[Chefguy]

Hello everyone, I have just found this site and its pretty cool. I am glad a place like this exists. I have suffered(this word doesnt have enough meaning) anxiety and panic attacks for a couple of years now. I have been taking paroxetine(generic paxil) for about a year. I do feel a hell of a lot better, no more numb limps/fingers/feet/dizziness/10000000 thoughts a second and all of the other nightmarish things this condition causes, but I'm getting freaked out at the thought of getting off paxil. I hear the withdrawl is horrible. Has anyone been through this? How long does it take to feel normal again? Any ideas to cope? Thank you all for any help you could give.

[Ambrosa]

Hi Chefguy, Welcome to PC. I am on paroxetine (Aropax generic here) again. I have been on and off it for years. The first time the doctors slowly decreased the amount. Other times i just stopped taking it myself. I never had withdrawals, not that i think. Because i felt good with in myself and was keeping myself busy. So I can't really help you there. I think it may depend on the person and how much you take as well. But good luck.

[ECHOES]

You may find some advice if you googel 'weaning off Paxil' or something similar, but I would suggest you and your prescriber work together on this. Generally a gradual decrease over time works best to avoid the withdrawal symptoms.

I quit meds cold turkey and would never recommend that method. I suspect that what you've heard is the worst scenarios and possibly stories from those who didn't work with their prescriber to wean off slowly.

You are taking it now and feeling better, but worrying about when you might come off it some day?

Are you seeing a therapist to help with the anxiety and panic?

I replaced my meds with therapy and it has been so helpful!

[Chefguy]

Hey guys, thanks for the response =) I was looking through youtube videos and stumbled upon tons of them. All bad lol, Alot of the people were talking about taking 60mg a day, this sounds like alot to me because I'm only on 10mg a day and I can feel the effects. I'm not sure how all that works. I've never seen a therapist, I am seriously considering it though. I'm just not sure how beneficial it will be..It seems when I feel judged(which is basically all the time) it makes the anxiety get worse

[Chefguy]

I wish my posts would show up right away..

[Chefguy]

I'm sure this has been brought up countless times but I'm still the new guy What are some things you guys do when you feel a anxiety attack coming on?

[Chefguy]

anybody got any ideas?..

[tohelpafriend]

how do you experience anxiety? I take Paxil, 5 mg/day because it is the only drug prescribed (by my psychiatrist), for panic/anxiety/social anxiety disorder. I can only relate to 1 panic attack I had, in the last week of a graduate school course, when I woke up and couldn't breathe. You have to be careful about going off any psychiatric drug; because I had been taking norpramine, and they mess with the epherephrines in the body; which is, I think, the physical reason I had the panic, because I wasn't consciously anxious about anything. If you say you feel an anxiety attack coming on, it must be conscious, no; anyway you can ask your therapist which events or situations or people in your life might trigger it? Peace,

[with or without you]

I take 80mg :-/ and I want off of it, too. It's making me gain a lot of weight. Chefguy: you should definitely not just quit cold turkey, nor should you try to withdraw in any way on your own. This happened to me when I ran out of medication over a long weekend about 8 years ago...I felt very lightheaded and it felt like there were little "zaps" going off in my head all the time (that is hard to describe unless you've experienced it). It also felt like my blood sugar was dropping and I had "the shakes". Not pleasant.

I have heard that it's better to withdraw while slowly introducing a new medication (one of the newer ones with less side effects). Good luck to you, here's to sobriety

[Chefguy]

How do I experience anxiety? Wow, thats a simple yet complicated question..Fear. I am afraid. Afraid of it happening again. Afraid of everything and nothing. Physically I cant breathe, my heart races, my hands/feet/lips go numb, light seems much brighter, I get dizzy as hell, feels like I'm going clinically insane and I cant stop it. I want to run away immensely. Getting away is the only thing that matters. Funny thing is I dont know where to go It's more of a mental place than a physical one that I need to go but even physically I need to run. For me its more trigger based for sure, but I have also been sitting at home having a good ol' time and been slammed with a anxiety attack..crazy..I dont plan on stopping taking paxil anytime soon, the withdrawn vids just spooked me a bit