Anyone have experience with Paxil withdrawal?

I've been taking it for around 10 years or so, but I realized I didn't need it any more for its original purpose. I've been weaning off it as per my dr and just went from 10mg to 0. I didn't think there would be a problem with withdrawal symptoms when the weaning process was used, but I'm finding that I was wrong. I've been off the drug for a week and the withdrawal is awful.

The vivid dreams are bothersome and they leave me more exhausted than I was when I went to bed. I don't even look forward to going to bed because I know that when I sleep, I'll have those dreams. THe pattern is: finally fall asleep, have a dream, wake up, take a while to fall back asleep, have another dream, etc. The dreams stay with you, and even though they're not horrific, they are troubling. Last night I was shivering and shaking all night, with occasional interruptions of sweating and hot flashes, and didn't sleep much at all.

I can't stand being alone yet I don't feel like doing anything. I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm not sleeping well. Depression is coming on, even though that wasn't what it was prescribed for in the first place. I get more scared when I read online stories of Paxil withdrawal because a lot of people have even worse symptoms (then of course I worry about getting them too).

Has anyone had experience with Paxil, or other SSRI, withdrawal? How did you get through it and how long did it last? This is so awful that I'm tempted to go back on the drug, though that could cause its own new problems.

Paxil was one of my worst withdrawals, and I have gone through withdrawals from a dozen different psych meds, including the anti-depressants Wellbutrin, Effexor, Cymbalta, Zoloft, and Lexapro.

I didn't taper it like you should, because my dumbass psychiatrist never told me that's how to do it. I started taking it shortly after it came on the market, and so a lot of its long-term effects and withdrawal side effects were not reported at the time.

I got "brain freezes", panic attacks, and paranoia episodes. I also got worse night sweats and the bad dreams, too.

I eventually went back on it after not succeeding the first time, but eventually I did go off it the right way, under a doctors care. It took several weeks for it to be completely out of my system.

Hang in there, because it does get better. And Paxil is not something you want to be taking if you do not have to take it. The physical side effects alone are reason enough to get off of it, if you don't need it anymore.

Good luck to you, and know that it DOES get better. :hug:

Sorry it took me a while to get back; I had forgotten all about my thread after a while. A month later, I am doing better though I still don't have my physical self 100% back yet. I'm particularly still having problems sleeping.

Unfortunately, my mental self is giving me a lot of problems. Though I was not on the meds for depression, I apparently have some depression going on and the Paxil was keeping it at bay. Part of me wishes I had stayed on the meds so I could continue being content enough, but part of me doesn't want to be on these meds forever--and I sure don't want to go through that withdrawal sh't again. My life just doesn't happen to be in a good place right now--unemployed at a very bad time for one thing. Plus my mother died last year and I think I'm doing more dealing with it now than I did then because of the med situation.

Did all the SSRIs you used result in bad withdrawals? I'm thinking about the possibility of trying another one if I can't handle my current mental state.

You may want to check with a doc about some residual depression-- you could possibly go on another SSRI at a lower dose if it's something that they think could be treated with medication. If you're having trouble sleeping, they may be able to give you something like Trazodone, which is a common sleep aid but was originally prescribed as an anti-depressant. I took it for several years and it worked fairly well for me. Or, you may even be able to get by with something like benedril, too, which is good for minor insomnia.

I don't think I've ever gone off an SSRI (or SNRI) which didn't have some sort of withdrawal side effect. Some were definitely worse than others, though. Recently, I went off Lexapro and that was not too bad an experience. I tapered off over the course of a month, and didn't have any bad experiences. I've also gone on and off Welbutrin, Effexor, Cymbalta, Zoloft and some non-SSRI drugs, but didn't have anything too strange to deal with. Of course, most of those were in a hospital setting so they keep an eye on you.

And if you need the meds, you need them, and there's nothing wrong with taking them for as long as you need them. When I first started taking them back in the early 90s, I thought it would be a temporary thing to treat a particularly nasty bout of depression. 17 years later, I know now that I have a chronic condition (bipolar disorder), and that I'll need to take medication for it for the rest of my life. It's not a good thing or a bad thing, it's just how it is, and I've come to accept that.

Glad to hear you are doing better, and definitely see somebody about the sleep situation. You can't be healthy if you don't get enough sleep (I could go into my whole sleep thingy, but I don't want to bore you to death :P).

Take it down to 5mg for a while.

Her screen name was Lelapin and is now LadyOfTheRabbits. She'll be home this evening for the weekend and I'll direct her to your thread.

She has gotten off Paxil and Wellbutrin in the last year. It was tough. I'll let her give you the details.

:hug: