10mg and supplemented it with 10 of Celexa. I’m terrified. I am not myself. I’m so depressed and physically feel like I can’t get out of bed. I am supposed to start a new job Monday and I just feel like everything is going to get worse and my life is going to implode. Horrible anxiety, crippling depression. WIll it get better? I can’t seem to find any info about people who go from PAxil to Celexa. I also was given clonopin to take “as needed” but I feel like I need something 24/7. I’m so scared. Any advice?
I was thinking of getting off of paxil ,but with all those symtoms ,it might be easier to stasy on it.
I have been taking Paxil since July of 2006.my son was in a car accident where someone died,and he was sent to prison.the paxil worked for me at first.it got me out of bed,kept me from crying all day long,and did help me eat some.now 2 years later,i am trying to get off of it but everytime i do i get tiny shocks throughout different parts of my body.very weird feeling!it does make your sex life non existent but i am 47 yrs. old so that could also be menopause.i am determined that i will go off if by the time my son comes home from prison.,and just suffer through the sideeffects,but right now,i need to get up and function and go through life as i have two other kids also.hang in there.try cutting your dosage down some,and little by little you will find you wont need it.good luck,Candace
Candace, you can get off the paxil but it must be done very very very gradually, going down like a half a pill every few weeks. Can’t u get help doing this from the prescribing doctor????? Good luck.
yeah-my doctor has told me to do half a day instead of whole one every day,and it seems to work at first but then its like my body needs more of it,i start feeling really moody and depressed and not easy to live with,plus the shock feelings i get.i think i will have to just go off cold turkey when my son comes home and hopefully by then i am able to quit it.
Janice-i dont know what celexa is so i cant say anything about that but you need to stay on the Paxil.Believe me when i say you are not alone in what you are going through.when my son had his accident on 7/15/06 i literally crumbled to the floor and checked out of life.i dont even remember the next couple months after that.i couldnt eat,would not come out of my bed.i was down to 95 pounds.,and i cried constantly knowing my firstborn son was going to prison.now here we are almost two years later and i am living my life,taking care of the family.he still has 2 years in prison but with the help of paxil i am able to get up,work,and function.please dont feel like you are alone.i have tried to quit the paxil but its very difficult to do.god bless!