Has anyone become addicted to the
antianxiety-antidepressant paxil? I
became severely addicted and I fear I may
still have side effects 2 years later. If
anyone has had the same problem please let
me know...What side effects did you
experience?
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quaya
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 10 Jan 2006 Posts: 9
Paxil Posted: 01-10-06 19:42pm
Oh my god girl that is the worst possible
drug I have ever been given by a "doctor".
I only took it for a couple of weeks but
ran out on the weekend and everyone was
closed so the withdrawl was horrid! It's
not like heroin or adderall or any of that
..It's more like electrical currents
jolting throughout my body and having
homicidal thoughts..I never have been the
same since. I have been going to a
psychiatrist which helped me get addicted
to other drugs but she told me that I
would never be the same again because of
my mental defects prior to my taking
paxil. I am bi-polar and adhd. My life
is trashed now and it's amazing how many
nurses and other professionals that I have
spoken to that are terrified to get off of
it after several years...There are
lawsuits going on and I suggest you jump
on that band wagon and for gods sake..Get
off this drug very slowly so the damage
will not happen to you as it has done to
me.. God speed girl and my prayers are
with you...
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truthinside
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 06 Jan 2006 Posts: 11
Posted: 01-12-06 01:07am
Thank you so much for a reply. I had
read on the net about the lawsuits and
others getting addicted and bad withdrawal
but I have never found someone to talk to
about it.
I agree, it's the worse drug I have ever
been given in my life. I began to have
panic attacks again about 2 years into
taking 60mg a day, so they raised it to
90mg.
Then within the next year I started having
more panic attacks and strange thoughts,
and to block these thoughts out I took
more and more pills. I would carry them
in my bad and pop them so I could get
through the day at work. (i usually
ended up taking between 200-300mg a day.)
I started vomiting daily a few months
later, and tried to taper off it with a
doc, but that made it worse because the
withdrawl just went on and on.
One night I just flushed all the pills
down the toilet and suffered the worst
withdrawl ever. Friends who saw me
though I was coming off herione or
something. I was convulsing, puking,
couldn't walk or breathe properly, was
seeing things, hearing things, and had the
horrible zapping. My neck twitched a lot
and still twitches now and then.
Now it has been almost two years and I
have been dianosed with schizoprehnia (i
now hallucinate and have strange thoughts)
by one hospital, then several other
disorders by another. The last psych
(who I found out wasn't certified
*evilglare*) said I don't have
schizophrenia and it's just the damage
from paxil which they can heal with
natropathy.
I am so bloody confused. Could my
hallucinations and all this be from paxil
two years ago!? Sounds like a far
stretch to me...And if so, how the hell
can it be healed quickly with
natropathy?
I was also diagnosed with bipolar...I know
I need meds, but this last psych I saw
said to take nothing and my brain will
heal itself....It angers me off..It's kind
of hard to sit here and wait, being
suicidal and hearing things...
Sorry, ranting to much...I'd just like
your opinion on whats going on here. :-p
thanks.
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quaya
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 10 Jan 2006 Posts: 9
Posted: 01-13-06 13:16pm
So sorry you are having such a hard time
:( I have been diagnosed as bi-polar and
adhd since paxil...I believe that if you
even have the slightest I mean slightest
possibility of these genetics dispositions
paxil will greatly enhance it into full
blown whatever... I curse the day my
doctor gave me that crap..I didn't tell ya
though that I went in there on the next
day they were open and cursed him and told
him to shove the paxil where the sun don't
shine :lol: they have this great habit of
shaming you because of your mentally
defective genes...Which he tried to
do..Then I went to the pharmacist that is
the only one in our small town and told
him the same....Too late for me
though...Maybe we can stay in touch and
try to keep each other grounded...Take
care
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truthinside
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 06 Jan 2006 Posts: 11
Posted: 01-16-06 17:24pm
Thanks for your reply. Wow, what you
said-'if you even have the slightest I
mean slightest possibility of these
genetics dispositions paxil will greatly
enhance it into full blown whatever'-that
last psych didn't say anything about that
at all. She just said I caused it all on
myself by taking too much paxil. :x it
really annoyed me because I have never
tried any other drugs or had any interest
in them, I went along with the doctors and
took their medicine that was supposedly
'not addictive, and completely safe.'
grrr.
Good for you complaining about this drug,
it makes me so angry that it's still on
the market.
But somewhat good news, I am actually
going into hospital for two months for an
assessment, so hopefully they can fix what
has gone wrong with me. :oops:
thanks for your posts, good luck with
everything.
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john m
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 05 Sep 2006 Posts: 1
Paxil Is Horrible. Posted: 09-05-06 23:11pm
I have been on paxil for 6 years. I
cannot stop taking it. I go through
severe withdrawal. I get electrical zaps
when I move my head or walk. I get the
runs and my stomache feels terrible.
About twice a year since I started taking
this caca I get paralyzing stomache
cramps. Often this occurs out of the
blue while i'm on the toilet. Sweat
pours off my body and there is literally a
puddle of sweat around me. All of my
energy is sucked out of me and I feel like
I will faint. It is the most painfull
thing I have ever encountered. I curse
the day that I ever went on this doing it
drug. Doctors will prescribe this caca
because it is pushed by the drug
companies.
After six years I feel desperate. I want
to stop but I can't. Each month I have
to treck to the drug store and spend my
money on something that does more harm
than good. Paxil is more addictive than
any street drug. Heroin withdrawal lasts
a few days. Paxil withdrawal lasts much
longer and I don't know if it will ever go
away. Everytime I try to quit the
withdrawal sets in and I have to go on it
again. Does anybody have any advice for
getting off paxil?
I want my mind back. I want to be free
of this caca. I want the man before the
paxil. I'm desperate. I just don't
want to do this anymore but I have no way
to stop. I don't know how much longer I
can take this.
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truthinside
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 06 Jan 2006 Posts: 11
Posted: 09-06-06 18:57pm
You should talk to your doctor about
coming off it and do it very slowly.
Don't try cold turkey, its really rough.
Good luck. *hugs*
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prev10
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Aug 2006 Posts: 6
Posted: 09-24-06 23:24pm
For very addiction, there is always hekp.
You just have to keep looking
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Digby
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 7
Posted: 12-09-06 15:16pm
Paxil is a pretty effective drug but it
does have some nasty withdrawl effects. I
stopped taking 40 mgs of paxil cold turkey
after I felt as though paxil was no longer
as effective because I was having frequent
breakthough anxiety attacks. I took my
last dose of 40mgs on a monday and I felt
fine for the next two days. On wednesday
evening I had a mild upset stomach and
interrupted sleep, but I didn't think much
of it. By the next day I wasn't feeling
too hot and I assumed that I had a virus
or perhaps eaten something that didn't
agree with me. I felt nauseous and tired
and determined that all I needed was some
parecetamol and bed rest. Friday marked
my passage into hell, so to so to speak.
The nausea got progressively worse and I
began vomiting profusely. I was very
tired but I was restless and was
experiencing electric jolts and very
vivid, horrifying nightmares when I was
able to sleep. Saturday and sunday were
the same. I was very scared because I was
unable to keep anything down and was very
dehydrated. I was constantly drenched in
sweat and my headached constantly. I lay
on the floor of the bathroom thinking I
was going to die.
I assumed that my birth control patch may
have been the cause but I never thought
that paxil might be the culprit. I lay in
agony for what seemed like an eternity
before my friend suggested it might be due
to paxil withdrawal and asked me when I
took my last dose. I immediately took 20
mgs and began to feel better so I took
another 20mgs in intervals over 6 hours.
By tuesday I almost felt back to normal.
What a week! I should have known that
paxil would cause me to have a complete
and utter breakdown like that! My doctor
should have told me not to stop abruptly!
If I hads known I doubt I would have
agreed to began paxil in the first place!
I was so upset that I decided to switch
doctors!
What upsets me even more is that glaxo and
kline and medical professionals make
excuses and deny that this medication is
has serious withdrawl effects that mimic
opiates. They use words such as "mildly
habit forming" in a meager attempt to
market this potent psychotropic medication
as benign. Ssri class antidepressants do
have the potential to cause alarming
withdrawal symptoms, it is the nature of
the drugs and their composition. Paxil
however (as well as effexor) have
extremely short half lives and the
medication leaves the system rapidly if
you discontinue use abruptly. The shock
of discontinuation is what wreaks havoc on
the brain. It all sounds perfectly
understandable to me now, but I still
think my doctors and pharmaceutical
companies neglect to adequately warn
people of the symptoms. Simply stating
that you may feel some slight discomfort
upon tapering the medication is vague and
misleading. It is common knowledge that
one should not stop medications such as
diazepam or alprozolam abruptly due to
serious withdrawal symptoms occuring. I
believe that paxil and other short acting
ssris should be included in this category
if only to make the consumers aware of the
potential symptoms!
Hmmm, that being said, I am still on paxil
although I have been slowly tapering off
the drug in very, very small increments
over a period of months. I still
experience some withdrawal effects but
they are relatively minor in comparison to
the misery I went through months before.
My suggestion is to use gravol for the
nausea and upt to 7.5 mgs of zopiclone for
the sleep disturbances.
Regards,
miss digby
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kristenhop
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 17 Oct 2007 Posts: 3
Re: Paxil Is Horrible. Posted: 10-17-07 11:52am
john m
wrote:
I have been on paxil for 6
years. I cannot stop taking it. I go
through severe withdrawal. I get
electrical zaps when I move my head or
walk. I get the runs and my stomache
feels terrible. About twice a year since
I started taking this health question I
get paralyzing stomache cramps. Often
this occurs out of the blue while i'm on
the toilet. Sweat pours off my body and
there is literally a puddle of sweat
around me. All of my energy is sucked
out of me and I feel like I will faint.
It is the most painfull thing I have ever
encountered. I curse the day that I ever
went on this doing it drug. Doctors will
prescribe this health question because it
is pushed by the drug companies.
After six years I feel desperate. I want
to stop but I can't. Each month I have
to treck to the drug store and spend my
money on something that does more harm
than good. Paxil is more addictive than
any street drug. Heroin withdrawal lasts
a few days. Paxil withdrawal lasts much
longer and I don't know if it will ever go
away. Everytime I try to quit the
withdrawal sets in and I have to go on it
again. Does anybody have any advice for
getting off paxil?
I want my mind back. I want to be free
of this health question. I want the man
before the paxil. I'm desperate. I
just don't want to do this anymore but I
have no way to stop. I don't know how
much longer I can take
this.
