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Antidepressant withdrawal while taking them?
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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Thank you.
I actually feel a little better after just taking one.
Please do your research, including on this site. Effexor is one of if not the worst drug to stop. I know; I have been on it for many years and tried twice to stop. It will take two to three years for me to wean off. The side effects and then withdrawal symptoms are horrific. The drug should not be prescribed without a warning, as they do in the UK, but not yet in the US.
What has your taper regimen been?
From my experience with titrating off of antidepressants, the common wisdom isn't conservative enough. I had difficulty withdrawing until I greatly slowed the rate of withdrawl. This can involve a lot of trial and error and I didn't get much help from the "professionals".
Good luck, hugs.
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2 ReactionsMaryjeandennis, It worked very well for me for 20 years then stopped working. Also I would occasionally try to get off of it but utterly impossible so I stayed on it until it stopped working. Well I couldn't even get off of it then and have stayed on it to avoid the horrendous withdrawal effects. I should say that this isn't the case for everyone. Some people have no problem getting off of it. I believe there were other factors causing my panic attacks (high heavy metals and low thyroid function) that I didn't know of at the time. I am still very grateful for Paxil; it helped greatly when I needed help.