Im writing this in hopes that someone has been on paxil and gotten off of it without major withdrawls symptoms.

Ive been on paxil for a little over 4 years for my panic disorder. It has worked great for my panic and I havent had a single one in a year. But I think Its time to see how I do without It...which is kinda scary to me. I talked to my Dr about It and he said If I feel ready that he will gradually take me off of them but lowering and lowering my dose. Im on the highest dose I know of though. 40MG. There have been a couple of days that I miss of the paxil and I feel HORRIBLE and start getting zaps in my head and dizzy like....but It all gets better as soon as I remember my meds. The thing Im scared of the most about getting off my meds is that Im going to get my horrible panic disorder again. If anyone knows alot about this med or has been through the withdrawl stage please reply...thanks. :confused:

paxil can cause withdrawal, which is why you want to come off of this very slowly!. there is no race. it doesn't matter if it takes you 6 months or a year, as long as you slowly taper. maybe taking two weeks between cuts will give your brain and body the time it needs to readjust without the drug. i'm tapering off of valium. the zaps are normal(i get them in my brain and up my spine). they won't hurt you. it is scary, though. coming off slowly will insure you have very little to no withdrawal. listen to your body. after your first step down, wait until you feel normal on that dose before you taper again(usually 10-14 days for most people). you might be able to taper faster, or it might take you longer. talk it over with your dr. let him know you need to taper at your own pace, but assure him you will keep moving forward with the taper. the reason i say go slowly is because once you reduce a little, you don't want to have to go back up. this will wreak more havoc with your central nervous system, and might subconsciously give you the idea you can't live without such a high dose. also, do a web search on ssri tapering or ssri withdrawal, or paxil withdrawal. alot of people have withdrawal from paxil. you'll find the way that's right for you. it sounds like your dr. will work with you, and you definitely need his help and advice on this. :wave:

Yes, certainly go off very slowly. I tried to go off of effexor last year in about 2 weeks. It should take at leaste 2-3 months. Mad did I have a withdrawal problem, it was awful. I was, disorentied, dizzy, and generally felt like I was in outerspace. After this happened I fould out that my dr. should have told me to go really slow and taper off. You can do it if you just take your time, good luck

Thank you guys so much. My Dr did say that he was going to give me the 25Mg then 2 weeks later give me the 12.5mg then 2 weeks later nothing. So Im really hoping It will work. Thanks again.

so your dr. plans to drop you from 40mg to 25 mg right away? then 2 weeks later half of 25, then nothing? this is a month! you might experience severe, bad, or mild withdrawals. everyone is different. you already stated if you miss a couple of days, you get the electric zaps and dizziness. i seriously think you should do a search on paxil withdrawal-lots of people have a very hard time coming off of this drug.

I just wanted to add my comments to this. I was on Paxil for 6 years and was at 40 mg when I decided to come off. It was hell, but was ok. You must just understand, know, realize and keep saying to yourself that what you will be feeling is the withdrawal - it does not mean you are going crazy, are going to die, or are going to get your panic disorder back. I went very fast with my withdrawal and it was hell, but I made it through. I gave myself permission to take ativan if I was having a really bad day. I think I took 3 throughout the withdrawal. Just know that the symtoms are scary, but they are ok. Go slowly. I would just like to caution you about some of the sites dedicated to paxil withdrawal. Although many have good and helpful information, there are some where the people on there are not the kindest. They can often sensationalize and really scare people with their stories. A lot of those people have class action suits against the makers of Paxil so have a vested interest in hating the drug and getting others to hate it as well. Good luck and God bless.

Yes he said he was going to give me the samples which are CR but Im not on CR. The only MG in CR are 12.5 then 25 then 37.5 I will probably ask him for more time inbetween dose changes so I wont have really bad withdrawl symptoms.
Did you ask your Dr for the Ativan when you started getting off paxil?Should I have a "just in case for bad days" med for when I start tapering off?
Will It be the same from going from the regular paxil to CR to taper off?

Not to scare you but when I got off of Paxil after 5 years of use I got locked up in the mental ward for evaluation. :jester: The web site quitpaxil.org is great for the horror stories. My main withdrawl symptom was persistant itchiness all over my body. I couldn't even sleep because the itching was driving me crazy. It would go from one part of the body to the next. I've read on that site other people have experienced the same thing. IMO, the plan you have is not gradual enough. I've read about people actually chopping the pills into quarters, or even tenths and doing an extremely gradual tapering-off. This would be the route I would try if I ever had to go through this horrible experience again.

My other symptoms included mild hallucinations and irrational thinking. Please be careful, have someone close-by to you to supervise and best of luck!

I checked out the site...Im not looking forward to getting off my meds but I know I want to do It. I still have time to think about It though because I have to wait to get my thyroid in control first.
Thank you all for your replys.

okay, you have a couple of different posts from people who had different reactions and ways of handling it. that just shows you everyones' experience is different, since all of our cns systems are different! definitely don't let paxil horror stories scare you to the point of thinking you are going to suffer terribly, this will make it worse. a slow taper is always easier, and will insure almost no withdrawals. my hat is off to pixie1975 for going c/t and enduring the horrors. but why do that if you don't have to? if you have been on it for a few years, a 2-4 month taper is probably your best bet if you want to continue to function while coming off. alot of people chop up their pills to slowly come off a little at a time.