Paroxetine / Seroxat withdrawal symptoms

Hi All,

I thought I'd add my own experience to the pot - partly as I wanted to keep a diary of my ongoing experience so I can measure success or failure. I've been on Seroxat for a long time - probably about 15 years. I'm currently attempting withdrawal from a 20mg daily dose. After advice from my GP I started taking 20mg and 10mg every other day. That worked fine so after about 3 months I began taking 10mg daily. I've been doing this for about three weeks now and, for the last week have felt very snappy. I've lost my temper with people over small things and find it hard not go get annoyed about everyday situations. My thinking is also somewhat foggy. I've also experienced the 'electric shock in brain' symptoms when reduciung quickly in the past but these seem ok at the moment.

I'm going to carry on with this dose for a while and see if the situation improves. I'll try and report back each week or so with an update, if anyone's interested.

Best wishes to fellow withdrawers and a Merry Christmas!

I have also been taking paroxetine for 15 or more years. I reduced by 20mgs over 4 months then stopped. Again on a 4month break am reducing the final 20 mgs. Am down to the final 5mgs. Nightmares or disturbing dreams nightly periods of anxiety lability of emotions and yes dizziness. I interpreted it as clumsiness. I have taken 6 weeks to reach this point and reading your experiences I will stop here till symptoms subside . They did at the first 20mgs eventually. They are more extreme this time. It's as tho nerves that have been dormant are firing off all kinds of enhanced emotions.

In defensive of Paroxetine it helped me cope through a time that would have brought me to my knees without them. If this isn't a success then what the hell. But a better solution to anxious depression has to be found.

I have also been taking paroxetine for 15 or more years. I reduced by 20mgs over 4 months then stopped. Again on a 4month break am reducing the final 20 mgs. Am down to the final 5mgs. Nightmares or disturbing dreams nightly periods of anxiety lability of emotions and yes dizziness. I interpreted it as clumsiness. I have taken 6 weeks to reach this point and reading your experiences I will stop here till symptoms subside . They did at the first 20mgs eventually. They are more extreme this time. It's as tho nerves that have been dormant are firing off all kinds of enhanced emotions.

In defensive of Paroxetine it helped me cope through a time that would have brought me to my knees without them. If this isn't a success then what the hell. But a better solution to anxious depression has to be found.

Hi, I was on citalopram for 10 years and I just couldn’t wean off of it so my Gp put me on 20 mg seroxat to wean from that. I have managed to get down to 5mg daily but the withdrawal symptoms are now hell, I don’t know whether to increase.

My other question is- a listed side effect of paroxetine is increased cholesterol. Mine has increased so gp wanted me to go on statins but they made me feel so ill and I don’t want to take another med.

I am already on fentanyl patches for pain.

My question is has anyone else seen an increase in cholesterol whilst on seroxat?

Hi,

I don't usually post on online forums but compelled to do so when I read this thread. I was put on seroxat when I was 19 and was on it for 2 years. All the sensory disturbances and visual distrubances, electric side effects came on strong when I tried to come off it. My Dr came up with an idea to wean me off slowly and supplement with prozac. So less seroxat and more prozac and eventually I was just on prozac. After my body got used to proxac I was able to wean off prozac much easier than seroxat. I haven't needed those meds for almost 20 years now and have used transcendental mediatation to fix the issues I had at the time. It's a dangerous drug for sure. stay away from it.

Yes I have exactly the same problems. This is probably my tenth attempt of getting off this nightmare. I hate these side effects. For me it sounds like a gun almost, going off in my head. Thud, thud thud. It generally takes about 2 weeks after completely stopping the medication before the side effects kick in.

I have tried reducing it as gradually as is possible, i.e taking 3/4 of a tab, then every other day, then 1/2 a tab then 1/4 of my 20mg tablet once a day every other day, then every three days. I have been so careful to reduce it slowly, in the hope I don't have the noises in my head. All to no avail.

I have a constant, pretty much, headache. I have been taking Seroxat 20mg for roughly 15 years, maybe more. With breaks, all with the same outcome. which leads me to go back onto the Seroxat.

The banging noises make me wince and sometimes my eyes go a little strange. I get the banging both day and night. It actually hurts me sometimes.

I spoke to a pharmacist about the issues approx 2 years ago, and he said he had never heard of my symptoms. However, my brother was also on the same tablets (I didn't know at the time) and he told me he had the same symptoms. He struggled like hell but got through it in the end.

Last night I was laying in bed, struggling with insomnia (another withdrawal symptom) and I put the banging noises down to my brain trying to rewire itself back to normal. I am not a doctor, this was just my own simple, though possibly incorrect diagnosis.

All I know is I hate this. When I do get to sleep I'm having horrendous nightmares.

My VA doctor had me on paroxetine HCl after I had withdrawals from Mirtazapine like needles in every hair follicle. After a year or so he had me take something else and left for vacation. The two did not combine so I quit Paxil(as per paperwork with the new pills). It was like I was in a 10 foot deep pit of depression and the withdrawals were like a 100 foot deep pit.I was up all night and got weepy all the time. It has now been almost 4 years and I still get weepy all the time. It is like paroxetine HCl caused permanent brain damage. I'm a wimp compared to what I used to be. I think that it NEVER should have been approved for use when the withdrawals were worse than the anxiety/depression it was supposed to help.Anything that causes permanent negative changes should never have been allowed. I'm back on a lower dose of Mirtazapine now, but still have trouble sleeping and get weepy too much. I have a hard time not thinking of bad things or projections.

I live in a country that doesn't strictly comply with usual psychology deductions.

I've been diagnosed with severe depression after trying to kill myself a couple of times...

Been on Paroxetine for over 2 years now, been 20mg a day, gone to 30, than 40, than i was doing 60 a day 2 pills in the morning 1 in the evening.

To be honest nothing helped me, it just numbed me down to the point that i didn't give a fk about anything around me, i became a literal plant.

Last year near the end of november, i got fed up from feeling that way, so i decided to drop it on my own accord. I went full retard and dropped it entirely, from 60mg a day, to 0.

DO NOT DO THAT, what you'll suffer in the comming days, around 4-5 days is when my withdrawal symptoms started to culminate. It was horrific, nightmares as vivid as reality, waking up drenched in sweat having to change clothes, just to go back to sleep and have another one of those nightmares followed by another sweaty wakeup call. This went on 5-15 times in a single night.

Though i was dead serioues about dropping this poison to say the least, i kept going at it for 2 weeks exactly, at which point i had a hard time distinguishing when i was awake and when i wasn't.

The last few days in those 2 weeks were completely without sleep, i was awake for days, it felt easier than sleeping to be honest...

In the end i went back on it, although i went for a 30% drop, instead of 3 pills 60mg, i did 2 pills.

It worked well, although waking up drenched in sweat and continous vivid dreams/nightmares never stoped, i could function at least, i had no more dizzines and nausea that denied me from doing anything besides laying on my bed.

After a month of combating with symptoms i found some motivation to go for a lesser dose, i december 2020 i went from 40mg a day, to 20, or just one pill.

And st just went haywire, i went into full depression even though not much has changed to affect me besides dropping this dose, real life was as dull as ever.

But survive i did, and begining of january i decided to go even further, i dropped it to 3 pills a week, every 2 days. At this point if you're doing this, you're already used to the dizziness, nausea, vertigo, and vivid dreams.

When i went for beers with friends, i couldn't tell the difference if i was drunk or the meds were acting up.

Today at the time of writting this 30th of jan, i am down to 1 pill a week, EVERYTHING is hard, work is tiring, relationships are tiring, i've been spending time in bars much more often then before, alcohol seems to have an easing effect, although alcohol might be the thing that made the dizziness last 24/7.

Appetite loss, physical strength seems down quite a bit, motivation non existant, everything seems forced no matter how good a reason you have for doing it.

And the most important thing to be honest, is that i am kinda scared of getting of it, not because i am addicted or anything to do with that, i am not sure what i should expect once i do get of it, i am trying not to set any expecations and keep a reality check on my thinking. Will anything change once of it, seems i've forgoten how it feels to wakeup without vertigo/dizziness/sweaty shirt, its interesting to say the least. A life experience it trully will be, if i do survive it that is.

As of today i've been told im crazy and stupid simultaneously. Every single Dr. has said

"What you did is a feat in on itself, going from 420mg a week, to just 20mg a week in just over 2 months, seems unreal, and unheard of in my line of work"

So i tell you, if you're out there stuggling, remember a poor son of a b***h in a third world country with no reason to live even after all this, has almost succeded, although i do not know where will this lead me.

the head shocks are the worst x