Withdrawal Symptoms From Paxil

[princessmel]

I went to my therapist yesterday finally complaining of the terrible sexual side effects from Paxil. I've been on it for geez almost 9 years now. It works really well as far as my anxiety goes, but man has it killed my sex drive. I've heard a lot ofgood things about Lexapro from a few friends. So, she wants to put me on that since it has less sexual side effects than Paxil. I'm only on 10mg of Paxil now. She said the withdrawal symptoms for some people are horrible. That kind of scared me, but I do remember going off it before without taking a new medication to counteract the withdrawal symptoms. The only withdrawals I got from going off of it were like an overall weird body feeling. Very hard to describe. Have any of you guys ever experienced bad withdrawals from going off Paxil? I guess I'm just kind of scared to try something new. Always afraid of change.lol I don't know why still. Been through so much stuff this past year. She said that Paxil is one of the anti-depressants that cause stomach problems, but I never experienced them. Anyone else?

[ontariogirl]

I wish I could help you on this topic, I haven't been on paxil

[amanda l.]

I was on Paxil for PPD (post partum depression) after I had my daughter (who is now 4). I would take it at night, and the next day my hands would shake so bad I couldn't write and I was scared to pick my daughter up. I don't remember what dosage I was on, but to wean off of it, I took half a dose. Like, I'd take half of one at night, then in the morning take the other half. Then I'd take half 18 hours apart. I finally just had to stop, and yep it was bad, but not horrid. I had a worse time coming off Celexa.

[kate1966]

My husband is on Paxil...and he skipped a week one time...and said his body felt weird and that was about it...he did have like the sweats and shakes i believe...but as soon as he started back on it he was fine.....i feel for you having to go through that....i tried the Lexapro once but i only lasted a few days on it...it made me feel so zombie fied and nauseas...i hope it works well for you though..i have heard of alot of people that are on it and do great with it...good luck.....K

[kellybean]

Hey, I was on Paxil for about 8 months, and I had the doctor take me off because of weight gain. I'm not going to lie to you, the withdrawls are horrible. I was on 20mgs. It took 2 months for the "electric shocks" to finally go away. Of course they were worse in the beginning. I was dizzy, lightheaded, and felt out of it. I was never n* though. But once I would get used to the next dosage down, I would feel better. I don't really have any advice except, just bare with it. Good luck!


Kelly

[silver]

I was on Paxil CR for about a year, just as Kelly said, I had problems with the weight gain also while I was on it. It worked wonders for me while I was on it...My IBS was like 100% better, I didn't worry about things or think about things so much, my anxiety was better, I was more social, etc. I weaned myself down to 5 mg for a while, but I was always on a low dose anyways. I really didn't have any negative side effects coming off of it, but like I said, I was on a small dose. Now, Lexapro, I hated...I felt "out of it" all of the time and I was soooo tired, like a zombie. I am not trying to scare you about it, that was only my personal experience. I also know people that LOVE it and have had wonderful results. I think that it is worth trying.

[princessmel]

I've only heard good things about Lexapro, but then again, everyone's different. I have heard horror stories about Paxil, which I have been on for ever and Effexor. Paxil and Effexor, I guess, are in the same group. A long time ago I was on the highest dose of Paxil and that was miserable. Then again I always think that all of these medicines are somewhat the same.

[2jo2]

I was on Effexor and had HORRIBLE withdrawls coming off of it. The good thing is they're somewhat short-lived. The bad dizziness and electric shock things lasted about 2 weeks. But question.... if you're switching meds, will you still get withdrawls since you're getting saratonin from the other medication you're switching to? I switched from Celexa to Zoloft and my doctor wrote out a week by week transition plan. I had no problems at all... she transitioned me over about 4 weeks, little by little and it was painless! Maybe you could try that.

[andee]

I switched from Zoloft to Celexa at the same time like 2jo2 and that was fine. I think you are right about getting serotonin while you are going off.
I tried to go off both of those when I was on each one and it was really hard. I tried telling my docs about that electric shock feeling and they never heard of it and must have thought I was nuts. But it is a real feeling. I felt like it was going across my head, esp. at night. There is definitely withdrawal from these, but docs refuse to believe it.

[princessmel]

That's what my doctor's going to do. She wants me to decrease Paxil to 5mg and start taking Lexapro right away. So, I might not even feel those icky feelings anyway like I did before. What do you guys mean by electric shocks??

[japa]

I don't get any withdrawal feelings from quitting Paxil. When I do stop taking it, I go down very slowly from 20 to 15 to 10 to 5 to 0 mg over a period of weeks. I'll take each lower dosage for a week. It works for me, and Ialways feel just fine.

[tcsarah]

I've been on Paxil (it's called seroxat/paroxetine here in UK) for around seven years now and it has literally saved my life. I was so bad with anxiety, depression and phobias before it was a nightmare. I'd tried other anti-depressants and anxiety medication which didn't help much and gave me horrible side-effects.


A couple of years ago I decided to try coming off seroxat, and have to say didn't have any problems. The only thing I noticed was the funny 'fuzzing out' feeling in my head, just like my brain was short-circuiting for a split second(is this what you mean by 'electric shocks'?). I didn't have any shakes, nausea or anything like that. I have to say the electric shocks feeling didn't bother me that much - just felt a little weird.


Unfortunately I had to go back on the meds as when they were totally out of my system I was ill again with depression and bad anxiety, even though for the last five years my life has been more secure, stable and happier than ever before. I do get two side-effects from seroxat, the most annoyingone being insomnia, the other being lack of sex-drive, but they are so worth putting up with for the benefits I get from these anti-depressants.


I guess what it comes down to is everybody is different and so will react differently to being on drugs and coming off them. I'm sure if you do it steadily, you will be just fine.

[princessmel]

I guess you can describe it as a "fuzzy out" weird feeling in the head that I got before. That's all I got when I went off of Paxil before. I just hope nothing worse this time. I'm on 10mg right now basically every two days. When I don't take it for two days, I start to feel that weird "fuzzy out" feeling in my head. Very strange.

[tayda]

Electric Shocks,


So don't quote me on this, and you can all do your own research, however, I believe what causes the "short-circuiting" feeling or the fuzzy feelings is because paxil (along with other meds like it) target different receptors in the brain. Many believe that the reason people experience depression and anxiety may be based on the assumption that there is an off-balance in the chemicals in your brain. So these meds target what are called synapses I believe and the compounds of the medication fill in the "gap". SO when you suddenly stope taking them, it is a sudden depravations of "feel good compounds". SO until you adjust you feel the effects.


Meds alter the make up of your brain... however, when you come off of the meds, the "wiring " of your brain changes again... so that could be a reason for the shocks and so forth...

[japa]

Since you didn't have a problem with stopping them before, I doubt that you need to worry now. You already know how your body reacts to these pills. You'll be fine.

I guess you can describe it as a "fuzzy out" weird feeling in the head that I got before. That's all I got when I went off of Paxil before. I just hope nothing worse this time. I'm on 10mg right now basically every two days. When I don't take it for two days, I start to feel that weird "fuzzy out" feeling in my head. Very strange.

[princessmel]

Thanks japa for your reply. I feel much better. These medications are nothing to mess with. You really need to be monitored while doing something like this as far as going off of them. As far as the "electric shocks" go, I had some yesterday b/c I haven't taken my Paxil for two or three days, which is ok b/c it stays in your body for two weeks. Anyway, those electric shocks are very annoying, and I don't know if I want to feel them for two weeks, but then again, I will be on a low dose of Lexapro. I wonder if that will work for me. Paxil has been great, but I am 30 and would like a sex drive of some sort. Or maybe that overall horny body feeling that I haven't experienced in years. I have noticed that when I don't take Paxil for a few days, my sex drive is better. Or it could also be b/c my husband isn't driving me nuts anymore.lol Could also be stress and nerves in general too.

[*mandi*]

When I got off of Paxil I had some withdrawl symptoms. I feel nauseated...headaches...and just felt sort of spacey. I got some weird sensation in my head. Almost like a light-headedness. Thats about it though..