paxilprogress

3 month update or should I say wave

since95 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:41:45 GMT

Hi Everyone,

Well, it seems I have hit the good old 3 month wave (actually hit about 2 1/2 months in). The good old zaps and electric head are back after almost 2 months of them hiding. And when I say they are back, they are back. In all honesty, it seems like every symptom I have experienced the past 33 months has all come back to bite me in my @ss the past few weeks. Stressful indeed!!!!

However, my worst symptom that has not let up in over 4 months is the nerve pain I experience all over my body. Whether it is painful, sharp pins & needles, stabbing itches or burning/stinging (like acid in my veins), it just won't let up. I am going through all the precautionary procedures with my doctor and will see the Neurologist in a few weeks for a nerve study (had the MRI yesterday). I know that 99.9% it is from withdrawal but I had to get it checked out. It worries me however, as I am living with 7-9 out of 10 pain all day, every day.

Of course my doctor has prescribed me some pretty heavy pills (Neurontin & Tramacet) but I need to know if I have nerve damage before I take anything. Advil does nothing for the pain (except upsets my stomach). If the pain continues to be so severe, I don't know how long I can take it without trying something. Opiods may be my only answer as I don't want to take a SSRI / SSNI or anti-seizure.

The really hard part that I am dealing with is my job. Somehow over the past 3 years I have kept my job as a District Sales Manager with a large company. This job requires me to travel over 50,000 km a year. I have been able to suck it up during times of extreme withdrawal but this nerve pain is a whole other beast. I have one big trip next week in which the VP of Sales and Marketing will be accompanying me and I just don't know how I am going to do it. However, after this trip, December should be a pretty easy month so I have that to look forward to.

So just a post in which I wanted to vent a bit and get my thoughts out. Thanks for reading my post!

Dan

Ugh...you guys will love this.

spikenala — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:16:58 GMT

Although I support the H1N1 vacc...here is a new med you all will love. Take note to the "serotonin function" paragraph. Yeah ok.

http://www.time.com/time/health/arti...939884,00.html

New member greeting

willieonetwo — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:25:35 GMT

Hello. I hope you don't mind if I join you. I've been scouring the internet after having a bad reaction to a drug called Compazine (phenothiazine class typical neuroleptic aka "anti psychotic") which I was given by IV injection for vertigo and head pressure/pain.

I keep coming across this site in my searches so I started reading what people here are going through and it's as though I could have written it myself. It's been over 30 days since I was injected with that drug and I haven't been the same since. The worst problems are akathisia (sometimes very severe where I think about killing myself) and sleep disturbance... being unable to stay asleep and not going through the proper sleep stages. I can't sleep more than an hour at a time and spend most of my sleep in dreaming.

Other things include convulsions, tremors, nausea, zapping sensation under the top of my skull, anxiety, headaches, heart racing, vision disturbances, auditory hallucinations, paranoid thoughts, hot flashes, chills, sections of my body feeling like they are burning, feeling of being stung by bees all over my body, appetite changes, constipation, weight gain.

It's really been an unbelievable living hell!! :(

I do have experience with Paxil, though not as bad as this. About 10 years ago I was given a pack of extended release Paxil for seasonal affective disoder. I took one pill and about 12 hours later started experiencing similar symptoms as I'm experiencing now. It didn't seem as bad then because it only lasted about 12 hours. After that I threw the pack away and never took it again.

Anyway this current problem has gone on now over 30 days :( It feels like it will never end. The people at the hospital didn't tell me the truth about what this drug (compazine) was and what it can do. :( Again, I hope you don't mind if I join you because I can't find any other groups online that deal with drug withdrawals or adverse reactions and I feel really alone and afraid.

David Healy and vision changes from SSRIS

Shane24 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:24:29 GMT

Hey everyone, i'm still hangin in, this is just killing me but the reason i'm riting has to do with vision sensations, did David Healy write about the eye and vision sensations yo have from SSRI s, i wandered cause i wanted to read it.

Whitdrawal is even harder now

pumpkin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:39:02 GMT

Hello,i am new to this site and my english is not so god so i hope you can understand what im writing.I have been on citalopram for 3 month then cold turkey becaus my doctor sad so and had sever fysical problems so i started again to ween of.I weened from 15 mg-0mg from dec-juli 2009.Was it to fast?Now i am 4 month of and the first week off I had no problems but then hell began.In month three I began to feel a little bit better but now that I am in month four I have severe muscle pain,brainfog,weired dreams,stomach ache,muscle weeknes and Im very excusted,cant koncentrate on anything.And my weight will not go off!!I hate being like this and i really need some advice and acuredgement!!Sorry my spelling is so baad.I dont have much electric shock thru my body anymore and ive never had them in my head.I want this nightmare to be over!When can i see some more improvmnet?Which month is harder than another???Feels like new things come up instead of the old things!I hpe you can help me sort out some things..Thanks for a great site!!The sweidish girl:

worried about medications

gracemynote — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:20:45 GMT

It's been awhile since I've been on here, but I finally got off the paxil in Feb 2007 however I still suffer horribly from health anxiety at times. MY last bout started up in July and I caved and went on another medication. I told my doc I didn't not want anything that was like paxil and so she prescribed me Buspar. I've been having issues with my health anxiety relating to my meds so I thought maybe I could look to you all for some advice b/c I am sure many of you have been on many different types of med and/or suffer from anxiety/panic attacks.

Right now my fear is that I'm scared about liver damage from using my medications in two seperate instances. The first one I was (and still am) taking buspar 30mg a day (15 mg each time) and while I was having moles removed (for precaution) my dermatologist prescribed me tylenol with codeine to be taken every 4 hours as needed for the pain after my surgery. I was prescribed 12 pills and I took 6 out of all those, not all on the same day of course. It doesn't say how many mg the pills are... just that it is tylenol with codeine. I don't know if my dermatologist knew I was taking buspar but the pharmacist did because I filled it at the same location. The first surgery I took, it was fine the really painful one. Then after the second surgery, it still hurt but I took maybe one or two to couteract the pain and I ended up breaking out completely in a rash. From looking up codeine, I think its a common reaction but I'm still parenoid. Then AFTER that, for a few days each night I was taking benadryl to get rid of that rash! Oh and not to mention the tons of novocaine they gave me to numb me up during the surgeries and biopsies (I don't know if that is processed through the liver).

I'm also worried about my use of klonopin use, the second instance. This was at least two weeks after the codeine use and my surgery that I started taking klonopin 1mg a day along with my buspar 30mg a day. I took it like this for 2.5 weeks and then started tapering off the klonopin and now I am only taking it as needed. But I am still worried that these medications have damaged my liver somehow. Back in July it was tested and found to be fine. Am I worrying too much, is it safe that I took these medications? I really do hate taking them but I was in so much pain from the surgery I had to take the tylenol/codeine. I was taking regular tylenol at times too after my surgeries (never more than recommended) but it didn't do anything so that is why I got the codeine.

Also I have not had a single drip of alcohol during this entire anxiety thing. My last drink was way back in July. I also did not take any of these medications in excess, or any more than I should have or what was prescribed. I just worry about this a lot, I use to work in a drug and alcohol rehab and I can relaxingly say I have never seen people take so many medications (they were taking 7 - 10 different pills at a time!) Plus they were drug or alcohol addicts. Is it safe to say I'm in the clear? Am I worrying about this too much? I know the liver can repair itself but I"m still worried that I could have damaged it beyond repair. Thanks for listening.....

Also I did post a few months ago about a similar thing, but it was drinking while I was on paxil in college. My liver test in July (2 years later) and that was fine so apparently that had no effect.

paxil to cipralex

hammer — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:09:46 GMT

Hi,

I am considering switching from paxil 12.5 cr to cipralex. what would be an
equivalent switch? I think that 10 mg of cipralex may be stronger than what I need.

Also, does anyone have advice as to whether I can do a straight switch from one to the other. That is what my dr. recommends. I am concerned cause the 3 times I went off Paxil-withdrawal was a nightmare.

I'm switching due to low libido and difficulty getting up in the mornings.

thx,

Jeremiah

Hey Guys, I'm horrible right now!!

Shane24 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:00:08 GMT

Hey guys!, I'm sitting here just going crazy right now, I feel so bad, just need to write about it i guess, my mom is currently with my aunt, they think she maynot mke it through the night, I just could not see her like that, didnt want that to be my last memory of her, i'm by myself, having lower and upper back pain right now, i think it could ne related to the withdrawal i'm going through, sso i'm worried about that right now as well, I'm fighting the anxiety and depression from withdrawal , I'm just fighting this hell right now, crying, scared, and depressed. I just needed to talk with you guys right now, please pray for me!

How common is Poop Out?

Mozart22 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:19:04 GMT

How common is Paxil poop out? I read that about 25% of people
will get it, but of course some people say the percentage is much
higher.

Also, is it true that poop out feels just as bad as cold turkey?
Is it accurate to say that most of the millions and millions of Paxil
users in the world will feel like they CT'd simply because of poop out?

I know some people who take Paxil but they don't know about poop out.
They just plan on taking Paxil for life, they don't know any better

Also, I think most people on this forum give good advice and know what they're
talking about. But at the same I wonder if this forum is maybe over-representative
of the people struggling with Paxil? In other words, I know that many people have
problems with Paxil but maybe the problems aren't as widespread as this forum suggests,
because people who take Paxil and are fine would have no reason to use these forums...
most people who use these forums would be the ones who have had the most problems
with the paxil and therefore may not necessarily represent the experiences of a majority of
Paxil users

wellbutrin and paxil

meolacat — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:39:42 GMT

Does anyone take wellbutrin and paxil? I have been given wellburin to augment the paxil. At first I thought it was a helping now I am not so sure. I am constantly in a fog. I have no energy. I don't want to talk to anyone, see anyone or go anywhere. I am miserable and very unhappy. I have gained weight and can't seem to take it off. I am so done with everything.

Does anyone know???

jule1 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:59:15 GMT

I have been taking 2500 mg of tryptophan for over a year now. It has really worked wonders for me. However I just read that you can get toxic levels of niacin and since 60 mg of tryptophan makes 1 mg of niacin I am curious. Does anyone know the toxicity level of niacin?? I'm sure I'm okay since I have been taking it for over a year now but I do not want to get into the toxic zone of niacin either.

Does anyone have any experience with this??

How do you know when to next reduce?

HanPanes — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:55:34 GMT

I'm looking for any thoughts/experiences on when to reduce. I know that it's a good idea to wait 3 - 6 weeks but I'm 5 weeks now since my last reduction (9mg to 8mg Prozac) and I'm still pretty much house and bed bound - severe depression, anxiety, crazy head stuff etc etc.

My withdrawal symptoms from each decrease don't seen to start until the 4th week after a drop and this time has hit me so hard I'm barely surviving.

I'm not in a rush to reduce further as I've come to accept that I HAVE to have some quality of life so I'm thinking next reduction after Christmas.

Two questions:

1) Is it best to do reductions on a regular basis and show your body some consistency or wait until you def feel you can cope with it?

2) I've been on these drugs 13 years and have NEVER ever felt well so how do you guage when you're next ready to reduce if you always feel crap anyway? I'd love to be someone who stabilised, felt better, was of sound body and mind then reduced but that just never happens!

Any thoughts gratefully appreciated and I'm so grateful already for this site - even though it's not a happy topic it's such an amazing resource.....

Han

at that familiar crossroad

matthew T — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:04:03 GMT

I am at that the crossroad many have been on.
Currently at 5mg of lexapro [ down from 20] . Sui...l Ideations come about every 10 days, the other days I am just flat and dont enjoy golf, movies or other things that I liked even as of a few months ago.
Current docs tell me that at 5 mg I am basically at a low dose and that if I have depression now , then another med may be helpful

I actually have a rx for 10 mg prozac to do the cross tapering thing.
I am at the point where my mind tells me I need a AD drug, I need some relief, and Prozac will help me.
I also hve a RX for 4.5 mg of lexapro, which would be my next taper.
I know I should continue my tapering, but my mind tells me to try another AD med.
I know what all of you will tell me, I need to hear it again, that I should continue my taper......
BUT, maybe I do need another AD med, even if it works for a few years, that is comforting to know I get relief maybe. Some folks on some web sites say prozac saved their life, or really helped them.
Please give me your opinion

fill the 4.5 mg rx to continue taper
or

fill the 10 mg prozac, drop the lexapro than go from there?
maybe the prozac will relive some symptoms then I can taper off that?

matt

I take 20 mg every 12 hours -- how do I taper?

Juwane — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:14:51 GMT

I have taken Paxil for 3 months now and I am now thinking of discontinuation. The problem is that I take a 20 mg tablet every 12 hours (like my doctor told me to), so how should I go about tapering? Should I decrease the same number of mgs from both tablets at once, or should I do this with one and become stable, then do the same with the other? Can I switch to taking the two 20-mg tablets every 24 hours instead of taking one every 12 hours, and then start tapering?

Informative study about cognitive recovery

gsWade3 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:08:33 GMT

http://www.mainebenzo.org/documents/...taanalysis.pdf

Check this study out, guys. Its a meta analysis study about cognitive recovery in the first 6 months following benzo use but I have a feeling an SSRI study (though they may never do one) would reveal similar results.

Cognition is improved after 6 months of cessation but is not restored to baseline levels. The study administrators speculate in the discussion section that this could be do to changes that take more than 6 months to reverse (as most of us believe/hope) or the re-emergence of original symptoms (Bullcrap).

I feel pretty optimistic about these results. It lends some scientific evidence to my endless speculation about whether i'm getting better or not. I hope this cheers some other people up as well.

Experiences with CT OCD?

Chris2000 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:03:31 GMT

This is hell and intense. Anyone else suffered really badly with this? Mine started when I took the meds and has been almost constant ever since. Yes I do relaxation and CBT but its so intense even after 8 months.

I lost my job

Sparrow84 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:21:43 GMT

I lost my job. She cited my lack of focus and errors in data entry as the problem. I feel like a failure.

I took Tryptophan last minute to try and get some sleep - is that big no-no???

BlueEyes — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:44:03 GMT

I was just so upset last night - fell into a good sleep about 9 p.m., only to wake up suddenly (for no reason!) at like 10:30 p.m. and could NOT get back to sleep. I got so agitated about it (my insomnia/anxiety kicked in about a week ago - is this considered a "bad wave"???) that I could tell I was totally wide awake. This has been happening for the last week, and I'm just so exhausted - but it's a "nervous type exhaustion", not the type where you can just fall into bed and slumber off (oh, how I long for those days of yore! :) ).

I'm taking passionflower and magnesium before bedtime, so it's not like I'm not trying to handle this in a natural way.

But last night about 1 a.m. I remembered I had a bottle of tryptophan in my cabinet unopened and thought hey, what the heck.....I know you shouldn't take it DURING withdrawal but I'm over 3 months past my last dosage so figured it should be okay.

Bottomline, I did end up FINALLY dosing off - only got about 3 hours of sleep - but I guess if you add up the previous 1.5 hours, I got a total of 4.5 hours, so at this point I'll take what I can get.

I'm almost at the point of going to my doctor and asking for a prescription sleep aid. Nighttime is starting to become just stressful in itself - it's like I have to "psyche" myself to "remain calm".

Ugh, I hate this....I'm thinking tonight I may have to do some Tylenol PM or something.

Anyway, back to my original question - any issues with me taking the Tryptophan? Has anyone or IS anyone taking this???

Terri

Sex / brain drug for women?

Lucy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:16:12 GMT

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/heal...72/detail.html

tardive dyskinesia

jcxl09 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:20:22 GMT

Hi I stupidly stopped Lexapro cold turkey 9 months ago.. I was on it for around 7 years. For the last 4 or 5 months I have had a serious tic or twitch.. I have a controllable urge to roll my tongue (sort of make a purring sound).. it is getting out of control and I think I figured out I have tardive dyskinesia induced by the ssri. I never realized it was this until I read the definition:

�noun Pathology.
a disorder characterized by restlessness and involuntary rolling of the tongue or twitching of the face, trunk, or limbs, usually occurring as a complication of long-term therapy with antipsychotic drugs.

That pinpoints it for me... Do you guys think this will go away or is something I will have to deal with the rest of my life.. I've started to isolate myself because it is very embarassing I'm scared I have permanent brain damage..

More help with tapering! I appreciate your support! :)

jennijenni — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:46:50 GMT

Hi Everyone,
I'm new here and have posted a couple of times. I want to thank those who have responded to me and answered my questions. I'm still a bit confused about the tapering process as I had been going to fast and I could use your advice again.

I started to taper at the end of August from 50mg Luvox - an SSRI that I had been on for the past 12 years. I am currently down to 50mg and I took the 25mg drop in a little over two months. I started to read around here and I posted my story people said I was dropping too fast.

I'm positive you are all correct as I've been feeling awful lately. For me, in withdrawl I primarily have the emotional/mental symptoms nothing physical. I've been extremely anxious and can't seem to shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen. I feel like my mind is constantly racing and I'm seriously afraid I'm going to freak out or go crazy. I'm feeling frustrated and discouraged today and just woke up from dead sleep feeling anxious out of my mind.

The Questions:
1. I heard that I should taper at no more than 10% of my current dose and hold for three weeks which right now is 25mg. With that being said It means I'll be tapering from this for the next 6 months or so if I did the math right (maybe even longer) because there are about 30 something drops that I have to take to get me to zero and if i'm holding each one for 3 weeks then that is such a long time. I feel like this is too long. Is there any middle ground for a taper? I did read the newbie post and realize that I'm saying what everyone says who thinks they can go faster. ...

2. I heard that I will need to get a scale. Do the scales weigh in milligrams? What is the exact name of the scale again?

3. can someone confirm the length of time it will take me to get off 25mg? I feel like it is a ridiculously long time. I want to try to go at a more moderate pace not as fast as before.. but i'm sensing from people on here that it's an awful idea?

4. Am i ever going to feel "normal" again or is my brain just damaged from this stuff? I'm tired of feeling anxious! I feel like it's non-stop right now.

Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you for your time and support!

Need some advice

PECHE — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:52:08 GMT

Hello to you all,

My husband left me in december 2008, saying he felt suffocated, didn't know if he still loved me, wanted to be free en enjoy life. He also left his daughter of 4 years which was his loved one. After 1 week, he wanted a divorce, which at this time is not started yet. For a couple of months, he lived like a hermit, isolated from his family and friends. I didn't know I that time that he was in a severe depression. I must say due to his leaving, I was also depressed. But thanks to support of family and friends, communication and sports, I got out of this tunnel of despair. I saw him again in the month of may. He was a wreck, lost a lot of weight and looked very unhappy, sofar for enjoying life!. He told me he had a depression (finally recognition) and that his doctor proscribed him 'Paroxetine'. He had to take the antidpressiva for 1 year and then 6 months of tapering. I thought this was the beginning of all our sollutions. But instead it got worse. He told me that he wanted to return home, but that he wanted to wait till his depression was over. He became very distant, lied, and showed no affection to anyone, not even his daughter.
He was very secretive about his actions (hiding cell phone,...) and told me he had the right for privacy. I found out that he fell in love with a collegue of work (text messages) According to him there was no sexual deception, just amorousness. A shock to me and his family. He was hospitalized, because he couldn't stand his guilt and felt ashamed towards me, he was literally trembling. In the hospital he told his sister that he didn't know what happened to him, that he actually still loved me and that love and amorousness is not the same. Amorousness passes by. I ignored him for a while, recovering from his betrayal. I started to gather information about 'Midlife crisis'. There are indead a lot of matched symptoms and I am convinced that he is in a identity crisis. He has problems at work, health problems and domestic problems. (all the package !) He is also into counseling. We see each other once or twice a week, and sometimes he is in a good mood, sometimes he is a real selfish cold jerk. He doesn't take my advice for granted. He lacks people who tells him what to do (rebelling). He told me this weekend he stopped 3 weeks ago taking his Paroxetine (because he didn't had a prescription and he was out of pills). Like that, without tapering. I noticed his moodswings and he also has diarrhee and he sleeps a lot. He told me he feels down. I don't know if he is in a 'cold turkey'. He took the pill since begin june till mid octobre (max 5 months). Is it better to stay of this medication completely, or do you think that he must recommence this nasty drug, knowing he is 3 weeks 'clean' and that maybe his depression isn't cured. I must say I noticed some little change in his behaviour this last 2 weeks. He showed a little bit of emotion, while talking about our daughter, our problems, and family members. Maybe a step in the right direction. It has been a year in a rollercoaster and I don't know when and how this bumpy ride is going to end. I don't know what to think and believe anymore. In short, he is not the man he used to be (total opposite), he is unhappy, and sometimes the real one comes peeping around the corner. I told him that he has my support, but I do live my life with our daughter. He still wants to come home, but is affraid to be controlled and that he will lose more freedom then before our split up. Just like me he doubts and can't take any decisions. Somehow I am affraid that he will hurt me again and that he will choose this collegue above me. And yes, somewhere .... I lost my faith in him (or his actions - due to that pill?) but I do still love him (strange!)
Some advice, pleace...

Thanks,

P. from Belgium

Need advice on my situation

Wyld — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:45:48 GMT

My doctor put me back on paxil 3 weeks ago for anxiety.

I was on paxil for about 6 months 2 years ago for anxiety and it worked well, but while I was taking it I was attending CBT. CBT worked wonders for me but unfortunately I had this relapse with anxiety.

The first 2 weeks went fine. But this last week has just been hell. I take 10mg at 8:00am and from then until 3-4pm I feel depressed, depersonalized and apathetic. My stomach is constantly uneasy or sore , I can't even look at food and I have terrible insomnia.

Then by around 3-4pm I feel better.

Has anyone encountered this, an ssri no longer working? Is it safe to tell my doctor I need to try something else?

Thanks

POSITIVE update :)

luc — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:14:55 GMT

Hm...I guess it'll pass like it used to in the past. A window of relief. But it's here. No doubt. And it's better than the previous one. And, what is very important, it came faster than the previous one. :) I'm writing about it because in the last 18 months (first Xanax then Paxil c/t) I've experienced HELL so unimaginable there are no words that could describe it. I'm writing about it because there are hundreds and thousands of people who experienced, are experiencing and, unfortunately, will experience this terrible suffering due to Paxil withdrawal. I'm writing about it because I want you, all those suffering beyond words, to know that that time HEALS. When in the thick of it and you think you can't take it anymore, every time, every moment tell yourself "the window of relief will come". And though I know full well that it will most likely pass, I'm thankful that it does come, and I know that the wave following it will decrease in its intensity.

Last year I had no other choice but to go c/t both with Xanax and then with Paxil. What is even more terryfying, throughout all that time since around May 2008 I had to go to work...It was HELL, it was beyond any description. I'm desperately looking for words that could describe what it felt like...And I can't...It's impossible...

Throughout all that time I had to work surrounded by people. I had to wear the mask so thick that it wasn't me anymore. The only person that knew what I'm going through was my mother.

I had been on Xanax and Paxil for many years due to the depression I had gone into after some traumatic experiences in my past. But when I look back now I realise that it WASN'T the Pill that I needed then to get me back on my feet. What I REALLY needed was some TIME to get over the depression, some time that would allow my nervous system to recover...but I was prescribed first Paxil, then Xanax. I took them for EIGHT years because I trusted doctors...I went into a poop-out very fast. It was only after some months that I started to feel terrible...Life didn't make any sense after it...no joy, no good feelings, just suffering, every day and every night. I was in a poop-out for many years. My doctor attributed my suffering to my "in-born depressive tendencies". But what she forgot to add is that BEFORE Paxil and just BEFORE I went into depression I was able to feel happiness, joy and I had a motivation to be, to live and to feel.

Luckliy, I saw through the Big Pharma scam. I realised that what I took for a cure was in fact the REASON whay I suffered. I'm about to begin my 12th month after c/t. I'm slowly getting there. Right now I'm feeling the best I've felt in the last...hm...7, 8 years. It's not the end. There's still some road ahead, but I KNOW that I've gone through the most difficult period in withdrawal.

And one more thing...this is very important...Every time I feel the window I have this urge to close this chapter, to live my own life, to not talk about it all, but I can't just forget about all those people that helped me with their advice and open heart in the most difficult of times...Paxil Progress People. People by capital "P". :) There are many new people on this board, some of them are where I was many months ago, and what I want to tell them, and what I'm ABSOLUTELY certain of, is that this suffering will end. The brain will heal, no matter what. It's what it was designed to be. I have NO doubts whatsoever. I promise to keep you updated, guys, on my progress. I know it's not the end yet, but I'm getting closer and closer...

And there's one more thing..."Nature abhors vacuum"...The very moment I went c/t last year sth nothing short of miracle happened to me...I met someone. This "someone" is reading PP...I want her to know that if it wasn't for her I would still be a slave to the Pill...Now she is My Pill. And though My Pill is 100% addictive, she is also 100% natural. And I love Her. :)

REMEMBER this, guys. Please, REMEMBER. I know how you feel. Been there. Seen it all. Oh, I've been there for many hellish months and years. But it DOES get better. It DOES get BETTER. :) Beyond any doubt. I'll keep you posted.
Thank you all PP people. :)

Flushing after orgasm.

ray34iyf — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:21:04 GMT

Hey guys,

Weird thing that started happening in the past month... after every orgasm I have, I immediately get very flushed in the face, and this last for 10-15 minutes or so. This is very strange to me, as it never occurred before.

It really seems like I have had a lot of sex related issues with the Lexapro, and I'm wondering if anyone has had this? Any idea what could be causing this exactly, and I'd assume anything that would cause this should be avoided for the time being?

Thanks,

Dan

The GSK Teratogen Plot... Thickens!

fiddaman — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:27:44 GMT

Bizarre behaviour happening over at the enquiries desk at GlaxoSmithKline. They still have not answered a question I put to them - Is paroxetine a teratogen?

Teratogen: Any agent that can disturb the development of an embryo or fetus. Teratogens may cause a birth defect in the child. Or a teratogen may halt the pregnancy outright. The classes of teratogens include radiation, maternal infections, chemicals, and drugs.

Following on from yesterday's answer, where they apparently included a response in an attachment to me via email, they, today, wrote the following to me:

GlaxoSmithKline UK Ltd
Stockley Park West
Uxbridge
Middlesex
UB11 1BT
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8990 9000
Fax: +44 (0) 20 8990 4321
www.gsk.com

IMPORTANT NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL AS IT ORIGINATES FROM AN UNATTENDED MAILBOX

Reference Number: REDACTED

Dear Mr Fiddaman,

Thank you for contacting the Medical Information Department at GlaxoSmithKline for your recent enquiry concerning our product Seroxat*(paroxetine).

Your previous email did not contain an attachment however, we had written as we were unable to verify if you are a health care professional. GlaxoSmithKline works within the guidelines set out in the Code of Practice of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI). This does not allow us to provide patients with advice about medicines which are available on prescription because any advice we might give could conflict with that of your own doctor who is in a far better position to advise you. Therefore, to enable GSK to provide you with the most relevant information please can you confirm if you are a health care proffesional.

Some information contained in this response may not be included in the approved Summary of Product Characteristics for Seroxat. This response is not intended to offer recommendations for administering this product in a manner inconsistent with its approved labelling in the UK.

Adverse events should be reported. Reporting forms and information can be found at www.yellowcard.gov.uk. Adverse events should also be reported to GlaxoSmithKline on 0800 221 441.

We will be able to assist you with your enquiries if you call our Customer contact Centre on 0800 221441 and select the option for Medical Information or alternatively, if you provide us with a telephone number where we can contact you.

I look forward to hearing from you soon

Yours sincerely,

Medical Information Advisor
GlaxoSmithKline

*Trademark of GlaxoSmithKline UK Ltd

----

Once again, the email carried the 'advice' - IMPORTANT NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL AS IT ORIGINATES FROM AN UNATTENDED MAILBOX.

Strange then, that I replied yesterday using the reply button and they answer me?

Also strange that they should state that my email to them did not contain any attachment - I never said it did!

Quite a poor show if you ask me.

Let's say, for the sake of this rant, that I am a woman who learned two weeks ago that I am pregnant. Around the time of finding I was pregnant, I was prescribed Seroxat - the doctor warned me about the harm it may cause the fetus but told me the benefit of me taking Seroxat outweighed the risk.

I'm then told by a family member that Seroxat is teratogenic. What does that mean? I ask. They tell me and, concerned, I contact the manufacturer of the drug. Surely, there is not another thalidomide medication on the market.

Firstly, the company, GlaxoSmithKline, tell me they have responded with an attachment to an email. Seeing that there is no such attachment, I mail them back, despite the 'advice' within the email that states, IMPORTANT NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL AS IT ORIGINATES FROM AN UNATTENDED MAILBOX.

Low and behold, it appears the claim that the email they sent me originates from an unattended mailbox, is not quite true.

Their second reply is advising me to see and talk to a doctor, the very same doctor that has just told me that the benefit of me taking Seroxat outweighs the risk of my child being born with heart defects.

It seems that GlaxoSmithKline are shirking their responsibility here.

I can just imagine that board meeting:

"If anyone asks if Seroxat is a teratogen, we shall refer them to a doctor, that way, we are not making any statement of whether it is or it isn't. Let's shift the blame on the doctors"

Brilliant marketing or wanton neglect?

So, here I am, a woman, I've just learned that I am pregnant. My doctor has wrote a prescription for me because I am feeling depressed. A family member has warned me that Seroxat is teratogenic - I seek more information but the very same company who manufacture and market Seroxat cannnot/will not help me.

Furthermore, the UK Medicines Regulator, the MHRA, are ignoring me. They claim that my question to them, [2 weeks ago] is still being dealt with.

In between I contact the National Poisons Information Service. They respond by telling me to ask my doctor if Seroxat is a teratogen.

No problem, I contact the Yellow Card Centre Northern and Yorkshire Regional Drug and Therapeutics Centre. They also tell me to ask my doctor.

Here I am. Pregnant and depressed. Not knowing what choice to make because the manufacturer won't tell me the facts. Not knowing who to turn to any more regarding my concerns over the safety of the life growing inside me.

This, coming from a pharmaceutical company who proudly boast that they are addressing three key strategic priorities: Grow, Deliver, Simplify.

And here's me, wondering whether or not the child inside me will be given the chance to grow. Whether the delivery of my child will come without the words of the mid-wife telling me 'There's complications'. Whether or not the Patient Information Leaflet that accompanies my packet of Seroxat will simplify the risk v benefit that my doctor chose on my behalf.

Maybe GlaxoSmithKline should address three other key strategies. Patients, Care and honesty. Because there is a woman with child here and more than likely somewhere else who is being kept in the dark of whether or not the drug she has been prescribed is a drug that can disturb the development of an embryo or fetus.

Maybe the terotogen link should be announced by GlaxoSmithKline. YES, SEROXAT IS A TERATOGEN AND WE CANNOT SAY FOR SURE WHETHER YOUR CHILD WILL BE BORN WITH HEART DEFECTS.

Then again, with almost 630 cases pending against them in the US Courts regarding children being born with heart defects after the mothers took Seroxat [Paxil in US] they are hardly likely to put human life before anything else on their agenda.

GLAXOSMITHKLINE

DO MORE, FEEL BETTER, LIVE LONGER.

The MHRA have been toying with my question for 13 days. Still no answer.

I have bile in my mouth.

Some advice on a few things...

denguefever — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:17:08 GMT

Over the last week or so I have been slowly going even further downhill into slits your wrists mode. I feel like this whole Paxil thing is a nightmare and I just want to wake up. I can't get over the fact that I took the pills etc etc.

But there is something I could do with some insight in.

In 2003 aged 18 I was taken off Paxil after being on it for 2 years and was put on Remeron. This kickstarted the whole horrific process: terror, blinding anxiety, panic attacks, impending doom feeling worse at mornings, some hair loss, bad skin, severe edema, loss of creativity, loss of sense of self etc.

In 2005 after coming off Remeron without any problems and still feeling hell I went back on Paxil because that was the last time I remembered feeling good.

Now I was never "antidepressed" at any time even before my first taper, I didn't have this vague elation or complete numbness others talk about. The drugs seemed to help for a bit initially and then I just got stuck taking them because when I didn't I got really nauseous. But I still cried, I still hurt and I definitely got angry. Can anyone else relate to that? You would think that if it weren't doing much for you in the first place it'd be easy to get off?

Now do you think that if I hadn't have gone back on I would have healed much better and that although I had no problems with the drug initially when I went back on it I made things worse? Compared to now I was cool between 16 -18. Physically I was good and performed well, I had no outstanding complaints other than low mood whereas now it's like I have a million. So what i'm trying to say is although Paxil never gave me any bad symptoms before I came off it, in going back on could it make my body react in a worse way? Is there not some paxil shaped hole the drug would kinda slip back into?

Because despite what I hoped those naive years ago, going back on it did little good for me emotionally or otherwise, I simply got stuck on it again taking it to avoid nausea after the initial boost faded, it didn't help the symptoms caused by withdrawal much and I had no idea it was drug related until I found this site a few months ago. I sought out hypnotherapy, supplements etc. thinking something was wrong with me but not knowing what since but docs said I was fine.

This year when I tried to come off I had symptoms I never had the first time. Dizziness, pins and needles, memory problems, something I can only describe as retardedness as in being unable to comprehend stuff as if there were a filter between me and words and me and the world, severe hair loss, hormone imbalances, severe dermatitis, diarrhea, palpitations etc.

Why do you this that is?

The reason I ask this is because I'm wondering what will I really be like without it in my system because when I had it in my system the first time I was fine, then I had it without which was hell, then I had it back in and still not much better and then without again absolute Hades; I'm just trying to figure out what is going on. For example I get bad fluid retention after I come off Paxil, still have it when I go back on but never had it before my 1st withdrawal, does that mean it might go when I actually get off for good?

After trying to come off too quickly during the spring/summer I reinstated and I do actually feel stablized in that I get no more morning impending doom, the crying spells are gone, I've been very depressed but that's because I've found out everything about Paxil and how I've messed up my life with it, the dizziness, filter thing and memory stuff have gotten a lot better while other stuff have gotten just a bit better. Is that good? If my body's doing a bit better after the stress of an abrupt withdrawal? I mean I had been on 40mg and am just doing 20mg now.

Also I never had brain zaps. I heard a theory on what brain zaps actually are so that got me a little worried.

Sorry I'm a bit foggy today, I'm not sure I've explained myself well at all, but thanks for reading.

Bach flower essences

Jean56 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:28:23 GMT

I've been having a lot of really bad depression and anxiety lately. I've been off paxil for 4 months. I'm getting regular acupuncture and take lots of supplements. Just this week, though, I've tried Bach flower essences and I'm really impressed. I've been taking Gentian for pessimism, but there are a bunch of others for a variety of emotional issues.

Dr. Weil on treating depression

Jean56 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:24:34 GMT

Here's a link to a blog by Andrew Weil on how he treats depression. He's not opposed to ADs but thinks there are a lot of other things that can be done:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew..._b_354332.html

I'm free..........for now.

ThomJ — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:05:57 GMT

It's now two months since I stopped/withdrew from Paxil and Ritalin. Since I was on a very low dose of Paxil (10mg) the tapering was short with the only annoying side effect being "brain zaps". My physical body is feeling better. The bloating and weight gain is going down and my strength feels more like it did before I started all the meds about three years ago. The depression, Dysthemia, is still present. Support groups are just "so-so" and my Dr wants to try another med; I really don't want to do that and have expressed this to the Dr. So I'm off the meds, feeling mentally lousy again, and am coping with osteo arthritis. Oh the fun of getting older. I'm happiest when I'm riding one of my bikes; I'm not Lance Armstrong but I do enjoy going for a long ride and viewing the countryside close to where I live. Thx for letting me vent. Thom.

Do I have to keep taking the Omega capsules???

BlueEyes — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:39:09 GMT

Okay, so the reason I ask is two-fold, I guess.

#1 - They are EXPENSIVE! I get the ones by Nordic Natural, or whatever their name is.

#2 - I'm not quite sure they're actually DOING anything for me. ???

For instance, my issue in general has always been insomnia and anxiety. And I'm learning how to tackle it with herbs, CBT, magnesium, etc.

I guess I'm not quite sure that these omega's are necessary for me to take ??? I started them 3 years ago when I first started the whole WD process, but now I'm just not so sure if I need to continue them. ???

I guess I should just do more reading up on them. But I was curious as to what you guys think.

Terri

Experiencing strange nerve sensations and pain. Is this common?

katcha35 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:07:32 GMT

I decided to withdraw from paxil 6 weeks ago. I first went on Paxil in 1998 because of panic attacks and have mostly been on it since then. I went off a few times but only to go back on it again because of the adverse discontinuation symptoms. This time is the hardest yet. I can't sleep I have these terrible nerve twinges and pains all over my body and I can't get comfortable no matter what I do.
I thought it was a sign of MS because my Mom has it. I'm really scared I'm crying a lot but I guess that's part of the withdrawal I also get agitated easily and everything seems like such an effort even the simplest tasks!
I need sleep! Will this ever get better?

What is it about antibiotics during withdrawal??

jule1 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:07:22 GMT

So I took doxycycline to help with the sinus infection and had the same reaction I had when I used the Macrobid a while back!!

burning hot skin, MAJOR stomach upset, diarrhea, excessive peeing, ramped anxiety, wanting to crawl out of my skin!

Is it a hypersensitivity we develop from withdrawal???

I just can't take antibiotics!

Any advice on this?? Anybody else with the same experience???

Feeling like crap

PatriceKM — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:06:48 GMT

The past few days Ive been feeling dizzy, nauseous, tired. Please tell me this will go away as I stabilize on 5mg! Its hard for me to work, concentrate. Feel like my brain isn't working.

Brain Fog??

rain — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:26:31 GMT

Can anyone explain the term "brain fog"... what that actually means or feels like? I've searched and the term brain fog comes up often... but not an explanation.

Thanks!

Different brands of same drug. Is there any difference?

Black Cat — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:41:51 GMT

Hi guys,

Just wondered if anyone has had any nasty side effects when switching between different brand names of the same drug. I had a bad experience when on Paxil by trying a generic paroxetine instead of the GSK seroxat brand. Basically i experienced withdrawal symptoms even though my dose was exactly the same. I am now on Citalopram/Celexa and last week got my drugs from a different pharmacy and they are a different brand to what I have taken for the last 2 months.

Have felt awful last couple of days since starting it on Sunday.

Black Cat

Depersonalization vs. Derealization.

magpie — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:56:20 GMT

What is the definition for each? Are these actual clinical terms with concise definitions? I've heard each mentioned many times on this Board, with no consistent understanding of the characteristics of each. I believe people may often be interchanging them, which causes confusion.

For me, it is difficult to even acknowledge if I'm experiencing one or the other (or none... or both), as everyone seems to have a different take on exactly what each of these terms means. :thinking:

withdrawal question

dgottschalk — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:40:26 GMT

has anyone ever experienced numbness on youre lips or mouth area, lately i have been having numbness on my mouth and it feels like i been shot with novacane, is this normal or could something else going on here.

Brooke Shields Recalls Suicidal Thoughts After Giving Birth

Samalabear — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:29:52 GMT

New article. Read and weep. Brooke Shields against Paxil? No, she sounds like a Paxil shill. But why not? Do you really think she would be entrusted with being a shill for Latisse if she was in any way against pharmaceuticals?

Brooke Shields has been open about her struggles with post-partum depression, but in revealing new comments she expresses the true depths of her suffering.

Shields, 44, spoke movingly about the stigma of depression and her experience battling the disease on Monday while receiving an advocacy award from the Hope for Depression Research Foundation in Manhattan.

"We think and we feel that we should just be able to handle it on our own," said the actress, who is mom to two girls, Rowan, 6, and Grier, 3. "I've always been strong enough to get through every single difficult situation in my life. I grew up in an addictive household. My mother [Teri] had acute alcoholism. It's in my blood. I was never going to be the one to succumb to it."

After a miscarriage and seven IVF attempts, she gave birth to daughter Rowan in 2003 with her husband, TV writer Chris Henchy. "I finally had a healthy beautiful baby girl and I couldn't look at her," she said of the depression she felt. "I couldn't hold her and I couldn't sing to her and I couldn't smile at her ... All I wanted to do was disappear and die."

In her deepest moments of despair she said, that the disease led her to believe, "I should not exist. The baby would be better off without me. Life was never going to get better � so I better just go."

Shields was prescribed medication, though she stopping taking it one point, thinking she didn't need them. "That was the week I almost did not resist driving my car straight into a wall on the side of the freeway," she told the crowd. "My baby was in the back seat and that even pissed me off because I thought she's even ruining this for me. I just wanted to drive into the wall and my friend stayed on the phone with me and made me safely get home."

She later called her doctor to ask for more help, and was eventually diagnosed with a chemical imbalance. "I learned what was going on inside my body and what was going on inside my brain," she said. "I learned I wasn't doing anything wrong to feel that way. That it was actually out of my control."

Looking back, she said, "If I had been diagnosed with any other disease, I would have run to get help. I would have worn it like a badge ... I didn't at first � but finally I did fight. I survived."

What does everybody think about that "out of my control" statement? It bothers me a lot that people are being taught this, that it's out of your control because you have a chemical imbalance. How many of us managed to survive Paxil withdrawal by "taking back to Paxil" and not letting it overwhelm and control us? It's hard work, there's no doubt about that. I still have a lot of problems, but I don't take the stance that I have absolutely no control. If that's the case I might as well ditch my therapist tonight, concede defeat, admit my brain is chemically imbalanced, I have no control over it, and it's time to pop another pill.

GSK Response to Teratogen question - Laughable

fiddaman — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:24:25 GMT

Well, I have kind of seen every trick in the book now...

A few days ago I wrote to GlaxoSmithKline enquiries to ask a simple, yet very important question.

Is paroxetine [Paxil, Seroxat] a teratogen?

To be honest I didn't think they would answer me, and even if they did they would probably direct me to part of their website where one would need a degree in bio-chemistry to fathom out what was written.

I was wrong.

Their response was far more off the wall than the above.

Here is their response

Art Auction for Paxil Heart Defect Victims

fiddaman — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:59:57 GMT

The Bitter Pill, the Official Blog of UNITE � uniteforlife.org, is running a campaign for the parents of Manie, a child born with Transposition of the Great Arteries.

The family has a case pending against Glaxosmithkline for Manie�s heart defect caused by Paxil. The case, like so many against GlaxoSmithKline, is moving along at a snail's pace and medical and travel expenses for Manie are hitting the family hard.

Manie needs this treatment and his family need help with the expenses. GlaxoSmithKline deny that Paxil causes heart defects, despite being found guilty in the recent GSK v Kilker trial - a decision that they are appealing against.

There are approx another 630 cases pending with regard to Paxil causing heart defects in children. Rather than do the right thing [admit liability] Glaxo are choosing to dig in their heels and plead their innocence. Meantime, folks like Manie's parents are faced with the daily struggles of juggling money for their child to survive.

The legal system needs changing. If a company or person is found guilty of manufacturing a harmful product then they should compensate the victims whom that product has harmed or at the very least pay for the travel and medical expenses!

Manie's mother, Julie, tells her story of her son's plight on the excellent blog, 'Big Pharma Victim'

To make ends meet the family is now auctioning off some of their artwork, some of which can be viewed HERE

Ten percent of the sales will be donated back to the UNITE / MADNAP cause for public awareness to help save other babies. For more information on how UNITE / MADNAP utilize donations send an email to amy@uniteforlife.org

To donate commissioned artwork or other goods to this auction, contact Julie & Russell at give2manie@yahoo.com

To read more on the previous Paxil/Birth Defect trial click HERE

To read about the teratogen link in Paxil read HERE

Thanks for reading.

Your experience with working out.

ray34iyf — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:53:44 GMT

Hey guys,

I just was wondering if anyone who's had problems with working out during drug tapering or withdrawal could share their experiences.

The past months, the typical experience for me includes weird head feelings, derealization, and increased anxiety. This last anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks.

I've tried to integrate some very light stuff and stretching to help, and after shooting a few baskets and stretching I don't have any ill effects.

Anyone else have experience with working out and symptoms?

I use to be an avid weightlifter and basketball player, and I'd love nothing more than to get back to it.

Thanks. :biggrin:

Can someone please remind me which antibiotics to stay away from in withdrawal?

jule1 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:44:53 GMT

My ENT seemed baffled today. Of course I said nothing about withdrawal but went in for a sinus infection. He said I sounded impacted but he didn't see as much drainage as he thought. He said throat showed post nasal drip and prescribed me doxycycline. Is this one antibiotic to stay away from in withdrawal or is it okay??

I swear my theory is that w/d inflames your insides and like my head has gotten inflamed and created an environment for a sinus infection to grow. Does feel impacted though.

He was also against neilmed sinus rinse...said it dries things up too much! I found that interesting since I have always used it.

Help please

Tammi — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:57:43 GMT

Hi

2 months off lexapro after 5 month wean from 10mg. Am now experiencing extreme anxiety and panic, comes from no where - just need some imput as to will it go away and is this normal, Have extreme health anxiety - feel awful. I don't want to go back on Lexapro again.

Thanks

Tammi

Doctor put me on Paxil 3 days ago

sealunar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:19:38 GMT

Just started taking it, then I came across this forum. I do not have major anxiety attacks, nor do I suffer from depression. I worry sometimes that things are wrong with my body, and I also can get nervous in social situations.

Is the drug really that bad as far as withdrawl goes? I tried it for a week about a month ago but I didn't notice any difference. My doctor told me I have to be on it at least a month for me to notice any changes.

This is Embarassing...

Mozart22 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:05:39 GMT

During withdrawal from Paxil, I noticed that my stomach would start
grumbling a lot. It doesn't hurt, and it doesn't bother me when I'm alone.
But when I'm in public, it can be very embarrassing.

I remember a year ago, I was in college taking a test, and the room
was very quiet while everyone took the test. My stomach kept
grumbling and grumbling. It was really loud and embarrassing.
And it has happened several times during withdrawal.

I was at work a few months ago, and we were having a staff meeting,
and once again my stomach kept grumbling loudly. It's so loud and
noticeable that it kinda sounds like I'm farting, even tho I'm not.
And I'm not over-thinking this because I have gotten many strange
looks when it has happened, so I know for sure that people notice
it.

Any tips or advice on how to manage this during withdrawal?
It is not fun at all to be in a quiet room and have everyone wonder
why all these funny noises are coming from me. What can I do to make
it better?

Increase dosage any advice?

HanPanes — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:02:48 GMT

I've posted recently about the trouble I've had over the last few days. In summary, terrible anxiety, terror, not feeling connected to anything and akathisia with suicudal thoughts and very low mood.

Without making this too long I reduced from 9mg of prozac to 8mg four weeks ago and the withdrawal starts to hit me on the fourth week. I'm four days into begging to die and don't know if I can cope with it any longer. I just wanted people's thoughts on whether increasing my dose to 8.5mg would help or even back up to the 9mg.

If so, should I do it tomorrow when I normally take it or add the extra 1/2mg tonight and how long would it take to make a difference?

Really hoping to hear from people and grateful if you do post
Thanks
Hannah

Has anyone had symptoms for 4 years?

Mom — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:27:22 GMT

Does anyone know if there is someone that has had withdrawal symptoms for 4 years?

I am in my 40th month and and wondering how much longer it can last. I know everyone's healing is different...

Having a minor meltodown today and need some support!

BlueEyes — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:32:38 GMT

I know rationally this is all "good" stress at this point -

#1. I'm finally getting away from my present manager at work who I can't stand (been working for her for over 4 years now!) - got notified by HR that a position I had applied to in a different area of the company has offered me the job. (yay!)

#2. Having 15 people over for Thanksgiving next week. That generally sets me off in general.

So between the two things, I'm a freakin mess. Not sleeping, anxiety through the roof, etc. The deep breathing exercises aren't doing a thing, any yoga I do isn't helping, I wake up gasping for breath if I *do* get any sleep whatsoever....

I know I'm excited about the upcoming new job, and I'm excited about seeing people at Thanksgiving I haven't seen for awhile....but why does GOOD stress affect me just the same as BAD stress????

I am literally freaking here...

I had been sleeping so well, that I've forgotten all the ammo I've pulled out in the past when I've woken up before during those 2 a.m. panic attacks. Just calming myself down is such an effort of will.

I guess I just need some hugs and someone to tell me that I'll go back to normal at some point.

Terri

10 months after ct from adverse reaction

kenny84 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:54:42 GMT

hey guys

just a update after just under 10 months from ct. I told my doctor 2 weeks after stating to take citorpalm i was have terrible obbsseive thoughts, of course he said no not possible keep taking them. 3 months later i threw the head up and told him i wanted off. I said should i come of gradually, he said no just stop ur only on 10mg.

over the next few months i fell terrible but not just as bad every week as the previous. The tablets made me feel dead inside and not wanting to do anything. I couldnt feel at all.

Now at 10 months out i am starting to get a little bit of feeling back (what the weekend feels like, christmas etc) much improved to last year on the tablets. It not perfect but moving the right way.

I am becoming more socialble again and craking jokes and doing silly things on a regualr basis. I have been out dancing in clubs again and am going to te gym to get the :rifle: (guns) big again. i can sort of look forward again to things like machester united match this saturday and my girl friends bday and xmas. i dont get the really in depth feeling of joy and love but i guess it will take more time????

Any views would be great

Kenny

Two questions...

magpie — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:37:51 GMT

Hi, all.

My first question is, I'd like to begin taking a multiple vitamin (containing folic acid; think most of them do anyway), perhaps some B-complex, and definitely some calcium-magnesium, but want to ensure I take the correct dosage. Does anyone have any accurate dosage information to offer on these particular supplements?

Also, does anyone have any personal experience with the older AD amitriptyline (Elavil)? I know it's classified as a "tricyclic". The reason I ask is because a friend of mine who had disastrous effects from all the SSRSIs, finally settled on amitriptyline because it seemed to actually work and have the most minimal side effects for her. That is, of course, not to mean it is for everyone, but I'm just curious if anyone here has had any direct experience with it and wouldn't mind sharing.

Thanks to all once again.

an urgent question guys

Shane24 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:43:00 GMT

Does anyone know about the drug Lorazepam, it is also named i believe ativan, I wandered what are the side effects of this drug, and is it dangerous! I'm not taking it or anything but someone i know is! I know we probably dont trust much of any drugs but I really need to know about this drug, is it dangerous, thanks to everyone for any info you give.

freinds question

whalebale — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:39:48 GMT

Hello PP. i rarely come here for withdrawal advice anymore, since its almost over for me. I have a complaint now though, probably directed towards the withdrawal veterans. and that is, all my old friends are irrelevant to me at this point. the only people i socialize with are my parents and my family. i have no relevant/current friends anymore.

its been 16 months almost where ive just shut everyone out, so i could focus on recovery. and all my friends have gone off to different colleges anyway. should i just wait until i leave for my university? and make friends there? it might be impractical to reconnect with old friends who i havent talked closey in over 16 months and are now in different cities.

I'm gonna write my government!

Shane24 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:23:53 GMT

I am going to write my representative in congress about these drugs, i'm telling you guys, i'm gonna write about the dangers these drugs can cause and what can be done to stop them!

withdrawal at very low dose?

luvmyboys — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:45:19 GMT

Thanks to Lcrawford for replying to my PM earlier.

I was wondering if anyone else had withdrawal at the very low dosage...I dropped from .6mL to .4mL not expecting a huge problem but have been very down with the zaps, vertigo, waking up in terror, etc. I do think I have a sinus infection and my dr. gave me some nasacort to use. I can't decide if that is making it better or my anxiety worse. Anyway, I was mainly wondering if this is all in my head or if it is possible at this low of a dose to be withdrawal. Thanks

edited to add...I just looked at my sig and realized I put it down wrong....I just went to .4mL on Oct. 22. I was trying to go a little lower than .6 for awhile and then went to the .4. Thanks

my letter to Readers Digest

scotia21 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:44:36 GMT

See if you can find the Freudian slip in it that my lovely friend, Cally, pointed out to me and then laughed about.

I have suspected for quite some time that your magazine had sold it's soul to Big Pharma and this article confirmed my fears. I cannot even image how a person who has any common sense what so ever can suggest that a person take a pill that is the combination of an antiseizure drug and a drug that was proven to cause major heart problems (there was no "safe half" in the Fen-Phen combination as you stated in the article) to lose weight.

The only thing that has been proven to really help a person lose weight is a proper diet and exercise. There is no easy fix and you advising people to take a pill instead of adopting better eating habits and an exercise plan is at the very least irresponsible.

All drugs have side effects and some are just not worth the risks, for the potential reward. You could have taken the opportunity to suggest healthy recipes and simple exercise habits for people to consider instead of suggesting a potentially dangerous drug for them to take.

Flipping through the pages of your magazine, where drug ads follow almost every single article, no longer makes me happy. It makes me angry and a little bit sad. Not only are you advertising for the drug companies, but now your writers are doing it too.

My life was nearly ruined by the greed of Big Pharma and I refuse to support any magazine who follows the philosophy that a pill is the best approach. I will not be renewing my prescription. Being human is NOT a sickness and we do not need to be cured of it. We do need sound, honest, truthful advice and to be told that sometimes the things that are the most rewarding are the hardest to find.

Has this happened to anyone else?

Greenman — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:00:48 GMT

I know I haven't posted in a while. Truth be told, my depression came back and I am self medicating again...alcohol. I am ashamed, I know it's not going to help, but things are so freaking bad I just needed to escape.
But anyway, this happened a few months ago and is really eating away at me. I work for a very small company and they finally got a medical plan I could afford...just barely. I filled out the "questionaire" and turned it in with everyone else. My boss actually sat there and read it and said in front of everyone at the table..." Kevin, you have had mental problems!!!!" I was, to say the least, stunned and mortified. And it has been festering for months now, turning into a white hot rage. Has anyone else had this done to them. How did you let this rage go??

Starting to feel immensely bad over things I've done on SSRIs

northernlights — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:55:54 GMT

Am I the only one here? I feel like the moments that should have meant so much to me have been taken away because of the emotional numbness I had towards them.
I feel like all the innocence I cherished in myself has just left me completely and if I was still here, I mean the person I knew before, it would have never happened. I feel like a fake and I feel like I have just lost myself, and messed myself up completely.
I went to drugs I indulged in sex, just to feel something when I had no idea why I wasn't feeling. I was incredibly anxious and I threw rages earlier on in my childhood when i started SSRIs. My parents kept telling me, they wish they had the old me back. I lost friends due to me not caring to keep in contact.
I'm starting to have some serious regrets and I feel like I have messed up too much to have myself back. I feel like there is so much baggage to me to ever be the free spirit and carefree person I was before all of this.
I can honestly say I never tried drugs or had sex, even with my boyfriend of a year, before the emotional numbness. I remember people asking me why I broke up with him when I loved him and I could never answer that.

Whey/soya protein - can anyone help me?

pboy — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:16:46 GMT

Ive been considering taking a whey protein supplement for a while now. Ive read many of the threads saying that theyre helpful for withdrawal and boosting gluthaione levels.
It's a lot of info to take in so can anyone advise me, does it matter what type you get? Here in the UK the options are limited, many of the brands mentioned on here arent available.

Also, does it matter about whey containing tryptophan? I had read somewhere that its best to avoid things containing tryptophan during w/d? Obviously I dont want to make things worse.

I have some soya protein powder that Ive had from when I used to do weight lifting, it contains various amino acids including l-tryptophan, l-cysteine, l-glycine...and loads more.

Fluorescent lighting

Lucy — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:11:57 GMT

How does fluorescent lighting affect you? Does it cause derealization? Return or worsening of withdrawal symptoms in general? ( If so, does this return of symptoms continue for hours or days?) Can't see well in grocery stores, hospitals, office buildings? Difficulty focusing eyes? All of the above for me ----

Please please help, don't know what's going on

HanPanes — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:37:24 GMT

I've just dragged myself up enough to write this even though I don't know if I'm going to make sense.

As an update I'm 30 days since my last reduction of Prozac which was 9mg to 8mg, my Flupentixol and Amitriptline have remained the same.

Right now I feel like I'm going crazy, I had an awful five days last withdrawal at about the same stage where I didn't get out of bed at all because I was having such wierd thoughts and couldn't trust what I might do. But this time I've felt awful throughout the last withdrawal and something has suddenly changed and I don't know what - so scared.

Last night me husband took me out for a little drive just to get out of the house and during this I felt myself lose it completely. I can only describe it as intense panic and akathesia, my heart started pumping in my chest, my thoughts were and are what feels like evil, I don't feel as if I can stay still and can't get out of this torment. I was crying and the whole world felt altered and distant from me, I felt if I moved an inch I'd harm myself. Uncontrollable repetative hand movements like running hands through hair in an attempt to get it all to stop.

I am very much like that today also and even writing this is a challenge, there isn't any rest anywhere from my mind and I don't know how much longer I can last. Did I go down to quick? Is this to be expected? It scares me so much because it reminds me of when I had a breakdown coming off Paxil - I'm so afraid.

In the past 2 weeks I've had a general anasthetic for a minor operation and 2 days ago I had a local anasthetic at the dentist, struggling with chronic headaches still and now have a really heavy cold.
Does anyone know if having a virus affects absorbtion of medication and supplements or if having anasthetic might have upset the balance.

Please respond as I'm desperate- my husband is with me but we don't have any other help at the moment.

Thanks
Hannah

Anyone ever have this happen to them?

Shane24 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:55:09 GMT

Of course you guys know about what i'm going through right now, but last night i felt so nervous, depressed, nd scared, it was really bad, i was having obsessive thoughts, i tried but just couldn't stop, I was just awful all night, then all of the sudden i felt great, just wonderful, my spirit picked up, i was just wonderful, not nervous or anxious, Iwondered if thgis is part of withdrawal, It was weird, and of course tonight i'm just rough again

Paroxetine - The Teratogenic Effect by Bob Fiddaman

fiddaman — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:16:17 GMT

I can't be bothered to embed all the links folks and it's rather a long post. So if you wish to read the full article,click on the link after the first few para's.

Now there's a word, "Teratogenic" - one most of you will be unaware of - one that has caused me considerable confusion over the past few weeks. I shall explain.

The recent GSK vs Kilker case saw files flood the Internet, many of which, if not all, are featured on this blog and my sister blog, GlaxoSmithKline Internal Files

What I find astounding is that this word, "Teratogenic" and/or "Teratogen" often appears throughout the Kilker files. A quick search of the word/s simplifies it into laymans terms:

Teratogenic: Able to disturb the growth and development of an embryo or fetus.

Teratogen: Any agent that can disturb the development of an embryo or fetus. Teratogens may cause a birth defect in the child. Or a teratogen may halt the pregnancy outright. The classes of teratogens include radiation, maternal infections, chemicals, and drugs.

What has caused me much confusion over the past few weeks is the lack of help I have received trying to find out more about the paroxetine [Paxil, Seroxat] and teratogen link.

The Kilker case files show a link between paroxetine and its teratogenic effect, such a strong link that the jury in that case found that paroxetine was the causation of young Lyam Kilker being born with heart defects.

Read More

Imitrex, Sumatripan help please

HanPanes — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:16:35 GMT

I've been having chronic headaches now for 8 months during my withdrawal although I def would say they're not migraines.
Anyway my doc today has given me 6 Imitrex/Sumatripan tablets as a trial because she wonders if they are migraines.

She's setting me up for an x ray on my neck (already had a clear CT scan) and has said that before I see her next I need to have tried at least one of these tablets. I've read a lot of links on this subject but still don't know what to think.

Is she misguided in giving them to me seeing as I am still on 8mg Prozac, Flupentixol and 10mg Amitriptyline or should I give it a go otherwise it doesn't seem like she'll give me any further help?? My gut feeling is not to take the risk and mess with something I don't understand and not sure she does!

Chest burn/pain

Juwane — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:52:24 GMT

I've taken Paxil for 3 months now (40 mg), and now I've started to feel a strange chest pain I'm having today. I don't even know whether to call it a chest pain or chest burn. It's hard to describe but I'll try..

It's location is a little below the center of the rib cage (the center bone that connects the ribs of both sides), and little behind it. It's really hard to describe where, it's sort of like inside. It is not a sharp pain at one point, but is sort of spread. It is a kind of pain/burn that when it is a little high you clench your teeth, and rub your feet together like in fever. It comes and goes, but when it comes it stays for an hour or so.

I came back from ER a few hours ago. Blood pressure was 130/90 (could it be high because of anxiety I was having at that time?) Heart rate was 120 bpm (also anxiety). EKG came back normal. Blood tests came back normal (there are many things in the blood test, ask me if you wish to know a particular one); and finally, troponin I was < 0.01. The doctor said he suspected heart inflammation, but it didn't turn out to be that, he said. Thank God.

In my opinion it could be one of two things: (1) GERD (acid), which is highly likely, or (2) a side effect of Paxil.

Does anyone have had this, while on Paxil or pre-Paxil?

Any input will be appreciated.

Iron Supplements

Mick85 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:52:43 GMT

I have been moderately anemic for a few years now and I am thinking about starting an iron supplement. However, I am horribly sensitive to any supplements (have just recently been able to tolerate fish oil) and I am scared to death to even try a small amount of supplemental iron. In addition, they seem to be notorious for causing GI side effects. Does anyone have any experience with iron supplements during withdrawal?

Thanks!

Still Exhausted, No Energy

Mozart22 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:54:14 GMT

I've been steady at 20 mg of Paxil per day for almost 2 months now...
and I'm still super tired and sluggish.

I sleep a lot, when I'm awake I'm always really tired,
I cannot fulfill my duties and run my errands. Even as I write
this, my eyes are closing and I want to sleep even though I got
plenty of sleep at night.

I have some important stuff to do but I can't do most of it
cause I'm so sleepy all the time... :sleeping: :sleeping2: :sleeping: :sleeping: :sleeping2:

I tolerate and react badly to omega fatty acids !

alivehope — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:39:57 GMT

Hello

Why do I tolerate raw cow's milk which contains omega fatty acids and react badly to nuts? I also reacted badly to pepper and flax seeds which both contain omega. I also tolerated foods rich in Mag but could not tolerate Mag supplement. I also tolerate tuna which is good source of omega.

Reaction symptoms

Face feels hot
Anxiety goes to the roof
Feels choked
My voice sounds too low
Strained eye muscles
No sore sleep
Severe brain fog
Bad memory

Does drinking raw milk supply my body with enough omega fatty acids? Is it possible that the milk I've been drinking has low omega fatty acids? Another thing is that I do not react to olives which contain omega fatty acids.

1 olive versus 30 olives
Total Omega-3 fatty acids 2.3mg
2.3 x 30 = 69mg omega 3
Total Omega-6 fatty acids 30.4mg
30.4 x 30 = 912mg omega 6

drinking raw cow milk and eating olives and will reinforce my body with omega fatty acids and heal my injured brain faster. Omega oils healed many patients of Dr Daniel Amen and probably would help my brain.

Report Shows Pfizer Fudged Drug Studies

Samalabear — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:16:51 GMT

Not that this is really news, just the same old, same old:

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/11/12-2

Published on Thursday, November 12, 2009 by Reuters
Report Shows Pfizer Fudged Drug Studies

by Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO - A study of internal company documents suggests Pfizer Inc altered or omitted unfavorable study findings to expand its epilepsy drug Neurontin's market, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday, offering a look at how drugmakers influence scientific research.

[A study of internal company documents suggests Pfizer Inc altered or omitted unfavorable study findings to expand its epilepsy drug Neurontin's market, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday, offering a look at how drugmakers influence scientific research. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)]A study of internal company documents suggests Pfizer Inc altered or omitted unfavorable study findings to expand its epilepsy drug Neurontin's market, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday, offering a look at how drugmakers influence scientific research. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)
Clinical trials are supposed to answer a specific, predetermined scientific question, but a comparison of Pfizer documents and published studies on Neurontin for conditions other than epilepsy found that eight out of 20 study reports never made it into medical journals.

And in eight of the 12 published studies, the primary outcome -- the answer to the main scientific question -- was changed by Pfizer, the world's biggest drugmaker, from the original study design.

"There were a lot of primary outcomes that were shifted around between the planning of the protocol and the reporting of the study," said Kay Dickersin of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, whose study appears in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Some primary outcomes were lost altogether. Some were brand new. Some were secondary outcomes that were upgraded to primary," she said in a telephone interview.

The studies, all funded by Pfizer, showed how the drug worked in people with problems like migraines or pain, which are off-label uses of the drug.

Once a drug is approved, doctors are free to prescribe it as they see fit, and while companies are not permitted to market a drug for anything but the approved use, they can hand out reprints of studies published in medical journals showing how the drugs work in patients with different problems.

Dickersin got the documents while serving as an expert witness against Pfizer, which in 2004 paid $430 million to settle a lawsuit over illegal promotion of Neurontin.

Pfizer was sued again last year by lawyer Thomas Greene, who brought the original case against the company for off-label marketing practices, for holding back negative study results and changing the design of its trials to produce more favorable results.

That case was the latest in a string of allegations against the pharmaceutical industry suggesting it has controlled the flow of clinical trial research to boost its marketing position.

Pfizer spokesman Chris Loder said in a statement the suggestion that the company attempted to mislead the medical community is untrue and was "derived from a report created for litigation and coauthored by plaintiffs' expert witness."

Dickersin said the studies she reviewed are still not publicly available.

She said while there can be legitimate reasons to change a study's primary goal or endpoint, that change needs to be included in a formal amendment and published in a journal.

Not taking that step leaves a false impression, and in the case of companies, reveals the competing interests of scientists and marketing departments, she said.

To improve transparency, Dickersin said study protocols and primary endpoints should be required when companies register their clinical trials on the public database clinicaltrials.gov.

"It's important for us not to give up on trying to understand this because if we don't, the truth of science will not be upheld," she said.

(Editing by Philip Barbara)
� 2009 Reuters

Light Therapy -any experiences?

nicole55 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:17:57 GMT

I was wondering if there was anyone here on the boards that had tried light therapy/boxes? Has anyone tried one? What was it like?

I have noticed a pattern to some of my anxiety/depression with over the years. Always gets worse around the same time of year. It could be a coincidence.

I'm willing to try some non conventional and non-drug options. It seems harmless enough to try. It IS a bit of a money investment though. And my wallet keeps getting hit with all this stuff.

I suspect this is normal....?

HanPanes — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:46:14 GMT

Does anyone else feel like the only people who can understand you are the people who've gone through it themselves?

I'm very tired after 13 years of being on meds of seeing myself as not belonging to society and being the 'special one', not having 'normal' issues and am now realising how much my self esteem has been shattered because of this.

I went to the dentist just now and had to fill out a form about what med I'm on, I feel that as soon as you say you're on a psychiatric drug people have already pre judged you and I just want to scream "none of this has been my fault" to total strangers!!

I'm so tired of explaining to people that I'm in withdrawal and them thinking that I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill. The only way people seem to understand is if you go into a lengthly explanation, then they maybe don't believe you and you get pitied.

I can't wait for a time when I'm drug free and feel like I belong in this world as a normal human being. Does that ever happen......anyone??

Feeling AWFUL Today...

magpie — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:00:07 GMT

Hi, all.

The re-instatement of 10 mg prozac, if it is "working" at all, is slow at best (put myself on it again about a month ago after CT'ing - I know - dumb idea.) I know I have to give it some more time, but my patience and nerves are wearing thin. All I think about now is if it doesn't help me this time 'round and I'm forced to slow-taper regardless. That scares the crap out of me. I honestly don't know if I could deal with that, having dealt with Paxil withdrawal last year (that nearly killed me.)

Today, my back hurts, I have a terrible headache, arms/joints are sore (normally, I never get these symptoms)... yesterday, my stomach was a mess. Anxiety is very high, I have no appetite, am getting depressed (again), etc. etc. Perhaps the prozac isn't going to "take" this time. I'm getting really frightened here... :thumbsdown:

Has Valerian Root Made Anyone Else Worse?

magpie — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:30:01 GMT

Maybe my body rejects certain herbs, but I've tried valerian root (400 mgs) a couple of times during times of extreme anxiety, and it only increased my restlessness, anxiety and agitation. :wreck:

I know we all react differently to different substances, but I'm just curious to know if anyone else has experienced this with valerian root. Just as an aside, weed does the same thing to me, otherwise, honestly... I'd have absolutely no moral dilemma in using it, as I truly believe it's far less dangerous and risky than many other pharmaceuticals out there.

I just needed to post i'm having a rough time

Shane24 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:58:10 GMT

I've had a rough day today, I of course had a rough day because of my aunt, she is hanging in but still struggling, she is not taking Chemotherapy right now cause she is too weak, so i'm nervous about that, also I had a rough day cause of the withdrawal, I had extreme nervousness and anxiety about other things than just my aunt, I worried about getting older, graying hair, even though i'm not gray yet, I'm worrying about my eyes cause i still have problems with them cause the drugs, so I am really struggling, i posted some videos on my youtube account it is a documentry called psychiatry exposed, i've posted the 1st part and the 6th part, i will post all of it, i hope you guys like this documentary, thanks again everyone, sometimes i feel like I can't go on sometimes, but I go and have a good and hard CRY!! Then i come back and continue the fight, i'm really struggling but I am still fighting this, and I will fight these DRUG PUSHERS called 'PSYCHIATRISTS' till I am in the grave myself, please pray for and remember me everyone.

NEED HELP

starla86 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:07:28 GMT

I recently was switched by Paxil to Zoloft. [See my signature for my history.] I've been on Zoloft for about 2 weeks now and I saw a therapist for the first time two days ago. However, I have been feeling especially depressed and anxious today and yesterday. I've never had to work so hard to get TO and through work today. I'm scared to do anything, or I just plain don't want to do anything.

I called my doctor and I'm going to see her tomorrow afternoon. [4th appt in 4 days. $25 co-pays each time. $100 in 4 days. YAY!]

I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice. I am getting so bad, that suicide has crossed my mind for the first time ever. I keep telling myself that I would never carry through with any of it. I don't have any plans, but it's just in the back of my head. It's just that everything seems pointless and overwhelming. I feel like I will never feel better ever again, no matter what.

Does anyone know of any safe, effective over-the-counter supplements to take for depression? I'm not looking for something to completely cure me, just something to make me functional again.

I have a feeling that tomorrow, the doctor will either increase my Zoloft dosage or switch me to yet ANOTHER drug. [The Zoloft makes me anxious and shaky.]

Someone please help......... :bigcry:

how to figure 10 percent?

lambchop — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:04:47 GMT

I just got liquid paxil and need to start my first taper. So, it's 10 percent drops every 3-6 weeks, right? I am currently on 5 mgs, so what would my new dosage be? I am terrible at math and will not be able to figure it out. Is there a chart for that somewhere on here, too? I could not find one.

CBT or likewise NEEDS to be taught in schools.

magpie — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:27:50 GMT

With an alarmingly increasing number of the population experiencing mental illnesses (some polls estimate 25%), CBT or other equitable effective coping skills NEED to be taught in grade schools everywhere. If the modern mental illness "scourge" (anxiety, depression, ADD/ADHD, etc.) can be stemmed at increasingly earlier ages, then lesser the need for pharmaceutical intervention.

I am seeing a miniscule ray of light in this respect, as my kids engage in (albeit too sporadically) "anti-stress" exercises, both physically and artistically in their school. We need to adapt to our present global circumstances. It is at a super-crisis level. This is an extremely anxiety-producing culture our children are growing up in. With the unleashed power of BigPharma, we owe it to our kids to fight against institutionalized prejudices of "abnormality" (translation of "abnormality": normal individuals reacting to excessive-stimulation and/or de-humanizing circumstances) and lobby for more support in the area of self-awareness, group discussion, community support and self-help.

If/when I ever get "better", I vow to become more involved in the thrust for better education and support in the realm of non-pharmaceutical interventions.

Little Update...

magpie — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:44:59 GMT

Still on 10 mg prozac and no intention of tapering from that for a while, since I'm still not back to an adequately operational state after cold-turkeying it a few months ago (have since re-instated.)

Now, I'm having additional symptoms that are frightening me. Stomach problems. Abdominal aches, stabs, all over. I never get "indigestion" but that's been occurring on and off for the last month. My gosh... does this crappola EVER end? I'm actually kind of wondering if it's the excessive alcohol consumption, since that can certainly mess up the stomach/esophagus, digestive system, etc. (along with a whole host of other systems, like appetite loss, which I have also.)

I feel my situation is, unfortunately, a bit more complex & multi-faceted due to the fact I'm a problem drinker (drink is always what I've used to calm my nerves; I've got GAD.) Man... between the beer and the SSRIs... this is one big, fat, bloody mess of a hole I have got to get myself out of. I only hope I don't take my family down with me or, worse, lose them altogether because of the fact I'm an unstable, unreliable less-than-effective parent.

Thanks for listening, everyone. Just had to rant a bit, I guess. :vampire:

Cephalexin

Betsy — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:00:26 GMT

Hey, can anyone tell me if the Antibiotic Cephalexin (generic for keflex) contribute to anxiety like some of those Antibiotics?

I thought it was a fairly safe one, but I started taking it a few days after this episode kicked in. I only took it for 10 days, so it probably doesn't make any difference.

Thanks for any info you have.
Betsy

PLEASE HELP

amg726 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:32:32 GMT

In my recent post I had quit taking 20mg of paxil and switched straight over to 20mg of prozac. This went on for almost a week my 4th day I couldn't help but cry,have very high anxiety ,sweats basically you name it that's ihow I felt. Called the doctor on day 7 and he told me to stop the prozac and go back on the paxil . I am currently not feeling any better and have to go see the doctor today. Does anyone have. Severe anxiety and has found a medicine that works for them that I might suggest?? There has to be something that will make me feel normal again and not so much anxiety to where I can finally leave my house calmly

One more step in withdrawal...

luc — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:22:38 GMT

Hello, guys. What symptoms have already disappeared or substantially diminished in your case? Be it just one, but sth that you haven't experienced for some time now. In my case this would be zaps, though still on the ride. Thanks for your ideas!

Fascinating account of the 'pro's' and cons of taking Seroxat/Paxil

fiddaman — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:07:54 GMT

Kevin's Story

If it�s something you have never tried, then it�s something you will surely be aware of by now. Seroxat, the drug used to help treat both depression and anxiety has been causing a stir in the mainstream media, derided for it�s alleged link with suicide cases.

Of course, what many scribes tend, or choose, to ignore that people will turn to the drug as a last resort to help them climb out of depression and possibly allay suicidal thoughts.

Full account here

Why did you decide to quit Paxil?

maxman — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:41:10 GMT

I realize there are many different reasons, but I am just curious as to why most of you decided to stop Paxil. Was it that it just wasn't working for you, just decided to get off it for health reasons, I feel like if I had not had this past experience where I was concerned with my health for a different reason I would of never even thought twice about it. I was just used to waking up and popping a pill. Anyways just curious to hear your guys responses.

Advice needed, what is going on?

maxman — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:34:12 GMT

Hey there, as some of you may remember I went off my dose of paxi too fast and got really bad side effects, then went back on the dose, off etc. Anyways I reinstated about 2 months ago. I have been on 35mg... my original dose was 30. I have been feeling a lot better up until this week. Its weird, I was doing great, really not having any dizziness, wooshes, or anxiety. This week and last I have been noticing whooshes while in the gym, I have been having that "out of it feeling" since Monday, and had some strong anxiety today. I have been fine for the past couple weeks and thought it would continue. Does anyone know any reasons for this? Maybe the dose is not strong enough or maybe I am in a poop-out?

Psychiatrist Dr. Michael Reinstein received nearly $500,000 from antipsychotic drug's

scotty — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:24:17 GMT

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health...967,full.story

Doctor-drugmaker ties: Psychiatrist Dr. Michael Reinstein received nearly $500,000 from antipsychotic drug's manufacturer
Company paid him to promote Seroquel despite misgivings about his research
Chanile Hayes

Executives inside pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca faced a high-stakes dilemma.

On one hand, Chicago psychiatrist Dr. Michael Reinstein was bringing the company a small fortune in sales and was conducting research that made one of its most promising drugs look spectacular.

On the other, some worried that his research findings might be too good to be true.

As Reinstein grew irritated with what he perceived as the company's slights, a top executive outlined the scenario in an e-mail to colleagues.

"If he is in fact worth half a billion dollars to (AstraZeneca)," the company's U.S. sales chief wrote in 2001, "we need to put him in a different category." To avoid scaring Reinstein away, he said, the firm should answer "his every query and satisfy any of his quirky behaviors."

Putting aside its concerns, AstraZeneca would continue its relationship with Reinstein, paying him $490,000 over a decade to travel the nation promoting its best-selling antipsychotic drug, Seroquel. In return, Reinstein provided the company a vast customer base: thousands of mentally ill residents in Chicago-area nursing homes.

During that period, Reinstein also faced accusations that he overmedicated and neglected patients who took a variety of drugs. But his research and promotional work went on, including studies and presentations examining many of the antipsychotics he prescribed on his daily rounds.

The AstraZeneca payments, filed as exhibits in a federal lawsuit, highlight the extent to which a leading drug company helped sustain one of the busiest psychiatrists working in local nursing facilities.

In an interview and in response to written questions, Reinstein said industry payments he has received for speeches and other engagements have had no bearing on his research results or patient care. He said he does not "accept any money from corporations to study their medications. This eliminates any possible conflicts of interest."

But he does receive money from the Uptown Research Institute, a for-profit business that conducts industry- and government-funded studies on psychotropic drugs to help mentally ill patients.

Reinstein's office in Uptown is adjacent to the research institute, which is owned by John Sonnenberg, a clinical psychologist who describes Reinstein as "a mentor of mine" and "brilliant."

Sonnenberg said drugmakers and others pay his institute to do research, and the group, in turn, pays Reinstein a consulting fee of "under $2,000 a month" and has for many years. A decade ago, Sonnenberg said, Reinstein was an active researcher for the institute but since then has served only as an adviser.

"My research organization is separate from him, financially and organizationally," Sonnenberg said.

While payments from drugmakers to researchers are legal, critics have long argued that they should be publicly disclosed. Legislation to make Illinois one of a handful of states to require disclosure died in Springfield this year but is included in the U.S. House and Senate versions of health care reform proposals.

"We need to know that we can fully trust the relationship we have with our doctor and that another, more lucrative relationship with industry does not outweigh it," Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., who is pushing for such reform, said in an interview.

Health professionals who have encountered Reinstein have had similar concerns. When he gave promotional presentations about various medications at Grasmere Place nursing home in Chicago, case manager Staci Burton recalled that she was pleased to get free lunches. But she said she wondered why Reinstein put his patients on twice as many drugs as other psychiatrists who treated residents.

"I was thinking, 'Why are you using so many medications?' " Burton, who worked at the facility from 2004 to 2006, said in an interview. "(His patients) would have symptoms, they'd have all these side effects, and their doctor was not listening."

Psychotropics to lose weight?Chanile Hayes, a South Side resident, says she came under Reinstein's care at a psychiatric hospital after she suffered a nervous breakdown nearly 10 years ago. She found it odd, she said, when Reinstein told her that taking Seroquel would help her lose weight.

"I couldn't understand why he wasn't taking it because he was a plus-sized man himself," said Hayes, now 37. She is one of thousands of people nationwide suing AstraZeneca on allegations it concealed Seroquel's links to weight gain and diabetes.

While she is a plaintiff in New York state, a federal suit is playing out in Orlando, Fla. Reinstein is not a defendant in either case, but Orlando plaintiffs have cast him as a key figure: an influential promoter of Seroquel who was financially backed by AstraZeneca. They allege that Reinstein has claimed that the antipsychotic drug helps patients lose weight.

Hayes said she went from 140 pounds to nearly 300 within two years of taking the drug and later developed diabetes.

Reinstein has done studies, funded by AstraZeneca and two other drugmakers, that found that various medications, including Seroquel, carry an unexpected yet welcome side effect: They help some patients shed pounds.

That claim runs counter to established research that links so-called atypical antipsychotic drugs, such as Seroquel, to considerable weight gain. Drugs in this class, approved for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, can have other serious side effects that include spastic movement disorders and seizures and can cause premature death among the elderly.

A Seroquel flier dated 1999 features a photograph of Reinstein on the cover. Inside, Reinstein describes one patient losing weight and no longer needing insulin shots because his diabetes had improved so much.

In a 2001 promotional telecast to 5,000 physicians nationwide, Reinstein said he had "jokingly kind of suggested to AstraZeneca" that the drug could be used for "taking away excessive appetite."

"There's actually some nurses in some of our facilities who have actually requested (Seroquel) because they noticed it really did suppress the appetite, and they wanted to lose weight themselves," Reinstein said, according to a transcript of the speech, sponsored by AstraZeneca and broadcast from Somerset Place, a Chicago nursing home.

Two years after the speech, the Food and Drug Administration, armed with mounting research, asked AstraZeneca to warn patients of Seroquel's diabetes risk. The drug's label now cautions that the medication is linked to diabetes and weight gain -- with nearly four times more patients gaining weight on Seroquel than on a placebo.

In his response to reporters, Reinstein characterized Seroquel as "generally weight neutral, although some patients gain weight and others lose weight."

"I would never recommend" that patients take antipsychotics "to lose weight," he wrote.

AstraZeneca spokesman Tony Jewell said plaintiffs have not proved that Seroquel was responsible for their injuries. He said the company, based in London, provided appropriate safety data about Seroquel to the FDA.

Chanile Hayes, who said she saw Reinstein during visits to his office, questioned why he prescribed her the drug: "How could you tell me that it would help me lose weight if it doesn't help (people) lose weight?"

At AstraZeneca, early doubtsIn the corporate halls of AstraZeneca, the company's scientific staff also questioned Reinstein's work.

Copies of e-mails filed as part of the Seroquel litigation in Orlando reveal executives' misgivings about a Reinstein study involving patients on high doses of the drug. The results that came back were too rosy for AstraZeneca's own executives to accept.

One called Reinstein's conclusion that patients experienced no adverse effects "suspect" and "hard to believe." Executives "decided that we would ... try to distance ourselves from this study," according to e-mails from John Tumas, an AstraZeneca publications manager.

Reinstein presented his findings in 2001 at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, the profession's most high-profile gathering. At least three researchers have subsequently cited his study in medical journals.

During a deposition for the Orlando case, Reinstein said he was unaware of any criticism from AstraZeneca about his research.

But he had some criticisms of his own, according to an internal company e-mail filed in federal court. Reinstein vented to an AstraZeneca employee in 2001, saying the firm was giving him the "run around." He also complained that the company did not help present his research findings or include him in high-profile studies.

Within days, Reinstein wrote a letter to AstraZeneca's CEO in the U.S., identifying him and four doctors he works with as "the largest prescribers of Seroquel in the world." He said his travel expenses weren't paid upfront and called for "new leadership" in Seroquel's marketing.

Reinstein's complaints caused a stir.

In a strongly worded 2001 e-mail, Georgia Tugend, the U.S. brand manager for Seroquel, told colleagues that research conducted by Reinstein and his partners "is often criticized by their peers in psychiatry."

Some scientists have "significant and numerous issues ... with the quality of research this group has produced in the past," Tugend wrote, yet Reinstein's group persists in "demanding research grants from us."

At one point, according to an e-mail from an AstraZeneca executive, Reinstein and his partners had "blatantly threatened" to switch patients to a Seroquel competitor. Reinstein later denied that accusation during a deposition, testifying that he "cannot imagine" making such a threat.

Malcolm May, AstraZeneca's U.S. sales director, reacted to Reinstein's discontent by saying that the company should be careful not to alienate a psychiatrist worth up to a half-billion dollars to the firm.

"I am not suggesting we kowtow to his whims, nor to support any unethical behavior," May wrote in 2001 in an e-mail to fellow AstraZeneca executives. "I am suggesting ... we need to be more responsive to his opinion and needs."

May continued: "It seems we are annoying possibly our most important single customer, and that is not acceptable. ... My concern is that Dr. Reinstein could be looking for a trigger to leave our fold. That would be disastrous for our Seroquel business in the short and long term."

May's message did not cite a basis for the half-billion-dollar estimate. Reached by phone, May said he did not recall sending the e-mail.

Court documents show that AstraZeneca continued to pay Reinstein to promote Seroquel until 2007. A Reinstein ledger lists hundreds of payments beginning in 1997. The payments, in increments from $10 to $20,000, totaled $490,000.

During that period, Reinstein ordered Seroquel for as many as 1,000 Chicago-area Medicaid patients per year at a total cost of $7.6 million to taxpayers, records show.

AstraZeneca spokesman Jewell said the company wasn't paying Reinstein to prescribe its drug but rather to make promotional speeches. Reinstein and AstraZeneca mutually declined to renew their ties in 2008, but Jewell would not say why.

Reinstein said in an interview that some AstraZeneca officials grew critical of him only after his complaint to the firm's U.S. chief executive.

Today, Reinstein said, he gets money from the maker of a dissolvable form of clozapine, another antipsychotic that he often prescribes. He said he receives less than $25,000 per year to be in the manufacturer's speakers bureau, which drug companies commonly set up to promote their products.

In his deposition last year, Reinstein himself expressed surprise about some of his research results, saying one study's findings were "hard for me to believe" -- in line with concerns expressed at AstraZeneca. When asked about another study in which patients lost weight on Seroquel, he said the results could have been affected by a change in the nursing home's cook or possible problems with scales.

In all, Reinstein has published at least eight research articles, mostly about antipsychotic drugs. He has been cited in at least 20 others. The Uptown Research Institute is now working on eight studies involving psychotropics, said Sonnenberg, the owner.

Sonnenberg said studies by his institute "are highly scrutinized for accuracy and credibility" by the drugmakers, third-party ethics review boards and, potentially, the FDA.

Dr. Jerome Kassirer, a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine and a former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, read the AstraZeneca e-mails at the request of ProPublica and the Tribune. He concluded that editors of medical journals should investigate Reinstein's published studies.

"Once you know that he has done a study that has been discredited," Kassirer said, "you have to ask yourself about all other studies done."

Quit Paxil too quickly-Go back on or tough it out?

fuzzyjelly — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:41:13 GMT

I was taken off Paxil by my doctor by going from 40 to 20 for one week, then to 10 for one week, then done. I'm almost two weeks past my last dose and have been in full withdrawal for about 5 days.

I didn't know anything about tapering until I started to feel awful and started doing some research. I was on Paxil for about 8 months total, starting at 10 and gradually being bumped up to 40. I was at 40 for about the last 3 months.

I'm having a very hard time dealing with this. My major symptoms are the dizziness, nausea, foggyness, the whoosh in the head thing. Someone needs to come up with better terms for this stuff :-)

I need to get back to functional and I'm wondering if I should go back on then taper myself very slowly back off or if it's better to just tough it out and avoid having to do it again.

I Feel Trapped :(

Mozart22 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:09:17 GMT

My life was mostly normal until age 14, when I developed social
phobia. School and social activities became a big struggle for me with
this disorder. I ran away from home, was brought back, put on meds,
attempted suicide, became depressed and hopeless. Zoloft didn't help, Prozac didn't help, Remeron didn't help, and talk therapy didn't help much either. The social phobia persisted, and that in turn made me feel sad
and desperate.

Then I tried Paxil, and much to my delight it helped calm my social phobia
a lot, and helped with the depression too. It was a life saver cause
I probably would have ended up attempting suicide again if I hadn't
found a solution for the social phobia. With the Paxil, I was able to go back to school, graduate, go to college, get my degree, etc. But I noticed that Paxil made my face and forehead sweat a lot. Very embarrassing problem, made life hard. And after several attempts to switch medication or withdraw from Paxil, I found out something else: this Paxil is extremely hard to get off of.

So why do I feel trapped right now?
Because I understand that if I just keep taking Paxil for the rest of my life,
it may poop out, and the heavy sweating will remain... so like most of you on this forum, I would very much like to get off this drug and be able to heal naturally and move on with my life. However, I also fear what may happen if I do stop taking it. If I'm able to get off the Paxil after a long, slow, withdrawal (which is already hard to do), what would I do if I feel like my original problems have all returned to haunt me?

In other words, if there comes a day when I have successful tapered
off Paxil, that would be a huge accomplishment. But does it really mean
I could start living a somewhat normal life again? I may very well feel
the social phobia and depression return, and then once again I'll feel
desperate and horrible. Hopefully therapy can help, cause I don't think
I should ever take an SSRI again. But what if I still feel like crap?

I am not trying to be pessimistic or focus on the negative.
I very much want to have a normal life again, without all
these problems. But before embarking on a long, slow taper,
I want to know what I'm supposed to do if I'm able to go off the Paxil
but find myself right where I first started years ago: having social
anxiety and depression. It would suck if I made this big effort to
withdraw from Paxil slowly and carefully, only to find out later on
that without the Paxil I feel anxious and depressed and desperate.

Weakness in arms, some tremor

ajm222 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:28:18 GMT

Just thought i'd share something i've been experiencing lately to see if it sounds familiar to anyone here. I feel like my arms are vibrating ever so slightly at a very high level, and they feel kind of weak and seem to get fatigued easier than they should. I also feel like I can't hold my fingers very still at times when in certain positions. It kind of scares me because my father died of a rare illness that had similar symptoms to parkinson's but wasn't. He didn't start having problems until we was close to 60. And I know that going off SSRIs can sometimes do strange things to the nervous system. I basically took zoloft at 200mg for about 10 years. I went off it earlier this year after continuing the meds long after poop out. I tapered quickly and have been off since May. I didn't have too many issues for the first few months. Mainly some dizziness and irritability. Then about a month and a half ago I got hit with some pretty terrible anxiety and depression and derealization. This got better after a few weeks and i've been doing fairly good for the last few weeks. I also have what I think are some eye troubles - like sensitivity to light and increased notice of floaters, though i've had these issues for a while.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone else had these symptoms and if they passed. I don't recall noticing this too much until recently. And I can't tell if I am making it seem worse simply by worrying about what it might be.

Thanks.

Vitamin D deficiency?

pboy — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:59:51 GMT

I am starting to think I may have Vitamin D deficiency. I have noticed that in the evenings I start to feel a bit depressed and seem to crave bright light. I hate the light in my living room, it's far too dull, and I cant stand just having the lamp on anymore. I never used to feel this way.
Ive heard that lack of sunlight can can cause vitamin D deficiency and that can cause depression, so could this be connected? Its connected to Seasonal Affective Disorder I believe.

I am going to see if I can get some sort of test from my doctor, but in the meantime can anyone provide some input please?
I know that in w/d the depression could be caused by many factors but I thought it might be linked since I seem to crave bright light.

I have some calcium/vitamin D combo tablets with 5ug Vit D, I wonder if it'd be worth taking these in the meantime?

we knew it would happen (H1N1 shot)

scotia21 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:58:51 GMT

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33845867...h-cold_and_flu

Duty to Warn: The Fort Hood Murders/Suicide and the Taboo Question

scotty — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:27:45 GMT

http://baltimorechronicle.com/2009/111109Kohls.shtml

Duty to Warn: The Fort Hood Murders/Suicide and the Taboo Question
by Gary G. Kohls, MD

Why would someone who used to be known as a seemingly rational person suddenly perpetrate a gruesome, irrational act of violence?

Most of us have been listening to the massive, round-the-clock press coverage of the latest mass shooting incident at Fort Hood, Texas. Seemingly all the possible root causes of such a horrific act of violence have been raised and discussed. However, there is an elephant in the room, and it�s something that should be obvious in this age of the school shooter pandemic.

We should be outraged at the failure of the investigative journalists, the psychiatric professionals, the medical community and the military spokespersons who seem to be studiously avoiding the major factor that helps to explain these senseless acts. Why would someone unexpectedly, irrationally and randomly shoot up a school, a workplace or, in this case, an army post? Why would someone who used to be known as a seemingly rational person suddenly perpetrate a gruesome, irrational act of violence?

The answer to the question, as demonstrated again and again in so many of such recent acts of �senseless� violence, is brain- and behavior-altering drugs.

There are, of course, a multitude of personal factors, each of which could be responsible for tipping the troubled Army psychiatrist over the edge. This could include his religion and his ethnicity, which may have targeted him for ridicule in his Army community; his training as a soldier; his familiarity with firearms; his easy access to lethal weapons; his opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and his profession as a psychiatrist, which exposed him to many posttraumatic stress disordered soldiers (exposure to which is known to be capable of causing secondary PTSD in therapists).

Continue at link above

withdrawal question

dgottschalk — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:20:49 GMT

I am wondering if anyone could answer a question for me, when i try to sleep or take a nap during the day i cant sleep, my mind gos from one thing to another, i get weird thoughts and scary thoughts also, really bizzare sometimes, thoughts that i would normally never think of, at night i can fall asleep ok but wake up and the cycle starts all over again, i am withdrawing from remeron right now and i know now that i tapered to fast, i went from 30mg to 22.5 and its been almost 4 months and i am still going through withdrawal, should this ease up anytime soon , from now on i will be tapering 10% every month but i just cant seem to stablelize

oops I was withdrawing too fast! When can I expect to feel "normal?"

jennijenni — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:19:52 GMT

Hi all,
I posted for the first time on here about a week ago and I very much appreciated your replies and encouragement.

I learned from all of you that I have probably been tapering too fast from my SSRI. I'm tapering from 50mg Luvox which I believe has a shorter half life similar to Paxil. I started to taper around August 25, 2009 from 50mg. I was down to 25mg by October 10th or so.. I guess I was going at a pretty rapid rate. I just wanted to get this hell over with, start to feel normal, and get on with my life. It seemed also from talking with my doctors that it should be relatively easy to get off at the pace I was going and "they" told me that only the really unhealthy people (mentally) struggle with getting off the drugs.. I have such a fear of not being "normal" that i was really pushing myself to get off this stuff quick becuase I don't want my doctors or anyone for that matter to think i'm messed up, wierd, etc, etc..

I have a history of anxiety and panic attacks. I have had a lot of scary thoughts over the years. I feared always that i was going to go crazy and at times I had depersonalization or derealization where i didn't feel like i was really me (i know this sounds nuts) and my sense of self felt foreign. These were some strange feelings and I fear having these thoughts and feelings again. I thought for the longest time those weird thoughts and feelings must mean i was nuts. I've been in therapy and practiced CBT and developed a lot of positive coping skills for managing anxiety and scary thoughts...

I'm scared to death that the tapering may not be what has been making me feel super anxious lately in addition to having scary thoughts.

Is it really true that the tapering can cause the anxiety and strange thinking (thoughts i don't want to have.. worries, fears, depersonalization) and that it is not really the original problem rearing it's ugly head?

I'm wondering if any of you have felt "normal" after tapering and if you could help me understand more why this process is so uncomfortable. I realize i probably have tapered too fast so I'm slowing down and will do the recommended 10 percent cuts from the lowest does i"m on. Can you tell me how long I have to wait between cuts?

I'm really scared right now that this is going to get worse (my anxiety etc) as I taper down lower. I'm needing some reassurance right now :)!

I'm functional in life. I go to work every day. I have a social life (although I've noticed that the social actiivties that I do without my husband make me more nervous and I kind of want to avoid those becuase there is a lot of pressure and I'm worried i'm going to feel wierd or act wierd ). I'm just feeling a great amount of discomfort (described above).

I just really want to get this process over with but i am realizing that in order to be successful i need to slow down a bit.

Anything you an offer will be helpful!
Thank you!!

Help sought

ash — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:11:09 GMT

Hi,

It has been a while since I posted on here though i often come and read the posts.

As my signature says, I managed to come of paxil after a long struggle. Sadly I found unable to stay free from ADs. I had to get on to citalopram which I am now on the base 20mg. This year has been quite difficult for me. Apart from some very few symptom-free windows, it has been a constant struggle with anxiety, light-headedness, head fog and generally out of it

I have managed to keep working which mostly has been a good distraction. I work in a stressful & hectic job which sometimes gets on top of me.

The last 3 months have been particularly difficult, mainly with increasing anxiety. Its all come to a head this week. The anxiety has become unbearable, totally non-functional. I do take beta-blockers when needed, but they are not even touching my anxiety this time.

I am scheduled to see the doctor this week. I am not sure whether to have a change of medication. I am not seeing any other options at the moment.
After years of ADs, I am well versed in their effects and withdrawal issues but the overridiing concern is the need to shift this strangling anxiety and all that goes with it.

I have looked at effexor, but a bit concerned about its history of coming off. Lexapro is probably another option, but if citalopram is not doing anything for me......

I am doing all that has been suggested to me, supplements, relaxation, meditation....

I am hoping that someone chips in here. I am struggling real bad

thank you
ash

Anxiety about medication...gaaaaaaaah!

WhatIsNormal — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:48:06 GMT

I really really hate that I get this way. Anxiety about medication is one of my major triggers. I never used to be this way until I had an adverse effect when a doctor attempted to put me on Zoloft over a year ago (before I started Paxil). That little incident started a whole new anxiety for me.... oh yay... go medicine.

My random aches and pains cause me anxiety anyways. I have a prescription nsaid (mobic) that I was given last year that I was supposed to take everyday but I just recently finally finished all 30 pills and got a refill. I would take them for a few days, start to feel better, then freak out and stop.

If they help stop the pain why in the heck do I freak out over them?! At least I know they aren't addictive. They don't screw with my mind like ADs... what am I so worried about? I guess the stupid medication guide that comes with it. The heart/stroke warnings... I never had an issue taking Advil until they started putting those warnings on them too.

Sometimes I feel like I live in a world of too much information and would be much more happier if I could live in ignorant bliss.

New and struggling

mack09 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:46:25 GMT

Hi, I have found your site probably like a lot of others, as when started taking paxil (loxamine in New Zealand) i started having strange side effects and was of course worried, (health anxiety), I have been on this for a little over a year and am tapering off as i have gained about 15kg and it is just not something i was happy with. I am going at a 2.5 drop every three weeks and am currently down to 5mg. I was on here yesterday reading some of your guys journals and burst into tears as I cannot quite believe how my withdrawal symptoms mimic so many of you on here. I am really struggling at the moment, weird stomach pains, diarrohea (not sure if spelling is right sorry), and health anxiety is kicking in big time this week. I have sort of recognised that this has happened before as I take another step of tapering down and is usually about a week later that this all goes on and tends to then take another week to settle. This drop although seems to be very very bad and would really like it to stop. Not sure what to do to make this any easier. Sorry if this seems like a complete and utter raving person but i really have thought that maybe if i get some stuff off my chest here on this forum that i may feel better about everything.

Justice For GSK Victims

fiddaman — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:13:28 GMT

New petition online.

Tag reads:

"This petition is to bring criminal charges against GlaxoSmithKline. The medication they made has caused numerous deaths not to mention birth defects. Many babies have died or been born with horrible birth defects caused by the use of Paxil [Seroxat]. Information that Paxil caused birth defects was hidden therefore taking the right to make an informed decision was taken away from Mothers. GlaxoSmithKline needs to be held criminally accountable for their misinformation and blantant lies. It is for all these babies to have justice."

SIGN THE PETITION

Poisoning from prescription drugs

Healing — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:23:21 GMT

Health Discovery: Poisonings Up Sharply Among Women Over 45

By: Candy Sagon | Source: From the AARP Bulletin print edition | November 1, 2009

http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourhealth/...he11_disc.html

A study of accidental deaths in the United States reveals a troubling new trend: The death rate for white women ages 45 to 64 from unintentional poisoning�most commonly by prescription drug abuse�more than tripled between 1999 and 2005.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that women in this age group had a 230 percent increase in mortality rate due to poisoning, while white men the same age experienced a 137 percent increase. Study coauthor Susan Baker says that the most recent federal data for 2006 show �the death rate for those women increased 273 percent�nearly fourfold.� Baker says the spike in poisoning deaths can be traced to a dramatic increase in the use of powerful painkillers.

Edward Krenzelok, director of the Pittsburgh Poison Center, says painkillers like Percocet and oxycodone �are being tremendously overprescribed.� He adds that people are �naive� about the high risk posed by improper use.

Another Newbie seeking help

HanPanes — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:43:02 GMT

Hi, I'm Hannah (in the UK).

I've been browsing this site for ages but never had the guts to post anything so here goes.......!

I've turned 30 this year and been on these evil drugs since I was 17 for anxiety initially. I was prescibed Seroxat (Paxil) at 17 when it was still thought of as the wonder drug! The hell I went through on that I'm sure a lot of you can imagine.
In 2002 I tapered off 20mg over 6 months (looking back it seemed a long time but was way too fast) and I had a breakdown and ended up in a psych ward for 6 months. Put on a myriad of others things and my life so far has essentially been ruined.

Anyway ......I've been reducing from 60mg of Prozac for 5 years and I'm now down to 8mg. I've got the support of a withdrawal project in Bristol where I live.

In the last few months I've been tapering 1mg every 4 - 6 weeks and things have been very tough but progressing.

I wonder if anyone had any advice on headaches regarding withdrawal? I know others have posted on this but I've had CHRONIC headaches for 8 months now which never lift morning to night. I got to the point where I could no longer work at all (even 1 day a week) and my doc prescribed 10mg Amitripytaline for the pain (I hate taking it but I'm in such agony).

From people's experience does this sound like withdrawal or something diff. The other issues at the moment are intense fatigue - hardly out of bed much at the mo and low mood, crying, anger and feeling way way off normal.
I'm terrified that the headaches will never go and that I'm permanently damaged, have had a CT scan - all clear. Back to the docs on Sat

Be nice to hear from people as I now realise there's so many in the same boat.

Hannah

Ft Hood shooter talks terrorism/suicide when he was supposed to hold a med pres.topic

Mixter — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:36:38 GMT

As a senior-year psychiatric resident at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Maj. Nidal M. Hasan was supposed to make a presentation on a medical topic of his choosing as a culminating exercise of the residency program.

Instead, in late June 2007, he stood before his supervisors and about 25 other mental health staff members and lectured on Islam, suicide bombers and threats the military could encounter from Muslims conflicted about fighting in the Muslim countries of Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a copy of the presentation obtained by The Washington Post.

"It was really strange," said one staff member who attended the presentation and spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the investigation of Hasan. "The senior doctors looked really upset" at the end. These medical presentations occurred each Wednesday afternoon, and other students had lectured on new medications and treatment of specific mental illnesses.

Something is fishy here.

MORE HERE: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33819877...shington_post/