1. < Depression & Anxiety

Antidepressant withdrawal while taking them?

Posted by morganjane @morganjane, Dec 9, 2023

I’m not very confident anyone else has experienced this, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. I’ve been dealing with a really weird “thing” for about 3 years now. No doctors seem to know what’s causing it & I can’t find anything about it online. Little backstory, I was on Paxil for about a decade for depression & panic attacks. Worked great. Then, 3 years ago I woke up one day & started having the dreaded brain zaps & my emotions were all over the place, I was having panic attacks again, crying, depressed, flat, crying again, etc. I was withdrawing but I hadn’t changed my meds in any way, took them like clockwork every day. Doctor changed my meds to Prozac. Same exact thing, withdrawal symptoms while taking the meds religiously at the same time daily. Fast forward to today, I’ve been on every antidepressant known to mankind, every dose, same exact outcome.
It just doesn’t make sense. Am I metabolizing them too fast or not absorbing them or…..? I’ve tried to taper off of them completely so I can go another route but it’s been absolutely impossible each time. It’s the same withdrawal symptoms but times 1000.

We don’t have good resources here in Arkansas but my insurance doesn’t really do much out of state, so I have no choice but to continue researching it on my own. Mayo Clinic would be a dream to get into but realistically, this is the closest I’m going to get. Anyone experience these issues too? Any good resources or recommendations or suggestions?

I’ve also done the GeneSight test as well. Tried the meds on the list, no change.

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frouke | @frouke | 5 days ago
In reply to @jschwing "MorganJane: Just read this and I have had a similar situation with Paxil. Was utilizing 12.5..." + (show)
@jschwing

MorganJane:

Just read this and I have had a similar situation with Paxil. Was utilizing 12.5 CR for 17 years successfully. Then, following a surgery I had intense panic and anxiety. It was almost like I went off of the Paxil all at once. That has been a year ago, and I have tried other medications through a psychiatrist, but nothing seems to lift this depression and anxiety. The first try was to up the Paxil CR dose and that failed. It almost seems like we get one shot with SSRI medications. It is almost like the first medication makes you treatment resistant in the future. I am weaning off the Paxil now which is causing increased depression. The anxiety is sort of constant especially in the mornings. Since weaning, my Doctor has me trying one more SSRI, Celexa , to try to break this cycle and lower the depression. And before everyone piles on, I have tried all the alternative methods; TMS, brain retraining, acupuncture, detox, neurofeedback, mindfulness.

Did not get brain zaps; maybe the Paxil was not really working anymore. I have found through research that Paxil use inhibits one of the key metabolizing enzymes used in a lot of phych meds. This is the reason I am trying Celexa because it uses a different primary enzyme. Also did the Gene site test.

Hope you have found some relief.

Just praying that I get some relief from The Celexa. Zoloft and Pristiq did not yield results.

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I have not had any good results with antidepressants in many years, only once when I was given Paxil for anxiety and it helped a lot, I felt like a new person rather quickly but after six months I couldn’t cope with them anymore, they just stopped working and I felt worse. I tried numerous brands that had no effect and other brands that caused bad side effects. They found a brand that I use regularly at a very low dose and it helps a little, many people have difficulty with antidepressants.

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