Quitpaxil.org: old rants

Rants: Sept 2001 to Aug 2002

Feeling duped by SmithKline Beecham? You think that you should have been warned before taking this drug? Has it wrecked your life, at least temporarily? Well, you have arrived at a place where you can let off some steam. Let the GSK (they do read these pages) and the rest of the world know how you feel. Rant Away!

Due to the great number of rants that have filled this page , I have moved comment made before July 11th here. Rest assured that all your past rants have been transposed uncensored. Caution: adult language, death threats, extraordinary sad tales as well as a lot of steam is contained within the document. It makes for some fascinating reading. (close the window to get back to the rant page)

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Date:
9/22/2001
Time:
7:21:20 PM
Remote User:
Comments
To GSK, I was placed on 20 mg. of Paxil daily for mild to moderate sporatic depression. I had a breast mastectomy 2 years ago and since I have had some bouts of depression. My doctor told me that Paxil was a mood elevator and I should feel better soon. Hell with that, I not only had the depressions I had a gamet of side effects as well and going off the drug was a nightmare. I had chills, hot flashes, night sweats, dizziness, vertigo, a feeling of being out of body, burning headache like acid had been injected in my brain hallucinations, nightmares (when I could sleep) tremmors and panic attakcs. I have never in my life had panic attacks. During a visit to Texas, in June 2001, I ended up in ER because of withdrawl symptoms while being on 20 mg. per day. I had an intolerance to light and sounds and an anger and rage that was so bad I could have killed someone with no remorse. I am 3 weeks off the Paxil and I am still suffering from anger, tremmors and panic attacks. Fess up you truth hiders, you liars, you money grubbing assholes that would jepardize the health of millions of people to benefit yourselves and stuff your own pockets. Beware, God is watching you, and what goes around, comes around.

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Date:
9/22/2001
Time:
9:41:39 PM
Remote User:
Comments
My god it hurts. I thot getting on paxil was bad. I've just dropped my last 7.5 mg. Hate to say so, but I found a great cure for the zaps right before bed is half a chocolate martini. Since it's the middle of the day I'm having a beer. I don't like drinking that much but it appears to be the only thing that keeps me from wanting to jump out the muther humping window!! I say again: it hurts.

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Date:
9/23/2001
Time:
2:20:02 AM
Remote User:
Comments
What frightens me is, when this product is recalled we are all going to have no choice but to go off cold turkey and all become bumbeling idiots because of the side affects. I have vertigo, diahreea, zaps, muscle cramps, and sever, severe problems with my brain not keeping up with my eyes. Also have slurred speech, memory loss and confusion. This sucks!!! Darlene seamuss@pacbell.net

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Date:
9/23/2001
Time:
2:23:02 AM
Remote User:
Comments
Does anyone know if this causes permanent memory damage. I have not been able to remember anything short term since begining Paxil 6-7 years ago. I am on 40mgs and cant get off. I started in about 1985 when paxil had only been out for about 2 months.

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Date:
9/23/2001
Time:
11:02:35 AM
Remote User:
Comments
it's been 3 weeks now, and i weaned myself from paxil slowly! i'm one angry woman!!!! the "zaps" are intolerable, frightening and disrupting my sanity. i spend most of my morings on the toilet passing SLIME. i've lost weight from experiencing nausea and i'm not talking the kind of nausea that one feels from eating improperly. i think the drug companies and doctors are in cahouts. both are profiting from the addiction to paxil and preying on innocent people who are just looking for relief from depression. TRUST ME. THIS IS 1000 TIMES WORSE THAN ANY DEPRESSIVE EPISODE I EVER EXPERIENCED! i haven't slept for days. i may appear to be asleep, however my mind is not resting. PLEASE,GOD. PLEASE bless all of us who have to live through this.

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Date:
9/23/2001
Time:
2:41:52 PM
Remote User:
Comments
If you care about anyone other that yourselves, and if you do not want to rot in hell for all enternity, take Paxil off of the market for "new prescriptions". Anyone who has suffered depression, axiety or any of the other conditions for which Paxil is being prescribed certainly does not need (and more likely would not be able to handle) the Hell and Torment that Paxil will cause for them. Even if someone makes the desicion to give their whole life to GSK and their lovely drug PAXIL, ("I give up on life, drug me up, I'm yours forever Mr. Drugmaker.") and thinks that they have eliminated the risk of experiencing the complete hell of withdrawl, they may very likely be wrong. I, for one, was not even trying to get off of Paxil when I starting getting what is now commonly known as "the Zaps". It is obvious that Paxil effects the nervous system in a bad way.

Here is the deal, Mr. Drugmaker. GSK needs to go public and admit it's mistake. Sure, you can say, "previous test didn't show...", "we have just RECENTLY become aware of..." or any other bullshit line that you would like to use in order to save face, but follow it up with the recognition that THERE IS A PROBLEM. Next,and most importantly, provide a solution to those who are suffering from Paxil related problems. If GSK does not have the solution(s) for the problems that it's drug Paxil has caused for thousands of people, don't be afraid to "out source". (I know it can be scary to ask for help. Take us Paxil sufferers. We had anxiety and depression, we asked for HELP and instead, we got PAXIL.) Yes, I think Out Sourcing would be a good idea for GSK. GSK must to go public. VERY PUBLIC!!! Not just an article in the back pages of a medical magazine that will only be seen by doctors who are benefiting from the distribution of GSK's drugs. Public as in, Television, specifically, the news, magazines that the general public reads, News Week, TIME, U.S. News & World Report, etc. If GSK does not go public and produce a solution for the problem they have caused, perhaps there will be many more of us filing lawsuits. Many of the Paxil's sufferers are women, as we all know "Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn!"

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Date:
9/24/2001
Time:
10:27:13 AM
Remote User:
Comments
Own my own business as a Computer Software Consultant. I had no idea that by using Paxil I would lose my ability to 'concentrate'. I also lost my 'memory' short term at least. Had sweaty palms, started itching all over... the list goes on and on... It has been very difficult for me to use my 'brain'...

Now that I have decided to stop 'cold turkey' I am dizzy, unable to concentrate, I am 'emotional'... Just want my concentration back... Just want 'me' back.

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Date:
9/25/2001
Time:
7:24:30 AM
Remote User:
Comments
SOMEONE HIT IT RIGHT ON THE SPOT" I JUST WANT ME BACK"

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Date:
9/26/2001
Time:
8:01:55 AM
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
9/26/2001
Time:
12:35:39 PM
Remote User:
Comments
ENCOURAGEMENT for all of you. I've been withdrawing for 1 month now. Yes, I still have "zaps"!!!! My nausea is subsiding, my intestines are a little less active, I'm sleeping a bit sounder and my sex drive is back. The best thing about all of this physical and emotional pain is that I am learning. I'm learning to trust me again. I'm learning to eat better. I'm learning that it's OK to have feelings, even anger. I'm learning that anger propels me into taking care of my emotional needs. (Please don't let the anger control your behavior.) I'm learning that life is worth feeling and living. I'VE LEARNED THAT GOD OWNS MY SOUL AND NOT EVEN PAXIL CAN TAKE MY SOUL AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My last year has been hell. God lifted me up out of the fog long enough to get a glimpse of "me", the me I once was. I am learning to fight for the fabulous me I once was. Kava Kava rules to help calm my anxiety. B Complex seems to be helping my nervous system. Multi-vitamins are nourishing my body. Extra Magnesium has helped immensely for the muscle spasms. And drink plenty of WATER! WATER! WATER! Do you want to know the really cool thing? Tomorrow I will remember that I wrote this. Today I will have a few moments of total clarity. Yesterday was a valuable learning tool. PAXIL IS DEATH IN A BOTTLE! God promises "Life after death." I am praying for all of you who are experiencing "death/life" because I that is all I know how to do. Go easy on yourself. God Bless The Paxil "SURVIVOR".

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Date:
9/26/2001
Time:
12:57:22 PM
Remote User:
Comments
This will probably not be anything that anyone visiting this site wants to hear, but i feel every side should be represented. I take paxil and i love it. I suffer from bipolar disorder and anxiety and paxil is extremely helpful in treating these. What i don't understand about this whole "paxil withdrawal" thing is why anyone would ever "try" to quit. If your depression is chemical, it's not something that can be treated in a year or even ten. You have to take your meds every day, that's WHY you take them. It's like insulin to a diabetic. Likewise, if your depression is not chemical-related, you should NEVER take a medication that is intended as a chemical supplement. That's like taking ecstasy every day for a year and then one day stopping and wondering why you feel so stupid and sad. COME ON, PEOPLE, Paxil was never intended as happiness in a bottle for people who are "feeling a little sad now and then," it is a legitimate supplement for people whose chemicals function on a sub-par level. If your depression is chemical, for pete's sake don't stop taking your paxil. If you were lazy enough to make assumptions based on a "self-test" on a website (which is not, incidentally, legally responsible)and then convice your underpaid and overworked HMO doctor that you needed some sunshine, please, please take yourselves OUT of the gene pool, NOW. Or else get some good counseling. Not everything can be solved with a pill, and for those of us who truly suffer and are genuinely served by paxil, your threat of legal action is an insult and quite frankly, frightening. I would gladly testify on the part of GSK in any action and i hope some of you out there can stop and see the narrow-mindedness in this. If anyone wishes to email me about this and offer another opinion, i'm open for discussion.

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Date:
9/26/2001
Time:
2:41:57 PM
Remote User:
Comments
My friend has been on this drug for two years. I m on line to read about whats happening with this drug. I'm confused, is this drug dagerous to be on in the first place? I'm scared to death for her. She told me that if she misses one or two pills, the symptoms I have read about, she has had them. She is terrified to go off this drug. I am outraged with the people and doctors who even prescribe this to anyone. Everyone who is suffering you are in my prayers.

P.S. the person who wrote for paxil, I'm sorry but there are to many people who are suffering to be on your side.

From a friend

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Date:
9/26/2001
Time:
5:35:12 PM
Remote User:
Comments
This is directed to the individual who "loves" paxil. Yes... as long as you keep taking this poison in regular doses you should be ok. But the real problems come when you try to get off of it! I predict that you won't "love" paxil once the withdrawal symptoms and all the other "special effects" start to set in! So here's a little challenge to you, my friend. Stop taking your paxil poison for a week or so and then see if you still "love" this "medication"! But just a fair warning before you stop and go into withdrawal; the "zaps" are hell, the "rubbing" and "swishing" sounds inside your head are terrifying, the nausea and vertigo are downright sickening, the short term memory losses are very disturbing, and the "time lapses" between what your eyes see and what is really happening is a real "challenge" to function normally with! So, before you go off your "lovely" paxil and truely experience "paxil hell", you have no right to say anything positive about this poison! Because once you are truely experience paxil withdrawal, you will truely doubt your sanity! So, my friend, my advise to you is, keep taking your paxil and keep loving it, because once you stop you will realize that you are a true addict and you are facing a very serious medical problem. May you stay happy and content in your ignorance!

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Date:
9/26/2001
Time:
5:47:22 PM
Remote User:
Comments
Oh yes, one final note to the "paxil lover". There's also "paxil itching", which you obviously didn't get. A number of people, including myself, actually scratched ugly sores into their arms, hands and legs due to the intense itching caused by this awful "medication". Kind of like a VERY severe case of poison ivy, except without the blisters. And then there's the long term effects which nobody, including GSK, know anything about. I've been off this shit now for almost three months now and I still get the "zaps" on occasion. I'm going to see my doctor about this on Friday. So I'm glad you have your head in the sand and love your little pink paxil pills. But you are most likely addicted, my friend, and I hate to say this... but like it or not, YOU ARE AN ADDICT NOW!!!!!

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Date:
9/26/2001
Time:
8:49:11 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I am in the middle of withdrawing from Paxil. I am not taking Paxil after taking 30's for 3 years. My Doctor felt I should be able to be through the withdrawal in a week. Obviously she has not been on Paxil! I am in my third week completely off and am still missarable with all the symtoms as listed by a lot of other people on this site. Thank you for sharing. It is nice to know I am not imagining what I am going through and there is hope at the end of the tunnel.

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Date:
9/26/2001
Time:
9:33:35 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I've been on Paxil for about a week now. Thanks to everyone's testimonials here, I think I'll stop taking it. I hate the drug, and it hasn't even "kicked in" yet. The side effects do suck. - Rebecca, bmxgurlie311@aol.com

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Date:
9/27/2001
Time:
4:35:44 AM
Remote User:
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Date:
9/27/2001
Time:
5:49:27 AM
Remote User:
Comments
I have to admitt that Paxil saved my life. All of the so called hellish side effect people are experiencing I experienced prior to taking the drug. the anxiety attacks,unable to sleep,severe mood swings. I am here to say that something or someone reach out to depths of hell and would not let go of me. It took every bit of 2 weeks into the drug,for it show any help to me. which was a very long 2 weeks.after that time, i was completely satisfied. i took paxil for almost a year without any problems except alot of weight gain. the way my doctor and i compare it to... like a patient with high blood pressure they have to take medication for their illness. or the diabetic who depleted in insulin must take insulin to survive. I have a chemical in my brain that is not releasing seritonin. so paxil does that for me. yes, i have weaned off of paxil now only by way of using other drugs to take its place. wellbutrin i started and slowly weaned off paxil. Until people are absolutely sure that they are depressed, don't start any medications until speaking to a dr. that specializes in psychiatric drugs. Not you ob/gyn, or even your regular internist. please pay alittle more to go see a Psychiatrist. remember depression is more than having a bad day, people are totally unable to function mentally,physically, and emtionally. I truly sorry everyone who are going through withdrawls but please find help to get you through this. i think it make a big difference.

one more thing can some one tell me zaps are? I just curious.

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Date:
9/27/2001
Time:
3:13:33 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I am now in my second week of paxil withdrawal. I had been on the drug for and year and 1/2 for panic disorder. I can truly say that the past year and 1/2 was great. I responded so well to the drug that I thought about staying on it forever. I felt normal for once. I am in pharmacy school, but wasn't even aware of the terrible withdrawal associated with paxil until recently. (I am only a few months from graduation.) I decided to stop paxil primarily because I became afraid of being addicted. I realize now that I already am. I have been experiencing all the symptoms mentioned. I hope it soon ends so I can get back to my life. I truly feel sorry for all of you who are also going through this very trying time.

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Date:
9/27/2001
Time:
5:02:43 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I cannot believe how disgustingly addictive this drug is. While I was taking Paxil, 60mg/day, I was slothful, depressed unmotivated extremely sensitive zero sex drive (ZERO) WITHDRAWL FROM FAMILY AND FRIENDS. Developed an addictive reaction to anything (soft drinks, hamburgers anything) My anxiety actually increased during the two years that I have been taking this drug. My response to this as well as my doctors was to increase the dosage. For the past two years my life has sucked. it has sucked for everyone involved in my life. And I will NEVER get those two years back - they have just been wasted. I am fucking furious to know that these withdrawl symptoms are so common and the drug continues to be prescribed.

I would like for GSK to issue a public apology to all my family and friends, for all the hell I've been thru ( and them) Until I came to this site, I had no way of describing the electric shock that is so common. I am so glad to be validated regarding this. FUCK GSK. I hope they are bankrupted from this class action lawsuit.

Also, I want to add that I am so incredibly grateful that this site exists and that there is a community of us going through this. I have weened my dosage slowly, but the withdrawls are still horrible. At one point I was sleeping with a knife in my bed because I was horrified that someone was hiding in my house. On those nights I had all the lights on, would search the house three and four times before attempting to fall asleep. When sleep would come it was for maybe 15 minutes at a time.

I have found that the "electric shock" symptom increases with the exposure to EMI (electro magnetic interference) I have been so sensitive to appliances and household equipment that at times I have had to turn off the air conditioner, my fans, even my computer.

Since I have diminished my dose I have been more motivated, energetic, responsible, active and athletic than I felt in my early twenties. What hurts me the most is that I began taking Paxil so that I could interact with society again, and it has only made it worse.

thank you so much for this site

Sam

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Date:
9/27/2001
Time:
6:20:30 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I'm on 75 mg of Paxil and I was wondering if anyone got the electric shocks in there head while ON Paxil?

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Date:
9/27/2001
Time:
6:28:56 PM
Remote User:
Comments
Is 75 mg alot, I've been reading other "rants" and they talk about being on 20 or 30 mg. Am I going to have an even bigger withdrawl if I quit?! I already get the "zapping" occassionally, and I'm still on it! Help??? And can anyone describe the visual disturbances to me. (eyes not following.....)

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Date:
9/27/2001
Time:
11:35:03 PM
Remote User:
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Date:
9/28/2001
Time:
1:39:13 AM
Remote User:
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Date:
9/28/2001
Time:
12:19:54 PM
Remote User:
Comments
Let me tell you, withdrawing from Paxil has been extremely difficult..My physican stated to me that there would be no side-effects from taking this medication to treat my mild depression. Well, this professional was wrong....I've been off paxil for 9 months and I continue to get those nasty withdrawl symptons and it's extremely NASTY... At times I do not know who I am, who I was before Paxil and where I am headed.. Paxil has caused memory as to who I used to be..I caution anyone to begin or even continue this medicine..

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Date:
9/28/2001
Time:
10:10:48 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I stopped taking Paxil for 2 DAYS and I feel awful. I have been on it since March and never had much of a problem with it. It helped a lot. Today I got major withdrawal symptoms. My lips were tingling, I have vertigo, I am shaky, naseous, etc. It sucks! I had to take one today and have yet to feel "normal." I am only on 20mg and I am now terrified to ever stop taking it. I could not live feeling the way I felt today.

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Date:
9/29/2001
Time:
3:44:50 AM
Remote User:
Comments
I'm sick of not feeling like myself. I'm sick of not being able to function. THIS IS NOT RIGHT!!!!

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Date:
9/29/2001
Time:
12:10:49 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I am currently experiencing withdrawal effects...specifically, I am crying uncontrollably and blubbering like a baby as I write this. I am a University Biochemistry student who has been taking 40mg of Paxil for the last 7 months. I decided to go off Paxil a week-and-a-half ago and I feel like I'm going nuts. If I'm not feeling completely drunk with dizziness, or stumbling my way around campus, then you can bet I'm at home being desperately consolled by my amazing boyfriend. I can't sleep, and when I do, the dreams I have could even terrify Quentin Tarrantino!! Plus, I am NORMALLY a very social and likable person, but I feel overcome with unexplainable anger towards even the friendliest strangers...ie. to avoid having to talk with some acquaintance on the bus yesterday (because I felt so fucking nauseous!!) I told her I was, "sacrificing peoples' favorite pets" in response to "what are you doing tonight?" - that sure freaked her out AND shut her up!! I never felt even close to this level of desperation when I was put on the medication...I am so upset that I was given this drug without a full explaination of all the possible effects it could have. I mean, I don't give a shit if some fancy-schmansy study didn't document all the hell that withdrawal sufferers go through...and anyone who perscribes such a drug has a fucking obligation to fully research any kind of problems that could potentially arise from taking Paxil. Really, I would dearly LOVE right now, to pump my monotonous, smooth-talking psychiatrist CHOCK-FUCKING-FULL of Paxil for the next 7 months and then watch that bastard writhe and suffer through its withdrawal symptoms... Cold Turkey too!!! Thankfully, I feel that when I do get through this that I will personally be able to fight against this terrible chemical...I am a very bright girl with a very promising future in the field of medicine...ironically enough, I am striving to be a psychiatrist MYSELF!! But I can promise all my future clients this: I WILL NEVER WILLINGLY PRESCRIBE PAXIL TO ANY OF MY PATIENTS!! The pharmaceutical companies can kiss my nauseated, depersonalized ass!!! Thank you so much for this website - it has helped me beyond words can describe...I don't think anyone who has not experienced this hell can truly appreciate how good it is to be able to find out that there some type of "support system" in place for them... To all those who are in the same boat as I am...I want to express my heartfelt sympathy to you and wish you the best of luck in your recovery...GODSPEED. To those who know anyone dealing with Paxil withdrawal...please be the best friend you can be towards them in their hour(sssss) of need...they will never forget your love and support.

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Date:
9/29/2001
Time:
2:44:43 PM
Remote User:
Comments
i posted yesterday about stopping paxil after 2 days. well, i had to take it again because i wanted to die and now i don't have numbness or vertigo but i feel like i want to KILL someone!! yes, i am so miserable and depressed. what a frigging mess. i will just have to continue taking it regularly until i have NOTHING going on in my life for, oh, about 2 years so i can withdraw from it then!!

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Date:
9/29/2001
Time:
6:48:50 PM
Remote User:
Comments
When I went to the doctor, I suffered from mild depression (that's it nothing else) I was diagnosed and placed on Paxil. (In my opinion, it was given to me way to easily) I went from mild depression to anxiety, vertigo, insomnia, started cutting the back of my wrists, and locked myself indoors. I actually thought that I was going CRAZY. Nice to know that a drug that is suppose to elevate moods almost landed me six feet under. Well that was a year ago. I took myself off cold-turkey (I know not the smartest idea) Spent a week in the hospital from the side effects. The worst of which, was a head to toe rash that had my skin so swollen. But within a month after that, I began to regain my life, now with proper diet, exersise and a little meditation, I am the one in control NOT the drug. And to all of you money obsessed asswipes at GSK, I only hope your doctor treats your obsession with paxil!

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Date:
9/29/2001
Time:
9:01:06 PM
Remote User:
Comments
Typical American Ideology: Don't tell all the bad side effects, don't tell about the hellacious withdrawl, don't tell of the long term effects of using this drug, BECAUSE: Some CEO/COO/CFO might have to give up their 7 or 8 digit salary. This is America.... Profit above all else. We as a business community have NO morality, pride, honesty, virtue. OBL should have flew a plane into GSK headquarters!! Uncle Meanie

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Date:
9/30/2001
Time:
1:29:07 AM
Remote User:
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Date:
9/30/2001
Time:
2:30:43 AM
Remote User:
Comments
cI was so pleased to find this site as I had to quit paxil for financial reasons. I just couldn't afford the $100 a month "habit," nor the doctor to authorize the prescription. I am a 44 year old female and have tried to go off Paxil many other times, but didn't last more than 3 or 4 days as the w/d symptoms were so unbearable. Before Paxil, I was a self sufficiant,independent & productive member of society. 18 year budding career in advertising, active in church & school. Over the 9 years on this drug, I have lost all drive. I just stopped caring about anything. I quit school and church and spent the majority of my time sleeping, other than work. At one point I couldn't even work. I am fed up with being poor and dependent on others for a roof over my head. I decided I can't climb the career ladder while numb. I need to support myself. Since I up and quit a very good job in 1997, I no longer have insurance. I couldn't pay the doctors, so now it has caught up with me. Since then, I've been working 2-bit temp clerical jobs, offering no insurance. Anyway, i decided to take control of my life again. I'm 4 weeks into this withdrawl and I'm ready to snap. The "zaps" are lessoning, yet my temper is so out of control I worry for myself & others around me. I am so angry and anxious I could scream! RANT & RAGE!!!! I am so disillusioned with society, the world, youth...everything. I know this thinking is irrational- yet it's real. I just can't let go!!! Everything is so intense. I can't keep control. My tongue is so harsh. I have hurt the people I supposedly care about. I just ended a 35 year old friendship. I need to get away. I am so filled with hate and disdain, not my normal nature by any means. I don't drink alcohol, yet last night I drank a few shots of brandy just to cut the edge (certainly don't want to go that direction). The reason for taking Paxil in the first place was to curb my temper (which was NEVER at this stage before). It was in height of the Prozac acceptance era, so instead of dealing with it in therapy(as I had in the past), I took paxil AND saw a therapist (from '93 to '98). My question is, does anyone know what I can do to fix this? I've done hot baths, SAMe, lots of water, vitamins, yard work, eat properly. I'm at my wits end and really could use some suggestions. I'm ready to beg borrow and steal to get more paxil at this point.

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Date:
9/30/2001
Time:
9:05:51 PM
Remote User:
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Date:
9/30/2001
Time:
9:10:57 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I AM DISAPPOINTED WITH THIS DRUG CALLED 'PAXIL' I HAVE GAINED 21 POUNDS AND FEEL VERY DISCUSTED WITH MYSELF, AS I WAS ALWAYS VERY SLIM. IM ONLY 5 FEET AND NOW WEIGHT 127 LBS. LET ME NOT FORGET THE TREMORS AND NIGHTMARES DAY TO DAY, I HATE THIS DRUG AND WISH THEY WOULD TAKE IT OFF THE MARKET, AS WELL AS MANY OTHERS, ALTHOUGH IT HAS HELPED MY DEPRESSION, IT HAS NOT DONE ANYTHING FOR MY SEX LIFE AND ALL THE CRAZY THOUGHTS I THINK ABOUT ALL DAY. i HAVE A 'I DONT CARE ATTITUTE ABOUT NEARLY EVERYTHING. IM LIKE A ZOMBI BUT IM NOT DEPRESSED. WHAT A SWITCH!!!!!!

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Date:
10/1/2001
Time:
3:03:39 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I thought it was me. I thought I was going crazy. I started taking Paxil last year due to some personnel problems. When things smoothed out I stopped. My doctor told me I would be sick for a few days, HA! I could not get out of bed for almost a week. My head was splitting, the room was spinning and I could not keep anything down. I thought that was the end of it but I have been crying for weeks (two months), I even feel like I have lost my faith in God and that scares me. Thank you for this site, I now know it's not me!

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Date:
10/1/2001
Time:
5:25:09 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I am pissed! To the "Paxil Lover": The side effects are what make you want to quit taking the drug. I can no longer stand the complete lack of emotion-no happy, sad, angry--the total lack of sex-drive, the weight gain, total night blindness....and the more of these pages I am reading, I am seeing so many more symptoms that I have that I never even knew were side effects!!! And I just LOVE the fact that they don't list weight gain as a side effect, and that they say in women it INCREASES their sex-drive....what a crock of shit!! At least be honest Mr.Drugmakers! I totally respect the business, but be honest and let Dr.'s know what is going on! If there is something about this drug that makes it worth it for some people, then fine, but Dr.s need to know that this should not be used for just everyone....it's not worth it!!!!

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Date:
10/1/2001
Time:
11:36:01 PM
Remote User:
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Date:
10/2/2001
Time:
12:11:31 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I just want to be normal.

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Date:
10/3/2001
Time:
12:46:41 AM
Remote User:
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The withdrawals from this f**king drug Paxil is worse than the suicidal thoughts, the anger, the depression. I'm so lucky to be in a relationship in which my fiance understands what I'm going through...sure his entire family has "addictive personalities", but damn it, Paxil is not cocaine, or heroin, or even alcohol, it's supposed to help with depression, anxiety, OCD. I'm on my f**king 6th night of practically NO SLEEP!!!!!!!! In six days...only 8 hrs of sleep. The zaps, hot flashes, sweats, etc...that's what's gonna kill me!!! jmpollard209@netscape.net

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Date:
10/3/2001
Time:
6:38:52 AM
Remote User:
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Paxil worked very well at first, I was able to concentrate and my grades went up significantly, but there comes a point when a person no longer needs it. My Doctor told me several time that it was non addictive, no doubt information he reciebed from SmithKline Beecham. This information was false.

The drug did it's job well, but after about three years it started to backfire and cause more harm than good. Me coming off the drug after I no longer needed it would decrease profits for the manufacturer, so they made sure it was addictive. I can't prove it and I don't expect them to admit it, but I know this is true.

On occasions when I ran out, or tried to taper off the drug, the withdrawal was horrible. I have suffered every side effect listed on this site, only to have my dosage increased by underinformed doctors. Now my grades faulter and my sleep patterns are more eratic than before. Each time the dosage increased, so did my weight gain. I now have sleep apnea because i'm too heavy for my small frame, which makes things worse. I have had enough, God Damn you SmithKline-Beecham-Glaxo-greedy bastards or whoever you are.

Jason P. Chrisman Nashville,TN jason@chrisman.com

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Date:
10/3/2001
Time:
7:01:12 AM
Remote User:
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I'm not depressed anymore! Huraaaay it worked. Now I want off it, it's not fair that Ihave to go through torture worse than the depression was on order to function again.

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Date:
10/4/2001
Time:
4:13:51 AM
Remote User:
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I took Paxil for an unusual reason, I'm sure! I have tinnitus, a noise in my ear. After 9 years it was clear that I was either gonna jump from a really high bridge OR in the alternative, take some medication to calm me down a little bit, well, my doctor was more than happy to oblige and gave me Paxil, first 10 then 20 mg. I have to say that as far as my anxiety for this tinnitus goes, it really helped. I wasn't crying as much about it, and I really did feel more cheerful. And I was also a lot easier on the kids and hubby, who have had a lot to endure over te last 9 years.

Anyway, I finally found an audiologist who was the first person who was able to help me, not only with a hearing aid blocking out the noise, but also with moral support, guaranteed for the next 2 years.

So, I decided that this would be the time to quit Paxil. I don't like taking drugs, especially mind-altering ones, and I did finally start to feel hopeful about this darn ear problem again.

I quit paxil over a period of 3 weeks (30 mg - 20 mg - 10 mg) and now I haven't taken any for about a week.

It has been HORRIBLE!!!! Not only did I yell at the kids and my husband every five minutes, I almost killed someone at Shoppers Drugmart because the tooth- brush attachments for a recently purchased electric toothbrush were discontinued, I also yelled at my boss and took the terrible risk of loosing my very comfortable and gratifying job. Fortunately I had mentioned to my boss before this blow-up what was going on with me, I could feel it coming, you see. So he understood and was actually very nice to me. Other than me being very dangerous to annoying people around me, I have also had these "zaps" that everyone is talking about. Terrible. I'm kind of glad to know that it is one of these symptoms and that it will eventually go away. I had thought, until I discoved this web-page ( THANK YOU ) that it something to do with my ear-problem, because the buzzing, scraping sound seems to really concentrate on my bad ear. I also have quite bad muscle aches, but that could be because I haven't exercised for a while, although that's nothing new.

Anyway, I'm definitely not going back on this CRAP!! I'd rather have a few good cries, if necessary!! I suppose if a person is really depressed, they don't have much choice, do they. It's terrible. Hopefully they'll come up with something that isn't quite so harmful.

Good luck everyone!!

Carla

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Date:
10/4/2001
Time:
4:16:32 AM
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Date:
10/4/2001
Time:
10:31:46 AM
Remote User:
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I'm on the UK version of Paxil, Seroxat - put on it for a second time by my doctor when I was taking my finals at university.

However, the reason I was prescribed the drug in the first place was a mistake. I went to see my doctor with the symptoms of shakiness, diziness, anxiety, etc and told them that eating made me feel almost instantaneously better. The doctor (correctly) diagnosed me as being hypoglycaemic (having low blood sugar), but when I went back complaining that I was crying a lot, feeling constantly worried, fatigued and generally suffering from unpredictable mood swings he told me I was depressed and prescribed Seroxat. What I have now found out (through my own intensive research) is that the symptoms I was suffering from were all side effects of having low blood sugar and could have been controlled by careful diets.

But its too late. I can not come off the seroxat because its a living nightmare - If I'm even 8 hours late for taking a pill I'm in a state of uncontrolable depression and can't control my own moods. Not to mention the lightheadness, jitteriness, overwhelming tiredness and shakes. At 23, I feel like I've been cheated out of things because I often don't have the enthusiasm or energy to go out with my friends, or even pick up the phone. My boyfriend tries to understand, but can't see how one tiny pill can mess me up so much.

Anyway, I'm trying to come off them. I've been slowly cutting them down, but can't quite take the final step of giving up that last 10mg! It's all that keeps me from losing my head.

For a year I thought I was going mad - I'm sure you all know the relief I felt when I discovered that other people were in the same boat.

Thanks to everyone whose shared their stories - I know we can all get over this.

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Date:
10/4/2001
Time:
6:06:59 PM
Remote User:
Comments
Hi Everyone, I am a 24 year old college student who has recently come off of 60mg of paxil almost cold turkey after the not so smart advice of my doctor, who told me to "wean" myself off over the course of one week, imagine?! The first two weeks were fine, i felt better then I'd ever felt while being on the drug, which I'd taken for over three years to combat OCD. Then just two days ago I got incredibly nauseated, eating is repulsive to me and even the thought of food makes me sick. I eat small amounts and take vitamins, to keep some semblance of strength, and gravol has become a good friend. I still cannot sleep, however,and nothing seems to help the "zaps" . When will this misery end?! Paxil did help cure my OCD, but made my depression worse, I gained 50 ponds over 3 years, and felt so bad about myself that I refused to attend any social gatherings. My boyfriend of over 5 years did his best to understand and help, but apparently it was too much for him. I went on vacation for a week and came back to find that he'd moved out. Paxil has taken away my ability to make new friends or even salvage a romantic relationship which was, at one time, headed for marriage. It is because of this that I have decided to stop the drug, no matter how physically sick I get it is not worth returning to the hell which used to be my life. I wish everyone luck in their recovery! Kerri

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Date:
10/5/2001
Time:
12:49:54 AM
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Date:
10/9/2001
Time:
11:17:49 AM
Remote User:
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This Thursday will be my last day with Paxil. Needless to say I am scared to death. The withdrawl from this drug over the last four weeks has been a living hell. I am unable to do the normal things I do everyday. I sleep alot, dealing with very real dreams. I have been falling over alot and the "shocks" that I feel through by body and head are debilatating. I just want to be myself again. I have constant diahrhea and nasuea along with out of control headaches. My Physician claims there are not withdrawl symptoms like the ones that I am describing. I guess he can't understand unless he took some time to live in my body. I really feel like I have no one to talk to for answers. It is pretty sad when you can't even go to your doctor to feel better. Waske1@msn.com

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Date:
10/9/2001
Time:
9:21:19 PM
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Date:
10/10/2001
Time:
4:52:11 PM
Remote User:
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This drug is EVIL! I havn't taken any paxil for just over two weeks. This time I tapered the drug VERY slowly, after a horrific attempt to cold turkey about 4 months ago. I still feel like absolute shit every day, all day. It gets worse in the evening, when I feel really F*ckin wierd and then can't sleep for shit. What a lovely feeling that is! I'm a 27 year old male, and have been on the drug for over 4 years, after being prescribed it for anxiety and depression. There must be better ways of dealing with these symptoms other than to dish out these pills! I have been slim all my life, and now I look like I'm about to give birth to triplets. I've put on over 50 pounds. All on my gut. Imagine the women that are falling at my feet, dying to go out with a spaced out zombified wierdo with a massive belly! Please let me feel better soon......pplleeaassee!!!!!

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Date:
10/10/2001
Time:
8:38:24 PM
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Date:
10/10/2001
Time:
9:15:24 PM
Remote User:
Comments
Hi, I've written about 3 messages so far, but my computer keeps crashing, so I'm going to make this short and if it works I will write again. I am so hapy I found this site tonight. I have been tapering off Paxil for about 2 - 3 weeks, and I was starting to think I was going crazy. And my doctor did nothing to ease those thoughts. Try explaining the Zaps to a doctor....Wow, you guys have a name for it! I swear these zaps are going to kill me. Have you tried driving with these zaps?. Anyway, if this message goes through, I will comtinue my story....

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Date:
10/10/2001
Time:
10:08:23 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I HAVE BEEN TAKING PAXIL FOR 9 MONTHS NOW, AND BEFORE I REALIZED WHAT MY THOUGHTS IN MY HEAD WERE, I HAD SURFED THE WEB FOR ANSWERS AND CAME ACROSS THIS SITE. I COULDN'T BELIEVE THE STORIES I WAS READING WERE ALL SO VERY TRUE AND I WAS NOT GOING NUTS!!! I HAD BEEN SEEING A PSYCHIATRIST FOR THOSE 9 MONTHS AND ON SEPTEMBER THE 10TH I RECEIVED A CALL FROM ANOTHER SHRINK THAT MY PSYCHIATRIST WAS DEAD, THE DAY BEFORE THE TWIN TOWERS EXPLOSION. I WAS A TOTAL RECK! BUT BELIEVE IT OR NOT THAT WAS MY LUCKY DAY WHEN MY SHRINK DIED, AS I HAVE FOUND ANOTHER DOCTOR WHO COMFIRMED MY THOUGHTS. I AM NOW DETOXING OFF OF PAXIL. ITS NOT AN EASY ROAD BUT, IM SURE GLAD THAT I FOUND THIS SITE AND STARTED TO FEEL BETTER KNOWING I WAS NOT LOOSING MY MIND! THEY SHOULD TAKE THAT POISON OFF THE MARKET AND WE SHOULD ALL GET TOGETHER AND SUE THE DRUGS COMPANIES. IN THE LONG RUN WE ALL DONT KNOW WHAT THE LONGTERM DAMAGE HAS BEEN DONE TO US!!!! THANKS FOR LISTENING.

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Date:
10/11/2001
Time:
6:00:31 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I am not on Paxil, but my fiance is. He stopped taking it two weeks ago. I am going through Hell. Things that have occured during the last year while he was on Paxil, he is bringing up and giving me Hell. It is like he wanted to say things before but was not able to, and his feelings are re-surfacing. I do nto know how many more out-bursts I can take.

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Date:
10/12/2001
Time:
6:42:09 PM
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Date:
10/13/2001
Time:
10:41:39 AM
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Date:
10/13/2001
Time:
10:46:28 AM
Remote User:
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Hello, I would like to let you all know that WebMD informs people about side effects of quitting paxil. Doctors do lie. I have taken paxil a few years ago and when I decided to stop because I lost my insurance I couldn't afford it. I had funny feelings in my head and was moody. I would never consider going back on it again because I felt like I needed to up my dosage at the time I quit. It is addictive in my opinion. I think the best thing for depression is psychotherapy. That is what helped me the most.

CRAZZYASACAT@YAHOO.COM

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Date:
10/15/2001
Time:
4:26:47 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I get so angry when I see the Paxil commercials on TV. It gives such a glowing portrait of the drug, and down plays the side effects and says Non-habitforming. Every time one comes on, I want to scream. People are going to their doctors and requesting this terrible drug and not warning of the withdrawl.

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Date:
10/15/2001
Time:
8:38:20 PM
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Date:
10/16/2001
Time:
2:56:42 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I decided that I wanted to change my medication because I thought it made me feel a bit dull. My psychiatrist suggested to get off Paxil first so we can see how I feel with no drugs at all. At this point I decided maybe I could be off the meds altogether because I was feeling emotionally healthy. This is all post WTC attacks. Last week nightmares, can't sleep, diareha, mood swings, feeling like I need to cry ( I cried while watching the funniest program with Robin Williams) - and my body has what I would call an overall buzzing feeling. I thought that it might be related to all the crazt terrorist stuff but soome realized that it was physical/chemical too. But, I had no idea that these were not only Paxil withdrawl symptoms felt by many others but that the medical industry hadn't accepted it exists. I had told MY doc that I had felt a buzzing when I had accidentally missed a dose and he told me that he'd never heard of such a thing - with the mild implication that I was making it up- Boy are we a vulnerable group- I guess I feel better knowing I'm not alone but worse in some ways that the Medical folks have ignored it.

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Date:
10/16/2001
Time:
4:53:01 PM
Remote User:
Comments
gsk-how dare you use me as a fucking guniea pig for your experimental drug-gsk knew paxil was addicting and that it makes you sick on withdrawl, greed fueled this, it was all about profit and not giving a shit that you have left me a drug addict stuck on paxil, i have also heard it makes your brain bleed, wonder what else they are not telling us, wish i could sue you all and believe when i find a way i will make you pay.

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Date:
10/16/2001
Time:
5:03:07 PM
Remote User:
Comments
more i hate you fuckers sometimes i miss a dose by accident and i cant feel my hands i am determined to quit your toxic paxil shit even if its harder than heroin you purposely did this and you will pay. one way or another. in court hopefully you bitchez can buy me a benz a house and aboat it still wont make up for all my pain and suffering, you will all burn in hell and last but not least better hide motherfuckers you forgot that when you fucked with us we are crazy and we will hunt yoiu and your familys down and get our revenge.........payback will be a bitch you sorry sacks at gsk are the next terrorism targets for the terror we all suffer every day you are going to get it

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Date:
10/17/2001
Time:
12:45:57 AM
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Date:
10/17/2001
Time:
5:33:59 PM
Remote User:
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Paxil has ruined my life. My doctor didn't warn me about any of the side effects I would have (weight gain and subsequent extreme rise in blood pressure and dibilitating lethargy) or the hell I would go through trying to get off of it (fatigue, horrible headaches, electric brain flashes, slurred speech, diarrhea, chills and nightmares). I've been Paxil free for 4 weeks now and I still feel like shit. I changed doctors and found someone who would acknowledge my symptoms as being real - he took me off work for two weeks and has released me to work only part-time. About 4 hours into my day, I'm so exhausted I can barely walk. It pisses me off how a drug that's supposed to help people can make me feel so bad. In the past month, I haven't had a "good day". The only funny thing in all of this is my daughter goes through new magazines that I buy to see if there are any Paxil ads. If she finds any she rips them out of the magazine and throws them away before I see them. I did, however, see a Paxil ad on TV last night and acquired a spontaneous case of Tourette's Syndrome - started swearing and ranting. My kids came in and changed the channel. Is there a possibility that Glaxo SmithKline is really run by Osama Bin Laden and Paxil is some legal form of Anthrax?

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Date:
10/18/2001
Time:
2:26:45 AM
Remote User:
Comments
Why don't these doctors get alittle more information on the drug before they start handing it out like candy. It seems that PAXIL is the durg to cure all. My complaint was that I was having problems breathing and was asked a few question then was given PAXIL. Now going through HELL, but I hope that I will come back to feel alittle more normal.

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Date:
10/18/2001
Time:
6:27:42 PM
Remote User:
Comments
Hi. I am 29 yr. old female from Al. I have been on Paxil for 2.5 yrs. I began tsaking it for panic attacks.I had got to the point that I did not want to even stay at home alone! I could not drive alone...etc.etc.I am sure you all can relate.Also, I was in a physically and mentally abusive marriage and could not seem to get out.I had refused meds. from my shrink in the past. I didn't want "that kind of medicine"(No offense, I hope). I went to therapy instead and it did help me to understand what was going on, but I still limited myself in my activities. The agoraphobia had already set in.and I didn't have the support at home I needed to overcome it.Well, I was tired of being half a person(I was an independent woman before PAs.A nurse no less!)My husband at that time only confirmed my irrational fear that I was crazy.He never failed to tell me.I decided to try this wonder drug my doc had been telling me about for so long. At first it made me really sick...tremors,nausea,waking up in the night with a PA. I told my doc and he said it was "mostly in my head" so ,at his persuasion, I toughed it out and these side effects did go away(that confirmed in my mind that he was right and it was in my head)After that, I left my abusive marriage of 5 yrs.and didn't look back! (something I had not been able to do all the other times I had left)I began to broaden my horizons. I was actually looking forward to my new life!One step at a time, I began to face all of my fears and overcome them!I wondered, was it me or was it the Paxil(10mgs by the way)?I wasn't sure and really wasn't too concerned at the time.I was just glad to be free!I assumedI could just get off the drug when I got ready> My doc hadn't told me any different.I got to where I was pretty much back to normal,still having the rush of a PA from time to timebut being able to control it and hence losing that dreaded fear of them.I seemed to be pretty much happy all the time. I wondered if that was normal,but if your happy your happy, right?I still could cry over sad things and get angry. I wasn't numb but I did feel fearless pretty much. I am still not sure if that was because everytime I overcame a possible PA and faced down a fear(which I learned how to do in therapy)I felt invincable,very proud of myself.ready to face another one.I even thought to myself, most "normal people" couldn't handle feeling that kind of fear(and for no reason).Iwasn't sure what was my own efforts and what was the drug.Anyhow, I got re-married to a wonderful man and all seemed well until we decided to get pregnant. I told my doc and he suggested that I discontinue the meds. at least until I got through my first trimester(I wasn't pregnant yet, thank God). I had tried to quit one time just before I left my first husband and was very unsuccessful! I just assumed it was because of the horrible home life I had, so when I endevoured to quit this time, I did not expect what happened. I had tremors, nausea,"brain whirrs",anxiety,dizziness,feelings of not being right, terible intrusive violent thoughts, felt I would snap any minute and have to be locked up(my biggest fear)...all the symptoms I have seen listed here and some that I didn't even realize were side effects, like sensitivity to light.Anyhow, I thought I was having a relapse pf PAs and that I would just need meds for the rest of my life. Keep in mind that I am discussing all this with my shrink.I don't hold anything against him. He has been great and very supportive. He was as much in the dark about this drug as I was.We would read the PDR together! I still wanted a child and I feared what this med would do to it, so I consulted with my OB/GYN. He said it would be no problem! He said he delivered anti-depressant babies all the time with no adverse reactions. This eased my fears,but not completely.I still had no idea that what I had been suffering was withdrawls. I just thought I was "crazy".I prayed to my Awesome Father above to deliver me from this drug(after all, before I ever put the first one in my mouth, I prayed for Him to not let it do anything to me that He did not want it to)Well, after I prayed to be delivered, God spoke to me(NO, not audibly. I don't hear voices thank God!)I mean He spoke in my spirit and told me not to fret and that He would tell me when to throw it in the garbage.Keep in mind,I still had no idea Paxil was addictive. About a week later, I was out with my step-mother and she brought up the 20/20 report(which I had not seen)I asked what it was and she explained. Right then,I heard that still small voice again. He said "throw it in the garbage".I began cutting myself down gradually. I still had withdrawl but not nearly as bad and now I knew what they were(and knowing is half the battle HA HA)I am now 10 days Paxil free and I can't say that it has been easy. I sympathize with all of you.I have the nausea which Phenergan helps> Vibid,scary dreams, sometimes can't find the words I am loking for(I did that before though)hot flashes,sweats,tremors,anxiety(which scares me and sometimes makes me think I am relapsing),crying spells and angry spells,but all in all I am doing ok.I think it is easier when you know why you are feeling these things and that they will pass.I said all this to say,you all are not alone. Hang in there!We have no toher choice,and most af all...CALL ON JESUS to help you. He will!!!I am praying for you all!"for God has not not given you a spirit if fear but of power, love, and a sound mind!"II Timothy 1:7NIV version. and through all this suffering, I would not change one minute for it has taught me to lean completely on my awesome Father. "We know that in everything,God works for the good of those who love him..." Romans 8:28NIV version Yours truly in Christ,DIXIECHIC

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Date:
10/18/2001
Time:
6:38:12 PM
Remote User:
Comments
Hi. This is DIXIECHIC again. I forgot I was supposed to be ranting...so here it goes...I am not at all pleased with GSK.There is no doubt in my mind tha t they were aware of this drugs side efects and addictive qualities!I too believe that they were only concerned with the money they could make off desperate people(and that my friend is proof that "the LOVE of money is the root of all evil").Make no mistake,GSK, you will reap what you sow.May God have mercy.I'm not exactly sure if they made it addictive on purpose or they just didn't care about their fellow man enough to do the appropriate testing. All I know is what they did, or did not do, really stinks and they should own up to it and come up with some help for these people(their consumers). Thank you and God Bless,DIXIECHIC

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Date:
10/18/2001
Time:
10:34:47 PM
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Date:
10/19/2001
Time:
7:51:10 AM
Remote User:
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Oh gosh, I am actually crying as I write this after discovering your site. I just last week abruptly stopped taking Paxil. Now, this is actually the third time that I have taken and quit this medication. I KNEW that there were awful withdrawal symptoms, and DREADED stopping this time, but after about two and a half years, I was ready to discontinue it. Please note that my doctor INSISTED that there were NO withdrawal symptoms. So, after a horrible week of night sweats, insomnia, and that TERRIBLE feeling that I could only describe as nerve endings on fire, I decided to do a bit of research online. Should have done that several years ago! Your description of the "electic shocks"....the zaps.... is right on target, I just didn't know how to explain it. Any sudden movements are very disconcerting, by myself or others, and things seem to jump about in a jerky manner. My ears ring. I'm so irritable that I've been yelling and bitching at my family like a wild- woman. I can't tolerate loud noises. I can't sleep. Yep, this is hell alright....and my doctor says it doesn't exist? What, does he think it's all my imagination? All in my head? Just more symptoms of depression? I'm just a silly woman, right?

OH...and now I've read that so many others of you out there have also experienced the short term memory loss!! The weight gain!! Yep, 50 pounds extra here. The bizarre, freaky nightmares!!

THANK you. Thanks also to all of you who are sharing your experiences. I'm going to read every word on this site. God Bless!!

OH...and to the woman who says that she told someone she was sacrificing animals, thanks for the only good laugh I've had in a while. I know just how you feel, I promise you! I've been a real unpleasant psychotic BITCH to anyone who dares to cross my path.

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Date:
10/19/2001
Time:
3:33:20 PM
Remote User:
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For such a great drug when your on it, it is by far not worth it since I have started withdrawl. I'm begging you here, try to fix this. I feel worse than before I started taking it. I was able to get off prozac cold turkey with no problem, Why is it that this SSRI does? I had my FIRST nightmare in my entire life last night, I didn't even no I was dreaming until my brother pounded on my door from my screams. Even then, its as if I was awake the whole time, But I am positive I wasn't. The electric shocks through my body, vertigo, nasea, I can't eat, it only makes it worse, even water makes me feel sick, I have no concentration, I can't focus, All I do is lay in bed and try to sleep, but one can only sleep so much. I am a living hell right now. Why?

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Date:
10/20/2001
Time:
1:13:42 PM
Remote User:
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YEEK!! I am glad I saw this website...I have taken paxil for two days...I don't like what the drug is doing to me already and I have only taken it for two days....to imagine what you guys are going through really scares me. I am very sorry for you guys but if what your going through and having the ability to tell others through here saves more people like myself to avoid it...then you all should be proud of yourselves! Thanks again guys~~~~!!! okcmale@lycos.com

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Date:
10/20/2001
Time:
6:11:04 PM
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Date:
10/20/2001
Time:
9:42:38 PM
Remote User:
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Hello, I am a 22 year old male who has been taking 40 mg of Paxil along with 50 mg of Seroquel for 3 years. While on this medication I have noticed a slight decrease in my ability to memorize things (I boasted a near photographic memory beforehand), and have experienced drowsiness everyday. Granted I took them because the doctor did not know what to do with me. I have been "diagnosed" with ADHD (Ritalin did not work), Mood Disorder, Depression, Obssesive Compulsive Disorder, and Anxiety. Which of these I have, I don't know. I was given all these possibilities by one of the leading psychopharmacologists in the nation. I am now trying to quit both meds cold turkey. I tried once before and had all the classic symptoms. I have deduced that if I could just find something that were non-addictive that would help me sleep, I would be able to lead a comfortable life. The doses of Paxil and Seroquel no longer help me sleep restfully. When I first started they would force me to succomb to their power and fall asleep. I then became lucky if I could sleep for two hours straight. I am now taking Valarian Root, Dramamine, and 3mg of Melatonin to try to help with my sleeping problem while going through withdrawal. Does anyone know of something that would knock me out after I take it for at least four hours? Keep in mind that I have a high tolerance for almost anything. I am already experiencing my mood swings which can be set off by many things. I thank the person(s) that created this site and others, for I had no idea that this was a common fate for most of those who take or have taken paxil. I now know that I am not going to die, and that I am not losing my grip on reality :-) Hopefully I can make it through without haveing to run back to uncle Paxil this time. Thank you all, and I wish all future quitters of Paxil well.

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Date:
10/20/2001
Time:
9:42:53 PM
Remote User:
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Hello, I am a 22 year old male who has been taking 40 mg of Paxil along with 50 mg of Seroquel for 3 years. While on this medication I have noticed a slight decrease in my ability to memorize things (I boasted a near photographic memory beforehand), and have experienced drowsiness everyday. Granted I took them because the doctor did not know what to do with me. I have been "diagnosed" with ADHD (Ritalin did not work), Mood Disorder, Depression, Obssesive Compulsive Disorder, and Anxiety. Which of these I have, I don't know. I was given all these possibilities by one of the leading psychopharmacologists in the nation. I am now trying to quit both meds cold turkey. I tried once before and had all the classic symptoms. I have deduced that if I could just find something that were non-addictive that would help me sleep, I would be able to lead a comfortable life. The doses of Paxil and Seroquel no longer help me sleep restfully. When I first started they would force me to succomb to their power and fall asleep. I then became lucky if I could sleep for two hours straight. I am now taking Valarian Root, Dramamine, and 3mg of Melatonin to try to help with my sleeping problem while going through withdrawal. Does anyone know of something that would knock me out after I take it for at least four hours? Keep in mind that I have a high tolerance for almost anything. I am already experiencing my mood swings which can be set off by many things. I thank the person(s) that created this site and others, for I had no idea that this was a common fate for most of those who take or have taken paxil. I now know that I am not going to die, and that I am not losing my grip on reality :-) Hopefully I can make it through without haveing to run back to uncle Paxil this time. Thank you all, and I wish all future quitters of Paxil well.

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Date:
10/21/2001
Time:
12:55:15 AM
Remote User:
Comments
I have recently discovered this site. I am finally physically feeling well enough to type. Although, most of my communication will come in bits and pieces, as I have two young children. Which is my first bitch. HOW DARE SMITHKLINEGLAXO DO THIS TO MY CHILDREN. Because they choose to NOT WARN patients, that there is a POSSIBILITY that PAXIL is ADDICTING AND SOME PATIENTS HAVE EXPERIENCED PHYSICAL WITHDRAWL SYMPTOMS UPON DISCONTINUATION OF THIS DRUG. It is obvious that there has been problems even when D/Cing med with doctors supervision AND when being tapered off gradually. I was completely unknowingly having severe physical withdrawl symptoms while taking care of two sick children, one of which was hospitalized. While mom was withdrawling from PAXIL, taken exactly as directed by her medical doctor. Withdrawling just like a heroin junkie, IV drug user, crack head or alcoholic because I did not have PAXIL in my system. There is really no words to describe this greed that willfully puts people at risk. I, did not even realize, for days into my withdrawl what was going on. I did not get to choose when to begin the hellish process. SHAME, SHAME,SHAME. I remember when REZULIN came on the market and was distributed to MD offices to sample. Shortly, thereafter, there was a product information change. There was a sincere effort to get the word out immediately to the MDs. It was a wonderful drug, worked very well, widely prescribed, and considered by many, to be superior in it's class. As time went on, reports of difficulties and even deaths, overseas were reported. Patients were concerned, their doctors assured them, it is a wonderful drug. It's market life, i believe, lasted less than five years and it was discontinued last year. I know how I have suffered and what I have is physical withdrawl symptoms. I have read many, many other horrific stories. I was NEVER warned of any such side effect or possibility. My physician DID NOT KNOW. The pharmecutical representatives NEVER mentioned such information. SHAME ON THEM. More later. Glad to be feeling like a possible survivor.

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Date:
10/22/2001
Time:
12:00:33 AM
Remote User:
Comments
I have been trying to figure out a way to stop taking Paxil since the beginning of summer. I have tried a few other times and was faced with rage like I have never felt before. I also have two young children and became out of control with rage whenever they would do the smallest things while I was trying to get off Paxil. I have tried cold turkey and have tried weaning. Neither seems to work.

I am so thankful to have found this website. Althought my husband has been extremely supportive about my moods (even while on Paxil), he does think that my mood swings while trying to quit are "all in my head." That makes it all the worse.

I began taking Paxil after my youngest daughter was 1 year old. I think that I had post-partum blues coupled with PMDD. My ob prescribed Paxil to help and it did. Just recently (after being on it for 3 years this Nov.) I realized how numb I felt all the time. I can't cry over even the saddest things. I can't even really get angry. I have night sweats (thought it was EARLY menopause...at age 28)and have frequent short term memory loss. I have leg twitches at night (not sure if those are the zaps that you all mention) and have gained over 30 pounds!

The weight gain is what is prompting me to find information on the internet. I too have always been thin but am busting out of all of my clothes and can't afford to constantly buy new ones. We live on a single income, I am a full time student doing my student teaching in an elementary school, I have a daughter with Down syndrome, and I just keep gaining weight. Sometimes I think I will go insane without the Paxil but I'd sure like to try it on my own again. I am also wanting to have another baby. I want to have the Paxil completely out of my system before we conceive. Now I can see that I need to start the process now to get ready to conceive next Fall. I want to be a calm mother who is soothing and loving to her children as well a a thin and energetic mom. All I want to do now is sleep! I could sleep all day and never get enough!

I want to just stop but am so scared about how it will effect my student teaching and of course, most importantly, my family. My girls are so wonderful and my youngest daughter is super sensative. I don't want to hurt them emotionally with my mood swings but I feel that my life would be so much better without Paxil. I want to have control of my life and will do everything in my power to do this. I feel that since I have read all of your information and posts from others going through this, that I have a support line to call on in need. I want to take this step but am completely frightened of the person that I might become while getting Paxil out of my system.

I really want to thank all of you that have posted and written about your expereiences. It definately helps to hear that you are not alone. I know what to look forward to while withdrawing and will try to combat it with everything that I have learned here. Thank you so much and many prayers to all of you.

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Date:
10/22/2001
Time:
11:59:22 AM
Remote User:
Comments
I have tried several times to quit Paxil because it never seemed to actually help the anxiety or depression. Everytime I tried I would get so dizzy and nauseous I couldn't stand it. I went to my doctor and he told me that the dizziness was caused by stress, I thought this odd since I had greater stress before but never experienced any dizziness. Now it's about two years later and the miracle has happened and I am finally pregnant. I had checked with my OBGYN before quitting birth control to make sure that nothing I was taking would hurt the fetus. He assured me that it would be fine. I had been using samples of Paxil for the last year so it was a headache to try to get a refill, then the doctor said he wouldn't give me anymore since I was pregnant. So after a few days I was amazed that there was any kind of population problem if this was like to be pregnant. Then the symptoms became very familiar and I knew I couldn't blame the stereotypical moodswings and nasea of early pregnancy. So when I couldn't sleep this morning (waking up about 5 hours earlier than usual) I decided to look up the Paxil site to give them an earful and find out how long I could expect to be nearly bed-ridden. Luckily I found this site first so I knew that the extreme anger I had towards my husband was drug induced and that I didn't need to kill him :) What makes me the maddest, besides the withdrawls, the anger, the nasea, the dizziness... is that no one warned me about this!!! I made it clear I planned to get pregnant yet no one told me I should get off the drug and deal with the withdrawls before I had to deal with the already new and frightening effects of my first pregnancy. So how long do I have to be a whimpy pregnant woman?! I never did get much support when I first had to go on Paxil to begin with so I'm expecting even less now. Not sure how I'm going to get through this. My husband wants me to get a new job but the only time I can leave the bed is when I have to go to the bathroom! Then he gets mad at me for not doing the laundry, the dishes or have get up and make him dinner. Even this I know is in my head. He really isn't that insensitive but I find myself more defensive and paranoid. Ok, I could rant forever. I jsut want this to be over so I can be excited about my new baby and carry out plans to prepare for the new addition. Cate.

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Date:
10/22/2001
Time:
7:36:17 PM
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Date:
10/22/2001
Time:
8:41:07 PM
Remote User:
Comments
Sad to see the TV ads, people believe what they see on TV. Depression is better than dealing with chemical brain shocks. You know, too many times the Doctors are suggesting MORE CHEMICAL to patients, rather than kindly suggesting talking with a friend, prayer ,pmeditation,etc. As a Nurse of 30 years I have also see the Drug MFG. Give $$$$ to the local doctors when sales of their drug goes up in a community. Takes a while, but we can overcome this brain drug onslot. I am using sleepytime tea ,helps some.

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Date:
10/23/2001
Time:
2:56:28 AM
Remote User:
Comments
Well, this is about the 3rd time I have quit Paxil. I kept being told to go back on the drug by doctors, family members, etc. This was because after seeing the state I was in during withdrawal, they assumed the drug helped. Quite the opposite. The only "help" taking paxil provides, is stopping the nightmare of withdrawal. Here are some of the symptoms I can think of offhand. I tell everyone I know NOT to ever take paxil and I feel the drug is worse than any addiction out there to get rid of. Okay, so I have the following symptoms most if not ALL of the time (it has been a week of no paxil after cutting very gradually from 60mgs to eventually, 10mgs): white noise in ears, heart palpitations, sharp chest pains, sore eyes (unable to read at all), severe headaches, speech difficulties, insomnia (it's almost 4am right now), confusion, fear of losing my mind, severe mood swings, suicidal thoughts persisting moreso than ever in my life, hypersensitivity to noise, smells, etc, nausea (can't keep any food down...not even water), hot flashes. Fun fun fun...LET'S SUE THE BASTARDS!!!!!

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Date:
10/23/2001
Time:
3:29:21 AM
Remote User:
Comments
I weaned myself to quickly I guess. I just started taking 15mg after a week of withdrawals. The rage and confusion were so intens I don't know how to explain it. I ended up in the emergency room after to many tylenol pm and hurting myself. I told my husband I would go back on and come off slower MUCH slower. As you can guess the Dr there had no idea what I was talking about so I just came off as some nut job who tried to kill herself. I in no way want to die at the time I was not thinking clearly and made a stupid mistake. One good thing has come out of this. You would like someone to visit the Drs, send out info packets to all DRs, would you like someone to write the manufactures to spend time studing and teaching all this well here I am. I am taking on the fight all you have to do is call wright or e-mail me your name phone and experience to me and be willing for me to use it as profe to all that will stand still long enough to hear me out. My husband and I are going to take it to the news the talk shows and where ever we can to educate who ever we can. Forgive my spelling and running sentences but I'm working on little sleep. contact me at Jeni Whitlock

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Date:
10/23/2001
Time:
3:29:32 AM
Remote User:
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Date:
10/23/2001
Time:
3:34:03 AM
Remote User:
Comments
Jeni Whitlock 2315 Beech ST #25 Ashland KY 41102 or e-mail at jybonjen@hotmail.com

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Date:
10/23/2001
Time:
2:31:07 PM
Remote User:
Comments
Wow! all these comments, I feel as though I belong in this big 'happy' family. I'm coming off Paxil after being on the drug for a few years. It helped me really well in certain areas of anxiety and depression - can't deny that. To the person who feels Paxil is the right 'one' the answer to why did we ever go onto it? - well, we have to try out different medications to hit on the right one. Paxil did it for me, but not did not help in other areas, that's my reason for coming off it. I also experienced weight gain and awful sweats - each to his/her own I guess - we all have to find what's good for us. Paxil might not be it! To the person asking about 'zaps' (what a great word) it's like a very quick 'ding' (what's a 'ding'?!) in your head and while feeling that your head has quickly flopped back. Or, a quick shock-like experience in your head, eyes, anywhere really. I think once you've experienced a quick-like sensation in your head or body, you'll know what the rest of us mean.

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Date:
10/23/2001
Time:
8:43:02 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I was prescribed Paxil today, and I decided to see what I could find out about it on the Net. Thank goodness I found this site. I will not even fill the prescription. Thank you all, and God bless you and help you thru this.

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Date:
10/24/2001
Time:
3:05:42 AM
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Date:
10/24/2001
Time:
5:13:34 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I stoped paxil just over a month ago, slowly decreasing the amount then stoped. Now I feel like crap again,I feels like I did before I was on paxil. I just started taking it again but not sure if I want to. I just want this to stop and go back to having no fears at all! Dave

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Date:
10/24/2001
Time:
6:08:24 PM
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Date:
10/24/2001
Time:
6:13:05 PM
Remote User:
Comments
Hello all I just started to take paxil 5 days ago.After reading all these horror storys should I stop taking it?I have panic attacks .They are so bad I'll try anything to make them stop.Anyone have any ideas on what I can take to help me through this?

Thank you

Dan Monckton

Vainer44@aol.com

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Date:
10/24/2001
Time:
7:27:59 PM
Remote User:
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Date:
10/25/2001
Time:
6:31:38 PM
Remote User:
Comments
Feeling good then GSK? I'd like to get all these guys on this page together, hire a shed load of buses and we'd all come around to your headquarters and force-feed you with this "wonder drug". We are all decent people whose doctors were sucked in by all the hype and WE are the ones whose jobs, families and whole ******* lives have been screwed by YOU! I hope you choke on your profits! Just trying to get off YOUR product which YOU said wasn't addictive after only 3 months is a living hell! Your time will come in court buddy and I hope they wipe the floor with your ass!

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Date:
10/25/2001
Time:
7:54:42 PM
Remote User:
Comments
Thanks to you all for your heart-felt experiences. It's helpful to hear that I'm not the only one going through these symptoms as I wean myself of Paxil, and so far, I've had almost every one on the list.

I had my last pill this Monday, and it hasn't been easy on me or my family. But I'm determined to get out from this "cloud" that has become what is left of me on Paxil. My skin is full of painful sores that won't go away, I've gained close to 40 lbs in only six months, and it's hard to concentrate when communicating or doing what used to be simple tasks. That's why I've had it with this drug. And with God's help, I'll get through it.

Keep trying, people. It'll be worth it someday. Take care.

Paul

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Date:
10/26/2001
Time:
8:05:19 PM
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Date:
10/27/2001
Time:
2:36:21 AM
Remote User:
Comments
This is a message of encouragement from someone who took 'benzo's' benzodiazepines) for about 15 years and then went through withdrawal. I have suffered from social anxiety disorder all my adult life and was prescribed serepax, xanax etc. I went through hell getting off them (several times). It sounds like the withdrawal from paxil is similar. I feel for you people very much. Let me reassure the person who asked about any permanent memory loss, that benzo's also cause terrible memory loss, but it does not seem to be long term. I am almost finished a degree in asian languages, so my memory seems OK. I have been taking a small dose for the last year or so, of Xanax, to get through stressful tutorials etc, but I would never take as high a dose as I did before. They really screw you. All the best to you all, and hang in there. Regards, Don.

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Date:
10/27/2001
Time:
11:54:07 AM
Remote User:
Comments
I would like to leave my email for Cate and the person with two children and would like to conceive again, without Paxil. It is melken@neosplice.com. I can especially relate to the both of you. My second child, James, is a Paxil baby!! Which is my second bitch(SMITHKLINEGLAXO) are you listening ? When I was first prescribed PAXIL 3 years ago, one of my concerns was that, during the course of the year, I was going to intentionally try to conceive our second child. My doctor called an OB/GYN and consulted with him over the phone. I was told, when you get pregnant, "Just stop taking it." Well, easy enough. And here's to you self-rightous idiots who, for feel compelled to share nonsense on this site. If you are still singing the praises of PAXIL, why would you seek such a sight. You see, self righteous idiots, I did not have mild depression, I was not seen by a psychiatrist, not due to not "wanting to spend the little extra money", I was not "a little blue", as a matter of fact, I was not depressed. I was having PANIC ATTACKS!!!! Cruising along with the craziness of my life, when, at work, I started having SOB, feeling like I couldn't breathe, crushing headaches, rapid pulse, very hot and at times had to go into the bathroom to quickly cry. I was a medical assistant, in a Family Practice. I thought I had pneumonia, one of my employer physicians checked my thyroid !! Soon after, I read literature RE: PANIC ATTACKS and anxiety. That was me. So, I'm not sure what THEY would suggest as, know it alls. I did not begin the meds right away, as my husband did not like the idea. I educated him that this is a medical condition, just as diabetes, high blood pressure. When you have a headache, do you take aspirin, ect. BLAH BLAH BLAH. I let a couple weeks pass without filling my RX, which obviously made things worse. Thus, began my addiction to PAXIL. I was RX'D PAXIL 20 mg and Ativan 0.5 mg for the immediate need. I thought I was cured !! wow, I felt so good, calm, ksura,sura. I would not have any nterest in holding up an arguement or disagreement with my husband. And you better believe that, I was CERTAIN THAT HE NEEDED TO TAKE PAXIL!!!! Less that one year later, I was indeed pregnant. I did not, Just stop the Paxil, as in the interim, I heard one of the MDs say that, SSRI's should not be suddenly d/c'd, especially PAXIL. Prior to knowing I was pregnant, I began tapering the meds, although not extremely gradual. As, there was no suggestion as what, exactly wein or taper meant. How long ? I weined for a WEEK. I was sick. Although, I was already pregnant. Early on in the first trimester, my father had to have emergent carotid artery surgery. I was a wreck. I called my OB's office for advice. What I really wanted to hear was that I could take Ativan. I was told Ativan was Class X, definate NO NO. PAXIL is listed in the PDR ( the prescription Bible) as Class C. If the benefits are greater than the risks, the drug may be taken. etc, etc. Tylenol is also Class C for pregnant women. I did remain on PAXIL during this time. D/C ing soon after, still early on in my first trimester. Then the ILLNESS set in. I was so SICK.

I thought it was morning sickness, even though it lasted ALL day AND ALL night. Never vomiting. never feeling even slight relief. I tried "sea Bands" for motion sickness, Emetrol, Seltzer, 7-Up, I could not drink even a sip of coffee. Could not even eat toast. My co worker had me convinced that I must be having twins because I was SO sick. I showed up at work every day-feeling GREEN. I called my OB complaining of terrible "morning sickness", with no relief. I was prescribed PHENERGAN, again, no relief. And it made me extremely sleepy, so I could only take it at bedtime. Every early visit at the OB's, I did not gain weight or only one pound. VERY UNCHARACTERISTIC OF MY previous pregnancy. My visit that I was almost out of my second trimester, I asked my OB if I my resume PAXIL now, I felt like my husband and myself hated each other !!!!! He said that, yes, I may. no problem. I did resume. And did feel better !! WHICH I ATTRIBUTED TO BEING OUT OF MY FIRST TRIMESTER !!! I took PAXIL most of my pregnancy, and according to medical data at that time, it may be taken during the length of the pregnancy. Now that I know and realize that I am physically addicted to PAXIL, it horrifies me to think that my newborn child was, also addicted to PAXIL. Was he fussy, colic or was he feeling shitty from withdwawl ? Are you listening SKB/GLAXO ? Shame on you. This is also obviously a big problem. Many women of child bearing years, who want to have children are CURRENTLY ON PAXIL. WE NEED TO KNOW THE FUCKING TRUTH. THE ENTIRE TRUTH. Not altered results or studies. What a God awful feeling to think that I took a drug during pregnancy that my child would be physically craving, because after birth, his fix was gone. THAT IS TRULY SICKENING. SHAME ON THE GREEDY BASTARDS RESPONSIBLE. SHAME ON YOU. From the info I read prior to his birth, it was pretty well clearly indicated that PAXIL and breastfeeding was not recommended. I abided by this. Reluctantly. Even taking slack form an unknown pediatrician at the hospital. But, I was abiding by the PDR, the source for such info. I have NEVER read that PAXIL is potentiallt addictive or may produce severe withdrawl symptoms. NEVER. The insane RAGE when off of PAXIL is also very alarming, generally and personally. SHAME.

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Date:
10/27/2001
Time:
3:18:33 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I started taking paxil in July of 2001. I stopped taking it because I was tired all of the time and because of the sexual side effects. It has been 7 days. I was told that it would be "out of my system" within 3 days. Around then, the withdrawl symptoms started. I became dizzy, I felt shocks, I had horrible mood swings and last night I attempted to kill myself because I couldn't function any longer. Obviously, my attempt to overdose on otc pills and an absolutely astounding amount of clonazepam, didn't work, so here I am, and now I feel more inclined to try again, since my liver is probably shot and I doubt I'm ever going to get over this. I am not sure what is going to happen, but I think that unless there is some sort of antidote to this crap (and I am NOT taking any more paxil -for fear of repeating this). Tapering off only seems to extend these side effects. I am still having rages, I am off balance (fell down the stairs 3 times), I can't concentrate and I have called people and nobody seems to be able to help. I really hope that this drug is given some additional research and hopefully taken off the market. I have tried Prozac, Serzone, Neurontin, and a bunch of other anti-anxiety/anti-whatever medications over the past decade, with no luck, but also no withdrawl. I never would have believed this until it happened to me. I have spent the functional time of my day today trying to contact a priest in order to recieve my last rites, since I honestly don't know if I can survive this. It feels like someone is squeezing my heart. Gently, but that is happening along with the "shocks". I can't stand it. -Danielle, Shaker Heights, Ohio

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Date:
10/27/2001
Time:
7:16:02 PM
Remote User:
Comments
i have been taking paxil for a year now. i began with 10 mg and went as high as 60mg. i was taking 30 mg for about 6months. my dr sent me to a pyshic. and the only thing he did was tell me to take 40 mg. i proceeded to drop it down to 20mg and i have had some side effects from that the "zaps" that are in my spine and the night sweats and freeky dreams I WANT OUT AND GSK SHOULD HAVE INFORMED EVERYONE. now, i fear the treatment is worse than the problem. HELP I don't need more of the problems i was trying to solve.

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Date:
10/27/2001
Time:
9:02:07 PM
Remote User:
Comments
i have been taking paxil for a year now. i began with 10 mg and went as high as 60mg. i was taking 30 mg for about 6months. my dr sent me to a pyshic. and the only thing he did was tell me to take 40 mg. i proceeded to drop it down to 20mg and i have had some side effects from that the "zaps" that are in my spine and the night sweats and freeky dreams I WANT OUT AND GSK SHOULD HAVE INFORMED EVERYONE. now, i fear the treatment is worse than the problem. HELP I don't need more of the problems i was trying to solve.

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Date:
10/27/2001
Time:
11:22:21 PM
Remote User:
Comments
Um, Danielle,

Don't kill yourself, the withdrawal passes. You'll get better and emerge from the fog much stronger than you've ever been. ( This goes for all of you. )

I've been tapering myself off 30 mg for about five weeks now, which is very slowly. I literally file the pill down a little more each time. This process is slow, but it works.

You should also contact the lawyers listed on this page for the class action suit against GSK.

I did an interview with a writer for Men's Health Magazine on Paxil withdrawal that will come out in April. Another score for our side.

The weight is coming off slowly, but without me doing anything different.

This is all good news for all of us, but don't take the cowards way out by trying suicide again. The fact that you said wrote of your attempt to take your life is an obvious cry for help. I offer my frirendship to help you through this difficult time. Pleas E-mail me soon.

Jason P. Chrisman Nashville, TN Jason@Chrisman.com

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Date:
10/28/2001
Time:
1:16:16 PM
Remote User:
Comments
My mother , age 64 took 1/2 a 20 mg paxil, and had a stroke the same day...??? Possible????

Crystal Chitty

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Date:
10/28/2001
Time:
11:09:20 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I'm so damn MAD!!!!! I should have been given the ability to make an educated decision on taking Paxil. The side affects to this drug were ridiculous! What's worse, others I know have experienced the same side effects and nowhere in the indications does it mention them!! For me the neg's were the 18+ lbs I gained (I'm a very physically active vegetarian) and the restless nights of sleep. Forget sex! What kind of life is this? I'll take the panic attacks! The final insult was when I stopped taking it. No one warned me of the horrifying withdrawls I was about to face. I went cold turkey. No one told me not to. I'd like to see the makers of this drug who failed to inform the public of it's withdrawls syptoms, experience the zaps, tremors, chills, hot flashes, numbness, nausea, headaches, emotional irrationality, balance problems, GI distress, eye focus problems and inability to move your head quickly like me. Ha! Then wouldn't last 5 minutes! Those rat bastards! I never would have taken this drug if I had been better informed. Do us a favor GSK... tell the whole truth. It's clear why you didn't. No one in their right mind would take this drug if they had a crystal ball!

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Date:
10/29/2001
Time:
6:45:12 AM
Remote User:
Comments
I saw this site a couple of weeks ago when I was thinking of coming of paxil (seroxat) as they call it in the the UK. I was horrified by what I read....but somehow I thought 'it wouldn't happen to me'!!! Well 6 days after coming off paxil I WAS thinking of writing here that all was fine, maybe the odd headache but nothing I couldn't handle!- just to let you know that there are some people who are OK!

Well it is now day 11 and I can't believe how I feel...I can't even walk properly, I just feel so dizzy and strange...I too get the'zaps' in my head! And I know there are some of you reading this who haven't started coming off paxil and are thinking,'WHAT - ZAPS?!!' well yes I thought exactly the same thing!! There are no words to describe the feeling inside of my head!! Although I don't feel that depressed the feelings of dizziness, nausea, stomach cramps, fever and zaps are way too much!! Well I hope it doesn't last too much longer....I did have a life!! now I can't even walk a few metres without having to sit down.

On the leaflet it says no withdrawal symptoms......er.....hello?!!!

Good Luck to every one else going through this.

Liz - London, England.

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Date:
10/29/2001
Time:
1:08:57 PM
Remote User:
Comments
Danielle, in Ohio. It does lessen and will stop. What a tragedy to lose a young, bright life to corporate greed. Taper slowly, get a new doctor, a new med or whatever you must. This feeling of physical withdrawl and intense rage are very real and hard to understand. Find someone physically close who may help you keep your grip. It's been 3 1/2 weeks for me (since NO PAXIL) and it really does lessen. Keep that in mind. But do get help now. ARE YOU LISTENING GSK ? Do you hear this torture that some find comfort only in death ? I was always skeptical of "Prozac madness." Similar to "innocent, by reason of insanity." Some kind of cop out for some lunatics action, that they did not want to take responsibility for. But, I've gotta tell ya, I now wonder. ALL OR MOST ON THE SITE C/O INTENSE RAGE, FURIOUS BITCHES, SCARY TEMPERS. AND, SOME, ATTEMPTED SUICIDE. THAT IS NOT NORMAL, NOR COINCIDENTIAL. Headlines in which a mother kills her children, TEXAS MOM, CANFIELD, OHIO MOM, the mom had been getting help for "DEPRESSION" and was on one or more meds. Wonder how many were "coming off" of PAXIL. I am sure most of you have wondered. ARE YOU WONDERING GSK ? IF YOU'RE NOT, YOU'D BETTER. I am a PAXIL ADDICT and was unwittingly thrown into WITHDRAWL. I have two young children and babysit two young children. When multitudes of people talk of incredible rage and flaring tempers, would I be exempt from those feelings ? HELL NO. I am telling you I have not been exempt. AND HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME, MY FAMILY, CHILDREN, DANIELLE AND THE MANY UNTOLD. HOW FUCKING DARE YOU. Once (thanks to this site) I realized what the hell had been going on with my body, I WAS PISSED. I am still almost in disbelief that this med did this. Do I believe that GSK knew more than acknowledged, HELL YES. They wanted their share of the increasing SSRI'S PROFIT. PROFIT. PROFIT. Since the early 1990's SSRI's use have skyrocketed. Be informed, once informed, BE PISSED!!!!!!! I am determined that this PRESCRIBED DRUG is not going to make me fucking freak. Especially on my children. Danielle, and any other early (or past) withdrawler, GET PISSED AND TAKE ACTION. I too, will offer friendship, shoulder, info, whatever it takes. Thank you for this site, and, the hopes of being heard by the GSK dirty bastards. melken@neosplice.com

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Date:
10/30/2001
Time:
12:29:27 AM
Remote User:
Comments
First off I'm so thankful for this board, else wise I would think myself really crazy. I was diagnosed with breast cancer Oct 27th of last year I started chemo in January of this year and at the same time the oncologist put me on Paxil for hot flashes.......up until then I was dealing with my feelings and the diagnosis quite well, BUT unfortunately when I told the Dr. I did not want to take an antidepressant as I was ok with what was going on in my mind I didn't like the fact that I had Breast Cancer but I was determined to beat it. He suggested that Paxil was not only for depression but that it would also help with the hot flashes and if I had a emotional moment it would help me get over that too. SO I TOOK IT!!!!! I've been on it for 11 months when I told the dr. I had in insomnia they (meaning my onc and my GP) up the dose to 20 mgs. which I hadn't started till I got on Tamoxifen and really did get depressed, Oh by the way did I mention in the mean time within 5 months of taking Paxil I gained 34lb. I assumed it was from the chemo and the steroids I was given Anyway I found out about Paxil withdrawal from my breast cancer site that Paxil was going to be on 20/20 so I put Paxil withdrawal in my search engine and low and behold I came upon this site THANK GOD. for as I started on the heavy chemo I quite taking all my med. including Paxil I was so Flipping sick.......I don't think I have to tell you..... the walls were turning in around me I would have the worst dizziness and faint feeling when ever I would try to get up and do anything, I was crying and nausea and that strange feeling in my head my equilibrium was off I was a mess!!!!!! I remember saying I was not going to do chemo ever again because it was making me sooooooo sick. I didn't realize it wasn't the chemo it was from not taking the paxil for 4 days. But after having the next 3 chemos and not experiencing the ill feeling, I thought maybe it was like the worst flu in history on top of the chemo. Not until I found this site did I know what was really happening to my body, mind, and soul.!!!! IT WAS FROM NOT TAKING THE PAXIL!!! I've been weaning myself from the Paxil now for the past 5 weeks or so, Thur the 19h of Oct taking my last 5mg dose, I was coping???? until Sun Oct 21 I was so anxious and nausea and the noise when ever I would move my head that hissing sound ringing in my ears, well I took another 2.50mg Sun. I haven't had any since..... God knows I want too. I'm usually the most carefree easy going person there could be.(a year ago) BUT IN THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS I JUST WANT TO SCREAM AND CRY AND YOU NAME IT!!! GOD FORBID SOMEONE SAY THE WRONG THING TO ME YIKES!!!!!! When is this going to get better? If it hadn't been for this site and the info I would of thought that I must really need to go back on this crap. I'm just trying really hard to deal with this and all these ill feelings. You know, it's as though all the feelings I would of felt or have been bottled up in the past 11 months are all trying to come out at the same time! If anyone would ever of told me, that I would have to go through this, I never in a million years would of taken this drug!!! and I know only you folks can ever relate to what I'm going through. I'm sure Paxil is good for some people, but they really need to inform everyone of these awful-awful withdrawals! Well this site is called RANT and thank goodness it's here, I'm sorry about ranting and raving but I think you all know where I'm coming from. God Bless You All And Thanks For For Being Here!!! Beverly

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Date:
10/30/2001
Time:
12:36:47 PM
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Date:
10/30/2001
Time:
5:35:50 PM
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Date:
10/30/2001
Time:
10:13:20 PM
Remote User:
Comments
Withdrawal problems? I took this pill for two days and had a seizure. I'm having medical tests done this week, MRI and EEG. You can bet Smithkline will be hearing from me if this caused any serious problems to my health.

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Date:
10/30/2001
Time:
10:46:18 PM
Remote User:
Comments
id love to shove my "joe nobody cock" into the throat of the paxil excecutive if these withdrawls dont stop soon the only way to quench my thirst for violance may be to kidnap and sodomise the paxil industry!

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Date:
11/1/2001
Time:
10:31:58 AM
Remote User:
Comments
i wrote recently about my experience. well since then i got angry and tried to to cold turky. i made it for about 1 week. after that the body zaps and the snare drums in my head became to much to bear. the 40 mg Rx i have have since been cut into quarters and i am trying to take one of the quarters a day just to relieve the symptoms only been 2 days but so far so good. By the way, my doctor has not seem me but i told him he was Very edgy

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Date:
11/1/2001
Time:
1:57:00 PM
Remote User:
Comments
It was late June of this year, 2001, that my doctor and I started adjusting my dosage of Paxil. I don't know how many years I took it, but I'll certainly find out.

A hospitalization, 3 weeks of missed work, and a residual nervousness remain since then. My last dose was on 10/28/01 -- 5 mg.

What happened during dosage juggling? Why didn't anyone tell me I'd experience this, the local doctor or even the doctors at the hospital who changed my medication? Why did no one say anything on the hospital ward when I complained of wooziness? I had no clue that my symptoms from withdrawal and dosage juggling might have had something to do with withdrawal from this drug. I was raised to take responsibility for myself, but I refuse to take responsibility for what happened to me. I still have a residual nervousness, shakiness, and worry if it will go away.

For two weeks, nervous and anxious, I lay in bed at night, arguing about the idea of suicide. Concerned about these thoughts, I admitted myself to the hospital where my meds were changed. Actually, I was quite well IN the hospital that first 6 days. But by the time I got home, the hell began.

I didn't know what the word anxiety meant until then. Now, I certainly do. I had a horrid headache and wanted to blow the pain away. I was nauseated, dizzy, jittery. I'd awaken feeling like a fan was whirring in my head -- awaken with a sort of startle reflex. To sleep, I had to take lorazepam, something which is not typical at all of me. I stumbled around upon arising. Food was only used as a means to down my new prescription of lithium. I missed weeks of work. And, oh yes, when was it that I helped my daughter pack? It was before the hositalization. Although I was doing light work, my face and hair were sopping wet. I'd noticed this before and, gee, had it not been for patient honesty I'd have thought it was the aging process.

I wonder if my brain will ever be okay. This residual nervousness really concerns me. If anything could have been said of me before, it'd be that I tended to sleepiness. That'd never be said of me now.

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Date:
11/2/2001
Time:
12:14:36 PM
Remote User:
Comments
I am a 42 year old mother and wife. I have been on the anti-depressant Paxil. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started taking this drug!! My husband and two children are ready to put me away!! I recently had a bad experience with another drug prescribed to me as a channel blocker for migraine headache attacks. this medicine is also used for high blood pressure. I am 5'2"and weigh about 110lbs. on a good day! My blood pressure is always on the low side of the normal range any time I go to the doctor> I was attending a local highschool football game and just fell out while walking up the ramp to the stands. I had no prior warning except that I felt a little warm and took off my jacket before starting up the ramp.. The next thing I knew the team doctor and our school nurse we shaking me awake. This channel blocker had just dropped my heart rate so low that I blacked out!! After I found out the reason for this crazy occurence I began to search for other symptoms and side effects of other medicines and drugs I was taking. I decided to quit taking the Paxil I was on, along with everything else all at the same time. Low and behold the effects of Paxil had taken control and now I am suffering through the withdrawal syptoms described by all of the people on this and other web sites I have been searching. My only relief comes from the fact that others have had it worse and now am aware of the symptoms. Before I found out all about the withdrawal effect, I just thought I was going crazy, like everyone thinks I am anyway!!! I am hurting as I write this and am still lightheaded and dizzy> I can't concentrate anymore so I'm going to stop. Thanks for letting me rant on!! becky

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Date:
11/3/2001
Time:
11:34:04 PM
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Date:
11/5/2001
Time:
1:10:22 PM
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Date:
11/5/2001
Time:
8:09:18 PM
Remote User:
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THE DRUG NAMED `SEROXAT` IS ADDICTIVE - THE COMPANY `SMITH KLINE BEECHAM WILL BE SHUT DOWN WITHIN THE NEXT TWO YEARS ; PEOPLE - STAY CALM & TRUST IN YOURSELVES j

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Date:
11/5/2001
Time:
8:39:56 PM
Remote User:
Comments
Believe & have faith in the father who lives within you all this will save you from the pain induced from money grabbers born of the planet with its false teachings in teran whom blindely are selling drugs they say will clean you these souls have already been judged in the true life to come foward for their greed to be free & loving within your souls is your strength

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Date:
11/5/2001
Time:
8:40:32 PM
Remote User:
Comments
Believe & have faith in the father who lives within you all this will save you from the pain induced from money grabbers born of the planet with its false teachings in teran whom blindely are selling drugs they say will clean you these souls have already been judged in the true life to come foward for their greed to be free & loving within your souls is your strength

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Date:
11/5/2001
Time:
8:53:09 PM
Remote User:
Comments
jesus christ / budda / mohammid / loves you all

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Date:
11/6/2001
Time:
12:23:53 AM
Remote User:
Comments
WOW, INTENSE LAST TWO RANTS. I am very anxiously awaiting any news RE Paxil law suits. Any new developing suits ? I have thoroughly read the Paxil prescribing info and it's unbelievable that they report the adverse effects after (especially abrupt)discontinuation of the drug, is usually "self-limiting." I have made it thru the physical withdrawl, for the most part, but, the greedy bastards are still stinging me with this hot tempered, foul mouth, impatient, irritated person, whom everyone in this house is sick of. When might GlaxoSmithKline have to tell the truth and pay up ? Would it really put the company out of business ? As previous ranter said ? I truly believe it is no different than heroin, with the true physical withdrawl, after short-term use. No one else should be subjected to that tormentous Hell. But, what about the people who are presently on it. If multitudes have to be "tapered" simultaneously. And suffer withdrawl. I know someone taking 20 mg. and is docile, prior to Paxil, they were quite a hot head. If they were to have this temper most complain of, it would be scary. This drug is scary. How long does this bitch mode last. Any hope for an even temper ever again ? Answer appreciated. Thanks.

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Date:
11/6/2001
Time:
2:51:05 AM
Remote User:
Comments
I have been off Paxil for 6 months now. All of the immeadiate w/d symptoms are gone now, but the lasting ones are starting to make thier mark...I am a "hothead" too. I feel like everyone is on my nerves! I want to tell off people that I would have normally not given the time of day. I am short with my kids, and my husband doesn't even want to be around me. It takes everything I have to control myself, and only feel best when I am alone. You know, noone around to "irritate" me. I'm thinking of getting on something else, but wouldn't it be nice to be normal w/out drugs. I feel like an addict. Like someone kicking a crack habit, and fighting to stay off the stuff. Only problem is I could go back to my doctor anytime and get more, and cops aren't looking for me! I would give just about anything to have a level mood, and even temper. If the person that wrote before me gets any ideas from anyone, I would love to hear them!

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Date:
08 Nov 2001
Time:
19:49:03
Remote User:
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Date:
08 Nov 2001
Time:
20:07:00
Remote User:
Comments
Hiya, I've been on Paxil for two years now. I am physically disabled , a single mum and use a wheelchair. I also have to take codeine for the pin my disability causes. Last week I decided to try and reduce my painkillers...I was taking 120mg each dose and I've got that down to 60mg!!! That feels like a real success. I'm leaving the painkillers alone just now and concetrating on Paxil. I saw my doc on Mon and she agreed I could reduce the Paxil from 30mg a day to 20mg. I have been doing this snce Monday..(now Thursday). I feel really nauseous, and extremely itchy all over. I've read the 'rants' on this page anad realise this probably withdrawal. I too have had the zaps in my head. It was was frightening. I have never experienced anything like it. I honestly thought I was having a stroke. Also I was very interested to read about people's problems with walking. I rely on the 3 or 4 steps I can take, in order to get from my front door to the car and the car door to the trunk to get my wheelchair out. I have found this sooooooooooooo difficult. I thought I must have gotten really lazy. I have been so scared that my disability has deterioated significantly, and that this was the cause of my problems with my legs. i even thought that maybe I had undiagnosed MS, as I have had such a range of weird symptoms. I have been so scared, I haven't dared mention any of these things to anyone, in case they either thought I was a total 'nut' or they discovered something worse (and believe me, my disability is enough!! LOL). Now I think it must have been/continues to be the Paxil. Oh SKB you have so much to answer for. Our lives are precious and unique. You have made them hell for the last two years and you aren't even big enough to admit it might be possible. As for my depression, it hasn't gone....it's still there and it's not good, but the experience of Paxil, even b4 withdrawal, is not the answer for real preciuos and unique people, ie: all of us. I'll still have my depression, but hopefully the other things will go in time. Oh yes, there's been weight gain too, I dread to think how much, but I'm talking probably around 50 pounds or so. My life is my life, given to me as a gift by an awesome and amazing God. It's not there to be messed with by a pharmacetical company, who plays on the fact that our health service doesn't have the resourses necessary to treat depression and anxiety properly. Well you've played with me enough. I am going to get off this, I am going to claim back the real me. The me, who laughs and responds with appropriate emotions to every day situations. The me wh is playful, creative and loving. More than anything, I want to be the mum I used to be. If there's some compensation you owe me, it's to my child, who for two years has had to put up with their real mum gone, replaced by a sweating, tired woman, who sleeps in the daytime, cooks crap food, or buys take outs cos she can't be bothered with anything, doesn't want to go out, or do anything in either. You stole her for two years........well she's trying, fighting, and as determined as it's possible for her to be right now, to claim herself out of your fiscal and chemical claws. She will be free....she is warrior woman!!!!!!! Ali

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Date:
08 Nov 2001
Time:
20:15:22
Remote User:
Comments
Hiya, I've been on Paxil for two years now. I am physically disabled , a single mum and use a wheelchair. I also have to take codeine for the pain my disability causes. Last week I decided to try and reduce my painkillers...I was taking 120mg each dose and I've got that down to 60mg!!! That feels like a real success. I'm leaving the painkillers alone just now and concentrating on Paxil. I saw my doc on Mon and she agreed I could reduce the Paxil from 30mg a day to 20mg. I have been doing this since Monday..(now Thursday). I feel really nauseous, and extremely itchy all over. I've read the 'rants' on this page anad realise this probably withdrawal. I too have had the zaps in my head. It was was frightening. I have never experienced anything like it. I honestly thought I was having a stroke. Also I was very interested to read about people's problems with walking. I rely on the 3 or 4 steps I can take, in order to get from my front door to the car and the car door to the trunk to get my wheelchair out. I have found this sooooooooooooo difficult. I thought I must have gotten really lazy. I have been so scared that my disability has deterioated significantly, and that this was the cause of my problems with my legs. I even thought that maybe I had undiagnosed MS, as I have had such a range of weird symptoms. I have been so scared, I haven't dared mention any of these things to anyone, in case they either thought I was a total 'nut' or they discovered something worse (and believe me, my disability is enough!! LOL). Now I think it must have been/continues to be the Paxil. Oh SKB you have so much to answer for. Our lives are precious and unique. You have made them hell for the last two years and you aren't even big enough to admit it might be possible. As for my depression, it hasn't gone....it's still there and it's not good, but the experience of Paxil, even b4 withdrawal, is not the answer for real precious and unique people, ie: all of us. I'll still have my depression, but hopefully the other things will go in time. Oh yes, there's been weight gain too, I dread to think how much, but I'm talking probably around 50 pounds or so. My life is my life, given to me as a gift by an awesome and amazing God. It's not there to be messed with by a pharmacetical company, who plays on the fact that our health service doesn't have the resourses necessary to treat depression and anxiety properly. Well you've played with me enough. I am going to get off this, I am going to claim back the real me. The me, who laughs and responds with appropriate emotions to every day situations. The me wh is playful, creative and loving. More than anything, I want to be the mum I used to be. If there's some compensation you owe me, it's to my child, who for two years has had to put up with their real mum gone, replaced by a sweating, tired woman, who sleeps in the daytime, cooks crap food, or buys take outs cos she can't be bothered with anything, doesn't want to go out, or do anything in either. You stole her for two years........well she's trying, fighting, and as determined as it's possible for her to be right now, to claim herself out of your fiscal and chemical claws. She will be free....she is warrior woman!!!!!!! Ali

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Date:
09 Nov 2001
Time:
23:46:43
Remote User:
Comments
Hi, my doctor suggested that i go on paxhell, when I was only 18 after crying in her office because i couldnT stop being angry and abusive-like towards my baby girl. I loved her with all of my soul, she was all i ever wanted, but i couldnt help but loose myself in this crappy anger, the last time I felt like my anger towards her wasnt right or normal i took the pill, and I never raised my hand to smack her bum or forcefully held her to my trembling body unable to cope with the demon i know learking inside of me,only demons could hurt their babies or scare them more or less. anyways the exact day that started the mean mommy was gone it was a miracle, too good to be true, but i would have eaten shit if it meant my daughter wouldnt have to look at me with fear filled eyes right. Anyways,2 years go by and Im pregnant again and as happy as ever, normal you know, so the doctor suggestes I get off because it could harm the baby, maybe. So ofcourse I try, the next day was the first time i had forcefully cared or uncared for my daughter i wanted to just smoosh her no way in hell was i ever going to let myself fall in to that routine again so I stayed on it throughout my pregnancy, and gave birht to a beautiful baby boy, still breastfeeding at 11 months my poor baby boy went through withdrawals as i decided to stop almost 2 weeks ago, he had a fever the runs it was like he wasnt himself and that broke my heart, you assholes for ever makind this drug. He did do better than I though every symptom every shitty thing everyone has complained about is happening to me....i cant sit up anymore finish story later..

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Date:
11 Nov 2001
Time:
02:19:49
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Date:
11 Nov 2001
Time:
02:27:41
Remote User:
Comments
Hey, pregnant lady. You need to contact the law office listed on this site. An infant addicted to Paxil because you couldn't bear the withdrawal symtoms enough to quit while pregnant will make a jury furious. It took me six weeks of slow tapering off the drug, then two weeks down time to be half-way normal again. Don't quit cold turkey, you won't be able to care for your children if you do. Ask anyone here who's gone thru the same thing. I had to give all my Doctors this URL for them to realize how much this has gotten out of hand. A good Doctor will read this and then do their best to help you taper off slowly. Jason P. Chrisman Nashville, TN Jason@Chrisman.com

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Date:
12 Nov 2001
Time:
11:53:00
Remote User:
Comments
I just want to let the makers of the drug paxil know, that I originally went on the drug after giving birth to a pre-mature baby. I was told that this drug was not habit forming and that it would help with my anxiety. I would like to report that 2 1/2 years later, my baby is doing wonderful, I on the other hand have been to hell and back trying to get off of this so called non-habit forming "Miracle pill" I tried to go off, cold turkey 2 years ago, and felt such horrible side effects from it, including dizziness, nausea, blurry vision, splitting headache, numbness, trembling, insomnia and generally that I was going crazy. My husband found me sitting in my closet, threatening to kill myself. I am here to say that after 2 years of weaning off of this hellish medication, that I am finally free. I just weaned from 5mg to 0 over the weekend, and although I am still experiencing side effects, I can say that I know the nightmare will be over soon. I would also like to say that I will do everything I can to tell as many people as possible about the dangers of paxil. If I had been warned about the possible side effects and still opted to take the medication, I alone would be responsible for my decision, but I was never told that any of this could happen to me, so therefore, I blame the makers of this monsterous drug. Is any amount of money worth the living hell that you have put thousands, if not millions of people through?

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Date:
12 Nov 2001
Time:
22:18:27
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Date:
13 Nov 2001
Time:
05:34:59
Remote User:
Comments
I quit taking Paxil 10 days ago, after having been on 20 mg/day for 23 months. The withdrawals were terrible, but I'd been lax in keeping up with my prescriptions so many times in the past year that I'd experienced the awful stuff enough to know what to expect. Lucky me, huh? Anyway, 10 days cold turkey, and miraculously, I feel great. Sure, my brain feels sloshy and my eyes have that pressurized feeling, like if I turn my head too quickly, they'll just pop right out of the sockets. My bowels are in hyperdrive, daily headaches. But yesterday, I looked at my husband, whom I'd been with through depression, treatment, Paxil and withdrawal, and I felt as if I was seeing him for the first time. As the drug wears off, the brain returns. I am no longer scared. Many of you advise weaning off this drug. For me, cold turkey has worked OK. I had to miss a day of work, and warned my co-workers and supervisors (fortunately, it's a small, tight-knit group) that my sudden decline in health was NOT anthrax. I gave the curious ones this Web address. Advice? It will get better. Do not give up hope in the doctors and scientists. Sure, GSK fucked us over, but the knowledge about the brain and the chemical/electrical/spiritual functions that cause the problems for which we seek drugs is so very small. They can tell us it's "chemical misfirings of synapses" but they can't prove that. Someday soon, with hope, there will be an answer, and the treatments will not be so experimental.

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Date:
13 Nov 2001
Time:
05:36:16
Remote User:
Comments
I quit taking Paxil 10 days ago, after having been on 20 mg/day for 23 months. The withdrawals were terrible, but I'd been lax in keeping up with my prescriptions so many times in the past year that I'd experienced the awful stuff enough to know what to expect. Lucky me, huh? Anyway, 10 days cold turkey, and miraculously, I feel great. Sure, my brain feels sloshy and my eyes have that pressurized feeling, like if I turn my head too quickly, they'll just pop right out of the sockets. My bowels are in hyperdrive, daily headaches. But yesterday, I looked at my husband, whom I'd been with through depression, treatment, Paxil and withdrawal, and I felt as if I was seeing him for the first time. As the drug wears off, the brain returns. I am no longer scared. Many of you advise weaning off this drug. For me, cold turkey has worked OK. I had to miss a day of work, and warned my co-workers and supervisors (fortunately, it's a small, tight-knit group) that my sudden decline in health was NOT anthrax. I gave the curious ones this Web address. Advice? It will get better. Do not give up hope in the doctors and scientists. Sure, GSK fucked us over, but the knowledge about the brain and the chemical/electrical/spiritual functions that cause the problems for which we seek drugs is so very small. They can tell us it's "chemical misfirings of synapses" but they can't prove that. Someday soon, with hope, there will be an answer, and the treatments will not be so experimental.

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Date:
14 Nov 2001
Time:
01:17:11
Remote User:
Comments
"Sons of $%^*%##%" I'd love to see all you SmithKline executives coc$%ckers on this sh&$ for year and then cut off cold turkey, see how you fuc%&** manage you lousy bast%$^&. I hope there is a God so you can all burn in hell for the money making sins you committed at the expense of good peoples health and happiness. You fucking 'Stepford' bastards. Did I write this? Gee, don't pay any attention to me, I'm just withdrawing off your shit after it destroyed my health. I certainly hope I don't completely flip out and dedicate what is left of my mind to tracking you pricks down and stuffing copious amounts of your wonder drug up your ass until you all fu#$%#$ die. Your not that hard to find y'know. I fuc#$%& hate you bastards and I'm badmouthing your shit to the world and I work in the mental health field so a few hundred people might listen. I'll run this crap down until it disappears. We all have to do our small part to safeguard humanity against vermin such as yourselves Hah! Fuckheads

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Date:
14 Nov 2001
Time:
22:39:22
Remote User:
Comments
I have been on Paxil for 2 1/2 yrs. 40mg. & just went off cold turkey. I bought into the whole chemical depression thing because my entire family is depressed and my psychiatrist didn't want me to "throw my life away" to depression. Well, it did make me feel better, but why wouldn't it, nothing bothered me on it. I had side effects right away & her answer was always to up the dosage until she had me up to 60 mg. I finally protested so she put me down to 50 mg. & I still said no, so finally to 40. Meanwhile, she had added sleeping pills & Wellbutrin into the mix for the insomnia & the tiredness. I gained 20-25 pounds & continued to have insomnia & horrible nightmares, since the sleeping pills didn't work for me. I also got the zaps, which scared the hell out of me & she said in no way were any of my medicines related to it & sent me to my regular doctor, who thought it was neuralgia. My latest side effect (after 2 1/2 yrs) was the itching, which finally put me over the edge. I was scratching until I bled & I knew I'd end up on some other medication for it. I stopped cold turkey & went online, only to learn about the addiction, the withdrawal & the lawsuits. I am heart-sick & furious. I had no clue that I was taking something that may have permanently messed with my brain. To GSK & all the drs. like mine who dispensed paxil like M&M's, you should be held fully accountable for whatever the drug has already done & may do to anyone who's ever taken it. It should be taken off the market IMMEDIATELY. I have 3 little kids to take care of; if I had even once heard the words "addictive", "withdrawal" or how about "NO LONG TERM STUDIES?", I wouldn't have touched this drug with a 10 foot pole. I pray that I don't suffer any permanent effects. HOW DARE YOU

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Date:
15 Nov 2001
Time:
22:23:53
Remote User:
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Dear GSK, You are criminals. Your company has stolen a good deal of my life and self-confidence. I have spent hundreds of dollars trying to stop taking paxil and the cost of my time is beyond tabulation. Sure, my panic attacks stopped, but I gained fifty pounds and now I'm sick and panicked from withdrawal. This is healthy? Someday you will have to tell the world what so many of us already know, paxil is too addictive and the side-effects too great for people who already have anxiety or depression (or anyone else for that matter.) Soon I will have my life back under control, they say the third time is the charm. That's right, this is my third attempt to quit paxil. Your company, however, is far from getting out the mess that you have lied your way into. I will dance and raise a glass when your day comes. Liz Crane

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Date:
16 Nov 2001
Time:
00:13:06
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Date:
17 Nov 2001
Time:
03:49:36
Remote User:
Comments
I have been weening myself off of paxil for over 1 1/2 months and I am experiencing very severe side effects. I was put on paxil because I was having problems with fatigue do to treatment to possibly cure hepatitis c and the Dr said it may help... which it did for a while.about 7 months. But the fatigue returned so I figured that it wasnt helping anymore and tried to get stop its use. Baaad Idea!!!! extreme withdrawal symptoms were experienced so I went back on and tapered off. This was better but some side effects were still felt. Then after getting myself down to 10 mg a day I stopped. My world has been spinning since that time.. 8 days now.. My eyes dont focus and feel like they are going in drunken circles when I move them left or right. This caused nasea and extreme dizziness. Its like a touch of vertigo. at the same time I get a ringing in my ears when I move my eyes to extreme left or right. WAIT thats only the beginning. I have been very very agressive/angry and have suffered shortness of breath and severe sweating fits. I have had bursts of emotion rage out in sadness for no apparent reason. I have had needles burning deep in my right leg and tingling and itchiness on my skin. My dreams are out of character for me. today it seems that the eye stuff is getting a little better. as well as the fatigue. I also spoke to my Drs. Pa and let him have it as I expressed my dissatisfaction with His assistance. I told him to do some research and find some remedies NOW. surely someone out there has some ideas for treatments to help with these severe withdrawal symptoms other than "go back on and taper off some more" any ideas would be appeciated. PAXIL IS POISON AND I WAS A TEST SUBJECT DONT TAKE PAXIL THIS IS HORRIBLE!!!!

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Date:
17 Nov 2001
Time:
03:50:23
Remote User:
Comments
I have been weaning myself off of paxil for over 1 1/2 months and I am experiencing very severe side effects. I was put on paxil because I was having problems with fatigue do to treatment to possibly cure hepatitis c and the Dr said it may help... which it did for a while.about 7 months. But the fatigue returned so I figured that it wasnt helping anymore and tried to get stop its use. Baaad Idea!!!! extreme withdrawal symptoms were experienced so I went back on and tapered off. This was better but some side effects were still felt. Then after getting myself down to 10 mg a day I stopped. My world has been spinning since that time.. 8 days now.. My eyes dont focus and feel like they are going in drunken circles when I move them left or right. This caused nasea and extreme dizziness. Its like a touch of vertigo. at the same time I get a ringing in my ears when I move my eyes to extreme left or right. WAIT thats only the beginning. I have been very very agressive/angry and have suffered shortness of breath and severe sweating fits. I have had bursts of emotion rage out in sadness for no apparent reason. I have had needles burning deep in my right leg and tingling and itchiness on my skin. My dreams are out of character for me. today it seems that the eye stuff is getting a little better. as well as the fatigue. I also spoke to my Drs. Pa and let him have it as I expressed my dissatisfaction with His assistance. I told him to do some research and find some remedies NOW. surely someone out there has some ideas for treatments to help with these severe withdrawal symptoms other than "go back on and taper off some more" any ideas would be appeciated. PAXIL IS POISON AND I WAS A TEST SUBJECT DONT TAKE PAXIL THIS IS HORRIBLE!!!!

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Date:
17 Nov 2001
Time:
19:06:20
Remote User:
Comments
i would love to come off paxil but the tension headaches i get without the pills are excrutiation. tylenol/motrin does not help the tension......i will continue to try to come off. there has to be a better way to live......

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Date:
18 Nov 2001
Time:
10:48:47
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Date:
19 Nov 2001
Time:
12:22:00
Remote User:
Comments
I have been a Paxil addict for over five years. I ended up in the hospital the last time I tried to ween myself off of the drug. I am now reducing my dosage to a half tab per day and it is not going well I must say. Being off of this medication would be a blessing. When I was hospitalized for the problems due to stopping the paxil, I passed out in the ER and after being put in the room on the gurney I could not move my arm or legs for about 3 hours. Of course at the time we did not know it was from Paxil withdrawls, but by process of elimination and not finding anything else wrong the doctor put me back on the paxil with a scolding for stopping it in the first place. I would like some help in this area. I think sueing is right along the line of what they deserve for not researching this drug better before making us all guinie pigs.

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Date:
20 Nov 2001
Time:
10:17:51
Remote User:
Comments
I am currently taking Paxil and have on occasion missed a few doses in a row and began feeling very dizzy and lightheaded. At first I though it was just me not eating right but I was able to correlate the missed doeses with these feelings. I then began researching the symptoms of Paxil withdrawl and am terrified of taking it any more but even more frightened of stopping. I began taking this drug because I felt bad, I don't need to feel even worse as a result. I cannot believe that my physician prescribed me a drug that would only make me a wreck in the end. I don't know what to do and am very upset by this. I have heard the horror stories and do not want to be one of them.

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Date:
22 Nov 2001
Time:
10:45:19
Remote User:
Comments
I feel betrayed by our system and all who contribute to bringing pharmesuticals to market. The responsibilty to be sure what ends up in peoples systems is not only healthy but right. Responsibility comes before profits. I was on paxil for a year. It made me unstable, I gained weight, overall I now have more health issues, physical than ever before. Previous to paxil use all I had was a little anxiety and ADD symptoms...now I have a nodule on my thyroid that might be cancerous. i will know in a few weeks. I feel my trust in physicians and our system of bringing these medications to market is now over. I strongly do not recommend anyone taking this medication untilt they do their own research. My physicain said 'Yes, it has side effects but it saves lives. The lives saved are questionable and the after result makes you wonder if it was worth it. there must have been another way to get help. Brad.

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Date:
22 Nov 2001
Time:
19:35:45
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Date:
25 Nov 2001
Time:
22:16:28
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Date:
26 Nov 2001
Time:
10:17:28
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Date:
27 Nov 2001
Time:
13:19:57
Remote User:
Comments
I just finished reading all of the previous rants and am at once relieved that MY symptoms are real and disheartened because I was duped by a drug company. I have been a social worker for 20 years and am very familiar with the side effects of psychotropics, so when my dr. prescribed paxil for my anxiety and depression, I researched it. I even phoned the consumer line of the manufacturer of paxil. Everyone said it was a miracle drug, safe and effective for my syptoms. They are all LIARS!!!!! The co. could not possibly have tested this medication and where was the FDA? In some drug company's back pocket!!! I have been in paxil withdrawal hell for three weeks now and only glimpse the light at the end of the tunnel i.e.MYSELF for a few precious moments a day. The swooshes in my head drive me insane!!!!! I have weird, "tight" headaches and crying jags so severe, they are only comparable with the deep depressions I experience as well. WHEN WILL IT END???????? tessapb.@msn.com

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Date:
27 Nov 2001
Time:
13:27:07
Remote User:
Comments
I have been taking Paxil for a little over a year. I tried going off of if but the withdrawals were driving me and my husband crazy. I never new it would be so hard. I am only 25 and I don't want to take this pill for the rest of my life. My husband and I would like to start trying for another baby in Jan. How can I do that when my sex drive has went to the floor and I don't want to be pregnant and still taking Paxil. Please help AA

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Date:
28 Nov 2001
Time:
18:34:11
Remote User:
Comments
My psychiatrist is nothing but a quack old man more interested in when his paycheck arrives. This guy didn't care that I suddenly ran out, didn't tell me/warn me there would be symptoms and could only offer samples because he wouldn't write a prescription if I couldnt make a single visit (i've been seeing him for over 5 months!!!!!). 50 MG per day to nothing is sure making my life hell! I can hardly concentrate, my memory sucks and people think i'm drunk! If I sit in position too long, I get miserable and agitated and want to break something. Lapses of fatigue that last a few seconds are the worse. I feel like i'm narcoleptic with seizures! I hate my doctor. I will not see him anymore. I have to see my Primary Doctor because my Psyche visits ran out (HMO!!!) and now i'm stuck suffering worse than BEFORE I started the PAXIL and before I started to see the shrink. Paxil ruined my life, wasted my time and turned me into a miserable basketcase. Once your on it, dont go off of it unless you have a well researched plan of weening yourself off. I'm lucky i'm still alive. I seem to have more self control than most, so this drug only makes me worry about more post-Paxil maniacs out there.

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Date:
28 Nov 2001
Time:
19:34:49
Remote User:
Comments
I have been taking paxil since 6/99 and its so expensive I do tend to run out about 1 time a month and end up having severe withdrawl effects that make things absolutely impossible. I have been taking 40 mg now for over a 2 years and it keeps all the money out of my bank. at $140 a month it has made things very hard to buy diapers for my 16 month old, Tags an insurance on our two vehicles. I just wished I could get off paxil and onto something else without having to suffer any more. I got pulled over one night by our local police for suspicion of being drunk, when I told them about my medication they thought I was complete stupid or something. I have not been able to keep a steady job because of my depression and I am unable to afford to go to a dr to get my perscription changed. I am to the point of desperation, I seem to always have a headache and I have had continous insomnia ever since I started the drug in '99. I have been married since 10/98 and things have been on shaky ground with my wife and my loss of sexual labido. I have no drive and it often times causes more depression on me and my wife. I think this should have been studied much more then what it had. www.medscape.com has just added more info about the side effects of paxil and I wished I could have stopped my self from ever starting this drug in the begining. Just like with any ediction, the longer the use the longer the recovery. I just don't think I have the strength to give it up. I haven't been able to stop smoking but as far as that goes I think it would be easier to stop smoking then it would be to put up with withdrawls from paxil.

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Date:
29 Nov 2001
Time:
12:00:20
Remote User:
Comments
yep..boy is it nice to know I have not lost all semblence of sanity just by the god's gift of this web site. Finacially I can't afford the $100 per month addiction, and I was forced to come off the medication not by my own choice...40mg. I feel like there is a constant noise in my head like a jet engine. When I wake up in the middle of the night because i think my brain is being eaten up by packman...the bed is drenched in sweat, yet I am cold. I smell like urine in the morning just from all th e sweating...I have NEVER been through anything like this in my whole life...I can't think, no memory. I was presc. this for mild anxiety, because of worrY...about whatever the hell it was, geez I would love to have my old problems back. I feel as thougjh I sold my soul to the devil for a little relief of "anxiety" little did I know I would feel like killing myself. I don't know if I will have ot go toan emergency room or not because of these withdrawal symtoms. I hope they don't kill me first. Liz in NC

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Date:
29 Nov 2001
Time:
16:11:42
Remote User:
Comments
I am so happy that I found this site. I was on Paxil for almost one year. My family physician talked me into it due to bouts of depression and terrible migrain headaches I was experiencing. I was very hesitant because I was nursing my 8 month old son at the time. My doctor assured me Paxil was very safe and even disclosed to me that she took Paxil herself while pregnant (I suspect she is still using since she never made any mention of withdrawls when getting off Paxil). She was pretty persistant as a Paxil advocate, even suggesting to me that I'd do my children a favor by becoming a better mother (happier, more patient) while on Paxil. I took it. Seven months later I was stung by a stingray and had to go to the ER. I got an ugly infection and was put on some pain meds. Coincidentally, at this same time I had decided I didn't want to be on Paxil anymore and had stopped taking it cold turkey. Weird things started happening to me and I thought it was all from the pain meds. When I stopped taking the pain meds I went back on Paxil. My symptoms stopped of course. Then, this past August I became pregnant again. My doctor again assured me things would be fine, but this time I contacted my OB/GYN who said to wean off ASAP. Thank God. I did and I've been off now for almost three months. All those ugly symptoms came back (zaps, horrific dreams, etc..) and this time I knew it was the Paxil. It's been hard because I don't know what is hormones or what is Paxil withdrawals. My depression has come back and, boy, the anger is ugly, isn't it! But, even though, after 3 months, I'm still feeling the aftermath, after finding this website two days ago I feel strangely calm. I thought it was all just me. I thought I was a bad person (because of the anger) and damaged. Now I realize I am not alone and that it isn't my fault. Things are getting better day by day and now I feel like I have the strength to fight it out and that I will make it to the other side. Thanks to everyone who has written in. It has helped a lot. -Shan0605

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Date:
29 Nov 2001
Time:
16:29:24
Remote User:
Comments
Hi, this is Shan0605 again. Many of the rants I have read are from people who are newly off Paxil (two weeks or less) or are still on it. I just want to tell you that I've been off almost three months and YOU CAN DO IT! The symptoms have declined in my case. The zaps finally stopped as did that weird noise in my head. I am sleeping somewhat better and the vivid dreams are few and far between and are nothing like they were before. I'm still having the anger, but it helps to know now where it comes from. It makes it seem more manageable anyway. I hope that this will give someone else out there hope that, even though it is SO HARD, it will get better. If there is anyone out there who is Paxil free for 3 months or longer will you please share? I'd like to know what the longer term results are. Thanks. -Shan0605

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Date:
29 Nov 2001
Time:
21:05:11
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Date:
30 Nov 2001
Time:
10:37:11
Remote User:
Comments
IT SEEMS LIKE ALMOST ALL OF THE SYPTOMS THAT YOU HAVE DOWN I HAVE BEEN GOING THRU, ATLEAST I AM NOT PUKING STILL BUT I AM SO WEIRD FEELING AND MY DOCTOR SAYS IT COULD NOT BE WITHDRAWAL ,MAYBE SOME STOMACH FLU ,BUT I HAVE NEVER HAD A STOMACH FLU MAKE MY VISION SO SHAKY......WHEN WILL IT END???????

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Date:
01 Dec 2001
Time:
00:44:23
Remote User:
Comments
I was on Paxil for three months and reluctant to take it but desperate to feel less anxious. At first I had insomnia and tension in my jaw but tolerated it and took Benedryl to help me relax. However I began to notice extreme tiredness coming on suddenly during the day and even felt like I blacked out for a few seconds a couple of times. I did not attribute this to the Paxil at the time. I then noticed I could not stand to look at the lights at my office and felt I was squinting all the time. Then I developed a rash and my hair was falling out a lot. In addition, I developed the worse leg and foot cramps I had ever experienced. The final reaction or side effect I experienced was swelling around my eyes and swelling of my face as well as dry itchy eyes and skin. I was only taking 10mg. and had started with 5mg. I stopped taking it and felt very tense and lightheaded. I started also having strange dreams and terrble insomnia, averaging three to five hours sleep a night. In addition I would suddenly have brief thoughts of suicide and focused a lot on death. I was also depressed just thinking of how I had finally gotten up the nerve to try this medication and was hopeful it would work, only to be greatly let down and basically feel worse than before. I am starting to feel more normal now but still experiencing insomnia, ringing in my ears, and lightheadedness.

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Date:
01 Dec 2001
Time:
00:45:45
Remote User:
Comments
I was on Paxil for three months and reluctant to take it but desperate to feel less anxious. At first I had insomnia and tension in my jaw but tolerated it and took Benedryl to help me relax. However I began to notice extreme tiredness coming on suddenly during the day and even felt like I blacked out for a few seconds a couple of times. I did not attribute this to the Paxil at the time. I then noticed I could not stand to look at the lights at my office and felt I was squinting all the time. Then I developed a rash and my hair was falling out a lot. In addition, I developed the worse leg and foot cramps I had ever experienced. The final reaction or side effect I experienced was swelling around my eyes and swelling of my face as well as dry itchy eyes and skin. I was only taking 10mg. and had started with 5mg. I stopped taking it and felt very tense and lightheaded. I started also having strange dreams and terrble insomnia, averaging three to five hours sleep a night. In addition I would suddenly have brief thoughts of suicide and focused a lot on death. I was also depressed just thinking of how I had finally gotten up the nerve to try this medication and was hopeful it would work, only to be greatly let down and basically feel worse than before. I am starting to feel more normal now but still experiencing insomnia, ringing in my ears, and lightheadedness.

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Date:
01 Dec 2001
Time:
19:59:07
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Date:
02 Dec 2001
Time:
06:04:47
Remote User:
Comments
Hi everyone..I've been on 10, then 20 mg of Paxil for about a a little over a month..what's driving me to get off it(besides the fear of lifetime addiction..) is the INTENSE ITCHING!!!! I cannot stand it! I told my school shrink about this horrible side effect and he told me to just take some Benydryl!! I went to him initially for worrying(I too saw the ad and thought it would help..and it does..but I want off!!)I won't be seeing him until the 18 of dec., so I've decided to wean myself off of this drug. I split the 20mg in to half, and will be taking the 10, then will split that down to 5 after a few weeks.....any advice? I know what I'm in for(oh god..help me..)but I've only been on it a month or so..does the length of time matter in the severity of withdrawl??please , any advice would be soo appreciated..

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Date:
02 Dec 2001
Time:
14:10:56
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Date:
03 Dec 2001
Time:
17:05:33
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Date:
04 Dec 2001
Time:
05:00:06
Remote User:
Comments
I was on Paxil for about 8 months and I thought it was the best thing that had ever happened to me. Think again! I didn't want to get off of Paxil but my insurance was cancelled and I had no choice. It's not a cheap drug. When I was on Paxil I didn't care about anything. I lost my job, gained about 40lbs., and thought "if there's nothing I can do about a problem, don't worry about it". The real problem was, there was something I could do about my problems. I just didn't care enough to do anything about them. My mom kept telling me that I had changed since I had started taking Paxil, but I didn't listen to her. I really regret that now. I had no idea about any withdrawl symptoms. I now feelangry all the time, irrated, dizzy, nausiated, itchy skin, headaches, terrible nightmares, and the list just keeps growing. If I had known about these side effects, I probably would have never taken paxil to begin with. I just feel so sorry for the people taking this drug or those who are going to in the future. It's just not fair what these people have done to us. But now that I know more about it, I can assure you I will be spreading the word.

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Date:
04 Dec 2001
Time:
07:48:31
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Date:
04 Dec 2001
Time:
20:23:28
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Date:
04 Dec 2001
Time:
21:06:37
Remote User:
Comments
Dear SKB, My name is Kevin. I started taking Paxil about six months ago for mild depression. Everything seemed to go O.K. in the first couple of months. My girlfriend and I were getting along better, I thought I was feeling better, and people close to me said that I seemed more relaxed. Slowly I started feeling more and more lethargic. I was always a person who kept myself in good shape. I went to the gym faithfully for years. Well, sure enough that has come to an almost dead stop. I asked my doctor about my overwellming tiredness and what I call feeling BLAH, and he said it will get beter, that I should just force myself to get back into the training activities that I was into prior to taking Paxil. My question was, why should I have to force myself to do something that used to come so easily to me? So I tried to stop taking the medication. Not knowing that stopping it would make me feel like I was in a constant freefall. I had nervous trembling, extreme weariness, the shakes, crazy nightmares, trouble thinking, trouble sleeping, I could go on and on. My doctor said to try and wean myself off slowly. So I cut down the dosage, that didn't work. He then suggested that maybe I should switch to Zoloft and then try to wean myself off of that. I am not I a test animal. I am scared now. When will I be able to get back to normal? I am afraid that it may be never. I am still taking small doses of Paxil, because not to, makes me feel worse than taking it. So your RICH company is still making money off of me and I am sure, countless others just like me, who are in the same boat. The warning label and even your commercials say that Paxil is not habbit forming. That is an absolute lie!!! If you can't stop taking a medication without it making you feel half-nuts, then in my eyes, it's habit forming. If legal action is brought against you, I will gladly get invoved.

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Date:
04 Dec 2001
Time:
23:16:39
Remote User:
Comments
i must say i am really pleased with what i have seen here soo far. I have had a long struggle. I went through an abusive and violent childhood. I have been depressed 90% of my life. When i decided to accept the Paxil treatment I was making regular visits to the emergency room. Paxil was cheaper. During the time i was taking Paxil (about 6-7mo.) I couldn't cry, there was no flux of emotion...it wouldn't come out. Reality was still there,but my physical dispostion to react wasn't functioning, i was on the inside looking out, my emotions where gagged, but they were there. Which in one way could be considered good...i wasn't having fake heart attacks, i wasn't loosing my breath and i slept a little better. As far as the nightmare effect...i have always had terrifying dreams. Paxil was becoming too much of a strain on my pocket every month, i couldn't afford to buy the prescription anymore. I decided to wean off. My last bottle i took one full week, then i started every other day, then i would cut them in half which was really something you shouldn't do because it offsets the actual dose. However, as i weaned off, i would get some nausea, but the worst effect was my peripheral vision would bounce around, like my eyeballs had a mind of their own. That was terrifying when i realized what a hold this drug had on my entire body chemical balance. There were some other minor rather short lived side effects. I am glad to cry now and focus more on dealing with reality as best i can and give great thanks to the phsycologists i had the priviledge of seeing in my life and try more natural theraputic ways of dealing. Hopefully the next time my heart skips a beat i will remember to breathe and relax, repeat to myself "i am alright, it's nothing, i am calm" Just put my hand on my chest and it's beating normal or concentrate on my cats' purring. HEHEHE i am such a headcase sometimes, but i like me :O) One more thing....I know alot of you are faced with ingnorant people sometimes, that happen to see this happen or hear of it and misinterpret what is actually wrong with you. They think your full of $&it and may treat you badly for it. Keep in mind they are really ingnorant and not worth a salt to have to explain yourself to. I can't tell you how many people have misinterpreted anxiety and related it to just getting on an elevator or something that one may be scared of. It's not that simple. It's a physical ordeal and a physical reaction. Not just a simple mental reaction to being scared of something. Have faith in yourselves people ...love yourself and forgive yourself. You can make it!

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Date:
04 Dec 2001
Time:
23:20:10
Remote User:
Comments
NO sex drive...none whatsoever. i forgot to include that in my last rant.

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Date:
04 Dec 2001
Time:
23:24:17
Remote User:
Comments
i forgot to include yet another side effect...i didn't realize that the zaps where from the paxil...i had experienced it about 6 times. it truely felt like i got zapped across the back of my head. i didn't realize that was a side effect....i am glad i got off the paxil.

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Date:
06 Dec 2001
Time:
14:57:30
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Date:
07 Dec 2001
Time:
00:00:58
Remote User:
Comments
All of you guys are saying it is soooo terrible, I had no idea about this stuff, that why I am here, before I start, but how many people has it not helped, to as many as it helped? what are the pewrcentages? I am not an addictive personality, so I am not too worried, but I plan to take this just longenough o see if ut does help, say 2 months? what are zaps? What drugs are beter for social anxiety disorder? I want to go herbal, but unfortunatly I am poor lol, and I just want to start dealing with ths problem, I can not make freinds, meet family, get a job, its like I am in prison, andI truly want to do all these things. Well, any commnts and advice my email is welcome ilikewebtvbetter@aol.com

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Date:
07 Dec 2001
Time:
16:09:18
Remote User:
Comments
DO NOT TAKE PAXIL. To get off: Carefully shave pill with a razor or pill cutter. Take your time methodically decreasing the dosage. I took Paxil for about 1 and a half years, and was "getting off of it" most of that time. No need to go that slowly. One month is enough with a high dose, but don't do it in just one week at any dose. Go more slowly. Try to be exact in decreasing amount of dose. I have been off Paxil for about two years now. Some of my symptoms have improved, with others continuing to worsen. You do not return to normal, but you can get better than you were during withdrawl. Question: I have suffered the most with the numbness, which began in feet, hands, and sexual organs as soon as I started the pill (was told to take more for this!). This never went away, and began to increase steadily over my entire body, with deep muscle aches and atrophy of muscles, difficulty breathing, sleep apnea being strongest remaining symptoms. With good rest, head zaps and vertigo and lag-time vision are not as bad. I found that if something touched my neck while sleeping, I would startle awake, due to stopping breathing. Try to elevate head and shoulders, and support head at chin and not neck, and see if your sleeping improves. Please contact me if you have these symptoms, which may be a secondary problem (fibromyalgia?) triggered by stress of Paxil symptons (I nearly died). Or may be result of poison remaining in fatty tisue of body. Oh, and I lost weight (20lbs) that I did not need to lose while on Paxil. Tracyreinert@aol.com May the Lord God Almighty watch over and care for us all. And especially may our families understand and be supportive....

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Date:
07 Dec 2001
Time:
16:11:05
Remote User:
Comments
DO NOT TAKE PAXIL. To get off: Carefully shave pill with a razor or pill cutter. Take your time methodically decreasing the dosage. I took Paxil for about 1 and a half years, and was "getting off of it" most of that time. No need to go that slowly. One month is enough with a high dose, but don't do it in just one week at any dose. Go more slowly. Try to be exact in decreasing amount of dose. I have been off Paxil for about two years now. Some of my symptoms have improved, with others continuing to worsen. You do not return to normal, but you can get better than you were during withdrawl. Question: I have suffered the most with the numbness, which began in feet, hands, and sexual organs as soon as I started the pill (was told to take more for this!). This never went away, and began to increase steadily over my entire body, with deep muscle aches and atrophy of muscles, difficulty breathing, sleep apnea being strongest remaining symptoms. With good rest, head zaps and vertigo and lag-time vision are not as bad. I found that if something touched my neck while sleeping, I would startle awake, due to stopping breathing. Try to elevate head and shoulders, and support head at chin and not neck, and see if your sleeping improves. Please contact me if you have these symptoms, which may be a secondary problem (fibromyalgia?) triggered by stress of Paxil/withdrawl symptoms (I nearly died). Or may be result of poison remaining in fatty tisue of body. Oh, and I lost weight (20lbs) that I did not need to lose while on Paxil. Tracyreinert@aol.com May the Lord God Almighty watch over and care for us all. And especially may our families understand and be supportive....

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Date:
07 Dec 2001
Time:
16:39:52
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Date:
07 Dec 2001
Time:
19:47:25
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Date:
07 Dec 2001
Time:
19:47:26
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Date:
09 Dec 2001
Time:
22:14:56
Remote User:
Comments
I am angry. I don't know why. I am sick. I did exactly as they told me to. Starting at 10mg of Paxil and ending at 40mg over the course of the year. Now i can't move i eyeballs without my brain feeling like it will short circuit. I wake up in the middle of the night with awful dreams. I throw up. Sometimes it just hits me and i can't seem to stand up straight or i even run into things. None of this began until i ended Paxil therapy. I am on an emotional rollarcoaster. Sometimes i am lethargic, others i am angry and over stimulated. I don't know what to do.

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Date:
09 Dec 2001
Time:
22:15:03
Remote User:
Comments
I am angry. I don't know why. I am sick. I did exactly as they told me to. Starting at 10mg of Paxil and ending at 40mg over the course of the year. Now i can't move i eyeballs without my brain feeling like it will short circuit. I wake up in the middle of the night with awful dreams. I throw up. Sometimes it just hits me and i can't seem to stand up straight or i even run into things. None of this began until i ended Paxil therapy. I am on an emotional rollarcoaster. Sometimes i am lethargic, others i am angry and over stimulated. I don't know what to do.

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Date:
09 Dec 2001
Time:
22:15:18
Remote User:
Comments
I am angry. I don't know why. I am sick. I did exactly as they told me to. Starting at 10mg of Paxil and ending at 40mg over the course of the year. Now i can't move i eyeballs without my brain feeling like it will short circuit. I wake up in the middle of the night with awful dreams. I throw up. Sometimes it just hits me and i can't seem to stand up straight or i even run into things. None of this began until i ended Paxil therapy. I am on an emotional rollarcoaster. Sometimes i am lethargic, others i am angry and over stimulated. I don't know what to do.

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Date:
10 Dec 2001
Time:
01:30:29
Remote User:
Comments
I started tapering in July and came off in October. It almost killed me. It's two months later and I still feel like hell some days. (Is there such a thing as a paxil flashback?) But I wanted to post some encouragement to everybuddy trying so hard to quit. DON'T GIVE UP. DON'T LET THIS DRUG DESTROY YOU. It would be the ultimate irony. There are already enough people dead from paxil and other anti-depressants. We don't need any more martyers. The companies know they are wrong. Take it SLOW, get a prescription for the liquid form, you can measure a small dose exactly. Stop drinking/eating sugar/whatever negative things the withdrawal is making you want to do, it will only make it harder.

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Date:
10 Dec 2001
Time:
01:40:46
Remote User:
Comments
oh yeah, and to the "paxil lover," you basically compared taking paxil to doing extascy everyday. i think that analogy is pretty realistic. is that really what you want to be doing to your brain? you honestly have no idea why people are trying to quit? is it really worth risking serotonin syndrome? there are more sound drugs for schizophreania and more graceful ways to die. glad i don't have your doctor! e-mail me @ megatonk@hotmail.com

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Date:
10 Dec 2001
Time:
15:21:41
Remote User:
Comments
(exuse me, bipolar disorder)

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Date:
10 Dec 2001
Time:
16:07:03
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Date:
10 Dec 2001
Time:
16:08:40
Remote User:
Comments
I started having some sort of "attacks" a couple months ago and was put on 20 mg of paxil a day. I only feel exhausted since I've been on it, and have lost all sex drive. A week ago my car broke down out of state and I was in a motel for a week. I didn't plan on being away so long and thought that I was going to die. I thought medication was not supposed to be something that I was addicted to!! I felt like I would imagine any other drug addict would feel without my fix. I could not sleep, my head spun for 4 days, I could not eat, my face tingled along with my fingers and toes, and my mood swings were more then I could handle. I want to be off of this horrible drug now! I was not warned about this at all, and now I am hooked on something that only makes me feel worse. Someone please tell me how to get off of this stuff!!

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Date:
11 Dec 2001
Time:
23:45:46
Remote User:
Comments
Call 1-888-825-5249 and report your withdrawal symptoms to Glaxo SmithKline. They will HAVE to inform the FDA about your call. If the FDA gets enough ammunition, maybe they'll do something to educate consumers and doctors! Imagine that!

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Date:
12 Dec 2001
Time:
16:03:51
Remote User:
Comments
Hello i was just curious if anyone had stopped taking paxil and after 3 or 4 months was having intrusive thoughts and will they go away thank you...

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Date:
13 Dec 2001
Time:
22:42:21
Remote User:
Comments
i have sida hiar

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Date:
14 Dec 2001
Time:
20:41:47
Remote User:
Comments
Dearest SKB/GSK, May you all burn in hell!!!!! You will eventually, I hope you are all enjoying your lives here on earth. I hope the sins you have committed against mankind have brought in enough money to make it worth eternity in hell, because that is what you have coming. The blood of every person you have killed with your drugs, is on your hands. I've been in withdrawal for 3 years and two months, and I'm still sick. I'm getting better through natural medicine as God intended it. I've come so far, and have so far yet to go. At this rate, it should be about 2 more years. I can take it, I've come this far. When you stand before God, what will you say? How will you explain your actions? What will you say about what you have done? I hope that at least some of you employees of GSK are reading this. Even if you are just one of the secretaries who connect victims with security when they call you to report a reaction, you will also be held accountable. You can never make up for the symptoms that I have suffered with: high biliruben, hypoglycemia, low thyroid, tremmors, yellow eyes, cold - numb hands and feet, electric shocks throughout the body, chest pains, cycles of intense insomnia lasting for days, unbearable burning in the intestines lasting for 2 years now, severe weight loss, burning muscles throughout the body, burning-itching-painful eyes and other visual disturbances, hearing problems, swollen lymph glands throughout the body, rashes and hives, never ending dehydration, terrible panic attacks lasting hours, intense vertigo and nausea, muscle tics and twitches, compulsions and obsessions, suicidal ideation, jaw clenching, inability to swallow, choking attacks, breathing problems, heat stroke episodes, low body temp, ringing ears (still after 3 yrs. into cold turkey withdrawal), swollen gums, pains in teeth, arthritis in face and joints, extremely dry skin, etc... At times I have resembled an AIDS patient. I'm 30 yrs old now, I've been robbed of what was left of my youth. The time on the drug (3 yrs) was stolen as well, because I was absent from my own mind. Almost as if I were dreaming the entire time. You can never make up for the hell you have caused me, and everyone else that you have raped!!!! And even if there were a settlement, I would not participate. Any money that you eventually pay out is stained with the blood of so many innocents. Enjoy yourselves while you are here on earth. In the next life, you will pay for it. Make this life worth your punishment in the next. May you all die painful miserable deaths, and burn in hell for eternity!! Maybe some day God will grant me the abiltiy to forgive you, but as for now I DO NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Date:
15 Dec 2001
Time:
23:05:30
Remote User:
Comments
I haven't been on Paxil that long, just started October 4 2001. My sleep patterns are very erratic. My hands shake a lot, can't hold a cup with just one hand. Have had some weird dreams, have an uncontrollable urge to eat and have put on some weight. I am trying to wean myself off the Paxil by shaving a little bit more every day, and am down to about 15mg a day (I have been on 20 mgs. a day.) I have had some bad headaches every day. I am not looking forward to the withdrawl. I had mild depression, which I told the Dr. about. He asked me if I had a suicidal tendency and I said "no". That was the only question he asked! He said nothing else........just gave me the prescription for Paxil and that was it! Never said anything about side effects! My daughter has been on Effexor for a year, she told me about the brain "zaps" when she missed a dose. She checked out Effexor on the internet and found out about the withdrawl symptoms. I don't know for sure but it sounds like they are the same. The BEST part of this is that the psychiatrist PUT HER ON PAXIL TO GET OFF THE EFFEXOR!!!! Pretty darn STUPID if you ask me!!! I told her not to take the Paxil. Right now she is trying to get off the Effexor. All of the anti-depressants are the same.......ROTTEN!!!!

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Date:
16 Dec 2001
Time:
03:48:51
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Date:
16 Dec 2001
Time:
16:36:29
Remote User:
Comments
is anthrax considered dangerous?

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Date:
16 Dec 2001
Time:
19:32:08
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Date:
17 Dec 2001
Time:
12:51:10
Remote User:
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Date:
17 Dec 2001
Time:
21:08:46
Remote User:
Comments
I have been on Paxil for about a year now, and it seemed to be helping my depression and anxiety (although I gained about 30 pounds). However, I ran out, and I waited a few days before I called for a refil. Then the Dr. told me I would have to wait another week for an appointment. I started feeling like I was losing my mind, so I called them back and they finally called in a refil. The few days before I got my refil, I was suicidal! I was shaking all over, crying, out of my mind. On a Saturday, I called the Dr. on call, and he was no help. I told him I just needed someone to talk to, and could he see me. He laughed. He said he didn't see people on Saturday. My husband got on the phone with him, and he told my husband I was being unreasonable, and that my husband should take me to the emergency room so they could give me a tranquilizer. In the meantime, my mother called, and I got into a screaming and crying fit with her, which scared her to death (right here before Christmas). I told my husband I did not want to go to the emergency room, because I had done that before and they just sent me home and acted like nothing was wrong with me. After all this, I took a handful of Klonipin and went to sleep. I woke up three hours later feeling fine. The moral of this story is don't abruptly stop taking Paxil. If I ever want to stop taking it, I don't know what I'll do. I guess I'm chained to it for life,

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Date:
18 Dec 2001
Time:
20:30:54
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Date:
18 Dec 2001
Time:
21:41:13
Remote User:
Comments
It has been a blessing to me to read all of the comments on this site. I started Paxil a year and a half ago, for Post Tramatic Stress Syndrome. I thought this was a wonder drug. I was able to do things that i had been scared of doing after the accident. But now comes the time that i am forced to get off Paxil cold turkey due to financial problems. I just took my last pill two days ago and i feel like im in a living hell. I thought something was very wrong with me. I thought this drug had totally messed me up. But I thought this was only me until i read this site. I know it sounds crazy to be happy to hear others in hell, but it sure does make me feel normal. I am truly scared about all of these shock feelings and vertigo. I hope they go away soon. I am having to work to support my entire family. Today i had to leave work early because I felt like I was going to fall down. But now i know its normal. Each and everyones story on here has given me great hope and strength that I too can come off this drug. My only concern is how long does it take before I am me again. I am 26 years old and I am supporting my two kids and a disabled husband and I cant really afford this hell that Paxil is bringing me. I thank all of you for your stories.

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Date:
19 Dec 2001
Time:
12:35:30
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Date:
20 Dec 2001
Time:
13:30:15
Remote User:
Comments
Someone a few months ago stated that Paxil was only for chemical imbalance... well, I wasn't prescribed it for a chemical imbalance, I was prescribed it because I was so emotionally withdrawl from the world, for having been first fired for no just cause (impending layoffs) and having had the love of my life go disasterous... At no point was I strongly advised to seek counselling, I understood that Paxil was just a method to get me through the rough spots until I was able to let it go... I've been on 40mg of Paxil due to what I call panic attacks for about a year now... I'm stopping it because I don't feel it's really doing much of anything, and it costs too damn much. I've started reducing it by 10mg and will check this site over for other advice with I have 3 weeks off school here at Christmas time...

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Date:
20 Dec 2001
Time:
16:29:42
Remote User:
Comments
I have now been off Paxil for 2 weeks, and it has been a physical and emotional rollercoaster. I started having swollen glands and night sweats after an increase in my dosage. The doctor didn't think that the glands could be from the Paxil and so I have been tested for everything under the sun, including cancer... tb... every viral and bacterial infection know to man... and apparently I am as healthy as a horse. (Even though I feel TERRIBLE) So bye-bye Paxil and hello more problems. The glands and night sweats are gone, but I have constant joint pain, swollen hands (making daily life a pain, the desire to jump out of my skin, irrational thoughts, facial grimacing, twitches, the feeling of being having freezing hands (that feel warm to others), muscle cramping... nausia, haedache, dizziness, blurred vision, and I am sure that I am leaving things out. It is making it hard for me to function. Yesterday, my doctor told me that she read somewhere between Paxil and Rheumatiod conditions... so now we are exploring that route (the joint pain, etc) although I feel confident that it is just part of the withdrawl. (Which I was told I wouldn't have because I was only on 20mg.) Wrong! And if this rheumatiod link is true... I should have been warned. I may only be 27, but I have a strong history of arthritis, and spondylosis is my family and I would never have taken Paxil if I knew (and why aren't doctors informed about these things until they have a patient come in with a zillion health problems that they never had before? When I started Paxil, I was in NO mental position to make an informed decision or to research... Ugh.

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Date:
22 Dec 2001
Time:
02:51:19
Remote User:
Comments
I started taking Paxil when I was 15. I was that kid in school that everyone suspected would go homicidal at the prom. Within weeks, I became a social butterfly. Not only that, I had no fears at all. My fear of heights - gone. My fear of dogs - gone. At this point I started eating acid and snorting any pills I could get my hands on. I wasn't the same person anymore. Cut to two years later - me at age 17, now on 50 mg of Paxil. I knew something wasn't right. I quit all the drugs I was doing - including Paxil. I had the "zaps" and daily panic attacks (which I had never had before in my fucking life) for about 4 months. The withdrawal nearly killed me. I cried for hours every fucking day. I was teetering on the brink of suicide. My doctor prescribed me Klonapin and MORE FUCKING PAXIL. Like a moron, I took it. I gave in. I couldn't handle the withdrawal any longer. So now, I'm still on Paxil, though at a smaller dose (20 mg). I'm 19 now. I've been on this shit for four years. I'm still trying to ween off of it. I'm jaded, bitter, angry - I'm only 19 fucking years old! Aren't I supposed to be having the time of my life? You fuckers stole that from me. I don't know where I'd be if I'd never taken Paxil. I never will know. So what am I supposed to do? I haven't been happy since I tried to quit paxil the first time. I hope you all get what you deserve.

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Date:
24 Dec 2001
Time:
09:01:31
Remote User:
Comments
It's an outright duplicitous and unethical act to leave off withdrawal symptons off the packaging. I simply cannot fathom this decision by GSK and find it morally reprehensible and a violation - or certainly should be - of FDA rules and regulations. Just make life easier and fairer for all - place a caveat on the packaging, do the right thing. We're still going to take the drug - don't worry. At least we'll feel we're sharing our dollars with a decent vendor. Kind regards, Steve Ari@netvigator.com

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Date:
24 Dec 2001
Time:
09:02:25
Remote User:
Comments
It's an outright duplicitous and unethical act to leave details regarding withdrawal symptons off the packaging. I simply cannot fathom this decision by GSK and find it morally reprehensible and a violation - or certainly should be - of FDA rules and regulations. Just make life easier and fairer for all - place a caveat on the packaging, do the right thing. We're still going to take the drug - don't worry. At least we'll feel we're sharing our dollars with a decent vendor. Kind regards, Steve Ari@netvigator.com

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Date:
26 Dec 2001
Time:
07:45:12
Remote User:
Comments
You people at GSK know this is happening. Your site says the drug is not physically addicting. Wrong! I ran out of medication over Xmas and subsequently went through some very disturbing physical traumas. It is not mental addiction---it's physical addiction like I have never experienced before. I feel like a heroine addict. And I am angry at your lack of responsibility. If there is a class-action lawsuit in progress, I'll gladly join. DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS PROBLEM!!! Reformulate your drug, put out literature, or develop another drug to help with the withdrawal. This is crazy . . . I can't believe you have gotten away with this.

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Date:
27 Dec 2001
Time:
23:00:59
Remote User:
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Date:
27 Dec 2001
Time:
23:01:34
Remote User:
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Date:
28 Dec 2001
Time:
14:28:50
Remote User:
Comments
I had no idea what was going on.....the sensations in my head that made me sound "nut" when I tried to describe them to anyone.......even before I tried stopping this drug.....my owm doctor didn't recognize the symptoms. I have been in bed for months with these feelings, and the vertigo more than once. I have seen so many ENT specialists and until today.......was convienced that I had a "rare" form of meneirs disease. I am still coming off this horrific medication that ive been on for years and it is with tears that I write this to you. Before today, right now, I didn't know what this drug was doing to me. My poor family...the wondeful vacation it turned into a tragedy and the additional doubts it placed in my head about things I couldn't do. I'm calling to tell my doctor about this page. Thanks, Julie

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Date:
28 Dec 2001
Time:
16:44:35
Remote User:
Comments
How can any doctor in his right mind put a person suffering from fibromyalgia on PAXIL!? Is he/she a quack? Is the pharmaceutical company going nuts!? Why are they allowing doctors to put patients on PAXIL for ANYTHING!? SMITHKLINE is going to get what they've given out. I wish we could put all of these drug pushers on Paxil and watch their withdrawals televised. The day to day week to week suffering of what they put us through. Not to mention the ficticious labeling! Possible weight loss? Hahahahahahaha...Try major weight gain! Not Addictive?! Hhhahahahahahahha...try withdrawals. Think heroin addict. Good night!

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Date:
29 Dec 2001
Time:
16:00:39
Remote User:
Comments
I think you are selfish, moneygrubbing, sons of bitchs that dont care more for people than you do your quarterly bonus. I have been so sick for 3 months that I have been unable to work, lost my relationship, and tried to kill myself by slitting my wrist. I have joined in the class action law suit against you and I hope you all rot in Hell.

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Date:
29 Dec 2001
Time:
16:55:50
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Date:
30 Dec 2001
Time:
06:38:24
Remote User:
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Date:
30 Dec 2001
Time:
06:39:17
Remote User:
Comments
But paxil saved my life!!!

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Date:
30 Dec 2001
Time:
07:34:08
Remote User:
Comments
I can sympathize with everyone who has written in to this website. I am angry that a drug like Paxil could be put on the market without knowing the awful after-effects of what it does to you. After contacting SmithGlaxoKline's hotline, I must say, they have absolutely no solutions to relieve the suffering of the symptoms their drug causes. The only alternative is to go back on Paxil. That is not an option for me. The other thing that angered me is the medical community is in denial that there are any symptoms associated with Paxil withdrawal, and they tried to convince me that I was abnormal, and withdrawal symptoms are not the norm. I feel so much better after reading what everyone has gone through. I know I am not alone. I pray that we can all overcome this, and regain our health and sanity.

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Date:
30 Dec 2001
Time:
10:10:28
Remote User:
Comments
I have been on Paxil - 20mg - for 5 years now. I was put on Paxil for anxiety disorder. I was told that this drug has very few mild side effects and that they would subside in about two months. They did. Let's skip ahead to year 4. I started having the brain zaps and sweating profusely without missing a dose. If I did miss a dose, believe me I knew it within hours. I have had dizziness, muscle cramps, flu symptoms, tremor, aggression (I am not an aggressive person), ringing in my ears, I gained 50 pounds, headaches that can only be descibed as migrains,and I have barely slept in the last year. I cat nap maybe twice a day for an hour or two. If I survive getting off this drug it will be a miracle. No matter what happens to me and the others you have destroyed, you will be judged for your greed over humanity. I have lost my dream job of 5 years (i loved being a workaholic), and my friends due to this drug. I thank god for my husband who stays by me and knows that you are the problem -- NOT ME!!

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Date:
30 Dec 2001
Time:
20:46:05
Remote User:
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Date:
31 Dec 2001
Time:
01:10:06
Remote User:
Comments
I am so sad. I just happened to be on the net tonight looking for answers and I stumbled here. I thought I was going crazy. At first my doctor thought I was epileptic...taking me through a battery of tests. I have been on Paxil for a year now. If I miss my meds even one day I get the zaps. I can't remember what I am doing sometimes. I am so sad, yet so happy to know that I am not absolutely mad. I didn't know if the zaps were in my head or real. Thank you for letting me know they are real.

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Date:
01 Jan 2002
Time:
20:44:25
Remote User:
Comments
I hope they sue the pants off GSK. This has been the worse experince in my life!! The fact that htey could put this drug out and then cover up the side effects of getting off it is a crime.

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Date:
02 Jan 2002
Time:
03:41:54
Remote User:
Comments
I was placed on 20mg of Paxil 4 months ago for panic disorder. I have decided to quit the drug before I get even more addicted. Before I found this website I had quit cold turkey and 2 days after I began feeling dizzy and nausea. I took 10 mg and the symptoms went away but, I got a headache that went away after an hour or so. Since then I have been taking one 10mg tablet for the past 2 wks every 2 days. I usually start feeling dizzy on the second day. I decided to be brave and go 3 days with no paxil and go to 5mg in the morning but, as I was lying in bed, I felt a zap in my head. It scared me at first and caused me to look online to see what it was. This site really helped me to understand what was happening. Thanks! It's 3:42 a.m. and hopefully I can get some sleep soon. I'm afraid i'll get another zap if I do though. I did just take the 5mg I mentioned earlier so maybe everything will get better. I swear if my doctor told me about the shit you have to go through to get off the drug, I would have never taken it. I asked him what the side effects were and all he said was that it will make me drowsy at first but, that's it. Can you believe that. It's criminal.

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Date:
02 Jan 2002
Time:
17:36:53
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
02 Jan 2002
Time:
23:43:28
Remote User:
Comments
My doctor rescribed paxil years ago because I was sad and showing signs of a slight depression. My husband was being transferred in his job, and I really didn't want to move away from my friends and family.I shed some tears in the doctors office when telling him what was going on in my life and he immediately said I needed an antidepressant.(You got it, it was paxil!!!!) After our move to the new location, it didn't take me long to settle in to our new enviroment. Everything was going great, I had made new friends, and life was as they say a ball. I don't like taking medicine if it's not necessary, so I decided to go off paxil. I didn't feel that my depression was severe enough to justify taking an antidepressant when it was prescribed, but not realizing the conquences of getting off I took it anyway.

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Date:
03 Jan 2002
Time:
00:42:14
Remote User:
Comments
I went off Paxil about 4 months ago after being on it for 3yrs.(20mgs.) Like all the letters I've read, I suffered horrible side affects, anger, shockwaves in my head,nauseous,dizziness,and crying jags over any little thing. With lots of determination I have gotten through most of these systoms, but now I am so depressed,this is unlike anything I have ever been through in my life. I have the feeling this is also a side affect of the Paxil because this feeling is just not right. I pray to god each night to just help me get through one more day. Sometimes I wake in the night, and it just feels like I'm in the deepest,darkest pit, and my chest feels like it's going to explode with anxiety. I never felt this way before taking Paxil. Please if there is someone else out there who has been off for several months and had these sysptoms please let me know, I want to know this will pass too.

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Date:
03 Jan 2002
Time:
08:47:39
Remote User:
Comments
I'm still too angry at my doctor to rant against GSK. I visited him for very mild depression -- probably situational (stuck in a rut) and not chemical. He suggested Paxil as a wonderful drug that would help me get my spirits back up. I asked him if it was difficult to get off the drug and he told me that was one of the best things about Paxil, that you can just stop taking it and that it clears the body in just a few days. I've been on it for about eight months and recently stopped taking it. I spent this past weekend so dizzy I could barely think, feeling as if the floor kept falling out from under my feet, feeling like when I shifted my eyes it took my brain a few seconds to catch up. I was so desperate that I went back on, and now I feel fine. But I am furious that I have essentially been made an addict to a drug I probably didn't need in the first place. I want someone to pay for this.

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Date:
03 Jan 2002
Time:
14:56:48
Remote User:
Comments
The Karma police will get you sooner or later. Just remember what goes around, comes around, you money grubbing, mendacious prevaricators (lying pricks). I think everyone of you amoral examples of humanity at GSK should be required to take 40 to 60 MG of paxil for about 6 months to a year. Let's call it a Beta test. Then we will take you off of it "cold turkey" or perhaps use your recommended weaning dosage so you can personally experience the known but unpublished side effects of PAXIL. Or maybe like me you can even experience the "lack" of unknown side effects without withdrawing from your regular dosage. Just take it and it will happen. Real treat waiting to find out what the hell you are possibly dying from, while doctors scramble around trying to determine if you have a brain tumor, some other debilitating disease, fatal illness, etc. Fortunately, I am not dying. I just feel that way thanks to PAXIL. Do you have any clue ( of course you do not, nor do you care) what it is like to have an electrical machine gun going off in your head? I must admit, although rather bizarre, the trip on the dream machine is wild. As a combat vet who has managed to suppress his nightmares (memory of)for 30+ years you have brought a wonderful surreality to my life that exceeds my worst expectations and experiences in combat. Of course I have considered and composed this while perched on the porcelain throne wondering if I have the flu or terminal dysentary. I am relieved however to determine, that in all likelihood, I do not have the flu. Just withdrawal symptoms. Which, by the way, so enrages me that I want to reach out and just choke the living shit out of your CEO. (does this mean I am irritable and suffering from withdrawal or just a hypochondriac?) I attempted to write this note on some available used toilet paper (given my frame of mind, I thought this would be a suitable medium). Unfortunately, my pen was not up to the task. So I chose a bulletin board instead. It just occurred to me to wonder if there is an inbred relationship between GSK, government agency researchers and others who, for years, denied the existence of Agent Orange side effects, Persian Gulf Mystery Disorder, Atomic/Nuclear Testing Cancers, Thalidomide deformaties, Watergate, Nazi Concentration Camps, etc. If there is, then the concept of an Oedipus complex may apply in at GSK (in other words do the people at GSK have sexual realtions with their mothers?) Now if I could just remember why I am writing this note and who I am, I would compose an appropriate conclusion requesting action;a response; and sign my name. Hope you a have a PAXIL of a day. )+:<

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Date:
04 Jan 2002
Time:
16:36:26
Remote User:
Comments
Consumers should be well informed of the side effects and withdrawal symptoms of this shitty drug! I hope to see the day GSK get sued to the hilt!

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Date:
04 Jan 2002
Time:
21:27:02
Remote User:
Comments
I have taken Paxil for 6 years. I have tried to go off at least 6 times, but Withdrawls overtake my life and I get so ILL with dizziness that I cannot function normally. Being the Financial Breadwinner of my family and having a husband as well as 2 children to care for, I AM EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED! This week and I am quitting gradually - NO IFs, ANDs or BUTs. After reading information in this web site - I have the strength to not give GSK further profits.

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Date:
06 Jan 2002
Time:
22:59:05
Remote User:
Comments
What a sad state the health care system is in. I had been a przak for about 5 years. I was feeling just fine until I called the pharmacy for a refill. The pharmicist called me back a short time later to let me know that my provider, Blue Cross, would no longer pay for this!!! As with Paxil weaning yourself off of this drug should be gradual.. I contacted my doctor and he prescribed Paxil. I have been on this for about 6 months. IT IS NOT FOR ME. I had begun to lower my dosage to free myself. Dizziness, headaches, a very short temper and complete tiredness took over. To think all of this for such a short time on this drug!!! I am trying with everything I can to slowly wean off and to continue to work at the same time. I wish I could be on a disability leave from work but the Dr. says it is not justifiable! The stress of my job when feeling healthy is tremendous but at this point very overwhelming! Crying is really not my thing but it is a daily occurence at this point. GSK MUST DISCLOSE WITHDRAWAL EFFECTS TO EVERYONE CONSIDERING TREATMENT USING THIS DRUG.

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Date:
07 Jan 2002
Time:
05:45:55
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This is to SKB. I want to say personally that I am totally crazy over paxil and dont want it taken away. It saved my life from a dreadful social anxiety, so if you must do something warn people over possible withdrawls butplease dont remove the drug.I love you aropax! PS I don't mean to get at those who are unhappy because of paxil. By the way,aropax is paxils new zealand name.

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Date:
07 Jan 2002
Time:
11:33:30
Remote User:
Comments
I have been on Paxil for about the last 1.5 years and could not be happier. Prior to starting the Paxil I was on various benzos which made me drowsy and did nothin but mute my thinking. Paxil has allowed me to think more clearly and to salvage my family life and relationship with my wife. I was initially given Paxil for Panic and anxiety. It has produced benefits as promised. I did have side effects while starting it, but these dissipated after a few weeks. I understood them and stayed with the medication because I was under the care of responsibe knowledgeable doctors and I sought out information and asked questions. It seems to me that many of the rant on this page come from people with either severe problems that are not treatable with Paxil, people who against doctor's advice and common sense quit Paxil cold-turkey, or blame Paxil for ills it is not responsible for. Has anyone ever heard of Scientific Method? You need to try to control your variables. Also consider what problems existed pre-Paxil and whyh you are taking it in the first place. This drug is very powerful and should be respected for what it can do. Frankly I think the insulin analogy is appropriate and accurate. I plan on staying "addicted to Paxil" for life. Sorry if you folks are having problems but use a little common sense to determine if your placing blame in the right place. And please follow the appropriate advice on how to quit if you choose to do so. Good Luck.

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Date:
07 Jan 2002
Time:
15:57:37
Remote User:
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I'm very confused on why I was put on Paxil. I was first put on it by my doctor(a gastro-esophogeal reflux specialist) in 1997. I never thought about why I was put on Paxil. I didn't know what it was or how it was going to help my reflux. Now I'm dependant on it and still am clueless why I was put on Paxil for a stomach problem.

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Date:
08 Jan 2002
Time:
02:12:54
Remote User:
Comments
I am a 31 year old woman who was in generally good health. I suffered some depression adn slight anxiety. I went to several doctors to try and get a good therapist, but they all recommened I go on Paxil. I tried to explain that my overall depression was due to the fact that I am a single mom and a full time graduate student. Well, apparently doctors just love to medicate. I tried the Paxil adn after 6 months of no sex drive, sheer lethargy and the inability to cry over Sept. 11th I recently decided to stop taking this heinous drug. Now I suffer from the nasty withdrawal symptoms. WHy, you ask and I up so late writing this? Because during one of my night terrors I thought my bedroom was on fire. I have suffered from nearly all the withdrawal side effects mentioned on this site. I cannot believe tha tthe doctors prescribe this garbage. I am lucky to have found this site to preserve what sanity I may have left after this bout of withdrawals. I am sicker than I have ever been in my whole life and it is due to Paxil. The word "evil" pops into my mind when I think of Paxil. I hope I survive the withdrawals and pray that this drug gets taken off the market or at least comes with a warning!!!!!! I wish I never met Paxil....I feel like crap.......and it sucks!

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Date:
08 Jan 2002
Time:
11:23:07
Remote User:
Comments
Little Blue Pill, down my throat, another day of feeding my addiction. I was not an addict before the Little Blue Pill. I had a great life, happy care free, normal. Something in me snapped and I went to see the Man who gets paid lots of money for listening to me, Oh I know what you need, he says. Welcome to the Little Blue Pill. Sound familier? yes I know it does, and you at one time too felt that you were the only one on the planet with this addiction. Welcome home. I have been eating that Little Blue Pill for 7 years now, wow can you imagine how many of those I have swallowed, I have never thought to count them, perhaps because some months they were not Blue they were Pink and even Green. Then came the day when I had to decide, was it worth it all, I had no sex drive for 7 years and being a married woman, with a healthy husband I thought that I should get off these , I had known for a long time that these pills were what was causing the decreased to zero level of sex drive. I talked to the Man who gets paid lots of money again. Hey well you sure about this he said, Yes I am sure , well we have to *wean* you off the Blue Pill and onto another one. OH GREAT!! this should be cool . COOL!! Oh My God........ when I think of God I envision Heaven, and here I was about to enter HELL. So I started the downhill journey into hell. WHY? was I crying all the time, at work I spent more days in the FRIDGE than on the floor serving. WHOA who put booze in my water? only it was not booze was it? no it was that feeling of being DRUNK staggering, light headed,sick to my stomach, I call this the SOBER DRUNK. STOP THE WORLD I WANT TO GET OFF. That was the worse, the NOISES in my ears, my EYES can not focus WHOOSH WHOOSH , what the HELL is going on here???? DON'T TALK TO ME??? LEAVE ME ALONE. Day after day after day , into weeks , OH GOD HELP ME.... Ring Ring... Hello.. I had to call that man again, HELP ME I screamed at him, he said, How are you doing switching. My answer... If I had a GUN right now, I would blow my head off, be done with this rotton stinking world. Oh we cant have that , would you like to go into Hospital for a few days? NO NO NO NO ... I just want this HELL to stop., He tells me , I think you better go pack on the PAXIL oh oh I just said that word, well I did, and within ONE DAY, I felt so much better. Oh welcome home my little BLUE PILL. The sad thing now is, after 6 months of being back on the damn thing, I STILL have trouble with vertigo and those white noises in my head. I dont want to talk to people, I would rather be alone than face the world. I was NOT DEPRESSED before this PILL but now I suffer from Depression. Well I will close this now, I could go on forever, but there are thousands of others waiting in line to have their say as well. I will survive, dont you worry about me. Oh i seen a darling straight jacket in the window the other day, wonder if they have it in my size. I will survive, pluck my eyes out why dont you, perhaps being blind would put an end to the vertigo... Cut off my ears, so i no longer can hear that noise day in and day out, I will survive. Was that a sale on Wheelchairs that I seen in town the other day, I am sure that they have a racey one I will use when I no longer can walk UPRIGHT for FEAR of falling into the PITS OF HELL. But don't you even worry you lovely people who MADE this wonderful drug.. I WILL SURVIVE... But dear GSK... the question is now. WILL YOU??????????

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Date:
09 Jan 2002
Time:
13:55:45
Remote User:
Comments
I started taking Paxil around two and a half years ago to help relieve migrain headaches and extreme stress. Everything was going along fine for about a year. I started to get the headaches again, along with much irritability and many of the the same overwhelming feelings of stress that led me to seek treatment to begin with, so I gradually started to reduce my Paxil by taking 30 mg every other day. Sometimes I would go longer than one day. I had the symptoms of electric shock...like I couldn't move my head or eyes from side to side without a "feeling" that was hard to describe, dizziness, extreme nausea, derealization to the point of noticeable to my friends and family. Derealization and panic attack to the point of utmost extreme (i was driving in my car, having a panic attack in which I felt to be "outside" of myself and a real, literal demon in the car with me. Someone mentioned on the board about music getting abnormally stuck in their heads...well, the song "highway to hell" was playing while I was in the car having this panic attack, and I literally perceived myself to be in HELL. I also crashed my car that night, totalled it to the point of the state trooper saying that he expected to be scraping pieces of me from the inside of the car. They thought I was on serious drugs; toxicology was clean. They asked me about medication. I told them Paxil. "How often do you take it?" "When I remember it." Is what I said. I was at that point, about a month into my "withdrawel" and only took it when the physical symptoms became unbearable as taking the pill seemed to have a quick effect on the symptoms subsiding. I am very lucky to be alive and I do attribute my crash to the effects of withdrawing from this medication. I was barely scathed, the result of an absolute miracle because my car was totalled irrecognizably and the jaws of life had to pry me out. I went through terrible bouts of rage and anger in the weeks following the crash; my family and friends thought I had a "psychotic" episode. I have NEVER had anything like this happen to me before I took Paxil. Never. After the crash, I became pregnant. I was completely off of the Paxil, but still had "music sticking in my head" at times, as well as other sounds, like electronics. I would get a "rythym" stuck in my head from the dishwasher! LOL! This was the most noticable to me with the electronics in the room with me after the birth of my daughter. It creeped me out so bad that I was afraid to go to sleep. Getting the "whirrings" of the machinery stuck in my head?! I thought they were "demonic pulses" or something equally irrational. (and have not attributed them to ill-effects from paxil because I had been off of the med. for so long, BUT nothing like this ever happened to me before I started the drug. So, I start having extreme stress and headaches again within the past year and I go to my doctor who wants to put me back on Paxil. And I start taking it again, like a dumbass. Now I'm on it. I wondered back at the time of the accident and my bizarre irrational behavior if it could have had something to do with Paxil. A lot of people said it was possible, but I couldn't find anything for sure. Until I read this site. Now I KNOW that what has been happening to me is a result of the Paxil. And I want to know what to do about it. What is it DOING to the brain that causes all of these symptoms in so many people? What is it about discontinuing the drug that almost drives people crazy??? I don't want to take it anymore, but I'm terrifed to stop taking for fear that I will go crazy or end up dead for real this time. This is no joke. What I have experienced, as well as the experiences of the others who have posted here is just absolutey sickening and I want to know how something like this CAN happen?!! How does a drug get on the market when it causes so many ill-effects in so many people? Wasn't it researched ahead of time? Didn't anyone know that this was a possibility? And, if they did know, why on EARTH would they want to ignore it? Oh my God..and I just read of someone saying that it makes your brain bleed. This better not be true. This just absolutely better not even be true. I have been "terrified" of an aneurysm since these headaches have been getting so severe. My grandmother died from one. This is just too much. Getting OFF of this drug is the problem. The symptoms linger for so long. Who knows WHAT is being done to the brains of people taking this medication.

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Date:
09 Jan 2002
Time:
20:51:21
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Date:
09 Jan 2002
Time:
20:51:46
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Date:
10 Jan 2002
Time:
01:20:51
Remote User:
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(in response to person on paxil for stomach problems) I was also prescribed paxil by a stomach specialist. I think the reasoning is that a lot of g.i. problems, i.e. reflux, crohn's disease (what I have) are exacerbated by stress and worry which an anti-depressant would suppossedly help. but nowdays, they are writing it for almost anything!

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Date:
10 Jan 2002
Time:
22:13:01
Remote User:
Comments
To the "paxil for life addict": We should be the ones wishing you good luck. If you choose to do any research on this drug, you will find that as the seritonin levels in your brain rise, the chemical to metabolize it will lower. I don't think that people should be careless when they choose to quit, but someday you may get to a point where you understand the urgency of those who stop cold trukey.

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Date:
10 Jan 2002
Time:
22:14:46
Remote User:
Comments
To the "paxil for life addict": We should be the ones wishing you good luck. If you choose to do any research on this drug, you will find that as the seritonin levels in your brain rise, the chemical to metabolize it will lower. I don't think that people should be careless when they choose to quit, but someday you may get to a point where you understand the urgency of those who stop cold trukey.

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Date:
11 Jan 2002
Time:
14:40:22
Remote User:
Comments
WOW! (perhaps that word should be an acronym for 'What Obvious Wars' people have faced since attempting to go off of this drug.)By now, you'd think it would be obvious to health practicioneers what hell this pill brings. I began on 10mgs two days ago, after back-to back appointments with both a Clinal Psych and my Therapist. When I told my 'T' that the 'CP' had prescribed Paxil, he smiled robustly. "I'm excited," he said. You'd think we'd co-owned a winning PowerBall ticket. I wonder how excited the CP and T will be when I hand them testimonials meted from this website. Thank You all sincerely! My heartfelt prayers are with you. I'm dropping this sh** in leu of a more sane approach to depression. Brutal workouts at the healthclub!! Incidentally, I've used Creatine Monohydrate several times in the last six years. Other than increased strength/stamina, I've never experienced side effects or health problems. Yet it amazes me how med professionals & main stream Physical Therapists condemn Creatine use by fitness buffs and weight trainees. My shrink scorns "performance-enhancing" supps also. But alas, he's plenty "excited" to hear of my prescription to Paxil. I hope he's just as excited to read of your experiences. Thank you all again and God Bless! fsnfe@hotmail.com

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Date:
11 Jan 2002
Time:
22:04:35
Remote User:
Comments
As A heavy drug user for many years, and I mean (all drugs) legal and illegal. I stopped being a drug addict about 2 years ago. Needless to say I became very anxious and depressed wheni was actually able to analyse my life or waste of... In came Seroxat/paxil 40mg for over a year. Life was starting to feel pretty good then I decided to come off them. Well all i can say is that this drug should have a serious warning to all people considering using it. Of all the drugs I have used Coke, heroin, speed, uppers, downers, etc. None of them had anywhere near the nasty withdrawl symptoms as paxil. the dreams, vertigo, zaps, terror dreams, sweating, out of body experince feelings, confusion, insomnia, and the list goes on. the only one that was half as bad was heroin. But let me tell you it was a lot easier than Paxil. Paxil is by far the most powerful drug I have ever taken. Anything that messes with your head that much is serious sh#t. I really feel sorry for people that are prescribed Paxil without the slightest idea of how terrible and difficult it will be to come off them. The doctors dont know either. Ok, I am off them now (6 weeks) and I am beginning to feel better. yes, I have some of the same anxiety feelings I had before i went on Paxil, and I do admit the drug helped me a lot. But i really hope I do not have to see another Paxil pill in my lifetime. Good luck to all of you

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Date:
12 Jan 2002
Time:
22:17:12
Remote User:
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I went to my family doctor after feeling like I was losing my battle with panic attacks.I was 24 at the time, and I was desperate for a normal life again. Little did I know , but Paxil forcecs people to get used to a new, very distorted kind of normal. My doc told me that I might feel a little weird for the first few weeks, but she should have said that weird really means nauseous. I got over that quickly enough and the panic stopped. I was so glad to not be afraid anymore. I really think my doc beleived she was truthful when she said Paxil was not addictive. I also did a little research myself before I started taking it. I never saw or heard any info about withdrawal, so I felt reasonably secure taking this drug. Let me tell you, I have been addicted to some hard drugs in my life, and withdrawal is very unpleasant, but I would rather go through cocaine withdrawals again than have to suffer like I suffer now. This is the second time I have tried to stop taking Paxil, and I am more determined this time. I wish that made it easier, but the truth is, I'm barely holding on to my sanity. It makes me even more sick to think that GSK knew about this hell, and didn't ( and hasn't) put the info out there. My life is a total wreck, all becuase I tried to get some help for a problem that seems really insignificant compared to what I'm going through now.My poor fiance has already had to deal with a year and a half of my complete lack of sex drive, the thirty pounds I gained, and my total lack of any kind of emotion. Now he is struggling to deal with this withdrawal bullshit. I haven't slept at night in a week. My motor skills are progressively getting worse each day. My head is sloshy and dizzy, and I'm in a rotten mood. GSK needs to pay for what that have done to everyone I've encountered one this site, and the countless others who don't yet know about the damage that GSK is doing every day. I want to cry when I think about being cinned into turning my life to shit. Christie

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Date:
12 Jan 2002
Time:
23:45:59
Remote User:
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I am so angry at GSK and my doctor. I have been on Paxil 40mg for the last 2yrs to treat Mild depression, aniety and chronic neck pain. At no time while I was taking this medication was I warned about the side effects or withdrawl symptoms. It worked fairly well for the first 11/2, but then I began to feel more depressed than I did before I started taking it. Not knowing I quite cold turkey. Boy was that ever the mistake of my lofe, by the second day I thought I was gioing to die. I had shooting pains in my hands and feet, diarrea, extreme mood swings, heart palpitations, headache. I called my doctor and told him abooout this and he did not seem to think that it was the Paxil that would give me this extreme side effects. I was so scared I began taking it again. I went to him again this week and told him that there are many people experenceing the same withdrawl symptoms as I did and that GSK was negligent is warning people about the addiction potential and side effects. Well he did not go for this and said no it is in no way addictive or people would be selling it on the streets(What an idiot) He then told me the reason that my depression had increased was that I am not on the theraputic dose of 60mgs and prescribed me that. I am going to a different that will help me to get off of the evil drug. GSK needs to take responsability of the lives that they have ruined.

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Date:
13 Jan 2002
Time:
12:55:40
Remote User:
Comments
When I first started taking Paxil 3 years ago for severe panic attacks, it worked so well that I wanted to marry it's inventor and have his children. Now I sit, 3 years and FIFTY plus pounds heavier than I was when I started taking the evil yellow pill. No one...not a doctor, pharmacist, etc. even knew about the possibility of unexplained weight gain associated with this drug. And I was only on 10 mgs! It horrifies me to think what would have happened to me if I had been on a higher dosage. I quit cold turkey right before Christmas because I felt that I was taking a med that I no longer needed. About 3 days after taking it, I began experiencing some odd things. I was suddenly so dizzy that I could barely lift my head,I was crying for no reason,had violent diarrhea and episodes of extreme nausea. I found all this stuff out after the fact, but it all makes sense now. I AM PISSED OFF! Hang in there everyone. And good luck to you all.

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Date:
13 Jan 2002
Time:
12:56:03
Remote User:
Comments
When I first started taking Paxil 3 years ago for severe panic attacks, it worked so well that I wanted to marry it's inventor and have his children. Now I sit, 3 years and FIFTY plus pounds heavier than I was when I started taking the evil yellow pill. No one...not a doctor, pharmacist, etc. even knew about the possibility of unexplained weight gain associated with this drug. And I was only on 10 mgs! It horrifies me to think what would have happened to me if I had been on a higher dosage. I quit cold turkey right before Christmas because I felt that I was taking a med that I no longer needed. About 3 days after taking it, I began experiencing some odd things. I was suddenly so dizzy that I could barely lift my head,I was crying for no reason,had violent diarrhea and episodes of extreme nausea. I found all this stuff out after the fact, but it all makes sense now. I AM PISSED OFF! Hang in there everyone. And good luck to you all.

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Date:
14 Jan 2002
Time:
10:28:09
Remote User:
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I recently tried to go off Paxil due to losing my job and not being able to pay for any extra drugs. I have fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis, and the Paxil has helped with the pain of the fibromyalgia immensely. However, I had been experiencing some side effects while on the drug, that were uncomfortable, and my doctor told me they had nothing to do with the drug. I cut down the dosage slowly, and felt okay, nothing I couldn't handle at first. After being off the drug completely for two days, I felt the electrical sounds in my head when I moved my eyes. That was weird, but tolerable. I felt okay most of the time, sad a lot, cried easily, but did not feel depressed. However, after about two weeks of being off the Paxil, I became more and more depressed, the pain of the fibromyalgia became overwhelming, until I could barely get out of bed, much less function as a human being. I started experiencing a rage that I have never felt in my life, and was screaming at my loved ones, and crying intermittently. I used foul language, and couldn't decide whether to kill everything around me, or just kill myself. Killing myself sounded easier, and I started looking for drugs around the house that I could combine. But I hurt so bad, that I couldn't imagine even opening the bottles. Any movement was excruciating. AFter losing it after our yard sale, and screaming at my significant other, with my son listening in, I realized I had to do something, and went back on the Paxil. I had almost immediate relief, and am now functioning as normally as I was before I took the drug holiday. I just wish that I could have known that not taking this drug was going to affect me like this. Either I need it this badly, or I am just a wimp, and can't get past the withdrawal. Whatever, I'm still taking it, and trying to find a way to pay for it. Nothing like being addicted to something that actually helps you feel better. The fear of the pain coming back, and going through that dark rage again, is something I will have to think about for a long time before I try to stop this drug again. Judy M.

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Date:
14 Jan 2002
Time:
10:47:58
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Date:
14 Jan 2002
Time:
12:06:27
Remote User:
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I want my life back!!! I'm down from 20 mg to 5 mg/day and don't know how to go down further. My head has a tornado inside at all times, and I feel I could faint at any moment. The vivid dreams make me not want to go to sleep. I've put on 10 pounds in a year and they won't go away. The help I got with my situational depression by taking this drug is NOT worth the lethargy/fatigue, total loss of libido, and weight gain. And CERTAINLY not worth what I'm going through trying to get off it!!!

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Date:
15 Jan 2002
Time:
05:08:10
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Date:
16 Jan 2002
Time:
12:55:20
Remote User:
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I just cannot believe this drug is still being prescribed - I just cannot believe people are still having their lives and sanity destroyed by this Death in a Bottle. I am 6 weeks pregnant and have spent the last week terrified that my baby was ectopic due to the searing stomach cramps and unbearable vertigo I have been suffering since stopping this drug 6 days ago. I get SOOO angry with people for the slightest thing - to the point I have to walk away or I am afraid I will become violent towards them. The electric zaps in my head make me feel like I am watching a movie, that I am not really there. I hope you Fat Cats at GSK are sued for every penny you have. You should rot in prison for the rest of your miserable lives.

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Date:
17 Jan 2002
Time:
13:38:47
Remote User:
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To GSK I want to know what the zaps really are, the electic shocks most withdrawers experince and I wanna know now!!!!

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Date:
18 Jan 2002
Time:
04:11:05
Remote User:
Comments
I was on 20mg daily for 18 months. Luckily for me, I kicked in about ten days. I was laid off recently, which gave me a chance to recuperate without worrying about just when I might be ready for society again. Funny how seemingly undesirable events turn into golden opportunities, eh? My key to success was nothing more than understanding that I was stronger than the medication, and that no amount of malaise now could take away the rest of my (clean) life from me later. I drank *lots* of water, took a multivitamin, and slept as much as I could, sometimes up to 18 hours in a 24-hour period. So take some time off, keep your water cup full, and when in doubt, try to rest -- I always felt much better after sleep. Most importantly, don't forget that the little pink pill can't possibly get the best of you, if only you remember to stick to plan, even in the face of abominable side-effects. Getting clean is worth it. If you're still depressed, anxious, &c. afterwards, then of course you should continue treatment -- perhaps a different med regime, or something else entirely. Don't let some lazy and / or misinformed healthcare "professional" tell you what you know isn't true. I just don't see where SSRI's have been proven safe and effective. I saw a Luvox ad on TV last night, where happy cartoon flowers promise you that SSRI's are "not habit forming". If you really, really want to get well, do what I did -- take ownership of your case, and don't give it up. Hey, it can be fun. As for Glaxo? Well, their new FDA disclaimer as of 1/14/2002 impresses me like not at all. It mostly says "our miracle-drug didn't do it" and "we're only including this cos Uncle Sucker says we have to". You can feel the contempt and derision oozing out of this very-compromised "warning". I'm not customarily the litigious type, I like to hail my own taxicabs. That being the case, I hope that Schiavo and co. gain class-action status on their Federal lawsuit, so I can join in and help shake GSK down to the foundations. There exists *no* excuse for GSK neglecting to disclose what we all know now. One more thing, folks -- while medical types usually mean well, I find it depressing just how much more a layman like me can learn about my own diagnosis, medications, contraindications, &c. than they know (or at least are willing to admit). While docs are valuable, don't let them run you. If you want to get well, you simply must take charge of your own case. You don't have to be a medical genius to read the fine print, search with Google, &c. until you put the puzzle-pieces together. It wasn't long at all before I discovered things that doctors and other Hoodoo-men weren't clued in to. My doc is a psych. and chemistry researcher, and is widely regarded as one of the preeminent practitioners in my state. We paid him cash out of pocket. Even so, he still didn't see fit to answer my questions about side-effects and withdrawal symptoms honestly. You can only trust medico's so much, folks! Anyways, that's enough rant for now. I'm clean, and the world just better be ready. I jokingly tell my friends that I'm New and Improved, Now With 20% More Sass-back. =-) Don't give up, you *can* get clean. All I need now in the way of happy-pills is an occasional dose of bittersweet chocolate. Peace out...

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Date:
18 Jan 2002
Time:
04:20:24
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I was on 20mg daily for 18 months. Luckily for me, I kicked in about ten days. I was laid off recently, which gave me a chance to recuperate without worrying about just when I might be ready for society again. Funny how seemingly undesirable events turn into golden opportunities, eh? My key to success was nothing more than understanding that I was stronger than the medication, and that no amount of malaise now could take away the rest of my (clean) life from me later. I drank *lots* of water, took a multivitamin, and slept as much as I could, sometimes up to 18 hours in a 24-hour period. So take some time off, keep your water cup full, and when in doubt, try to rest -- I always felt much better after sleep. Most importantly, don't forget that the little pink pill can't possibly get the best of you, if only you remember to stick to plan, even in the face of abominable side-effects. Getting clean is worth it. If you're still depressed, anxious, &c. afterwards, then of course you should continue treatment -- perhaps a different med regime, or something else entirely. Don't let some lazy and / or misinformed healthcare "professional" tell you what you know isn't true. I just don't see where SSRI's have been proven safe and effective. I saw a Luvox ad on TV last night, where happy cartoon flowers promise you that SSRI's are "not habit forming". If you really, really want to get well, do what I did -- take ownership of your case, and don't give it up. Hey, it can be fun. As for Glaxo? Well, their new FDA disclaimer as of 1/14/2002 impresses me like not at all. It mostly says "our miracle-drug didn't do it" and "we're only including this cos Uncle Sucker says we have to". You can feel the contempt and derision oozing out of this very-compromised "warning". I'm not customarily the litigious type, I like to hail my own taxicabs. That being the case, I hope that Schiavo and co. gain class-action status on their Federal lawsuit, so I can join in and help shake GSK down to the foundations. There exists *no* excuse for GSK neglecting to disclose what we all know now. One more thing, folks -- while medical types usually mean well, I find it depressing just how much more a layman like me can learn about my own diagnosis, medications, contraindications, &c. than they know (or at least are willing to admit). While docs are valuable, you run _them_, not vice versa. If you want to get well, you simply must take charge of your own case. You don't have to be a medical genius to read the fine print, search with Google, &c. until you put the puzzle-pieces together. It wasn't long at all before I discovered things that doctors and other Hoodoo-men weren't clued in to. My doc is a psych. researcher (chemistry too), and is regarded as one of the preeminent practitioners in my state. We paid him cash out of pocket. Even so, he still didn't see fit to answer my questions about side-effects and withdrawal symptoms honestly. You can only trust medico's so far, folks! Anyways, that's enough rant for now. I'm clean, and the world just better be ready. I jokingly tell my friends that I'm New and Improved, Now With 20% More Sass-back. =-) Don't give up, you *can* get clean. All I need now in the way of happy-pills is an occasional dose of bittersweet chocolate. I'm pulling for you all... Peace out. =-)

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Date:
19 Jan 2002
Time:
01:13:37
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Is anyone here

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Date:
19 Jan 2002
Time:
01:14:08
Remote User:
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Is anyone here I don't get it. I am not bothered by anything.

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Date:
23 Jan 2002
Time:
10:46:29
Remote User:
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I just want to say that I recently found out that I was pregnant, and of course all my doctors reactions were to discontinue the drug immediatly. Ya much easier said than done. Work is hell for me. I go in and cry from the minute I get there. I call my boyfriend 15 times asking him if he can come pick me up because I feel like hell. I have the zaps, and the confusion which are most bothersome to me right now. I thought that all this weird things happening to me were a result of my pregnancy, but I have realized that it's the Paxil. I wish that I would have been told by my doctor that going off of Paxil is horrible, and painful. Maybe I would have second guessed the decision to fill my prescriptions. I wish I could get on the phone, and call someone and just yell and scream about how unfair this is, and how terrible I feel, but I can't there is noone to call. Noone to listen. They just take your money and don't give a fuck what happens to you when its over. The only thing that is getting me through right now is that I'm doing this for my baby. So she won't come out addicted. I JUST HOPE THAT THIS STOPS SOON>

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Date:
23 Jan 2002
Time:
20:23:29
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Date:
23 Jan 2002
Time:
23:21:24
Remote User:
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I believe my doctor meant well putting me on Paxil as the Xanax was considered unsafe for long term control of panic disorder. My "panic" disorder was more like a dreamlike feeling that for a while struck at the same time each day (9:30 AM). I had a more "classic" attack (my first) six months earlier where I was absolutely certain I was having a heart attack (chest pain into my throte; I spent a night in ER). After extensive heart testing, blood tests and a treadmill stress test everything was perfect - a nurse there finally figured out it might be panic disorder (I'd never heard of such a rediculous condition but it seemed to fit after reading the literature). Xanax was used, it worked and then I got hooked on the sleep inducing effects of the drug and continued to take it (3mg) even without panic until it ran out. When the dreamlike feeling returned several months later it kept getting worse until I had a panic attack that lasted twelve hours. That's when the doctor put me on Paxil. 10mg didn't do anything but when I went to 20mg I had only one more panic attack and have not had one since (2 months). After being raised to 30mg (got the prescription but never filled it) I decided on my own to quit the crutch and that is where my rant comes in. NO ONE TOLD ME there would be any withdrawal symptoms! For the first two days I felt fine, then I got severe nausea that lasted a day and a half and then the electric shocks with movement. Horrific vivid dreams, insomnia and night sweats came as well. Since I am getting old (45) I thought it was just "the change in life". I'm in my eighth day of no Paxil and getting a lot of electric shocks but fine otherwise (memory, ability to work hard under pressure and speech are normal). The bottom line is these symptoms are for real and EVERYONE should be told ahead of time that there could be a price to pay for using this drug! Paxil does the job but BEWARE the consequences if you decide to quit. By the way, I made the decision to quit on my own without consluting a doctor thinking "no big deal". THANK YOU for this website as I just found out today (after 8 days) what's really going on!

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Date:
24 Jan 2002
Time:
00:19:58
Remote User:
Comments
Not only has Paxil caused me intense physical distress, but it has completely killed my sex drive. If you think this is not a big deal, you are wrong. I'm not a freaking sex-maniac, but I would like to enjoy the occasional intimacy with my new husband, just like any normal person. I used to have a libido, I just can't find it anymore with all this vertigo and dry heaving going on. I'm SO GLAD I found other people out there who are suffering as well; I think that if we keep sharing our voices, somebody will hear us sooner or later, and we will be compensated. We go to our doctors, trusting them to care for us, and take their prescriptions for the same reason. We pay for these drugs, a lot of us without insurance, shelling out $80 a month that could be going toward groceries or a car payment or a pair of new shoes, for God's sake, and then we end up sick as dogs, with our brain chemistry all messed up. HELLO! GSK, do some research. The jig is up.

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Date:
24 Jan 2002
Time:
00:42:11
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Date:
24 Jan 2002
Time:
00:42:38
Remote User:
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Oh I forgot something....GSK you bunch of moronic assholes.

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Date:
24 Jan 2002
Time:
12:45:31
Remote User:
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It is difficult to rant - I'm too depressed. I'd been taking 30mg of Paxil for about 21/2 yrs, for anxiety and depression, and have had a lot of psychotherapy. This past year of my life has been great: I was going to the gym regularly, had tons of energy at work and home, so I decided it was time to try to get off. I began reducing Nov 20 - 2 months ago! - by 10 mg - amnd remember, I was only taking 30 mg. I was getting a little dizzy but that's all. Last week I went from 10 to 0 and it has been just horrible! It's hard to express how bad - I've been in bed for 5 days with NO energy to move, severe nausia so I'm not eating, my brain feels like ...I don't know...like you might feel after a brain transplant, bruised and sore. I can't work and I am soooooo angry that a drug company is profiting from selling such a dangerous thing. If wish I could join that class action suit here in Canada. By the way, I have failed to get off - I started taking 5 mg just to survive this. I was in tears looking at the pill on the counter, resisting with all my heart and soul, but knowing I had to take it so I could wean myself on liquid Paxil, 1 mg at time. Can't see the end of this and am too depressed to try.

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Date:
25 Jan 2002
Time:
07:12:32
Remote User:
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The neg. effects from taking seroxat has ruined almost two years of my life. I was put on seroxat by my gp after I was in a severe car crash and subsequently started having panic attacks. I didn't feel that seroxat was actually helping me infact making me feel worse but this is difficult to measure. I tried x3 time to withdraw. The first time weening off came the elec. shocks I just didn't know what was happening to me. My joints were in so much pain that I was bed ridden for days. One day I tried to get on with my life and could harly walk. I wqas taken to hospital on an emergency call-out by my partner. Once in hospital they gave me 10mg of Diazepam(Valium) which calmed me down. The Dr. told me to go back on seroxat and within 4hrs. I was 'normal' again!! I tried a few weeks later to withdraw again by weening down over a matter of weeks the same sympons were happening. I went to see my gp and when he saw what state I was in he ordered me to go to A&E straight away. I did and again they told me to go back on seroxat. However, this time I had a lengthy talk with a Dr. who expalined to me that these SSRI's are causing me my problems but unfortunatley didn't have any answer for me as there has not been enough research done by the manufacturer before putting them on the market. I took another tablet and within a couple of hours I was fine again. AND THEY SAY THESE ARE NOT ADDICTIVE - BULL SHIT!!!! YOU TAKE THEM FOR OVER A YEAR THEM TRY AND COME OFF THEM!!!! I thought to myself there is no way I am going to let these bastards rule my life. So I went cold turkey on the 15th June,2001. I went to hell and have now come back 7 months later!!!! My sex drive has still not come but Dr's insist it is nothing to do with Seroxat and BOLLOCKS to that also. I know my own body. I know that paroxetine effects your sex drive. WHY WON@T YOU HELP AND ADMIT YOUR CUSTOMERS!!!! YOU OWE A DUTY OF CARE TO PEOPLE WHO ARE SUFFERING OR HAVE SUFFERED BECAUSE YOU WANTED/ARE MAKING MILLIONS IN REVENUE FROM THIS EVIL PRODUCT. WHAT DO YOU CARROT DANGLE TO YOUR REPS. SORRY I MEAN GP'S. WHY CAN YOU NOT RESEARCH NATRUAL SUBSTANCES IS IT BECAUSE YOU WON'T MAKE ENOUGH MONEY.LETS FACE IT YOU KNOW THIS PRODUCT IS GOING TO GET SMITH KLINE BEECHAM INTO SOME REAL SHIT. SO ADMIT YOUR FAILINGS COMPENSATE THE SUFFERERS AND TAKE THIS PRODUCT OFF THE MARKET BEFORE IT DOES ANYMORE DAMAGE TO INNOCENT PEOPLE.

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Date:
25 Jan 2002
Time:
08:16:03
Remote User:
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Effexor: Of the anti-depressants, Effexor (venlafaxine) can also be bad for its withdrawal syndrome. In my experience, i had severe flu-like symptoms, abdominal cramps and the "electric-like" sensations in my head. (Another friend -a psychiatrist!- also had these withdrawal symptoms with Effexor.) I've also found Prozac (fluoxetine) is nasty for those "depersonalization" sensations. (eg. "feeling that head is disconnected from body") Good luck to all of you. (And thanks for doing the CBC stuff.)

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Date:
25 Jan 2002
Time:
08:47:27
Remote User:
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40 y/o male here. I was on Paxil for two years, varying dosages, averaging 20mg. I felt like a zombie and can't really say it cured or helped my depression. At first I did feel more cheerful but over the long run it just made me lethargic and emotionally numb. I gained weight. I lost the ability to have an erection. I would have intense dreams at times waking up screaming and yelling. I experienced zaps (mini-blackout, electric shock-like sensation through my head), vertigo, dizziness. All this before quitting. After two years of this I had enough. I felt my life was going by without me in it. I quit on my own in November 2001. Then the withdrawal started. More zaps/dizziness/anxiety. Intense irritability, nervousness, suicidal thoughts. And while my sex drive did return shortly after stopping the drug, after about a week it subsided again. After several weeks of this I went back to my doctor and he put me on Zoloft. The irritability has subsided and I don't seem as zombified as with Paxil but I still wonder if I can ever get off taking some kind of drug. My sex drive is still zero. Anybody know if Zoloft is any easier to get off? To anyone who has been presecribed Paxil and wondering whether or not to take it - my advice - stay the hell away from it!!!!

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Date:
25 Jan 2002
Time:
08:52:21
Remote User:
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Hello, I withdrew from Paxil in teh fall and it was a horrible experience-I was afraid to go to sllep at night because fo the nightmares! I had flulike symptoms-aches,pains nausea;the smell of the Thanksgiving trkey made me so sick,I thought I might never agin be able to stand turkey! Smell bothered me terribly, I felt uncoordinated.sick and scared. I didn't know how long this would last-it lasted about three and a half weeks-and I prayed to be able to withstand the symptoms and not have to go back on it again. It was a HORRIBLE experince-I would never have taken it if I had known there would be withdrawal symptoms-people should be warned!

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Date:
25 Jan 2002
Time:
23:19:26
Remote User:
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This is my second round with withdrawal, ran out of pills on sunday, by wednesday I was getting the electrical shocks, anger, fear panic and feeling like crap. I have gone through withdrawal with booze (a 15 year habit), (speed a 4 year habit) and valium (a 6 year habit) many years ago. PAXIL takes the cake like a real bad acid trip that lasts and lasts and lasts kinda like the energizer bunny with the electrical current and all. The pharmitsist was nice enough to loan me 7, 20MG pills untill I get paid on the 31st. Within 3 hours I was back to normal. What a racket, heroin is illegal so we will sell them Paxil. Complete bastards

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Date:
26 Jan 2002
Time:
04:00:51
Remote User:
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HI. I'm back. It's been 15 days with no Paxil, and I can't say things are any better. The brain zaps are a little more sporadic, thank god, but I guess Paxil has counterbalanced that with fits of intense depression. I have never had a problem with depression, but today I cried at the bank, in my car, in my living room, at my mother-in-law's house, in the car again, and now, at three am, I'm crying again. I just want GSK to know that for every tear I shed, That's one more day those bastards can spend in hell.

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Date:
26 Jan 2002
Time:
15:43:54
Remote User:
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Here's someone from The Netherlands who didn't know he would have to cope with this... It was only until today that I discovered what was causing my dizziness en extreme headaches. Furthermore I've cried six times this day on the craziest ocassions. Supposed normal things like rain and wind really annoyed me today, I've found myself being very angry because of reasons which normally wouldn't be of issue.' I've only been off Paroxetine for one week now, and I've been treated with that medicine for about two or three years after a quite serious depression. One week has been quite awfull and I don't want to know where I'm going to be next week because I haven't experienced some more frightening side effects like hallucinations and insomnia. I pray to God that won't happen, but I'm determined to get Paroxetine out of my life. Furthermore my thoughts go out to other people who are experiencing the same, you guys are the only people who can begin to understand what's going on in my head at this moment.... Bless y'all... Greetings from an 24 year old male from Amsterdam.

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Date:
27 Jan 2002
Time:
11:22:31
Remote User:
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My precious son died on January 10, 2002. I will go to my grave believing Paxil put the first nail in his coffin. Please pray for me. Tootie

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Date:
27 Jan 2002
Time:
17:34:36
Remote User:
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I am trying to reach the owner of this web site, Frank. Nowhere on your web site that I can find is your email address listed; this is a problem for people who don't have computers and use outside computers that won't allow them to simply click on a link. Please contact me if you are reading this: jesseheretic@yahoo.com -- it's about an interview. Thanks.

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Date:
28 Jan 2002
Time:
14:06:20
Remote User:
Comments
Until I found this site, I was totally perplexed as to why I was suffering these symptoms. I called my doctor and instead of trying to find out why I had this horrible dizzy feeling, he just prescribed another drug for the dizziness!!! I have to put most of the blame on doctors who do not know how drugs react. Isn't it a shame we have to research on our own to find our what is physically wrong with our bodies, and they make all the money!

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Date:
28 Jan 2002
Time:
14:41:09
Remote User:
Comments
What I like to know is why NO doctors will encourage you getting off of Paxil. You finally have to get sick of it and stop yourself (if you have the good sense to do so). I went to my doctor thinking I was either going crazy or about to die...........she said it was panic attacks and anxiety and prescribed Paxil. I have massive amounts of the pills with 3 refills. She gives them out like TIC-TACs. When I expressed concern on why I had to start taking this drug every day she just told me that it was every day stress and the pills would fix everything. Nothing about a time when I stop taking them. Within few months my 5'0" frame ballooned from 110 to 132. For me that was a lot. More weight than when I was 9 months pregnant ! I'm going off these pills myself and right now. I'll face the side affects. At least I'll have a hankering for sex again. Plus get back my 6-pack abs !!!! :-}

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Date:
29 Jan 2002
Time:
15:01:10
Remote User:
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Hi everyone, I've been on Paxil for over a year, and I'm in the final stages of getting it out of my system. Originally, I had started at 20mg, and am now on 5mg. Each stage has been brutal (I've dropped 5mg each time). It seems to actually get worse as I go to less and less medication. When I went from 10mg to 5mg, I lost control over my emotions. I couldn't sleep, I was buzzing with those electric shocks for days on end, and I was so irritable, I ended up yelling at my closest friends for no real reason. I felt terrible doing that, and they understood, but we all would have preferred it to NOT have happened. I can't wait to stop using Paxil completely. When I started with it, I was a complete mess, and going to psychotherapy. Now, feeling much better in my mind about all the crap and issues from my life, I'm ready to move on, but without this painful pill. I hope someone at SmithKline reads this website. I hope you understand the pain you've caused people with your drug Paxil. Yes, I believe it helped ground me at a time when I needed some help, but damn you for developing an addictive substance and suggesting doctors prescribe it so readily. Kevin evikn@sympatico.ca

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Date:
29 Jan 2002
Time:
17:49:29
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Date:
29 Jan 2002
Time:
21:12:23
Remote User:
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Hello ,I just heard about your web site on the evening news and it I too had side effects and then withdrawl symptoms ..I only stopped Paxil in NOV 2001 after complaining of the tiredness, irritability and not being myself !!My Dr. put me on Celexa 20mg which seems to be working and I am not tired all the time . BUT the switch from Paxil to Celexa was instant and I experienced aweful panic attacks for two weeks ,I thought I was going to loose my mind ! I am glad to see a web site to help inform other paxil users . Thanks PT

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Date:
30 Jan 2002
Time:
14:37:09
Remote User:
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My son is 9 years old and suffers from panic attacks. He was put on Paxil and has been on for about 1 1/2 years. I have tried to ween him off several times and have had NO success. He suffers from severe headaches, hysterical crying, constant bowel movements and extreme irritability. He can't function at school and I keep having to pick him up during the day. Just today, I gave up and increased his dose back to the 10 mg. he has been taking. I need help!! I'm scared and I want him OFF the Paxil. Does anyone have any advice for withdrawls in a child??

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Date:
31 Jan 2002
Time:
10:37:17
Remote User:
Comments
All I can say is thank heavens for the internet. If it wasn't here we would have not realised that others were suffering too. Our GP's tell us there cannot be any side effects from Seroxat (BULLSHIT) but we all know there are far too many serious ones. We still do not know anything about long term effects after/remaining on Seroxat. We are the research that SKBeecham should have already undergone. There is help for people addicted to illegal drugs but NO HELP for people being prescribed this awful drug. Dr's give you no help and no answers. No wonder we are all up in arms. If there was help and guidence we most probably would have never even resorted to the internet but our Dr's instead. I have lost all faith in my GP over not reconising these withdrawals within myself. Where can you go to for HELP???????????? I have joined a 'Class Action' against SKBeecham. I do hope you are reading these postings. If you know of help ctrs. or anyone with knowledge regarding this drug please contact me on hmsykes@freenetname.co.uk. I am desparate!!!!

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Date:
31 Jan 2002
Time:
21:40:23
Remote User:
Comments
I have been on Paxil for almost 2 years. About 6 months ago (July/August) I had visited my doctor and he had told me to start tapering off of the Paxil. It took me until Dec. 24 2001 to finally get up the nerve to try to taper off. I had no prior knowledge of any withdrawl symptoms, but I was going through alot of changes (graduating college, buying a house, and starting a new job) and didn't feel that I was at a good place to be tapering off Paxil. Anyway, now that I am trying to quit this nasty drug, I'm going through more than I had bargined for. Today I finally decided to look up withdrawl from paxil on the internet and was I in for a treat. What the F**k! This is insane, the number of sites and message boards out there that deal with this. I'm not alone and I'm thankful for that, but I wish I had never been introduced to paxil. My doctor is now trying to have me take Wellbutrin. And I just keep wondering is that going to be hell to try to quit, too. This site has been the most helpful of all of the sites I have found. I just can't believe that they would let a drug like this to go on the market! I am just glad that I am not alone. Thank you. JLM--HDG, MD

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Date:
31 Jan 2002
Time:
23:53:24
Remote User:
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I have been lazy about filling my prescription. It's been about 4 days now. I have felt very dizzy, which is causing extreme naseau. Whereas the drug prevented me from crying for the 5 months I've been on it, I haven't stopped crying for the four days I've been off. I looked to the web for some information, and am terribly frightened by what I read here. I, too, was told there was no addiction. I will say that what I experienced over the past four days, while very uncomfortable, was quite similar to what I felt like during my days of "morning sickness." I could certainly 'wean' myself if I had to, but boy, I didn't realize it would be like this!

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Date:
01 Feb 2002
Time:
01:12:09
Remote User:
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I am so happy i found this website. i've been on paxil for almost a year & 1/2 taking 40mg and have tried to go off of it several times. None to be successful. For the past few weeks i have cut my dosage in 1/2 to 20mg but have been getting really bad sweats & the craziest most vivid dreams. I am going to fill my next rx because I can't go cold turkey. paxil has definately helped quite a bit with my anxiety & depression problems but I feel like I am so dependant on it it scares the hell out of me & also having a total loss of interest sex really sucks too. i hope i can do this time. Cold turkey hasn't worked for me though. i ended up crying for days straight until i went back it. i don't if it was just the chemicals or a placebo effect. What natural stuuf is helpful???

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Date:
01 Feb 2002
Time:
02:13:01
Remote User:
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My HMO Paxil Horror Story When it comes to psychotropic drugs less is more! Oh yeah I use some usenet terms here. Funny little fact about most doktors (oh my goodness look at that odd spelling! This bloke has schizophrenia for sure) is they think anyone who can type with two hands is a hacker and since many of them are utterly clueless about Usenet and the Internet they will be sure to assume that my writing here is full of neologisms. The story below all happened AFTER an unsuccessful trial with a tricyclic anti-depressant. Now here is my HMO and Paxil horror story: I still say if I had just gone and murdered a few of those HMO doctors instead of crying out for help I'd be able to sue Paxil and I'd be rich now. Instead I'm stuck paying HMO premiums and going to the public clinic for all my mental health needs but the HMO clinic for all my physical health needs. I've called Jim Trindle three times now and asked him if I can go to the local bipolar support group but he refuses to return my phone calls. Fine way to treat a dues paying member. I guess I have been Trindled. (BTW this is not my neologism so does not count towards my dx. But I guess this proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that my friend Bob Whelan has schizophrenia) In 1998 my HMO destroyed several years of my life by allowing my General Practitioner to Prescribe the powerful anti-depressant Paxil to me with no diagnosis. (Later my HMO pdoc screwed up and prescribed too much Risperdal and added to my problems.) After 4 weeks on Paxil I went into a terrible mixed manic episode. The result was that I began to have violent SSRI induced fantasies I was very afraid that I was going to murder a man. I went back to my family doctor and told him that as a child I had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and spent ages 16-18 as a ward of the court. I also told him that I felt I was losing my mind because I was feeling homicidal and I was stalking a non HMO therapist that had sexually abused me when I was a teenager. I told my family doctor that I was afraid I was going to murder this man. I told my family doctor that I did not feel at all depressed. My family doctor noted in my chart that I was in a "cheerful" mood. My family doctor (David Stackhouse MD.) responded by doubling my dose of Paxil. Why did he double my anti-depressant while writing in my chart that I was in a cheerful mood? I feel that he should have referred me to a psychiatrist possibly should have had me hospitalized and perhaps had a legal obligation to warn the man that I was stalking. (later a hospital refused to release me until this man had been warned) But he did none of those things, instead he doubled my Paxil dose to 40mg per day. Needless to say my symptoms became even worse on a higher dose of Paxil. I went back to my family doctor two weeks after the dose increase and asked him for a referral to a psychiatrist. I was then given the run around for three days while I desperately tried to get in to see a psychiatrist. My Paxil induced mania became so bad that I drove my self to the nearest HMO MH Clinic and asked to see a psychiatrist but I was turned away because I did not have a referral. This was all very scary for me because I knew I was losing my mind but did not know how to describe it or what was happening. I tried to get a referral to a psychiatrist from Doctor Stackhouse but he told me I did not need one and only gave me the directions to the HMO "behavioral health clinic". I drove to the clinic and asked to see a psychiatrist but was turned away for lack of a referral. So I called Dr. Stackhouse and asked him again for a referral telling him that I was told that I did indeed need a referral. The nurse said she would get right on it and gave me the number to the mental health intake person. I called the mental health intake person for three days in a row, but each time I called I was told that they had not received a referral. I called Dr. Stackhouse's nurse and she told me she had forgotten to fax the referral but would get right on it. I never got my referral. Doctors are strongly encouraged to not give out referrals to specialists at my HMO. I suffered greatly because this policy. I was so scared that I started just hanging out in the waiting room of my HMO's main office because I felt safe there and after all I was waiting for help. I waited and waited and waited for three days, my symptoms were growing worse each day, but I never got the help I asked for. I finally got so desperate for help that I drove my car around the clinic in reverse about ten times but no one noticed so I then called the consulting nurse and told her that I had become afraid that I was going to follow my family doctor home if I did not get my referral. I did not want to follow him home but I had become so crazed on the Paxil that I felt I had no control over the situation. That finally got their attention and they referred me directly to a psychiatric hospital. While in the hospital I was taken off the Paxil cold turkey!("antidepressant-discontinuation induced mania" is also a recognized phenomenon) After being taken off the Paxil cold turkey by Janet Vondran MD I started to engage in self injury and my anxiety levels went through the roof. I'm not sure how I managed to survive being taking off 40mg per week of Paxil with no taper down. The self stopped three months after all antidepressants and risperdal were eliminated from my diet. My clueless clinicians did not make the connection between the Paxil and the self injury but prefered to call it something else that was highly invalidating. I mostly blame my HMO for the behavior I displayed while on Paxil and later Risperdal. Ah what the heck may as well blame those borg for everything.. I also blame my HMO psychiatrist for making my mania worse by prescribing Risperdal later. I guess she (Gail Shuler MD.) never read a medical journal after she graduated, that or all the risperdal flavored popcorn I saw in her office did something to her brain. Risperdal is known make some people with bipolar disorder manic. But you can't really expect your psychiatrist to keep up to date on these types of things now can you? It has been three years since I have been on Paxil or Risperdal or done anything strange. I was with this HMO for 20 years without incident before all this happened too. My HMO uses my behavior while on Paxil and Risperdal and while coming down from Paxil as an excuse to force me to go to the public mental health clinic and travel to another county to see a HMO psychiatrist. I think we all know that the real issue here is money. They will not provide in house mental health treatment for me, claiming I am a threat to their mental health providers. The service I am getting in the neighboring county is very dehumanizing even compared to what I was getting in my own county. But doktors have a very handy catch phrase they can use, it covers all situations. Borderline Personality Disorder SHHHHHHHHH! Don't tell them you don't have it, that only proves that you do! Don't get angry about that dx, it only proves you have it. Also there is no treatment for Borderline so once you have this dx the docs can justify ignoring you. SHHHHHHHHHH! Don't complain about being ignored, that only proves you are borderline! Oh so you've wised up and don't trust psyches or ask them for help anymore you say.. SHHHHHH! That's Paranoid Personality Disorder. Ah now don't try to deny it, that only proves that you have it. Don't ever question your learned doktors, that proves you have Paranoia. My phone calls are rarely returned and I am mostly only allowed to talk to nurses between appointments. These nurses have never met me and know only what they read in my chart. One of them seems very hesitant to help me get on the medication assistance programs to the point of perhaps telling me lies. I hesitate to accuse them of lying becuase that would only count towards a DX of paranoia. They still provide services for all my physical needs in house. Somehow they do not feel I am a threat to their general practitioners? I lost two years of my life because my HMO allows General Practitioners to pass out Paxil like candy and the Paxil they foolishly gave me set off rapid cycling and bipolar can be a progressive disease and my HMO refuses now to treat me in house. Ah what the hell, their "treatment" has caused me so much hardship, why would I want more of the same? It seems to be best to avoid psychiatrists at all costs. That is unless you enjoy being drugged up, mentally raped, having CPS called on you an sexually abused. The "help" I have recieved has only made any problems I may have much worse and DESTROYED my sense of self worth, my standing in the community and my standing in my family.

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Date:
01 Feb 2002
Time:
02:31:32
Remote User:
Comments
I can't believe that my doctor took me off 40mg per day of Paxil cold turkey. No wonder I've been insane ever since.

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Date:
01 Feb 2002
Time:
13:23:13
Remote User:
Comments
I Fucking hate being on Paxil! Excuse my language but I have been on this drug for about 5 months now and it is funking me up in the head and my body. I smole marjiuana on it. That has no effect. The worst effect is when you drink on it. I get so smashed at parties. My friends drink like 15 or 20 beers and I feel just as good as they do off like 3 beers. Plus it has made me alot more violent. Instead of stopping the violence it increased it ten times more. I steal peoples money and beat people up now. For no reason at all. Plus I have seperated from my once many friends to only hanging out with about four or five kids every weekend.

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Date:
01 Feb 2002
Time:
14:32:09
Remote User:
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Date:
01 Feb 2002
Time:
18:31:13
Remote User:
Comments
i had no idea everyone else was experiencing this. i've been cutting back from 20 to 10 over the last 2 weeks and feel pretty bad; emotionally okay but physically sick. thanks for all the work that has gone into this site--it's so appreciated.

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Date:
04 Feb 2002
Time:
05:34:45
Remote User:
Comments
What are you all whining about? Personally, this whole withdrawal thing is FUN! Yeah, it's great feeling like you're aboard the S.S.Hibernia all day. I especially love the pounding headaches and chronic dysentary. And it's kind of neat how you forget things? You know, you go into a room and can't remember why you went in? Man, I giggle just thinking about it. Who the hell needs champagne? Just crack open a bottle of DomPaxilgnon and let the festivities begin. And unlike champagne, it doesn't wear off! Infact, you take it to bed with you! That's right! I'm talking nightmares, kids! It's awesome! Just what you need after a long day of abject misery and suffering. Yep, crawl into that cozy bed and hang on for the ride of your life! You Get: Heart-stopping terror in technicolour intensity with full stereo sound; cold sweats and heart palpitations; and for a limited time we'll throw in complete disorientation upon awakening! And don't worry about forgetting these nocturnal excursions cause they'll get you up at 3am and haunt you all morning! That's right! And the best part is that pretty soon you're too scared to go to bed at all! It's a NON-STOP action packed day and night folks! I'm just glad marijuana is criminalized and that paxil is safe and legal because then I'd really be freaked. THEN, you get to wake up feeling like a bent hair-pin and start all over! WHOOOEEE!

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Date:
04 Feb 2002
Time:
23:01:18
Remote User:
Comments
i just want to tell smithkline beecham to go to hell. i am a wreck getting off this crap and i have to small children to take care of. im sure that they hate mommy right now. i pray so hard for god to help me through this. this is my second atempt to come off this crap. this is my 5th day and last time i made it to the 6th day and wimped out and took my paxil. but ill be damned if ill take it again. so anyone should be told to never take this crap.

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Date:
05 Feb 2002
Time:
08:23:04
Remote User:
Comments
First of all I am very grateful for this site. I have been seaching for a site that would let me know how people have managed to get off of paxil. I have been taking paxil for about 8 years, 40 mg. I was put on paxil for depression and anxiety. I will have to say this drug worked for me and have managed to put up with the side effects of being on it. Example, dry mouth, no sex drive, always tired and moody. The drug was able to put me back on track especially back to my job. Now I feel it is time to come off. I have tried on a few occasions to do this but withdrawal period has been to much to handle. So I discussed this with my therapist and we consulted a psychiatrist together. I weaned off very slowing, 5 mg at a time, over a two month period. Feb.1, 2002 was my last dosage. I have been off work ever since. The side effects from withdrawal are horrendous. This is no picnic. Within 24 hours, the nausea has started, loosing what I have eaten thoughout the day every evening so far. The constant "ringing in my head", "feeling of movement" in my head", heartburn, muscle & joint pain, uncontrollable rage, crying, sweating, confusion, diarrhea, shortness of breath, mild chest pains and lack of energy. I am determined to get through this. I have great support from the mental health clinic that I belong to. My heart goes out to each and everyone of you who are doing this. Let's pray we can all be paxil free soon!

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Date:
05 Feb 2002
Time:
16:49:09
Remote User:
Comments
It's me again, the Feb.5, 2002 entry. I forgot to add the I gained 50 pounds while being on paxil.

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Date:
05 Feb 2002
Time:
17:55:04
Remote User:
Comments
I was put on 40 mg of paxil by my primary care phyisician who said I was deppresed. All I did was go in for insomnia and came out depressed?!?!After 6 weeks of taking it i went back and told her I had nightmares every night, I had no sex drive, and I could not stop jittering. I am getting married in 3 months so the sex drive is importent to me. She told me there was nothing I could do about that and that the other side affects would go away. So I left there very unsatisfied. After another 2 months of no sex and weight gain and shitty sleep I took myself off paxil cold turkey. I am into my 6th day with out and feel like an electric zombie. I can't function, sleep, my hands and feet feel like they are asleep all the time and I can't ride in the car for longer than 5 minutes without wanting to vomit. I hate the Doctors out there who try to cure everything with a pill and have to label everyone with a disorder. After discovering this site I realized I was not alone with these side affects and withdrawl symptoms and have the hopes of losing the weight and being able to have a normal healthy sex life agian with my future husband. As for the insomnia?? I don't know...im kinda back to square one agian.

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Date:
05 Feb 2002
Time:
23:16:16
Remote User:
Comments
I think any pharmeceutical company that fails to advise the public of such horrible side effects should be sued for all they are worth to compensate these poor people who became addicted to Paxil then suffered it's torturous withdrawel symptoms. There is no way they could not have known with minor testing. If they don't know their own product's side-effects and withdrawel symptoms, then thats an even more neglectful case altogether! Good luck to everyone involved with this evil drug in disguise, Pax-hell!

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Date:
06 Feb 2002
Time:
01:09:15
Remote User:
Comments
I have already told you how I felt upon stopping your DRUG back in July 2001. Now I want you to know that I have never felt like the person I was before starting "treatment". Why didn't you tell the doctors what would happen when their patients quit Paxil????????????????????????? I am so angry at you because I really feel that you have messed up the rest of my life! My birthday is today. I am 50 years old, and until you messed up my life, I felt like 21! So- enjoy your day today! Just think of me once during the day and know how you made it a lot less enjoyable for me.

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Date:
07 Feb 2002
Time:
14:07:50
Remote User:
Comments
Hi, I am a 36 year old female who is a victime of paxil withdrawl. It nearly destroyed my life. I went on paxil to stop paci attacks Was on the drug for over a year and feeling great so I decided to come off the drug. Shortly there after I was haunted by constant suicidal thoughts along with jabbing sensations in my head and electric shocks through out my body. My dreams were alive and my concentration was gone. I was overly anxious and could not sleep. The doctors tried numerous antidepressants to get me better and notheing would work. I resorted to ect treatments and that didn't work either. It was when I read the news release in late aug of 2001 that I realized it was infact the drug that caused all this distress in my life. I am hurting because I can not find personal legal counsil to take my case. They all tell me that it costs too much money and takes too much time to handle a case like this. I feel the justice system is not working for me. If any one has any sugestions would you please email me bak at dxentrpise@aol.com. I know that I can join in on the class action suit but it would not even began to cover the money I've spent on medical bills alone. Please if there is anyone out there who knows another route I can take please let me know signed haunted by Paxil withdrawal

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Date:
07 Feb 2002
Time:
18:34:58
Remote User:
Comments
i was in despair, racked with anxiety and feeling depressed,i was dealing with this for four months on my own and working through it and getting better and still keeping my job and life together.After going to the doctors for a compleatly unrelated problem, i happened to mention what i was going through and wow she produced your magic wonder pills!"Why go through this on your own when you can have help from the wonderful S.K.B.!" Just what i needed!Thanks S.K.B.I now have all the wonderful head zaps and electric shocks an extra three stone loss of sex drive, paranoia head aches to add to my origional symptoms which i would now give the world to have back cos at least they were real and solvable!Thanks S.K.B. for your lack of truthfull info in your patient leaflet and for rewarding the G.PS for prescribing your sick product.Also thanks for brainwashing the G.PS who now try to convince you that it is all in your own head!Well for now i am stuck taking your little sugar coated tablets and if i forget they are sure to remind me by frying my brain!Beware S.K.B. for the tide is turning and were on to you!What a wonderful invention the internet is,see you in court!

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Date:
08 Feb 2002
Time:
03:03:31
Remote User:
Comments
Form Confirmation Thank you for submitting the following information: T7: Lisa Williamson T2: 579 Westheights Drive T3: Kitchener T4: Ontario T5: n2n 1m7 T6: Canada email: lgwilli@excite.com T8: approx september 1/2002 T9: February 1 2002 B1: Submit S1 Uncontrollable anger at the smallest annoyances followed by uncontrollable weeping. Continual shock-like zaps in my extremities 1st and then mostly only inside my head. About 4 days after zaps, I started to actually hear them (sorta a swooshing sound). Upset stomach (similar to what morning sickness felt like). Insomnia, off the wall dreams that would continue like a saga. Lack of coordination and inability to find the right words. I descibed this to my psychoanalysist, she had never heard of any "Zap shocks" in any capacity. After 1 week being completely off the Paxil Demon Drug, she prescribed Wellbutrin and took me off Wellbutrin within 6 days because of all the symptoms described above, she concluded it was all due to side effects of the Wellbutrin..then AMAZINGLY, she suggested I go back on Paxil to calm my anger bouts (My main concern was the anger as I was/am concerned about the way I was treating my kids). I declined as I was perplexed why she would put me on a drug I just went off 2 weeks ago that was no longer doing very much for my depression. Then she gave me samples for Zolloft and Zyprexa (an antipsychotic!) and told me to cancel all social events, try to find somewhere for the kids to go and stay in bed for a week. So today I looked up on the net information about this new Zyprexa and Zoloft and stumbled quite accidentally on to a site regarding the detriments of getting off paxil. I couldnt believe what I read!! I went from website to website and am shocked how much information and reliable source information there was on this topic. I cannot believe with this much info and wht I read about 20/20's disclosure that this would not have someway made it back to my doctor. Its almost 2am I cannot wait to call my doctor in the morning. I will not take these new drugs perscribed or any other SSRI antidepressants until she (dr.) acknowledges and gives creedance to the reports Ive printed off. From what Ive read it sounds like I got a bumpy road still ahead..but at least I know what the road is now.

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Date:
08 Feb 2002
Time:
15:41:51
Remote User:
Comments
I have been reducing my paxil dosage gradually. I've been using a "pill cutter" available at any pharmacy to help come off gradulally. I'm not completetly off yet, but I think decreasing the dosage very slowly helps.

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Date:
08 Feb 2002
Time:
20:16:54
Remote User:
Comments
i hate your paxil drug. i am now on my fifth day of not taking it and it is hell. i hope this is not a way of your company making money. make this drug, that probably does a little good, not explain the side affects and sell it. i only wish your ceo could experience what i feel right now. money, money, money. make a pill to make some money. that is a business attitude. someday someway gsk will feel the hurt. when you die and GOD asks you "what was the deal with paxil?" try and get away from that question!

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Date:
09 Feb 2002
Time:
09:26:17
Remote User:
Comments
date 09/02/2002 time 1400hrs pm remote user As itype this letter i am printing off all of these rants, and the first thing monday morning i am going to go to my surgery and throw these 48 pages on to my drs desk not really his fault as it was my last doctor who prescribed me 20mg a day six years ago seroxat. I am on my ninth day of withdrawal. Do i want to live anymore (no not how i feel at this moment). Im feeling desperate, devestated, sick, ive got the zaps like noenes bussiness, havent cried properly for years now i cant stop. How am i going to keep my family together, 4 kids a husband that adores me nad has the patience of a saint even saints lose their patience at some point im sure. I only suffered pannick attacks devestating at the time nothing compared to what is happening to me now and what is to come. Ive got a rage like nothing ive ever known before. Will i survive it all or will i lose everything , my family my home my job i love. Its not a dependant drug and thier are no withdrawal symptoms my doctor said. Stopped the panick attacks and the mild postnatal deppression, also stopped my sex drive, all my emotions, where have my last six years gone. Is it going to take me that long to at least feel a tinsy bit normal.Well ive decided in the time its taken me to type this rant, yes i am going to get through this yes i will feel well again yes i am going to survive i have to much to lose. Do those doctors out there care NO but there are other people ive learned by reading these pages that do care and i am so glad i logged on to this site i had no idea the devastation this drug can cause, i feel so much better that i know im not the only one. PLEASE anyone being prescribed this f****** one way ticket to hell DONT DO IT. Im going to close now and try to do some housework probably take me the rest of the day but what the hell im going to beat you you F*** SHIT. tHANK GOD FOR ALL YOUR HELP everybody, i hope all goes as well as it possibly can for you all, i dont go to church but may GOD be with us ALL. netty136@hotmail.com. +

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Date:
09 Feb 2002
Time:
23:17:30
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
10 Feb 2002
Time:
17:25:56
Remote User:
Comments
I AM ON MY 4TH DAY OF WITHDRAWAL, I WEANED MYSELF DOWN FROM 40MG TO 10MG AND STAYED ON THE 10 FOR ABOUT THREE MONTHS. DURING ALL OF THIS TIME I WAS UNABLE TO WORK, SO NO JOB NO HOUSE PAYMENT. I NOW HAVE TWO WEEKS TO COME UP WITH PAST DUE HOUSE PAYMENTS OR IT GOES TO FHA AUCTION. THIS IS ADDED TO THE WITHDRAWAL OF POISON DREAMS THAT ANNE RICE OR STEPHEN KING WOULD LOVE FOR THEIR NEXT BOOKS, THE ZAPPING OR BLACK OUTS SUCK, I AM NOW A MANIC/DEPRESSIVE BITCH. I CRY AT NOTHING. I YELL AT THE CATS FOR NO REASON. ON IT OR OFF IT, THIS STUFF SUCKS. IF A DR WANTS TO PUT A FRIEND OF MINE ON THIS STUFF OR RELATED DRUG, I WILL TELL THEM TO SHOOT THE DR. THAT WAY THEY WILL GET THE SAME THRILL AND TERROR IN A SHORTER PERIOD OF TIME. I CAN'T DRIVE TO JOB INTERVIEWS, HELL IF I GOT A JOB HOW WOULD I GET TO WORK. I HAVE TO BE REAL CAREFUL IN WHAT I SAY AT INTERVIEWS. LIFE SUCKS. HELL ENRON FELL MAYBE GSK WILL. MOMCATRENO@AOL.COM

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Date:
10 Feb 2002
Time:
21:09:01
Remote User:
Comments
I was on Paxil 10 mg for 1 year. I was diagnosed with Social Anixety, a condition which I feel was misdiagnosed with. My only problem was that U felt constantly tired and unlike myself. I was told by my doctor specifically that I would never "need" the drug. As he put it "I would never have to go into the ER and beg for a Paxil perscription." Well, I have been experiencing withdrawl symptoms for the past 2-3 days. They include intense nausea (especially vomiting), dizziness, disorientation, almost as though I am outside of my body. This is worse than I felt before starting the drug. I wish that this feling would just go away

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Date:
10 Feb 2002
Time:
21:58:34
Remote User:
Comments
Hello, I feel like I've been a living a secret for so many years now. I am a graduate student in clinical psychology and am learning how to do psychotherapy with depressed and anxious clients...the thing no one knows except for my immediate family is that I suffered from panic and depression myself as a teenager and was put on Paxil. I had been on 20 mgs of Paxil for about three years and then I decided to cut my dosage to 10 mgs. I had no problems. I took 10 mgs for about a year. My life just seemed to be so good--I'm in a great program, have a great boyfriend, and everything I could ask for. No more panic and depression. I mean, I was HELPING people get over their panic and depression. A couple of days ago, I decided to wean myself off of paxil. My boyfriend of 1.5 years still didn't know I was on it. I felt so guilty--how can I not tell this person who is so close to me that I am on a psychiatric med because of panic disorder?? I feel like I'm lying to him. I guess I was really afraid he wouldn't understand. So now I am off Paxil so far and I feel so terrible--zaps in my head, chest heaviness & pain, nausea, diarrhea, crying spells. I called my pharmacist and told her about the symptoms--she said no one generally has symptoms when coming off of Paxil and she had never heard of this before. Obviously, she is clueless. I can't do work, I'm falling behind in my classes and my boyfriend is wondering what is happening with me. I still can't muster the courage to tell him. But I am mustering up the courage to stay off of Paxil. I've had so many thoughts of going back on, but after reading messages on this site, I know I have to beat this. I thought maybe the symptoms would go away after a few days, but now I realize that it may take much longer than that. But I am determined to go through with it. I am sick of living this lie.

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Date:
11 Feb 2002
Time:
07:19:32
Remote User:
Comments
dear SKB, this is not hatemail but the opposite. I just want to say that I love aropax amd all it has done for me. Thanks heaps and do not kill this drug like some people want you to.

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Date:
13 Feb 2002
Time:
08:56:39
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
13 Feb 2002
Time:
23:14:03
Remote User:
Comments
This sucks.

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Date:
14 Feb 2002
Time:
15:12:42
Remote User:
Comments
Wow, I didn't think the 'zaps' were that famous, I had a hard time explaining this to people who didn't understand. Also, I'm not sure if this is vertigo, but when I turn my head, even my eyes, too swiftly I get a 'dizzy' sensation. I just try to move ssslllooowwly, been off 60mg for about 5 days now. Some sort of sensation around my skin and it seems as though adrenaline likes to build itself up sometimes. I can get overworked w/ anxiety, but I've been through drug withdrawal(or switching from one med to another) symptoms before, and I know enuff to calm, and focus on something else.. go clean something.. ;) I'm suppose to be taking Celexa, but after the pharmasist's reaction to just 'switching' like nite and day, I decided to wait out the 1/2 life of the paxil before taking another drug. I'm also going to get a second oppinion to see if I should even start taking celexa. Untill researching whether or not I should wait the '1/2 life' I did not know paxil was such a controversial drug....

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Date:
14 Feb 2002
Time:
15:19:28
Remote User:
Comments
Hey, any good stories?, like someone who made it through the withdrawals? Well, guess they wouldn't be here then now would they.. lmao Really though, DO they go away?

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Date:
14 Feb 2002
Time:
16:38:57
Remote User:
Comments
Ok, I'll take a stab at this, but I'm no doctor. "Does this go away." For some people it goes away in a little while. In others it has yet to go away completely. From what I've seen, most people seem to be ok a few months after quitting totally. The consensus seems to be that working down is the best way to go, but some have problems at low dosages. It's usually a choice between short and very sharp, or long and less painful. The real kicker is that there are some people who don't have any withdrawals at all. I hate those people. I'm sorry, it's petty; I know. But still. "Any good stories." Personnally, I went from 40 => 30 => 20 => 20 once every few days => none. The first week was a breeze, but things are getting wierd now. The usual things, zaps, crying, sometimes hard to tell the difference between waking and dreaming, more zaps, jello-brain, insomnia AND fatigue (such a wonderful combination...can't sleep at night, oversleep, show up late for work and promptly fall asleep at the desk. Managers love that, you bet). I'd ran out of medicine once for about 5 days when I'd been consistently taking 40mg, it was like quitting cold turkey. That was so much worse, like one of the horror stories you can read about on the web. I cannot recommend quitting that way, at all. By tapering down, and skipping days, I think the symptoms can be brought down to a manageble (but still not pleasant) level. Not a good story, just a not-so-bad story; best I got. Advice. Eat healthy and as much as you need. This isn't the time to quit smoking or go on a diet; the focus is to get off of the drug. Exercise. That was the biggest change in my lifestyle, I had started exercising again. I think that helps an awful lot. It's tough as hell, especially when the zaps are running around, but worth it in the long run. Start about a month before you go under 20 mg; and like everyone says, consult a doctor to see what level of activity is proper for you. I'm using a soloflex twice a week and walking a mile+ twice a week. My worst day with withdrawals lately was after I hadn't exercised for about 5 days, so I am personally convinced that exercise helps. I'm also convinced that Lee Harvey wasn't the only gunman, either, so take this advice with a large pinch of salt.

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Date:
14 Feb 2002
Time:
21:34:13
Remote User:
Comments
I have been on Paxil for 8 months. This my 4th attempt at withdrawal from Paxil. I was on 20mg.and survived severe withdrawal affects down to 10mg., seemed to level off their, but going 5mg.,it ends up being more electric brain, and whole body shocks,whoosh/pulsing sounds in my ears/ sensations in my body, making you feel spastic, nightmares, migraine headaches, flu-like feelings, severe dizziness and nausea. I am told at the pharmacy, that liquid Paxil is on back order, with the company. In what I read on this liquid Paxil is the best way to reduce dosages in smaller increments, past 10.mg. I am extremely angered that my doctor had no knowledge, and still doesn't know about this withdrawal syndrome; he treated me like garbage, when I told him, and produced Internet web sites, for him to find out more. Pharmacists claim to know nothing about this, and also claim they have heard no adverse reports of withdrawal syndrome, how can that be; they also treat people such as myself, with information they do not want to hear, like were a threat, or mentally defective!? I am tired of it; I want off this poison of a drug, and now!

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Date:
15 Feb 2002
Time:
13:33:40
Remote User:
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Date:
16 Feb 2002
Time:
02:12:08
Remote User:
Comments
Early this year I had read a small article about Paxil inhibiting ones sex life. My sexual desires had diminished, but I had not attributed it to the medication. When I went for my yearly physical January,2002 I asked the doctor about switching anti-depression medicine. She wrote me a new prescription and told me two break the Paxil in half and do that for a week before starting the new medication. Well it has been horrible this week!! I can not sleep!! My whole body racks with shock waves. My legs twitch and jerk when I lay down at night. When I am laying down the throbbing in my head continues. I have been jumpy and somewhat irritable at work. I have made several stupid mistakes on my job this week. I called the doctor today about my symptoms and received no help. She said to give the new medicine two weeks to kick in. I am typing this at 2:00 in the morning. Before withdrawal I was going to bed by 10:30-11:00 and waking up feeling fine. The only good thing about coming off of Paxil was the return of my sex life! I was very glad to find your site. It has helped me understand what is happening to me better than the physicians did.

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Date:
16 Feb 2002
Time:
05:27:49
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There are many on this site that feel they have lost a piece of their mind, or that their mind has been "changed." Well, it is true! Paxil has changed you and you will either accept it or you will spend a long time angry and looking for the way you were. Well, they way you were is gone. It is time to face facts: you are not what you used to be. However, the fact that you took paxil in the first place proves that you must not have liked your life before paxil. Remember, withdrawal is temporary and never as bad as true depression. Some of the people on this site have said that withdrawal from paxil is worse than the depression they took the paxil for. Well, that doesn't mean that the withdrawal is all that bad, but it means that perhaps your depression was not bad enough for a doctor to give you the drug. Unfortunately, doctors are all to willing to give clinical medications to people who are sad over their mom's funeral, or some other loss or "the blues." (don't take it personally, doctors are human and sometimes want to take the easy way out) I have long-term severe clinical depression and this withdrawal is a walk in the park compared to the depression I had. I am ot belittling the pain we all have now ...Paxil should have a warning on the box and the company that makes it is a greedy capitol whore, but the drug saved my life. There are a lot of little bits of advice I have seen on how to help the symptoms of withdrawal, on this site and others. I am currently in the midst of withdrawal (2 weeks) from 60 mgs and I am doing it cold turkey. My neck, arms and legs are shaking in tics and tremors. My eyes roll back in my head a few times a minute as my brain is "zapped." Most times when I eat I vomit within half an hour. I have no control over my body temperature as waves of extreme heat mix with subzero cold often at the same time. The slightest breeze causes every hair on my body to feel like needles piercing me. I have terrible "jamais vu" (look it up, I can't explain it)I have gotten about an hour of sleep each day for at least a week, and when I do sleep it is nightmares that make Stephen King look like Mr. Rogers and most of the time I experience blazing panic attacks and I am terrified that at any moment I may fall down in seizures. Does it suck? you bet your ass! Am I going to "rant" about these little symptoms? no. Here's my little bit of advice, my trick to help the symptoms. Any time the symptoms get really bad I just remember that when I started paxil I was ready to put a gun in my mouth. When the pain gets really bad I remember that I might have had a toe-tag instead of this withdrawal and that gives me some perspective. Taking paxil sucks and stopping it is not much better, but I am alive. Paxil gave me 7 years I may not have had. I know many of you have not experienced depression to the extent I did, but to those that had depression like me and know what I mean, is the trade-off really that bad? Withdrawal is painful but temporary and you are alive, for better or worse. Even the worst life is infinitely better than the best death! What's the worst that can happen? you go back on paxil and try to quit some other time? thats not that bad. REMEMBER THIS, IT COULD ALWAYS BE WORSE ... NO MATTER HOW BAD IT GETS, AS LONG AS YOU LIVE, IT CAN ALWAYS BE WORSE. just give it time and you will forget this withdrawal altogether. Don't try to fight it! you will only be fighting yourself! If you need to sleep, then sleep. If you can't sleep, listen to music. If you feel like crying, then cry! Your friends will undedrstand, and if they don't they are maybe not your friends. Do what you gotta do to get out of the pit alive and don't worry about what people think!

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Date:
18 Feb 2002
Time:
11:29:32
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Date:
18 Feb 2002
Time:
11:38:14
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i am withdrawing from PAXIL my own personal hell, i feel like im going mad, if i had not gone on the drug i would not be here now they saved my life! but nobody told me i would face another battle getting off this drug!

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Date:
18 Feb 2002
Time:
22:38:51
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Date:
20 Feb 2002
Time:
00:46:33
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PAXIL STOLE MY WRITING CAREER, RUINED MY SEX LIFE, AND MY HEALTH THROUGH HUGE WEIGHT GAIN. 8 YEARS OF MY LIFE HAVE BEEN STOLEN, NEVER TO RETURN. I HAVE NO ASSURANCE THAT MY BRAIN WILL EVER BE THE SAME.

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Date:
20 Feb 2002
Time:
20:52:50
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I was mildly depressed and anxious. I went to a therapist for counselling. She gave me Paxil. It helped me to cope with a job ill-suited to my nature. Then I got pregnant. My family doctor told me the drug was perfectly safe to take while pregnant, so I continued. A week ago I read a newspaper article linking Paxil to breast cancer. I flushed my pills down the toilet. I am still withdrawing, of course. It is a hideous process, but I will not take one more pill, ever. Paxil solved nothing. I still have to deal with my problems, except now I have a few extras. I don't want to die of breast cancer or some other hideous disease that is linked to Paxil in future. I don't want my little, innocent daughter to be without a mother, or worse, to watch her die from side effects from this drug. I should have been more paranoid about Paxil and pregnancy. I gave up smoking, drinking, and bad eating habits. I took maternity leave two months before my due date to avoid premature labour. But I popped 20 mg of Paxil every day... Thanks SKB. You can bet that my husband and I will be watching any developments concerning this drug in the future.

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Date:
21 Feb 2002
Time:
20:16:09
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I have been on Paxil for 3 years, 20mg. I have been on it for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, due to an extremely ugly divorce and custody battle. I have been trying to get off of it for about a year. I am down to 5mg. It has been about 2 weeks. The first week I was so dizzy I almost had to leave work several times. This week, I am just extremely depressed, which is not even the reason I went on it in the first place. I am determined to get off it. When I feel better which I am hoping will be within a couple weeks, I am going to go down to 2.5mg until I feel better, and then 0mg. It has been the worst experience of my life. I am a single mother of 2 with no friends or family in the area. I have to be extremely careful of how I go off it. I can't lose my job and have 2 children to take care of. The best advice is go slow, only you know what works best for you. Listen to what your body is telling you as much as possible. I am trying to eat right, exercise, take vitamins, and get enough sleep. These seem to be key factors in how I feel. And unless you are in some extremely major depression that you feel there is no way out of, don't go on medication. I am only hoping that there are no long term effects of taking Paxil.

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Date:
22 Feb 2002
Time:
06:32:44
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Date:
23 Feb 2002
Time:
15:40:57
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Hi everyone. Been on 20mg for nine months now and despite much I had read about the side effects subsiding over time, the extremely strange, vivid dreams and no orgasm remain with me (I am male). The orgasm bit I can live with (single, and not much of a life but hey...), but the dreams - well. Does anyone else get these *every* night? So weird I cannot even begin to describe them (maybe like a bad LSD trip... I wouldn't know). They always involve people from the past, in my case my school days 15 - 20 years ago. I wake up several times during the night often dripping with sweat so much I have to go and dry myself with a towell. Never suffered from this before Seroxat. Usually wake up 5/6 times a night because of the disturbing nature of these experiences, so not surprisingly I feel worn out during the day. I am dreading coming off this stuff, but as I can see little improvement in my anxiety/depression I will have to eventually. Earlier this week I went two days without taking a dose - I simply forgot to open a new packet and put in the usual place where I notice it first thing. Well, you can guess what - 48 hours later the withdrawal kicked in. I was at work and began to feel a little 'spaced' and tired. Not too bad at first, in fact I put it down to lack of sleep the previous night. As the day wore on I began to feel a disorientating, sort of dizzy feeling whenever I moved my head or rolled my eyes to the left. I was becoming very fatigued, and upon getting home I went straight to bed, expecting at least to get to sleep pretty quickly. But, of course I wouldn't be so lucky, and spent the night in and out of unconsciousness and dreams stranger and more bizarre than I have ever had before - and that's saying something. It dawned upon me at this stage what was happenning to me, and that this was indeed the Seroxat's withdrawal effcts. The following morning I felt truly ill. Felt like I could have stayed in bed all day (couldn't - I had to be at work), though if I had done I know I wouldn't have been able to sleep and would spend the day in a dazed state. I couldn't concentrate. Couldn't read properly. Could hardly walk upstairs. I could barely think what I was doing in fact. I headed downstairs and took a pill. I was in no fit state to drive to work, but I did anyway - I need my job. By midday I was beginning to feel the substance kick in, and by early afternoon I felt pretty much 'normal' again, though it was not until the following day and another dose later that I felt totally free of the withdrawal effects. If this stuff has this much effect after just two missed doses then I dread to imagine what 'cold turkey' must be like, yet the Seroxat literature makes no warning of missing doses or stopping abruptly! I cannot believe they can get away with this - withdrawal is a well documented fact. It should at the least be warned of in big letters, and also by the GP before prescribing. Were it not for the internet I would have had no idea that this happens and just how bad it is when it does. You guys in the US have my sympathy with this. GSK are making vast sums from getting you (well, all of us) hooked on this very expensive med. (At least over here in the UK we dont have to pay quite so much for it - £6.10/month). What you do as a 'junkie' when you can't afford it any longer I can't imagine... Certainly I know if I lived over there I would't be able to afford it. How can this be fair and right? Good luck to all.

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Date:
24 Feb 2002
Time:
05:32:24
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Oh do go away and leave paxil the hell alone! Fact is, it aint ever raised a hand to me!

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Date:
24 Feb 2002
Time:
06:53:33
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Date:
26 Feb 2002
Time:
09:56:35
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COMING OFF THEM! Ive been on seroxat 30mg for about a year now i have decided to come off them very very slowly i am currently down to 10mg a day I am reducing my dosage 5mg at a time @ 2 week intervals and the only real side effects are the head zapps that last on and off for about 3 days after the reduction i hope the last 10 mg are not as bad as the horror storys off some the brave people who found stopping a nightmare REMEMBER VERY VERY SLOWLY

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Date:
26 Feb 2002
Time:
12:13:41
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First of all, to the people who claim that Paxil is a wonder drugs and that it shouldn't be taken off the market. How hard is it for you to switch to another drug? If Paxil worked for you, I'm sure another drug will do the same. The very few, minimal people that Paxil is helping, is not worth all the pain and suffering many people have been through, when you can try another drug. Have you tried to get off of Paxil? Even for just a few days? Then you can never understand what it's like to get off. People want to get off the drug because of the severe side-effects it causes, only to find out that they CAN'T get off, becuase they're hooked, and it's addictive. Think about it, and give it a try if you really want to understand what the HUGE MAJORITY of Paxil users are going through. I hate this drug with a passion. I never experienced as many side=effects or withdrawls as most of the people who have signed so far, but nonetheless, it was horrible. I went on Paxil in the Spring of 2001, and I was 16. I was depressed, and I went to my doctor. He diagnosed me, and suggested I take an anti-depresant. I went home ot think about this, and he only spoke of Prozac, so I went home and researched Prozac on the net. I went back to his office, and he prescribed me Paxil. I accepted, trusting my doctor, as many people have done. I had no side effects for the first couple weeks, but then I started getting severe car-sickness, even when just riding the subway train. I had headaches, I was dizzy, and the rage - the rage! It was horrible! Everyone around me was miserable, especially my boyfriend who was determined to stick it through with me, knowing that it was the drug. He begged and pleaded with me to get off of the pills, that I didn't need them and that they were causing much more stress and anxiety to myself AND others then my initial depression had. I didn't WANT to get off of the drug, I didn't think I needed to. I "knew" that I needed it, I "knew" that I was depressed, and I "knew" that I couldn't survive without it. It took a long walkin the park, with my boyfriend begging me, and me finally breaking down and bawling right in the middle of the park, to realize I needed to get off, and fast. I had read some of the testimonials form Pacil users and it scared me to death. I didn't want to die, or lose the people I loved over a stupid drug that was taking way too much money out of my grandmother's pocket in the first place. (She was kind enough to pay for my pills for me, in an effort to get better). But when I tried to get off, it was bad. I was 10 times more dizzy, I had migranes, for the first time ever in my life, and I felt like utter crap. I would end up breaking down, crying, and taking a pill becuase I just wanted the migrane to end. I saw my doctor about it, and he prescribed me Effexor, instead. I stopped taking Paxil for a day, and then started my Effexor. It was a fine, and smooth transition. I found the Effexor to be wonderful. (Not to sound like a commercial or anything), and I stayed on that foe a month, and decided that I had enough of medication and having to take pills in order to feel like myself. I quit the Effexor, with very, very mild withdrawl, only a little dizziness here and there, and I am now completely off any drug. I am not 17, and I can't even remember most of what happened in my life while I was on Paxil. The only thing I can remember is what was going on in my head, and the anger, and the pain. If there is anyone reading this who is thinking of using Paxil, for the love of your health, DON'T. Even if you don't have any side effects, DON'T, your life and sanity is not worth it. My story may not have been as bad as most of the people here, but it was horrible for me, and it was something that could have been very well avoided or saved. Shame on the people who are selling this drug. You are putting innocent people's lives in danger just because YOU want to make money. Well guess what? What goes around, coems around, and you'll get yours one day.....one day......

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Date:
26 Feb 2002
Time:
14:58:04
Remote User:
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OK.... FIRST, I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THE HAPPY IDIOT... NEVER DEPRESSED.... I GOT BITE BY ANTS IN THE GARDEN, GOT HIVES, WENT TO A ALLERGY DOCTOR. TOOK ABOUT 5 PILLS TO GET RID OF THE HIVES, AFTER 6 MONTHS HIVES WENT AWAY..PAXIL WAS ONE OF THE PILLS... SO NO MORE HIVES I FIGURED DON'T NEED THE PAXIL.... I STOP TAKING THE PAXIL... FIRST TWO NIGHT CRAZY VIVID DREAMS, NEXT, HELL OCCURED, THIS IS INSANITY....I FEEL LIKE I AM SEA SICK ALL THE TIME AND I WONDER IF I REALLY WILL EVER BE THE HAPPY IDIOT AGAIN............

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Date:
26 Feb 2002
Time:
15:27:27
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Date:
26 Feb 2002
Time:
19:30:40
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Date:
28 Feb 2002
Time:
11:42:52
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PLEASE website keeper - email a complete copy of this list and the voices list to the FDA, surgeon general, 60 minutes, etc. Sure, no doubt that Paxil helps the problem(s)you start taking it for....But its obviously doing a whole lot else too... stuff that isn't good for the brain or nervous system. Who knows if your doing more damage than good in the long run ? And coming off of Paxil is pure hell, i've done it several times now. Anyone who has done this will tell you the drug must be dangerous for the body. Seriously, I'd like the head of the FDA and the Surgeon General to experience this first hand to understand what everyone is talking about. I am humbled by it.

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Date:
28 Feb 2002
Time:
17:30:44
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I stopped Paxil cold turkey after 4 years on the drug. I have been off and on this drug for numerous years for treatment of Mitral Valve Prolapse (to help with the anxiety). I feel terrible. I am almost thru the second week and now I feel like I have the worst case of the flu, I cannot even go to work. My doctor said all drugs have some sort of withdrawal symtoms and is treating me for a sinus infection. Over the years I have continued to gain weight and have spent alot of money on alot of different diet plans that never worked, even the doctor did not tell me it was because of the paxil. I wanted to stop because of the weight and because it was not making me feel well, I seemed to be crying more and was very paranoid about everything (especially in my marriage). I think the doctors need to be educated on the withdrawal symtoms to paxil and also the side effects while being on the drug. It infuriates me how even when you tell them they choose not to believe it. I even showed the doctor the report from the FDA. At this point I feel like a junkie (and never used street drugs before).

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Date:
01 Mar 2002
Time:
09:41:37
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I was shocked to find this site! I trusted my shrink when he discouraged me from going off Paxil because I was "doing good." He calls this good? I'm on 30mg. for 5 years, plus I'm a drunk, which he doesn't know. (What effect does booze have on Paxil?) It seems to work. When the WTC fell down, I watched it on t.v. without shedding a freaking tear!(I could see the smoke from my window).And a humourous bit is that I'm a security guard by trade. I'm supposed to be cool, calm and collected at all times! What a joke! I gained 50 lbs. since I've been taking it and everyone says that they never see me eat much, I must pig out elsewhere...ha...haaaaaaaaaaaaa...ha.My worst side effects if I don't take ONE pill is terrible, vivid dreams, like an LSD trip. I'm gonna try and wean my sorry ass off this crap.

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Date:
02 Mar 2002
Time:
06:07:29
Remote User:
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my boyfriend is withdrawing and is suicidal help

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Date:
02 Mar 2002
Time:
18:01:36
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3/2/02 Hey people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS A FUCKING SCANDAL! After trying to get off this drug for a year and a half,I HAVE FINALLY BEATEN THIS DRUG AND SKB WILL NEVER AGAIN GOUGE ME AT THE PHARMACY COUNTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The scandal is that SKB cooked its books and never reported that vertually everyone has a severe withdrawal from this drug. There should be a withdrawal kit that SKB should be forced to manufacture. This kit would have a 20 day supply of 15mg, 20 days of 12.5mg, 20 days of 10mg, 20 of 7.5mg, 20 of 5mg, and finally 20 days of 2.5mg! Instead we are forced to use our razor blades and pill cutters (we thus have ununiform dosages). After all my doseing adventures with this drug, I know much more about it than either of the two doctors that I talked to about trying to get off the drug. I mean they are actually ignorant about this drug, they are highly educated, but ignorant about this drug! Angry John to be cont.........................

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Date:
02 Mar 2002
Time:
18:25:12
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Angry John continued: The two doctors that I had, I have dumped!!!!!!!!!!! Since SKB is a greedy company and quite frankly donot deserve there massive profits from this drug, I suggest people go to canadameds.com where this drug can be purchased for about one half to two thirds of what it costs in this country. The US government has recently said that they will not procecute anyone who is buying drugs for there own use and have a prescription. My final thoughts. Damn it! People should be warned, If they go off the drug all at once like I did the first time, they are going to be in such a dizzying mess that they could lose their jobs with all its benefits for your family--a pilot could crash because the brain is not functioning correctly (many bad things can and are occurring across this nation). I'm done. I wish all of you good luck with this thing. Angry (feeling better with a big sigh) John

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Date:
03 Mar 2002
Time:
00:18:23
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Angry John: You said that SKB cooked the books?? Now, why am I not surprised. I do know that when you file an Adverse Reaction Report with these ghouls that they have it so cleverly rigged that the adverse reactions NEVER get reported to the FDA. I hope these lying f***ing scumbags burn in hell. I'm still having zaps and it's 5 years since I've been off this f***ing drug. Someone needs to slaughter their cash cow!!!

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Date:
04 Mar 2002
Time:
16:24:51
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I was never told by my neurologist that there would be withdrawl, he put me on it like it was easy and had no bad side effects. All I was told was that it might keep me up atnight. I can't believe I wasput on such a serious medication without being informed! This is likely because GSK didn't inform the medical comunity! There are so many drugs that may be used as migraine prophylaxis! If I had been able to be informed I would not have agreed to this medication!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

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Date:
05 Mar 2002
Time:
11:08:17
Remote User:
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To those of you at SmithKline Beecham who know what happens when you withdrawl from Paxil, but decided to remain closed lipped- you are evil- pure and simple. I am a hard working, emotionally and physically fit young adult who was prescribed Paxil for anxiety attacks I began to endure after losing my grandmother, father, aunt, family dog and two close friends- all to unexpected deaths within just a few months of each other. My life was prosperous, healthy and full of energy. Since going off my Paxil- (trying to cleanse my system of the 20mg for less than 8 months I was on Paxil so my husband and I can start a family)- my life has become nothing more than being strapped to a couch in a dark room with occassional visits to the bathtub to bathe the massive amounts of sweat off me. The "zaps" are so unbearable. They come at least once every 15 seconds, likewise they are so intense, I can hear a POP in my ears. I have been off Paxil for almost a week now and things seem to be getting worse by the day. I honestly don't know if I can survive this. Someone will pay for this. Paxil, as well as all of you who knew about the withdrawl symptons- have taken my life from me. I do nothing but sit home, in pain, cry out of frustration and wonder how this could happen to me? For any and all of the medical profession, who has the audasity to defend Paxil, I invite you to spend one day in my body, mind and lack of life I now have. I would rather have an anxiety attack every 15 seconds than what I am ensuring while trying to get off Paxil. Profitability for any company is important, but SmithKline- at what cost? Would you recommend your daughter, son or wife take Paxil? Would you take it yourself? Paxil needs to be taken off the market. Minimally, patients need to be informed UP FRONT regarding the side-effects. And for you ignorant people who write in asking why anyone would ever quit taking Paxil? Please take some time to educate yourselves. Not everyone on Paxil has a severe, life lasting chemical imbalance requiring them to be medicated forever. Some of us simply go through extremely stressful phases of our life, which inhibits our bodies from fighting depression, anxiety, and other related neuro-psychological feelings. Please don't insult my injury with your lack of knowledge. The effects and results of Paxil withdrawl in my life make me question if I even want tomorrow to come- I feel extremely violated. For everyone who has ever or continues to promote Paxil, I ask you to please connect yourself to a small electrical current, and zap yourself every 15 seconds for the next 14 days straight- including when you try to sleep. That is exactly what it is like. Paxil has taken my life away.

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Date:
05 Mar 2002
Time:
12:09:27
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xxx

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Date:
05 Mar 2002
Time:
12:41:03
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xxx

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Date:
05 Mar 2002
Time:
13:29:41
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xxx

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Date:
05 Mar 2002
Time:
13:44:09
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xxx

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Date:
05 Mar 2002
Time:
13:44:12
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xxx

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Date:
05 Mar 2002
Time:
14:31:53
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sss

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Date:
05 Mar 2002
Time:
15:23:27
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sss

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Date:
05 Mar 2002
Time:
15:29:45
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xxx

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Date:
07 Mar 2002
Time:
07:36:37
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I am so pissed off that I'm on Paxil. If I knew I was going to feel this bad getting of this drug. I wouldn't have taken it in the first place. I have these electric zaps going through my body all the time. I can't sleep, I'm cranky, I feel like I just want to die, I'm afraid I'm going insane and I want this nightmare I'm in to go way so I can get a normal life.

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Date:
07 Mar 2002
Time:
14:09:22
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About twenty years ago I was put on a drug called Ativan for not being able to sleep at night. I was not told about it's addictive nature at the time and before I knew it I was addicted. I took Ativan for 7 years and finally managed to come off it with a lot of heartache and withdrawal problems. I promised myself that I would never ever take any addictive prescirbed or other drug ever again in my life. I was in a severe car accident 2 years ago and subsequently suffered PTSD. I was prescribed SEROXAT/PAXIL. I asked my GP if they were addictive or not he told me of course not and I believed him. Stupid me, stupid him and most of all stupid manufacturers!! I was on seroxat for 10 months and decided it was time to stop. I cut the tablets down very slowly over a two month period and ended up in hospital. I tried a second time very slowly and again ended up in hospital. I had numerious test, ie. Brain MRI scans,EEG, blood tests and a full physical examination. Everything came back negitive. After wasting all that money in costs I was told my problems were that of Seroxat/paxil. I was horrified to find out I was addicted to this god damn drug when I was told it was not addictive by my GP and Smith Kline Beecham. I finally went cold turkey. I went to hell and back with all the classical withdrawal problems. I am now involved in a class action against Smith Kline Beecham for compensation for my distress and their false trading of this SSRI. If anyone wants to join the class action in the UK get intouch with GRaham Ross Solicitors, Neston, Wirral, Merseyside UK. They also offer some constructive help for those still suffering or the best ways to assist withdrawing from Seroxat/paxil. It's a real pitty isn't it that SKB cannot be as helpfull. People withdrawing from illegal drugs get more help than those prescribed and marketed by Smith Kline Beecham. This does not seem right or fair. Why doesn't the Government intervine? SUE SMITH KLINE BEECHAM AND CONTACT GRAHAM ROSS NOW!

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Date:
08 Mar 2002
Time:
12:03:24
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rrr

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Date:
09 Mar 2002
Time:
09:09:16
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Date:
09 Mar 2002
Time:
17:41:10
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Date:
11 Mar 2002
Time:
15:15:38
Remote User:
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Well I have been on paxil of about a year and a half. I recently talked with my doctor about going off paxil. He went about to tell me how to get off the drug,with NO mention of anyof these awful side effects that I am experiencing. So I called the office to see what I can do to make me feel better,there response was to go back to my normal dose, with that I said there is NO way I will do that.I did get some side effects when starting paxil,but nothing compares to what I'm going through right now. This is the worse thing I have ever been through and I can't imagine ever having to do this again.My husband is also on paxil,for panic attacks, he is really concerned what is gonna happen to him. This drug sucks,and I don't advice anyone to start using it. dmc

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Date:
11 Mar 2002
Time:
17:21:35
Remote User:
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I am a 49 year who prescribed Paxil two months ago for depression. After some of the side effects became too hard to tolerate, my doctor and I decided to discontinue the use of the Paxil and try something else. The first couple of days were fine. One the evening of the third day I started feeling very odd and experiencing these funny "zaps" in my head. The next morning I felt fine until I tried to get out of bed. That's when the withdrawel hit with all of it's might. The zaps, nauses, crying uncontrobablly, muscle twitching. It was awful. I'm now back on the Paxil buy we are trying to wean me off. I keep all paper work on any medication that I take and there is no mention of these horrible things happening when you try to stop the medication. Even my doctor didn't know!

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Date:
11 Mar 2002
Time:
19:43:29
Remote User:
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I took this drug (10 mg) for only 4 days and went off it a week ago after experiencing side effects that included vaginal bleeding. Now I am experiencing heart palpitations and pains in my chest. Is this possible even after only taking such a small dose for a such a short time? I also have night sweats. A couple of days ago I was sure that I was experiencing early menopause. Now I'm not sure. I'm crying with rage right now and can't believe the blithe way in which this drug was prescribed for me.

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Date:
11 Mar 2002
Time:
21:49:13
Remote User:
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My idiot doctor who put me on this crap in May 2001 told me at our last yelling match that I was the only one of the thousands he's put on Paxil who's experienced these side effects and withdrawal symptome. The lawsuit, then months old, was news to him. Unfortunately, it was news to my Pharmacist as well. They agree that it's just me... I pray that you never have to live this hell, Dr. Philip Fisher.

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Date:
12 Mar 2002
Time:
20:30:33
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Paxil worked great for me for the first couple years I was on it, except for the horrible side effects. I gained a ton of weight, my sex drive was not existent, and god forbid you miss a pill. The withdraw symptons are horrible! They should definately let people know how hard it is to quit this stuff! I just started tapering off my doses just 4 days ago! I normally take 20mg once a day. I'm currently doing an alternate of 20/10. I have a horrible constant buzzing in my head, my head is aching so bad it hurts to even hold it up, my whole body is sore and my muscles ache. It takes everything I have left just to make it through the day. I would NOT recommend this to anyone. There are much better alternatives out there!

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Date:
13 Mar 2002
Time:
16:35:05
Remote User:
Comments
How long do the withdrawl symptoms last? I mean, Paxil was terrible for me and made my OCD a lot worse because of the tiredness, but then again, I'm not in a position where I can have two weeks, two months, etc., of this -- I am in a new city, starting a new job, and it's just basically physically impossible to go through this -- the OCD rages out of control! What should I do -- go back on the pill that basically destroyed my life, or withdraw from society while the withdrawls are going on? I'm so mad at so many people for wanting me to take this -- I thought it was a bad idea from day one!!!

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Date:
13 Mar 2002
Time:
21:33:57
Remote User:
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If someone had told me before i ever took Paxil, i would have sadi "No Thanks" ..ive got other problems i dont need another one... Ive had a terrible time getting off this stuff. Im down to 2mg a day. going to change to 2 mg every other day. Whewwwwwwwwe. gary perkins

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Date:
14 Mar 2002
Time:
00:35:46
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I have just one thing to say to the sons-of-bitches who invented this shit: ROT IN HELL! I'm reading reports all over the place that there is a 700% increase of risk for breast cancer for women who took Paxil. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? Not only do you bastard assholes lie about the withdrawals from this shit, but you've created something so evil, so indisious, so devastating that it gives you CANCER?????? Who the fuck did you make a Fasutian pact with? Would you suits give this poison to your daughters, wives, sisters, mothers? HOW FUCKING DARE YOU! Your lovely Paxil is a goddamn blight on humanity. This is an emotional holocaust that you've created, and I swear to God, one day you will pay dearly for the horror you have wreaked on society. Oh, and one last thing: FUCK YOU!!!

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Date:
14 Mar 2002
Time:
16:58:07
Remote User:
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I am so glad to have found this site! Now I know I am not crazy! I was given a combo of Paxil and Busbar to treat Panic Attacks about two years ago. It helped and I also worked hard in therapy and uncovered some very deep issues that I had repressed. Between the two I feel that I was going great. This fall I quite my job and opened an art studio - following my dreams. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford the cost of CORBA to continue my health insurance. My Busbar and Paxil prescriptions ran out so I called the pharmacy to have them refilled. I was told I needed to see the doctor, he wouldn't refill the script. So I called and told them I had lost my insurance, etc. The receptionist said she would talk to the Doc and call me back. The next day she called and said he would not refill the script unless I saw him ($65 for 15 minutes) or else I could try to get help through the local County Mental Health Services. Mind you in the past I would see this guy for 5 minutes - he would ask how I was doing, ask how my sex drive was, did I feel better and then give me another 3 months script. It was not like he was helping me. My family doc and therapist were doing that. So basically he is a legal drug dealer. The next day I called and told them I wasn't coming in and what would happen to me if I just stopped taking the meds? The receptionist told me "We have no idea, you should be fine." I had two pills left so I decided it was going to be cold turkey for me. I was ready to stop. Well, it has been four weeks now and all I can say is: terrible vertigo, horrible nightmares (when I can sleep), insomnia, crying spells, angry all the time, and aches and pains all over my body - more than just basic flu aches and pains. It is getting better but it has been a horrible experience!

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Date:
15 Mar 2002
Time:
08:25:39
Remote User:
Comments
I am on my 6th day of weaning from 20 mg to 10 mg to 5 mg and I am miserable! Dizziness, confusion, ringing in my head, crying. I went on Paxil during chemotherapy last summer and only wished I knew about these side effects first. I definitely would have toughed out the depression brought on by my illness. Again...my dr. did not inform me of problems, in fact he thought Paxil was just great. Now I am hearing from his office staff that there are other people that have had problems as well. Doctors need to know these things to inform people properly.

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Date:
15 Mar 2002
Time:
15:39:56
Remote User:
Comments
i've been on paxil almost a month. i'm almost 16 and suffer from really bad anxiety. but let me tell you, paxil works miracles. take it at night and you won't feel as bad. like...you won't get all tired and all that stuff. but don't make yourself go off of it just b/c you want to b/c you'll feel all those side effects this site is about. DONT DO IT! but i do experience, at night, like a little "jumpy". my body will all of a sudden "jump" a little bit, but that is a side effect. so i don't know where you people are coming from. go off of paxil when your psychiatrist/doctor tells you too.

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Date:
15 Mar 2002
Time:
15:49:47
Remote User:
Comments
this is to the last rant,I would like to to come back and rant when its time for you to come off the paxil you have know idea what you will experience,i know everyone is different,but i would like to hear from you when you withdrawal

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Date:
15 Mar 2002
Time:
19:53:46
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Comments

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Date:
16 Mar 2002
Time:
03:59:01
Remote User:
Comments
I have been on 30mg per day for some time now. I realize that paxil is not for everybody, but for some of us it has been a miracle. At 42 years of age paxil has corrected anxiety problems I've sufered from since High School. Paxil is no doubt over prescribed based on the content of this message board, but for me it works. My heart goes out to those of you who have sufered this terrible withdrawl syndrome and I sincerely hope you find the answer to your dilema.

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Date:
16 Mar 2002
Time:
14:57:36
Remote User:
Comments
I took paxil for a year. Stopped taking about two months ago. I've never experienced a singled with drawl symptom. What the hell are you morons going on about

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Date:
16 Mar 2002
Time:
15:26:27
Remote User:
Comments
this is to the last rant. if you had no problems getting off paxil,why are you on this site?

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Date:
16 Mar 2002
Time:
16:54:20
Remote User:
Comments
Those of you that are in high position within the Glaxo Smith Kline Corporation. If Paxil is so safe, and non habit forming; i have a challenge for you. Take 20mg. of Paxil once a day, for 6 months; then go of cold turkey, for 4 days, and then I want to ask you how you feel? If you could imagine being depressed or having anxiety disorder, would it now feel like Paxil gave you your life back, and had balanced your brain chemistry back to a normal level; would you say your mental health improved, or was worsened. These are the kind od clinical trials you should have done!!!Not accessed the 108 cases of withdrawal syndrome, as simply recurrance of the patients original disorder; and then also classified the drug as only habit forming for those people that are drug addicts, or have an inherant tendancy toward drug addiction. That conclusion was such a blatant lie; it goggles the ming-how deceptively evil it was. Well, you have read my proposal concerning further testing of this safe and effective drug Paxil; and how you should test it on yourselves first, being you make these claims that profit you in the billions of dollars. My name is Lowell Hubbs, e-mail cornfieldmn@yahoo.com. I have gone through hell trying to get off Paxil. Any one of you Glaxo Smith Kline corporate executives, which choose to take my challenge, I will buy enough Paxil for six months; hell, Ill even give you sample I have yet in my cupboard. If you can tell me you feel better, after 6 months, and even with a slow withdrawal period; I will eat every last empty cardboard box of free Paxil, I ever got! No human can do it; or has ever done it, and felt better; if there is anyone out there that has; let me know your story? Sure you feel great, for the first 2 months on Paxil, then you realize the good affects are wearing off, as all the seratonin is being depleated even further from your brain, and now you are a depersonalized, zombie-like, junkie; that even your close friends don't know you anymore, you changed so much! I hope that any person which is responsible for misrepresenting this drug; would be sentenced to 6 months, on their own poison!!!Try it-and then tell me I'm lying!

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Date:
16 Mar 2002
Time:
16:58:19
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Date:
16 Mar 2002
Time:
17:31:30
Remote User:
Comments
I have a challenge to all of you top executives at GSK. If you truly believe that paxil is nonhabit forming, and corrects brain transmitter levels-for people with depression, and chronic anxiety disorder; I have a challenge for you! Before paxil was ever approved, perhaps you should have also done one more simple test. Go get yourself a six month supply of those free Paxil samples us patients get at our doctors office, and take 20mg. once a day, for 6 months, and then go off cold turkey, and see how it feels? and then wonder what is wrong, because your doctor does not know either, about withdrawal, or how to correctly withdraw you from the drug. You can e-mail me at cornfieldmn@yahoo.com.; that is concerning your experiences with this challenge, to take your own poison? When you are sitting in your plush houses, paid for by our drug addictions, please think of those that suffered, and continue to suffer because of this poison known as Paxil! GSK, has stated that only drug addicts, or those with that predisposition,can get addicted to Paxil. That, is an evil-baseless-lie! How about all of the doctors, and company reps., now being investigated for taking lavish GSK bribes; to prescribe Paxil, over a competitors drug? You people are evil, and sick!!! I am still not off Paxil entirely, because severe withdrawal comes back even days after I though I was off the final 5mg.; having slowly gone from 20 to 10 then 5mg. So, never think that slow withdrawal will eliminate these problems of brain zaps/pulses, confusion, and etc. etc.; a person can have horrendous withdrawal symptoms, even going slow. Remember my challenge; and contact me, on how it goes?

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Date:
16 Mar 2002
Time:
18:43:42
Remote User:
Comments
I was on paxil for 2 years and when I tried to go off when i got pregnant, I couldn't do it. All the withdrawls and stress my body was going through was bad for my developing fetus. My Doctor advised me to stay on it until I had the baby and was done breastfeeding. I recently found that Paxil is also excreted in Breast milk. Did my baby feel withdrawl symtoms? How dare the company not warn me of the extreme withdrawls that I experienced and having no choice but to either expose my baby to the drug or to severe withdrawl symtoms that who knows how long they would last. Presently I am still tyring to get off Paxil.

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Date:
18 Mar 2002
Time:
09:01:32
Remote User:
Comments
I went on vacation and forgot my Paxil... at first i thought I was tired from walking around Disney for a few days, then I thought I had a virus. I was on 20mg a day, by the 4th day the unbalance, fatigue and the "ZAPS" were terrible. I didn't know about Paxil withdrawal. I was looking up all kinds of illnesses in the doctors book until I finally went online and looked up Paxil. As soon as I read about the "ZAPS" I knew that is what it was.

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Date:
19 Mar 2002
Time:
19:39:39
Remote User:
Comments
I am a 19-year-old student with low self-esteem which I believe causes mild depression. As I had was working through my self-esteem issues with a counsellor I was understandably hesitant to go on antidepressants. My doctor eventually persuaded me to start on fluoxetine(prozac). At the age of 16 I started on this drug and stayed on it for a year. I experienced no side effects even when I stopped the drug abruptly for a few months. However, I still suffered from mild depression and fluoxetine seemed to make no difference to my state of mind. My doctor happily told me about a drug called paroxetine. she said it was just like fluoxetine but worked in a slightly different way. she said it was non-addictive and may do the trick. So I went on it. After a month on it I ran out of pills. Two days after my last pill I started to feel horrendous. I can only describe it as the worst hangover ever mixed with motion sickness, PMS, and confusion. I went back on it. 6 months later I have again run out of pills. Less than 48 hours after my last dose I feel more ill than I have ever felt in my life. I feel sickened that no one warned me paroxetine was addictive. A drug I pay £6.10 a month for is ruining my life. My doctor would have been better prescribing me heroine.

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Date:
21 Mar 2002
Time:
00:08:50
Remote User:
Comments
Why was I so blind to this drug. I am 22, been on Paxil for 4 years ..and have always had "most" of the sypmtoms/withdrawls described. I weened off of it about 6 months ago, and managed to stay off of it for 3 months (with still having the withdrawls, zaps, dizzy, breathing difficulties, nausea etc) ..My doc said there is NO WAY I should be still having these withdrawls after 3 months. After a huge panic attack, I went back on it ...Never have really been offered anything else. Anyways, blabbering on (which I find I do a lot on this med) ...My question or statement is... Is this the reason why I feel so Shi*ty all the time, this awful stupid drug ?!? How will I ever know, that it is Paxil doing this to me, could these symptoms not be from something else ?! (I am also on Ativan, 5mg a day) It seems no doc is willing to help, so will I/WE ever know ?! I want to get off of it so bad but I am so scared now. First I don't wanna barf (one of the reasons why I am on it, is that fear) ...and 2 what will I do to cope with Panic/Anxiety/Fears...is anything safe. I have so many questions and I am so uneducated about all of this. Can someone/everyone ...hehehe, be my PAXIL PenPals... I am sick of zapping, and shaking and waking up feeling dead. Please help me, these meds obviously aren't. P.S Anyone lose weight from it ?? Itslauren@hotmail.com Lauren, Canada.

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Date:
21 Mar 2002
Time:
00:09:30
Remote User:
Comments
Why was I so blind to this drug. I am 22, been on Paxil for 4 years ..and have always had "most" of the sypmtoms/withdrawls described. I weened off of it about 6 months ago, and managed to stay off of it for 3 months (with still having the withdrawls, zaps, dizzy, breathing difficulties, nausea etc) ..My doc said there is NO WAY I should be still having these withdrawls after 3 months. After a huge panic attack, I went back on it ...Never have really been offered anything else. Anyways, blabbering on (which I find I do a lot on this med) ...My question or statement is... Is this the reason why I feel so Shi*ty all the time, this awful stupid drug ?!? How will I ever know, that it is Paxil doing this to me, could these symptoms not be from something else ?! (I am also on Ativan, 5mg a day) It seems no doc is willing to help, so will I/WE ever know ?! I want to get off of it so bad but I am so scared now. First I don't wanna barf (one of the reasons why I am on it, is that fear) ...and 2 what will I do to cope with Panic/Anxiety/Fears...is anything safe. I have so many questions and I am so uneducated about all of this. Can someone/everyone ...hehehe, be my PAXIL PenPals... I am sick of zapping, and shaking and waking up feeling dead. Please help me, these meds obviously aren't. P.S Anyone lose weight from it ?? Itslauren@hotmail.com Lauren, Canada.

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Date:
21 Mar 2002
Time:
11:42:07
Remote User:
Comments
Hi, Lauren I to was on paxil for a year and a half.I recently went off the drug,actually I went from 20mg to10 mg for 3 days and on the 3rd day it was HELL. I haven't taken a pill in 2 weeks and I still have head spins, sharp pains in my muscles and I have head constant headaches.Hopefully these will go away soon. I have gain about 45 pounds since being on paxil,that was my main reason to get off the drug,then the withdrawals came. My husband told me to check on the computer to see what I can find out well I'm sure you've read it all too. My husband is alos on paxil for panic attacks he is in the process of getting off to,he is going very slow.He has also had a few other medical problems since being on paxil,we hope they go away when he's completely off. Any doctor that prescribes this medication, should try it themselves 1st, they have no idea what this drug is doing to people. Good Luck to you.nimpqwfaim Iam no doctor z awa rI've been paxil freee I ve,in

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Date:
21 Mar 2002
Time:
12:24:02
Remote User:
Comments
HI THERE, IT'S ME LAUREN....from 2 rants above this one :) I wanted to make a correction, I have been getting tons of e-mails about it. I am on .5MG a day of Ativan, not FIVE. Sorry about that. Stupid Paxil.

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Date:
22 Mar 2002
Time:
10:35:36
Remote User:
Comments
I'm so glad I found your site! I've been experiencing crying, nausea, dizziness, almost panic, can't sleep, diarrhea, muscle and joint pain, headaches! Good grief! I was on Paxil for six years, and have almost gone off before, but always went back on. Now I'm down to 1/4 of 20 mg every other day and feel sick. I hope I don't have to stay this way. My sister went off and had no symptoms. The reason I'm going off (besides not wanting to be dependent on the drug) is to lose some of the pounds I put on in the last 5 years. My doctor didn't say anything about the withdrawal. They so rarely bother. Help!

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Date:
22 Mar 2002
Time:
10:54:14
Remote User:
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Just started on Seroxat, been on it 2 weeks, now I want to stop taking it as it seems to be a drug from hell. What should i do now?? Karl: nexus_6@btinternet.com

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Date:
25 Mar 2002
Time:
09:23:36
Remote User:
Comments
PLEASE MAKE THIS STOP!! IT'S BEEN OVER 2 WEEKS SINCE I TOOK THE LAST PAXIL AND I DON'T HAVE THE STRENGTH TO GO ON LIVING WITH THESE EFFECTS OF WITHDRAWAL. I'D RATHER BE DEAD.

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Date:
25 Mar 2002
Time:
16:24:45
Remote User:
Comments
Hi, I wondered if anyone else is experiencing problems with breathing whilst withdrawing from Seroxat. I have been withdrawing slowly for about 2 months now (am now down to 7.5mg from 20mg) and I keep getting the same thing (usually when I lie down) that I can't get my breath. Its hard to explain, but it feels like my chest is really tight and I just can't seem to get a deep breath. When this happens I get worried and panic which only maks it worse. The only way to stop it is to get up and read something or watch TV, something to distract me until I am so tired that I can't help but fall asleep. I would love to hear from anyone who has/is experiencing this sort of thing. Thanks. Poss

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Date:
26 Mar 2002
Time:
01:30:08
Remote User:
Comments
7 years ago I gave up a cocaine addiction for a Paxil addiction! I'm not through reducing my medication, but one thing is for sure the withdrawls of quitting Paxil are far more severe than dealing with a cocaine addiction. I was hooked on cocaine for just over a year, I have been hooked on Paxil, at $95/month, for the last 7 years. My guess is the makers of Paxil may have had good intentions to start, but by now they should know their drug is in fact habit forming.

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Date:
26 Mar 2002
Time:
05:01:04
Remote User:
Comments
About two years ago I went off of Paxil 30 mg. I forget how my doctor weaned me off, but it was awful. I experienced voices, insomnia, anxiety, and headaches. I eventually went back on the drug. It's been two years and now I am going off of it again. I have experienced terrible migraines, dissiness, and my stomach has been upset for a month. If I ever get off of this drug feeling normal I will thank God completely. Wish me luck.

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Date:
26 Mar 2002
Time:
12:09:39
Remote User:
Comments
I started taking this poison in 1992 when it first came out. I was told nothing about side effects, my shrink said I'd have them all if she told me! Of course I have a PDR so I looked it up myself. Didn't much like the side effects, but said nothing about withdrawl from it. It helped my panic attacks tremendously. They went away. I had them SEVERELY. Ten years later, I'm hearing these horror stories about going off Paxil. I amazed, furious and terrified. If I go off it, I'll be worse off than before. What in the world am I going to do? I have the anemia from taking Paxil, and the heart arrthmias. I already have vivid nightmares on a daily basis; what's it going to be like when I try to quit! Still, my psychiatrist is oblivious. She wants to know if I want to come off it. I CAN'T!! What does she have to offer in it's place? I have no idea what to do.

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Date:
26 Mar 2002
Time:
13:08:24
Remote User:
Comments
Dear Paxil Drug Lords, & their Dealers, I was told as a child that if I didn't have anything nice to say than don't say anything at all. Welcome to the new world. You should be hung from your balls with fish hooks until the pain goes away! I hope you haven't fucked up my life for good. I just had a child and it is yet to be seen how it effects the children. I have a drug for you to take to help you get through your court date. It is called lethal injection. Take two and don't call anyone in the morning. Bin Ladin Is small potatoes compared to you. Just think of all of the Viagra users that have a hard on for you. I hope you get a nice kick back from the Viagra people. We don't hear much about the people who have died from this stuff yet but I am a very strong person who only dreams nightmares about it. If I ever was to meet Mr. Paxil in person on a bad Paxil day I would have to do everything I could to keep from ripping his head off with my bare hands. You disgust me and so does anyone who supports Paxil who has not been brain washed into taking the drug. Signed, I can't remember thanks to Mr. Paxil

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Date:
26 Mar 2002
Time:
16:51:07
Remote User:
Comments
Advice for panickers........learn to control your mind through meditation and relaxation [close eyes, focous on a simple insignificant object (i use simple geometric shapes), breath slow and deep, and hum AUMMMMM.....silence all thoughts]. Techniques such as this take practice but will help you. Paxil is garbage.......half the USA is beinng zombified on this insane excuse for soma. These chemlab freaks will feed you anything for a million bucks. I got duped into taking this crap for panic attacks and for everytime my head zapped during withdrawl may it be another eon in absolute hell for the bigwigs at GSK. And may the whole western pharmaceutical empire crumble under a barrage of lawsuits!!!!

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Date:
26 Mar 2002
Time:
20:07:09
Remote User:
Comments
I have been on Paxil for mild clinical depression for a few years and have been trying to get off it for several weeks now. I had no idea it would be this hard. I tried to wean myself from 20mg per day to 10 per day to 10 every other day but at that point I started experiencing the buzzing in my finger tips, toes and lips, crying jags, nausea, dizziness, diarrhea, and fatigue. My doc contacted a drug rep from SmithKline Beecham who actually admitted these were common withdrawal symptoms and suggested I cut back more slowly. I will do that but I am scared to death after reading so many of these people's experiences. I have to say, I always talked up Paxil because it made a huge difference for me in the depression/irritability department but now that I have begun to experience the addictive/withdrawal thing, I am really angry that this drug is being so heavily advertised as a "cure-all" for anyone who has ever had a bad day. I will never take another prescription drug without checking it out thoroughly, not that that would have helped with Paxil as apparently they have never been very upfront about the negative aspects of it. My thoughts and prayers are with all who are going through this hellish experience. There MUST be light at the end of the tunnel, right?????

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Date:
27 Mar 2002
Time:
01:59:42
Remote User:
Comments
The story below all happened AFTER an unsuccessful trial with a tricyclic anti-depressant. Now here is my HMO and Paxil horror story: I still say if I had just gone and murdered a few of those HMO doctors instead of crying out for help I'd be able to sue Paxil and I'd be rich now. Instead I'm stuck paying HMO premiums and going to the public clinic for all my mental health needs but the HMO clinic for all my physical health needs. I've called Jim Trindle, 4610 Wilson Circle SE, Port Orchard WA 98366, the administrator at Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound Bremerton "Behavioral Health Center" three times now and asked him if I can go to the local bipolar support group. He refuses to return my phone calls. Fine way to treat a dues paying member. I guess I have been Trindled. (BTW this is not my neologism so does not count towards my dx. But I guess this proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that my friend Bob has schizophrenia) In 1998 my HMO destroyed several years of my life by allowing my General Practitioner to Prescribe the powerful anti-depressant Paxil to me with no diagnosis. (Later my HMO pdoc screwed up and prescribed too much Risperdal and added to my problems.) After 4 weeks on Paxil I went into a terrible mixed manic episode. The result was that I began to have violent SSRI induced fantasies I was very afraid that I was going to murder a man. Over and over and over and over I kept picturing myself ambushing him at his bus stop and stabbing him over and over and over. After a full day of this I suddenly realized that I was OUT OF MY GOURD AND NEEDED HELP FAST! I went back to my family doctor and told him that as a child I had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and spent ages 16-18 as a ward of the court. I also told him that I felt I was losing my mind because I was feeling homicidal and I was stalking a non HMO therapist that had sexually abused me when I was a teenager. Still, Toni Administrative Assistant, Nursing Research VOICE: 206/221-2415 FAX: 206/685-9264 (Home Address 3413 Gilman Ave W #301, Seattle WA 98119) At the time he molested me he was the head of "Community House" on Capital Hill in Seattle. I told my family doctor that I was afraid I was going to murder this man. I told my family doctor that I did not feel at all depressed. My family doctor noted in my chart that I was in a "cheerful" mood. My poorly trained family doctor (David Stackhouse MD.) responded by doubling my dose of Paxil. Why did he double my anti-depressant while writing in my chart that I was in a cheerful mood? I feel that he should have referred me to a psychiatrist possibly should have had me hospitalized and perhaps had a legal obligation to warn the man that I was stalking. (later a hospital refused to release me until this man had been warned) But he did none of those things, instead he doubled my Paxil dose to 40mg per day. Needless to say my symptoms became even worse on a higher dose of Paxil. I went back to my family doctor two weeks after the dose increase and asked him for a referral to a psychiatrist. I was then given the run around for three days while I desperately tried to get in to see a psychiatrist. My Paxil induced mania became so bad that I drove my self to the nearest HMO MH Clinic and asked to see a psychiatrist but I was turned away because I did not have a referral. This was all very scary for me because I knew I was losing my mind but did not know how to describe it or what was happening. I tried to get a referral to a psychiatrist from Doctor Stackhouse but he told me I did not need one and only gave me the directions to the HMO "behavioral health clinic". I drove to the clinic and asked to see a psychiatrist but was turned away for lack of a referral. So I called Dr. Stackhouse and asked him again for a referral telling him that I was told that I did indeed need a referral. The nurse said she would get right on it and gave me the number to the mental health intake person. I called the mental health intake person for three days in a row, but each time I called I was told that they had not received a referral. I called Dr. Stackhouse's nurse and she told me she had forgotten to fax the referral but would get right on it. I never got my referral. Doctors are strongly encouraged to not give out referrals to specialists at my HMO. I suffered greatly because this policy. I was so scared that I started just hanging out in the waiting room of my HMO's main office because I felt safe there and after all I was waiting for help. I waited and waited and waited for three days, my symptoms were growing worse each day, but I never got the help I asked for. I finally got so desperate for help that I drove my car around the clinic in reverse about ten times but no one noticed so I then called the consulting nurse and told her that I had become afraid that I was going to follow my family doctor home if I did not get my referral. I did not want to follow him home but I had become so crazed on the Paxil that I felt I had no control over the situation. That finally got their attention and they referred me directly to a psychiatric hospital. While in the hospital I was taken off the Paxil cold turkey!("antidepressant-discontinuation induced mania" is also a recognized phenomenon) After being taken off the Paxil cold turkey by Janet Vondron M.D., Psychiatry, 9916 Dishman Rd NE, Silverdale WA I started to engage in self injury and my anxiety levels went through the roof.I went out of my head, it was horrible and the doktors lead me to believe that this was caused by "bipolar disorder" and not Paxil withdrawal. I'm not sure how I managed to survive being taking off 40mg per week of Paxil with no taper down. The self injury stopped three months after all antidepressants and risperdal were eliminated from my diet. My clueless clinicians did not make the connection between the Paxil and the self injury but prefered to call it something else that was highly invalidating. Mean while the company that makes Paxil has been forced to change their labeling to reflect the fact that people go in to withdrawal if taken off it too fast. I blame my HMO and it's doctors who learned everything they know about medications from the drug company reps for the behavior I displayed while on Paxil and later Risperdal. I blame my HMO psychiatrist (Gail Shuler M.D.,)for making my mania worse by prescribing Risperdal later. I guess she (Gail Shuler M.D.,) never read a medical journal after she graduated, that or all the risperdal flavored popcorn I saw in her office did something to her brain. Risperdal is known make some people with bipolar disorder manic. But you can't really expect your psychiatrist to keep up to date on these types of things now can you? It has been three years since I have been on Paxil or Risperdal or done anything strange. I was with this HMO for 20 years without incident before all this happened. -----

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Date:
27 Mar 2002
Time:
07:37:02
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
27 Mar 2002
Time:
12:03:11
Remote User:
Comments
Although the withdrawal symptoms from Paxil are unpleasant, it does not meet other criteria for an addictive drug. There is no evidence of increased tolerance (needing more and more drug to have the same effect.) Nor is there any craving during withdrawal. There is unpleasantness, yes, craving, no. The only feature of this drug that is similar to other addictive substances like alcohol, heroin etc. is adaptive cell metabolism. This is why there are withdrawal symptoms. Paxil is only one of hundreds of routinely prescribed drugs that will cause withdrawal problems if stopped suddenly, including almost all drugs for hypertension, beta blockers, etc. That being said, it is clearly a serious problem with Paxil that the manufacturer conveniently ignored. From what I understand, other SSRI's do not cause this much difficulty when stopped! I have experienced several unpleasant symptoms including the "zaps!" Paxil helped me through a particularly difficult period in my life but it will be a long time before I take another SSRI drug. I hope Paxil withdrawal sufferers have a bit more empathy for drug and alcohol addicts now. They didn't expect to become physically dependent either, and quitting is far more painful (and medically dangerous) than Paxil withdrawal. No wonder drug and alcohol addicts have such a difficult time quitting.

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Date:
28 Mar 2002
Time:
14:54:00
Remote User:
Comments
you people all sound pretty pathetic. im not trying to be mean but all of these symptoms are what i go through daily without any withdrawl. taking an ssri for mild depression is the dumbest thing i have ever heard. just because you had a bad day you wanted a little magic pill to make it all better. i have severe depression and a severe panic disorder. to call the things you are going through hellish makes me laugh. maybe this "paxil withdrawl" is what you people need to get you to stop bitching. mild depression, i wish i had mild depression. maybe your hmo thought you needed a little schooling in reality. sort of like a strengthening by fire buddhist thing.

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Date:
28 Mar 2002
Time:
23:13:06
Remote User:
Comments
I wish all you faggots would cram poles up your assholes.

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Date:
29 Mar 2002
Time:
02:24:46
Remote User:
Comments
I've noticed while reading through this page that a lot of people seem genuinly helped by Paxil... I'm okay with that. It is a drug that is supposed to help. But I have one concern... I developed an acute deppression that was basically leading me on a very self-destructive path. It was after an atempted suicide that I realised what I was doing and stopped. Immediatly I went to my Doctor and demanded that he see me (which he did despite my lack of appointment and it being 10 minutes after closing time) he sat down with me and asked me about my problem and really talked with me. He suggested Paxil to help me with my problem. Naturally I'm very skeptical with all forms of medication and I asked him several questions about the drug and it effects. He showed me the pamhplets and other documentation that was sent to him by GSK. The thing that makes me mad, more than mad, is that I asked the right questions before I got on the drug and was told that it was safe and that none of the hellish things that I've experienced since would happen. The infruiating thing that I found out just this day as I'm a week and a half into the withdrawl (litterally skinning myself) that GSK knew that whole time that Paxil would do this too me. Even when I asked the questions and my doctor Asked the questions they still denied any negative effects. The Evil that is present, isn't the doctors, isn't the pharmacies, isn't even the drug itself, but it's GSK's PR dept. The bastards have affected me in ways that it will be very hard to forgive. They are quite maliciously greedy. Anyway I don't know why I wrote this... It justm akes me feel better I guess. IF anyone wants to respond to me, please do. I'd like to hear from people that are sharing my hell, or at the very least sympathize with it.

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Date:
29 Mar 2002
Time:
16:01:22
Remote User:
Comments
I would rather have my depression--which responds just fine to marijuana, a drug that's been field-tested for 3,000 years, which has never caused death by overdose, whose most significant side effects are dry mouth, increased appetite, and sleepiness--than EVER accept a prescribed SSRI, a benzodiazepine, or other psychotropic pharmaceutical. I have taken Prozac, Zoloft, Wellbutrin and Paxil, and Paxil was the straw breaking the camel's back. Terrible side effects--but, according to the doctor, who knew? I don't fill ANY prescription without going out on the web and reading as much as I can--from online PDRs to sites like this one. My last prescription was for Klonopin for RLS, which I tore up after reading about its side effects and addictive potential. The doctor didn't tell me. He said, "you'll love it. You'll be thanking me." You knew! You are responsible! Fucking moneygrubbers. Fuck you all.

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Date:
29 Mar 2002
Time:
16:53:31
Remote User:
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Date:
30 Mar 2002
Time:
17:15:08
Remote User:
Comments
I wish my psychiatrist had pulled a gun out of his desk and shot me through the head the day he prescribed paxil for me. I really do.

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Date:
31 Mar 2002
Time:
08:45:25
Remote User:
Comments
i feel cheated i thought this was going to help i was told that htey were not addictive i am on my fifth day with out having taken any and i feel awful there are no words to describe my children are suffering they know that this is not there normal mum we have explained what i am doing but they do not understand and why should they its not there fault that there mum is having withdrawal symptons from a drug which was supose to help.

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Date:
01 Apr 2002
Time:
05:42:59
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
01 Apr 2002
Time:
21:50:46
Remote User:
Comments
GSK reps. and executives, please take some of your own poison, Paxil, for 6 months, and then go of cold-turkey, and tell me again that paxil is not habit forming? Tell me also that it does not cause brain damage; there is sientific proof that it does; go to wwww.antidepressantfacts.com, click on the three part article on the penial gland? Go off Paxil, even as slowwly as you can, as I did; then E-mail me about your wonderful experiances, and life transformation, on the great poison, Paxil? When you complete this test, email me at cornfieldmn@yahoo.com This challenge is to any person within the GSK corporation?

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Date:
02 Apr 2002
Time:
09:06:14
Remote User:
Comments
this is to the one above, I've been on line all morning trying to find the web site antidepressantfacts.com. I'm not having any luck. Could you point me in the right direction. Thanks- former paxil user

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Date:
04 Apr 2002
Time:
17:43:42
Remote User:
Comments
To all of the cocksucking, money-grubbing assholes at GSK: Due to your gross misrepresentation of your poisonous, addictive medication, I'm hopelessly hooked on it. I can't get off of it without the horrible symptoms of withdrawel. My dick hasn't been hard once in the two years I've been taking the garbage. I would find it very gratifying to strap you to a chair and beat the shit out all you corporate fucks with a rubber hose filled with lead, all the while forcing paxil down your throats until your ass bleeds. FUCK YOU!

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Date:
04 Apr 2002
Time:
21:09:01
Remote User:
Comments
I know all the symptoms are real and everyone seems to go through all of the symptoms while withdrawing from Paxil. My husband has suffered with 99% of the symptoms mentioned on this site. He had been on Paxil 20 mg for only 3.5 months and tapered off to 10 mg daily to 10 mg every other day for a week and then none. I know the drug company is responsible and our food and drug administration has failed us concerning Paxil. However, I feel as though it is a waste of time to contact the drug company with complaints due to the fact that they are making 100+ dollars a month for each monthly prescription. I suggest to everyone who reads this message to contact every doctor you know and to present to him/her the true experience of Paxil withdrawal. The doctors should personally receive these facts because the office staff will just dispose of the information. After all, the doctor is the one that writes the scripts......not the drug companies .....not the pharmacies.....and not the office staff. Lets prevent someone else from going through the Paxil "HELL" that we all know so well.....we need the doctors to stop prescribing this drug.

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Date:
04 Apr 2002
Time:
23:01:52
Remote User:
Comments
Dear GSK, You incompetent worthless pieces of horse shit, you ruined the past five years of my life. And now, for probably the fiftieth time, I'm sitting here about ready to vomit on my computer, which I can barely see through the blurred vision, because I have to get off of this shit before it kills me. I swear, as soon as I can walk straight, my ass is suing you for every fucking penny you've stold from these poor people. So help me God...

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Date:
05 Apr 2002
Time:
00:57:23
Remote User:
Comments
I have been taking paxil for six years.I have tried four times to get off this drug and I cant get past 10mg.I have not needed this drug for five years but im traped.Iknew I was in trouble when my script ran out and I didnt have a way to fill for the weekend this was in the first year of taking it.I had head spins so bad I couldnt even walk,I wanted off this shit then but knew I would have to be out of work.Well I am out of work now I got fired from a job I had for five years I missed so much time because I was always sick on this drug.Its the first time in my life I have ever been fired.I still cant get off this drug from hell my head spins so bad when I get down to 5mg.and i ache all over then I have to go back up to 10mg and I still feel like shit.well thankyou for letting me rant.

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Date:
05 Apr 2002
Time:
13:40:11
Remote User:
Comments
GSK, in all sincerity I ask you how many people have been / will be killed or injured on the roads just because one of your addicts out there has missed one or two doses of your best seller? Yes, I'd deny the link too if I was you!! Cunts.

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Date:
05 Apr 2002
Time:
21:48:51
Remote User:
Comments
Thank God I'm not losing my mind. I was placed on 20mg of Paxil after the sudden death of my husband three years ago. I thought it was the "wonder drug" except for the unexplained pain and weakness in my left arm and shoulder. I spent three years seeing every kind of doctor known trying to find out why I had this pain. No results. Last Monday, I went to my physician after experiencing several low blood sugar episodes. He decided for some ungodly reason to change my antidepressant to Wellbutrin. I have been in hell since then. I am constantly having zaps, cry for no reason, feel worthless, fearful and totally out of control. Believe me, this is not good for a teacher. I have two small children who don't understand why Mom doesn't feel good anymore. The doctor said it could be two to four weeks before the Wellbutrin took effect. Now I'm afraid I'm trading one drug for another and will never be free of antidepressants. Can someone please tell me how long I can expect this to continue. I don't believe my doctor is aware of the withdrawal effects of Paxil.I am miserable and so is my family. I feel like I'm going insane. And a word to all the Paxil lovers... don't be fooled. There are side effects from Paxil while you taking it. More and more I began to stay in bed when I was home. Nothing motivated me. I became more antisocial than before I began Paxil. My sex drive is zip. Since I've quit Paxil, that unexplained pain has disappeared. Now I'm just mad as hell.

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Date:
05 Apr 2002
Time:
22:51:09
Remote User:
Comments
Hi, I'm a complete whiner who doesn't know how to wean myself off of SSRIs and think that taking drugs is some big game where I make up the rules. It's idiots like me who go off of antibiotics early because I "feel better" and thus create antibiotic-resistant super bugs. I need to be perscribed a knock on the head with a god-damned sledgehammer.

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Date:
06 Apr 2002
Time:
04:41:05
Remote User:
Comments
Listen you pack of tubes whining on this page - if I lose aropax/paxil 'cos you can't stop bleating a shitload more are gonna die -Get it!?! Viva La Paxil!

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Date:
06 Apr 2002
Time:
13:13:49
Remote User:
Comments
? Keep taking the pills my friend, you clearly need them.

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Date:
06 Apr 2002
Time:
14:26:38
Remote User:
Comments
It took me all day to enter heree. 2 years on paxil fourth week off

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Date:
06 Apr 2002
Time:
14:26:41
Remote User:
Comments
It took me all day to enter heree. 2 years on paxil fourth week off

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Date:
06 Apr 2002
Time:
14:29:48
Remote User:
Comments
A friend of mine through my wired, weird state . Space channel..Einstein"smooky action from a distance...I have been in heaven and hell and often at the same time for weeks especially over easter weekend and april's Day all rolled into one weekend.

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Date:
06 Apr 2002
Time:
17:52:36
Remote User:
Comments
I gained 40 pounds on Paxil, was spacey and got weaker and weaker but I was scared to get off because I'd had some severe panic attacks before taking it. I convinced my teenage son to take this stuff. We have autism in our family and the day to day sadnesses the hit us fill us with dispair that won't go way easily. The withdrawel is HELL!! I juat got my son off of that poison and I hope he survives better than I've been doing. I will NEVER EVER take another drug like that again. I bouught some pot, those it's been years since I've used it but everyone damn well knows the side effects of that, the worst one being jail time. Anyway, pot helps ease the symptoms of Paxil withdrawal.

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Date:
06 Apr 2002
Time:
17:53:54
Remote User:
Comments
All the nonverbal autistic children that are on Paxil...

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Date:
07 Apr 2002
Time:
03:27:27
Remote User:
Comments
Hi I lost my oldest son 13 years. I was put on prozac it stop my crying but also stopped all other feeling. In 1998 I was taken off of prozac and put on paxil. I have gained 107 pounds lost all interest in life. Life went on with my attude of oh well. All these years I have tried to stop but every time I tried I though I was insane. I am now trying again. No one told me that my life would be distroyed I alway thought it was me that I was weak.. Who can help me now?

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Date:
07 Apr 2002
Time:
05:35:23
Remote User:
Comments
I have taken paxil before. I was stuck and could not get off it without the worst possible side effects. This site is what made me realize why I was having all the problems. I found out what it takes to get off it. It is mixing buspar with your paxil until you can take only buspar with no adverse effects. Once you are taking only buspar alls you have to do is stop taking it. The side effects will have already subsided from the paxil. There are NO side withdrawal symptoms from quiting buspar. I thought there was no help getting off paxil until I took buspar. It takes the place of paxil and your body does not know the difference and then getting off the buspar is a breeze. I hope this helps some of the people that have a problem with paxil. If you have any questions then you can reach me at Dankaytime@aol.com. Put "Paxil Withdrawal" as the subject so I don't erase it as junkmail. I'll try and answer your questiond if I can. Peace out and good luck..

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Date:
07 Apr 2002
Time:
12:35:23
Remote User:
Comments
Dearest GSK you suck!!!!! How dare you take human life as little as one would step on a ant. You have made many many many peoples life deteriorate to nothing, I hope that for what you have put us the people through you get in return. not oonly do i think you should stop making this evil drug. i think each and every one of you should take it for a year thhen see if you can quit! I bet that if you were told tto take it you would run faster then your feet could take you! I am going to pray for your souls, to ruin peoples life for money is a sin , lower then hell! You are taking advanttage of the most vunerable people. The depressed, the anxious, and the terifeied. So now that you screwed up our lives , Im outt o mess with yours. Colleen

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Date:
07 Apr 2002
Time:
21:24:02
Remote User:
Comments
I feel as if I have been robbed of the last 5 years of my life.

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Date:
08 Apr 2002
Time:
14:08:55
Remote User:
Comments
Iam currently on paxil,I have had a work injury that lead to me being depressed and not wanting to eat or deal with everyday lifestyles,in that time I was put on paxil to help control my wieght and mind lose.was told haveing a stress reacion to my injury,now that I have been takeing the paxil I feel as though my world has come to an end,I lay in bed at nights not sleeping iching,sweating and getting wierd feelings in my legs back and head all the time,like numbness,and tickleing feelings,along with quick flashes of light or something,dont know how to explain it,but I have to get up out of bed and walk around for 20 minutes to feel as though ny legs stopped being numb or what ever it may be.now I also feel as though Iam only getting one to two hours a sleep a night,and Im feeling a litle bit more tense than ever, muscles constantly hurt me,shakeing and trembling feeling along with servere sweating and shakes,feel as though sometimes Iam going to faint or pass out.Iam also exsperienceing other problems,such as mind lose,confusion,feel as though the world and everybody is against me,my temper has only gotten worse,I throw things,punch things,and dont have any patients at all for anybody,I have been exsperienceing breathing problems along with shortness of breath and feeling as though I have a bag over my head.I have recently lost my appettite again.now I exsperience shaking,itching,sweating,abnormal sexual disfunctions,body parts that hurt and feel lame,feel as though I am going to pass out or faint at times and haveing problems breathing,intence attitude changes,feel as though Iam getting to violent at times,feel as though everybody is against me,I feel as though the whole thing that Iam going through is not any feelings that I ever had before in my life and want and look for help to rid me of these things that I feel are not a part of my real life and liveing,I feel that I should have had a proper warning to this drug and any drugs that I take along with all bad side effects,and any wrong that this or any pills or medication should have on my life,yes My Life.I feel inproperly informed of any future and past side effects along with,lack of trust in any medications now,and feel that all I want to have is my life back soon,been feeling to violent and angry,lose of sleep,fatigued,and totaly out of body.I also feel that this company or any companies should give the right help and treatment for people like me,and should be souly responsible for my health at this point and time.{ex}ithcing,scratching,not sleeping.weekness to body parts,feeling faint and dizzy,tigling feelings and all that,along with bad mood swings and lose of control at times,sweating, light flashes to my head and body along with alot of weird feelings that I have never exsperienced in my lfe at this point and time, until I started takeing paxil,Iam sure that me and alot of people in this world would appreciate that the company or companies be responsible for my health lose,and anybody elses,that is takeing these drugs to get better, and any other things that may accure during my time of being on the paxil or any other pills that may cause abnormal body functions in my life.all I ask for is help in this matter to get me the proper support and correct help to get me off paxil and back to a normal life,If possible at all.

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Date:
09 Apr 2002
Time:
00:09:41
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
09 Apr 2002
Time:
00:10:00
Remote User:
Comments
I have taken Paxil for over 5 years now and have tryed many times to get off this drug. I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety after the birth of my first child. I read as much information as I could about Paxil when I was prescribed the drug. My expected treatment was for 6 months and then I should of been ready to discontinue my use. I have tryed many times unsuccessfully to get off this drug and wind up in the emergency department barely knowing who I am. The only relief to the withdrawl is taking the next dose. I have spoken with many doctors in and they keep telling me the same thing that it is non addictive and the reason that I am withdrawing is because it means that I am not over the depression. I have even taken this drug through my second pregnacy as I was told it was safe and would have no effects on the fetus. I kringe at the thought that it will effect my child in anyway. I was told my treatment would last 6 months and here I am over 5 years later. I can tell even when I have missed a dose by a couple of hours,I start feeling dizzy and disorientated. I have missed countless days at work from the withdrawl and even lost my job. I feel I should be reimbursed the cost of the monthly medication for the past 5 years, the lost wages at work and being an normally educated consumer I was completeley mislead. I have scared my husband many times with the weird thoughts that run through my head. The only way to get me off this drug for good is to lock me away where I won't be near my familly and I can't hurt myself. It is about time that someone started listening to the people directly affected by this. What you thought that we were making this up we have a chemical imbalance in our brain or lack of a chemical, what because this is listed as a mental health issue you think that we must be crazy I have been getting sick of hearing this is all in my head. Any help or tips you could give me to get off this would be appreciated

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Date:
09 Apr 2002
Time:
10:59:45
Remote User:
Comments
i myself is not on the god awful drug paxil.the man that i am engaged to has been on paxil for the past 7 months.it is a night mare.our lives have changed so much,that we don't know where to turn anymore.it started out as a work related injury,and from one thing to another it ended up on paxil.not one person told us of the side effects,and at wits ends i found this sight.all the things everyone is saying is so true.this shit took a man who was easy going,mild,careing and turned him into someone at times i don't even know.what about these peoples families???we have lives to.we are watching our loved one turn into people we don't even know.we just want them back.why didn't anyone tell us of the side effects?god why?even reading the papers from the pharmacy it dose not STILL say one thing about all the side effects,thats fucked up.so that tells me this fucking company still is not tell people,or takeing responsablity for there actions.how would they like to watch there love ones go through this?they wouldn't.how would they like to go through this?they wouldn't.yes i am very angery,that there is this big company out there who used the man i love as a ginney pig,use your own fucking family.where do we turn for help?we don't have ins.,we don't have the money,so where do people like us turn???oh thats right like you care.do you know what it is like to watch someone go down so fast?think that there are loseing there mind,sick,out bursts of temper,totaly a diff. person.guess not.all for buck,fuck the people-right?i will tell everyone i can about this awful durg and what it dose to people and there family.everybody out there has someone that is watching this person go through horrable withdrawls and don't know where to turn,has noone to turn to.there are days i don't want to go to work,because i don't know whats going to happen while i am away,i don't want to come home because i don't know what happened while i was gone.but at the same time i can't wait to get home to be with my family.this company has no idea how many lives they have played with,how many people they have effected with for drug.how do you sleep at night?i know my boyfriend don't.why don't you try staying up for just one week being lucky if you get one hour sleep a night.let me know how that alone effects you.then add all the rest of the bullshit that gose with this drug.well your are in your big fancy happy homes not a care in the world driveing your new cars maybe you should think about the people you have fucked withi said i wish this on noone,noone but you.this is your drug use it.lets see how long you have your family,home,car,YOUR MIND.i hate you people more and more everyday,and will do what i can to get the word out.when are you going to take the responsbility for what you have done-we already know that answer right?

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Date:
09 Apr 2002
Time:
11:25:53
Remote User:
Comments
hey baby i know you come to this sight to read others stories,i know it is in away to know that you are not looseing your mind,that you are not alone.well for you and all ,others you are not alone,you are loved and we are here for you.so hold tight and never let go,for i [we]am by your side FOREVER.we are here for good and bad.that is family,that is love.know that there is someone out there who cares.love ya

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Date:
09 Apr 2002
Time:
12:55:00
Remote User:
Comments
After being on seroxat/paxil/paroxetine for 18 months after a car accident I tried weening myself off over months twice but could not handle the withdrawal effects. I eventually went cold turkey and also to hell and back. Dr's were telling me it wasn't the drug so they sent me for brain MRI scans, EEG tests, blood tests, stool tests and also the see a mental health team. All results were negative. I was OK. It was the Seroxat my private GP finally admitted. Last week I had to go and see a specialist psychiatrist in Harley St. London also connected to my wihtdrawal problems. He was not suprised by my withdrawal problems he said he has had many people to see him regarding the same. He also told me that he will not prescribe Seroxat to any of his patients any more due to the awful withdrawal/discontinuation effects. It is only a matter of time before this drug is put legally into the same category as Valium(Diaepam) and Ativan(Lorozepam). Which is basically monitored properly as there is no help to help people trying to withdraw from this poison that Glaxo Smith Kline Beecham has put into our bodies. I have now joined a 'Class Action' against this company and intend to sue the arse off them. The solicitors dealing with the 'Class Action' are Graham Ross, Neston, Wirral, Merseyside UK if anyone wants to join too. Whatch out Glaxo as they say were I come from 'Youv'e had it now' If it takes 25 years to take you to court over this I will wait. Revenge is sweet.

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Date:
10 Apr 2002
Time:
10:16:49
Remote User:
Comments
Hello, I am a high school student. I was recentley pust on paxil. It wasn't doing anything for me so my docter increased my doseage from 20 mg and increasing every week by 1/2 a pill until I'm up to taking 2 1/2 pills every day. Some of my close and caring friends showed me this site and told me about the withdrawl effects. Knowing what you all have gone through, scares the death out of me! I've only been on it for about 3 months now. I'm seeing my therapist tomorrow and I'm going to tell her that I want off of paxil for good and soon! I can only bear what all of you people have gone through and I'm sorry and may GOD be watching over all of us and guiding us through this time of hell. I only hope that my withdrawl effects will be at a minimum but we'll see. AND TO THOSE WHO ARE RESPONSILE SHAME ON YOU. HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO PEOPLE? LIFE IS HARD ENOUGH WHY MAKE IT ANY HARDER ON ANYONE? ALL I WANT TO KNOW IS WHY? WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO PEOPLE AND WHY DIDN'T YOU NOTIFY THE DOCTERS AND THE NATION? WHY?

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Date:
10 Apr 2002
Time:
13:18:31
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
10 Apr 2002
Time:
15:12:50
Remote User:
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Date:
11 Apr 2002
Time:
02:03:22
Remote User:
Comments
I truly hate you for this drug I hope you will pay dearly for all that you have caused with this shitty drug.You only care about money and you have gained in a big way as far as that goes.I lost my job thanks to your wonder drug thankyou do you know how hard it is to get off this shit and deal with being unemployed as well NO of course you wouldnt of would you even care to know because that means you just lost another sale of your wonderful drug.Do you care that otherwise normal people are now afraid to sleep because of nightmares,or zaps to their brains as soon as they close their eyes.No that would make your wonder drug look bad I feel like some kind of drug addicted fool because of you.Its 3am and I cant sleep once again but im going to get well and sue your asses off and then I will feel good for the first time in six years of this nightmare you have put me through.

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Date:
11 Apr 2002
Time:
03:46:26
Remote User:
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I've been on 20mg of Paxil for the past 6 months, and quit 5 days ago, after tapering down to 10mg for a week, followed by 5 mg for a week. First of all, Paxil has been a big help to me. I've gone from not caring whether I lived or died to being on top of the f-ing world! However, I don't attribute this to Paxil alone. Paxil was part of a regimen to "get my life back" that included reading practically every self-help book about "living in the now" that I could get my hands on, and seeing a Psychologist on a weekly (and sometimes more frequent) basis. I decided to discontinue Paxil because I do feel like a new person now and don't need the "crutch". I verified my progress my taking the Anxiety and Depression tests from David Burns' "The Feeling Good Handbook" periodically. I certainly wouldn't recommend discontinuing Paxil just because someone feels they have "taken it long enough". Unless you're body is capable of keeping itself balanced chemically, I don't see how quitting Paxil is going to do you any good. I've been off Paxil for almost a week now, and by far the most noticeable symptom is "The Zaps". Anyone who doesn't believe that these exist is wrong! I read from another poster that the zaps seemed to be triggered by right-left eye movements, so I tried that, and sure enough, they were right! I can now make the zaps happen pretty much at will. I hope that means that eventually I can train myself to stop them. Actually, it's not like they bother me so much, they are just there. I'm having a few other symptoms such as sleep disturbances, but I'm confident that I can overcome them. Hell, I overcame the withdrawal symptoms from Valium when I was at the height of my depression, so I think I'll be able to handle this. I realize this is not a "rant" by any means, but I hope this information can be helpful to some of you. I wish you all the best of luck, and God bless you. Remember that no matter how bleak things look, there are lots of people here to support you.

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Date:
11 Apr 2002
Time:
07:06:11
Remote User:
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Firstly, I would like to say it has been a real relief finding this site and finding that others have experienced the same kind of sensations as myself when coming off Paroxetine (I am English). I came off 20mg a week ago and am finding the shocks/headaches/anger bearable but not nice! I think Paroxetine is a very good anti-depressant while you are on it. It has worked miraculously for me, but its withdrawal effects definitely override any good it can do. The last thing a vulnerable person needs is to find themselves addicted to a substance which is supposed to help them. But I would answer to all those people who are angry at their doctors: doctors are not gods; they cannot know everything or research everything. If a drug company is dishonest it is not the doctor's fault. A doctor has to take things on faith from the drug companies and licensing committees - they cannot conduct their own drug trials. I know it is tempting to blame everyone but I would say that doctors are in a similar situation to ourselves: victims of misinformation. Jude, England

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Date:
11 Apr 2002
Time:
08:58:20
Remote User:
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I just quit taking Paxil - I feel like a zombie. My stomach is in a knot and I tingle all over. I sleep like a bear and cannot get out of bed. This sucks.

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Date:
11 Apr 2002
Time:
10:24:36
Remote User:
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I am going through extreme withdrawl symtoms right now!!! I felt like I was going crazy until I found this site. Thank you for being the only place that I could confirm these symptoms with. When, and if, a lawsuit gets going I want to be on the bandwagon! No one told me this is what I would go through before I agreed to take this prescription. I was freeking out until I came here! No one should have to go through the hell I am going through. I was told that I might get a couple of headaches... Well these little shock waves that I have been experienceing are not headaches! And I wont even start about the fact that I am afraid to drive because the dizzy spells where so extreme that I was afraid to get into an accident or possably pass out at the wheel. I am uncomfotable and pissed!!! Not a good combination. I think that Paxil should be taken off of the market. Or if it is availible they should at least tell people the full story on the drug before doling it out! So if you are thinking about taking it... don't. Learn from my mistake and save yourself the missery of these withdrawl symptoms. You will thank yourself later.

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Date:
11 Apr 2002
Time:
14:20:52
Remote User:
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remembber me? I am in the 7th day of withdrawl, and it isent getting any easier, shame on you!!!!! shame. im dizzy and zapping. maybe you should all do some fucking resaresch before you start throwing drugs like paxil around , have any doughts about withdrawl,? take some your damn self for a year then quiet, I dare you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! one more thing!!!!!!! rot in hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!! fuck nuits

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Date:
11 Apr 2002
Time:
16:20:29
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Date:
12 Apr 2002
Time:
03:42:43
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Date:
12 Apr 2002
Time:
11:25:39
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Date:
12 Apr 2002
Time:
11:33:53
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Hello, thought I join everyone in the Paxil Withdrawal Rant Club. It's a great place isn't it. This is my second experience with the dreaded Withdrawal. The first time, I went cold turkey not realizing the withdrawal effects of this drug. I spent a week at home assuming that I had one of those nasty flu viruses. The week after I returned to work I was still totally exhausted. Well this is my second time off of this drug. I have only taken 10mg but let me tell you, the withdrawal is just as bad. About a week and a half ago, I cut the pill down to about 3/4. Three days later it started. Nausea, exhaustion, extreme depression and anxiety. (dropping a pen on the floor was a major crisis.) Right now I'm just trying to stabilize myself at 3/4 of the pill (about 7 or 8 mg.) and I'm still suffering from anxiety, agitation, nausea and these wonderful headaches. I'm convinced that I have some terrible disease and that I'm dying. I keep on trying to tell myself over and over again that it's the drug and once I'm off of it I will feel much better, but it's so hard to see that light at the end of the tunnel sometimes. I'm really frustrating with the misinformation being spread out there to these doctors who prescribe Paxil like candy. It's NOT CANDY! To me, this drug is a poison plain and simple. When the pharmacists hand this drug out they should put one of those green "yuck" stickers on it!

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Date:
14 Apr 2002
Time:
11:20:11
Remote User:
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Help! so sick! Can't sit here! Has anyone had a E.E.G. to check on these "zaps". I'm not sure they aren't Mini Seizures!

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Date:
14 Apr 2002
Time:
15:58:10
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Date:
15 Apr 2002
Time:
06:13:28
Remote User:
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zzzzzzzZap describes it perfectly. What a relief to find others the same as me. What a relief to know its not me, I'm not ill, I do not have to up my reduced dose again and go back on these bloody awful tablets Peroxetine. Been on 20mg for three years. Tried cold turkey about four months ago when my Doctor told me just come off them when you are ready. I thought, not depressed any more so off I came. The withdrawal symptoms are exactly as described on this site. Had to go back on them I thought, not well enough to come off I thought. Not happy on any tablets that are not necessary so I started a slow reduction three weeks ago down to 10mg for two weeks then down to 5mg for the last week. Shivery then hot, zaps and head that does not belong. Dreams so vivid and unbelievable. Feel like an old man, suppose I am at 63 but not like this. Ache all over so much have to go down steps one at a time and hold onto the hand rail. Getting out of a chair is agony. Ho and the hiss of steam in my ears all the time si driving me insane. Two good points I can still sleep OK and no runs. Would be glad to join a class law suit if wanted. How anyone can put a person into this condition knowing the horror and not say anything is criminal. There is such a thing as Duty of Care in English common law. The firm making Paroxetine has failed to afford me any consideration by not informing me of these withdrawal effects before I took the DRUG. To all you others out there, two things I recommend. Drink plenty of water and at least three good walks a day and push the effort when walking. At least you will get a little restbite. Will give it another week on 5mg and then I plan to go cold turkey from there. Email is (peterjcks@aol.com) if anyone wants to contact me. Good luck to all others in the same boat as me. And to those that have gone before THANKS for the info and I do hope I get there like you have. Will NOT give up now. Peter J

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Date:
15 Apr 2002
Time:
06:22:34
Remote User:
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This is Peter J again. Two points I forgot to mention in my dream state when writing my last rant. These bloody tablets Paroxetine cost me my job and my marriage but I didn't care. Just minor points in my life now as I try to kick the habbit. Bloody brain is all scambled. Keep telling myself. Will get better Will get better. Will get better..........

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Date:
15 Apr 2002
Time:
11:40:14
Remote User:
Comments
Thanks everyone for sharing,I'm glad I'm not the only one.I was on Paxil for 6 months.At first I had no side affects.Then came the dreams,then that fucking tooth grinding that caused me to chip two teeth. I can deal with the zaps,(yeah they are annoying but they will pass in time.The vertigo thing I found a Homeopath that works great for that.The dream thing.I used to do ALOT(several times a week) of LSD in my late teens.I found the dreams I would have when I finally crashed off acid to be less vivid,and less disturbing the those I am going through right now.i will tell you some things that have helped me.I am not a Doctor/I have NO medical training.However I am a student of alternative medicine,and an employee of a Nutrition/Health food related products company.Find an Alternative to your "Traditional"Doctor.In most areas you can find one in the yellow pages.I am taking two supplements right now that have decreased my zaps and vertigo.The dream thing is still fucking me up though,I can't find anything that gets rid of them.Like I said ,I'm not a doctor,but I have found some knowledgeable people to help me out.Take your anger and use it for your own good. Hit the wall,scream buy some shitty death metal CD yell at your neighbors.It's working for me.Take Control of your withdrawal,Fuck that pink tic-tac little shit.I have one year to go until I certified to legally treat with Herbs,you better believe i'm going to specialize in Alternative Metal health Treatments.Take Care Ya'll. Pissed and Punk in Boston

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Date:
15 Apr 2002
Time:
11:47:12
Remote User:
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Oh yeah,I KNOW a doctor who has been approached by Nightline,who is in the progress of working on an "Expose" on Paxil.the doctor(family practice)was on Paxil for two years,and went through the same shit we are.Maybe TV will actually get it right this time and expose the Corporate Drug CZARs for what they really are doing,Profitng off peoples souls.Wake up and smell the upcoming Molotov Cocktail. Pissed and Punk.

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Date:
15 Apr 2002
Time:
12:58:48
Remote User:
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Hello, I first posted on the 12th. At that time, I was still feeling exhausted, with terrible headaches, agitation and anxiety. It's Monday, April the 15th. TAX DAY! Yippee!!! NOT! Anyway... Eighteen days ago I cut my 10mg pill of Paxil Poison down to 3/4 of a pill. Three days later IT started. Now at day 18, I think my body is finally stabilizing. The nausea has subsided, I no longer have a headache and I don't feel totally exhausted. I had some strange dreams, but not as vivid as they have been. Now I have to decide when to start cutting my dose down to 1/2 of a pill. All I can say is... take it SLOW, VERY SLOW and hang in there because it WILL GET BETTER. Trust me, just 3 days ago I thought I was going crazy. Now, I've regained some sanity. I've got to go through this 3 more times before I'm 100% Paxil Free. I'll keep you posted. To everyone. GOD BE WITH YOU and HANG IN THERE!

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Date:
15 Apr 2002
Time:
16:09:59
Remote User:
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Second post here. Quit Paroxetine recently (tapered off). Within three weeks I came down with shingles. It is not pleasant, trust me. But just a coincidence, right? I don't know. My GP told me that it mostly affects people with a weakened immune system, or people affected by stress. I asked him if quitting the Paroxetine could have bought it on and was told "it is quite possible". A little research on the condition tells me that most victims are over 65 (hence the weakened immune system), and around 1 in 10 people who have had chicken pox will develop it. Well, I am just 29. My immune system is, *or rather was*, good. I rarely get colds or such illness, and I am otherwise physically fit. So, coincidence? I cannot say one way or the other. Neither can anyone else for that matter, I guess. However it seems like a little more than just a coincidence to me. Have any studies been done on the potential effects to the immune systems of patients upon finishing Paroxetine treatment?

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Date:
16 Apr 2002
Time:
10:04:54
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Date:
16 Apr 2002
Time:
10:25:26
Remote User:
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This certainly is an evil little pink pill i've been taking for 2 years. I've been taking 20mg for 2 years and quit cold turkey 5 days ago. I experience almost all symptoms mentioned. The "shocks" are frequent, and concentration is almost non-existent. I find myself stumbling on simple words on occasion. I find that I have the most VIVID thoughts/dreams during the short(although feels like an eternity) time between awake and asleep. I take that back. Vivid is an understatment. The dream-like state is comparable to psychadelic drugs. Withdrawl from this drug is insane! I hate it! I took work off today because of it. And were i to describe these withdrawal symptoms to my boss, he'd NEVER believe me. I'm so glad others have experienced these horrific symtoms. I thought I was begining to lose my mind. In closing I would like to say; This is an evil drug! Do not take it! Find an alternative. I wouldn't wish paxil withdrawal on my worst enemy!

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Date:
16 Apr 2002
Time:
12:21:57
Remote User:
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I started Paxil in Oct 02 due to postpartum and at least my doc knew that it wasn't just possible to stop taking it. She's been weaning me off for 4 months now. I feel I don't need it at all until that magical third day - then wham my brain is off doing it's own thing and my body is going "what the hell???" It hits me in the eyes - trouble focusing, feeling like I just want to sleep (not good at work) and just being off balance - not physically but mentally. Such a weird feeling that you really can't describe. I feel so lucky that I don't have the more severe symptoms of the other people who have posted here. I'm on 5 mgs for 4 days now and my brain is starting to wander. I have moton sickeness pads for an unrelated problem- based on what I've read I'm going to give those a shot and go by some vitamin B. Thanks for sharing everyone - I had no idea it would be this hard.

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Date:
16 Apr 2002
Time:
17:10:48
Remote User:
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Who approved this crap? I've been on 20mgs for three months now and my side effects are now full-on effects. I feel that the "addiction" and "withdrawal" components should have been disclosed to me prior to starting this medication. Here are a few of the things that have happened since I've been on paxil. 1. I lost both my jobs ( one I've had for eight years, both my sisters work there), and am now on social assistance 2. My five year relationship has dissolved, we were living together and bought a house last year but now I'm at my parents. 3. back-ne, disgusting 4. insomnia 5. major major huge depression ( not so much suicidal but lots of death thoughts) 6. gained 15 pounds 7. blurry vision 8. nausea 9. jaw clenching and teeth grinding 10. extreme sweating 11. since the first week i've cried every day. This stuff is also in addition to the regular confusion , memory, mood swings, funny walk, and the feeling like I'm trapped in somebody elses body ( how could i be saying the things that come out of my mouth!). My psychiatrist finally agreed that it didn't seem to be working for me when I began having auditory hallucinations, I also told him that I started finding things like a salad I had made in the freezer or empty juice containers in the cupboards, a couple of times I've unloaded the dishwasher and later found I'd put away the dirty dishes. I AM SO SCARED OF WITHDRAWAL. If this is what it's like now, what's going to happen to me.? I can't live this life, it's not a life. Great for the people it's worked for but I feel cheated. The list of "possible side effects that should go away during use" did not include half the info I've gathered from other users. I am so scared and depressed and crazy. All I want is for time to pass.

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Date:
16 Apr 2002
Time:
17:19:41
Remote User:
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just curious about the size of the expense accounts those paxil reps must have. They've bought my fucking insanity

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Date:
16 Apr 2002
Time:
23:48:37
Remote User:
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Ive been on paxil for 4 months and just got off it last week. Im getting these fucking zaps from my neck to my right foot every time I move my eyes to the right, I also freaked out in thee wee hours and thought my heart was gonna stop. Im an alcoholic 2 weeks sober and the last thing I need is this bullshit. GSk should warn the people about their drug.

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Date:
17 Apr 2002
Time:
03:18:54
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Date:
18 Apr 2002
Time:
14:55:07
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Date:
18 Apr 2002
Time:
19:37:52
Remote User:
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Well shyt, i was prescribed paxil in the ER, after another terrible bout of panic attacks. Was so extreme that i felt as though i was in one big incompassitating attack 24 hours a day. The doctor suggested this great "wonder drug" that would chemically help my brain to cease the attacks and axiety. I've lived with panic attacks my entire life and have never been on any medication.If it would stop the attacks, i was all about the little pink pill. Waa hoo, so i thought.Should have realized it was a mistake when the first few weeks were pure hell in themselves. Blurred vision, more anxiety on top of all the shit i already had, dry mouth, insomnia...and helllo this was just getting on it not off of it. Of course all of the doctors and pharmasicts tell you that it needs to absorb in your system and it will go away soon. Screw that i'm a dumbass for not chunking them in the can then. I've been on paxil for 6 months or so, stable, but had a glooming feeling that i would never be myself while taking it. Last week decided to buck up and just quit. Mind you i have no doctor but the ER fool that prescribed it. Thought, hmmm 20 mg. low enough dose, should be less severe to kick it. MY ASS. i'm now 6 days or so free of the drug. If all the bullshit that i have gone through with this pill had been layed out to me, i would have gladly taken the incompassitating panic attacks over this drug. I'm friggin 23, divorced last year, and have two little kids. I can't afford to be all retarded all the time. This pill has shown me that people do have chemical problems in their brains and that drugs may be the answer to a lot of people. But as far as myself goes, i was having the attacks for some reason or event that my brain hasn't proceesed yet, and i definetly choose to slow down on life, deal with all my old bullshit, and quit being a weak fucker who needs medication just to function, ESPECIALLY THE DREADED PINK DEATH IN A CAN. Good luck to all those that are doing the same.

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Date:
20 Apr 2002
Time:
17:59:50
Remote User:
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Hey, you top executives at GSK; so only junkies and the like get addicted Paxil, and the pain people are experiaenceing getting oof this drug may have no causal realtionship to the drug. You know what happen in your drug trials. Tell the truth! I have weaned off paxil for 4 months, I am now 20 days off, and still experiance brain zaps, whooshing, and severe anger, lack of consentration, dizziness; so now what? Go to the article on the pineal gland on www.antidepressants.com, to learn how paxil causes brain damage. You suck shit!!!

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Date:
20 Apr 2002
Time:
17:59:54
Remote User:
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Hey, you top executives at GSK; so only junkies and the like get addicted Paxil, and the pain people are experiaenceing getting oof this drug may have no causal realtionship to the drug. You know what happen in your drug trials. Tell the truth! I have weaned off paxil for 4 months, I am now 20 days off, and still experiance brain zaps, whooshing, and severe anger, lack of consentration, dizziness; so now what? Go to the article on the pineal gland on www.antidepressants.com, to learn how paxil causes brain damage. You suck shit!!!

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Date:
21 Apr 2002
Time:
07:32:34
Remote User:
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General Question and More :: Mainly .. has anyone tried to smoke pot to ease the withdrawl symptoms and if so did it work? I am sitting here with a liter of vodka trying to "chill" out. Also .. in terms of the beginners to paxil. I read somewhere if you feel it in the first day you are bi-polar and need to stop immediately. Paxil is very dangerous for bi-polar/manic-depressives and can make them worse then to begin with. Paxil does not allow you to have mood swings. If you are used to having them and accept them Paxil is not the drug for you. When I first started paxil I was like .. this is a very very bad lsd trip. Then it mellowed out a bit and I could eat normally. However ... I just "acidentily" quit. I have had a sore throat for the past few days and decided to skip my pills which were supposedly non-addictive. BIG MISTAKE. Right now I'm just waiting until tomorrow to take my pill, or to quit .. or to do something. I think I have enough money saved up to go on a drunken binge for a month and maybe that will help. "" I don't like being addicted to anything "" .. I'm sorry but I am one of those people who think that people who do recreational drugs shouldn't go to jail .. there is no withdrawl like Paxil. Your brain is withdrawling. At least with the experimentation I have done .. there has been nothing to equal this. Even cigarettes may make me cranky but they don't make me feel like my brain is going into seizures and I am going to die. I'm afraid to walk outside because I might black out. This is wrong. I just want to take a happy little trank when I need one .. but oh no .. zanax is too addictive .. what a joke. Coming down off of a ten year Volume addiction would be a walk in a park compared to this. I can't check myself into a methadone clinic .. I'd have to go to a mental hospitol at the very least. Well please .. if anyone knows if marijuana does help this paxil withdrawl spread the word. I smoke herb occasionally and I think I am just about mad as hell at the government that something TRULY non-addictive like Marijuana can get someone thrown into jail while something like Paxil is perfectly legal.

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Date:
21 Apr 2002
Time:
20:51:06
Remote User:
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Hi. I am a 31 year old mother of two. I love my children. but after I had my second child. I started with panic attacks. and felt like I was dying. I couldnt handle these feelings. I was not worth to live. yeah I thought of suicide. I even got to the point that it scared me that I was even going to do it. so I didnt drive my car anywhere. I sheltered myself. and what happened even worse. was that my family and friends couldnt understand what was going on with me. and they shut me away. they just caused me more stress and overload. but now. after being on paxil 20mg for 3 years. I am off of that darn stuff.. I was feeling so great. as I was coming off of them. I decreased my dose to 10mg every day,for 3 months. and then lower and lower. I had changed alot of my life habits. I have made new friends in the mean time. and loved life. singing and dancing.. and just being me. the person that I havent been in years. finally I got to the point in my life that I was able to look at myself in the mirror and loved what was looking back at me. and I can actually smile. But now that the medication is gone. my body is trying to fight me. causeing me to have panic attacks. and to feel over whelmed. and to have the problems once more that cause me to go seek help for paxil. But thanks to my true friends. and family. I am getting there once more. it is a hard process to get off of paxil. I have been feeling so tired. and so irritable, getting dizzy spells. I can cry. and yell... but now ..I am trying to take one day at a time. and writing a journal. and walking. somedays I still get up and feel like pulling the blankets over my head and saying the few choice words that god didnt grant us. but. I know that I can do this. that I can come to the point in my life that I am going to live. and be loved and live the life that I have always wanted to live. So everyone out there.. trying to get off of this. you can do it. It is a long hard process. but hey.. we are stronger then that darn pill. we are bigger than that pill. and we are not going to let that little pill run our lives. I am not. and I am my own person. I am the keeper of my own happiness. and the way that I see it. is if we can do this. watch out world. these people getting off of paxil are coming. we can conquer this...we are going to conquer it all. Stacie/canada

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Date:
21 Apr 2002
Time:
22:20:16
Remote User:
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I was prescribed Paxil to help with the symptoms of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) until I could learn to manage it naturally through proper food selctions. I have never taken any drug long term, and generally do not seek medical attention unless it's very necessary. (I suffered severe IBS sysmptoms for over a year before I finally went to see someone, then wouldn't go on a drug for another year.) I was never told about the possible withdrawal problems I could have, and had I, I would NEVER have taken it. I am a trained marathoner with a race in 5 weeks. I have decided to go back on it until after the race when the horrid effects at least won't screw up my months of hard training. I have read that only 4% suffer only mild withdrawal effects. Other sites are more realistic with the numbers as 50-75% suffereing at least moderate symptoms. As my husband rushed me to the hospital while I vomited what I was sure to be my intestines, I knew I couldn't take this much longer. I have had severe night sweats, recently coupled with muscle convulsions at night, confusion when trying to talk, inability to maintain my normal continous running gait, extreme fatigue, nausea and vomiting, irritablity and dizziness. All these side effects, and YES I was tapering off at the reccomended schedule of my primary physician. Even the ER doctor was unfamiliar with the side effects of the withdrawal. I find this very disturbing. I plan to go to my doc tomorrow with a plan of attack to get off this drug. I will warn everyone I know about the side effects of the withdrawal. I am completely shocked about my situation and feel angry with myself for not looking into the drug further. I will support any action toward forcing the company to own up to the problems associated with withdrawal and Paxil.

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Date:
24 Apr 2002
Time:
08:18:21
Remote User:
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OH my fucking hell. This is the third day of halving my dosage and I feel like shit (pardon my french). I cant believe one little pill could possibly make anyone ever feel this bad. I want to sleep, I am so tired but this constant migrane is doing my head in, it wont give me any peace. i cant read of wach TV because it makes it worse. I am drinking so much and eating so little. WHO EVER INTRODUCED THIS DRUG INTO SOCIETY NEEDS TO DIE. I would rather be depressed than have this crap happening to me.

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Date:
25 Apr 2002
Time:
08:43:11
Remote User:
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GSK is an irresponsible company. You will find out why when my lawsuit is submitted. You should do further studies on paxil. You are literally killing people with this drug, and I hold you solely responsible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Date:
25 Apr 2002
Time:
14:08:50
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Date:
25 Apr 2002
Time:
14:08:54
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Date:
25 Apr 2002
Time:
15:46:01
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I feel awful!!!! I am trying to work and the withdrawal is affecting my work performance because I can not focus because of the electric shocks that I am feeling all over my body and my vision is blurred. I have never been addicted to drugs and trusted that my doctor was perscribing something that was SAFE. What a laugh. I would rather slit my wrist than to take another of your "anti-depressants" again. Be assured, I want IN to the class action law suit.

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Date:
26 Apr 2002
Time:
22:14:51
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I was a Paxil user for about 2 years for clinical depression. I discontinued Paxil, to try Wellbutrin (also known as Zyban - the stop smoking drug), as I had gained weight due to the depression and/or Paxil. I have to say that during the 'switch' from Paxil to Wellbutrin, I was not doing well at all with my emotional well-being. Was it the withdrawal from Paxil that I was experiencing major 'lows' or that the Wellbutrin wasn't working? That is my delema... Good Luck to those who suffer.

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Date:
27 Apr 2002
Time:
10:34:24
Remote User:
Comments
Greetings everyone. First off, I feel fortunate that this website was the first hit on Yahoo. Fantastic site. I am not normally a sufferer of major depression, but was experiencing mild depression and anxiety fromdealing with symptoms from Lyme disease and EBV. EBV=fatigue, and Lyme=fatigue and other wonderful neurological problems. I probably should never have taken Paxil to start with. One of my biggerst withdrawal symptoms is this 'electrical shock' that everyone's talking about. I thought it was related to my bad nerves in my neck, but I am most confident it's related to Paxil. Why? While on vacation in the Fall, I forgot my Paxil, and 3 days later starting experiencing those electric shocks. I got an emergency perscription, and they went away that evening. Well, recently I figured since my current perscription was running out, I would try weening off & kick it. Well, now I have the electric shocks again. However, I am NOT going back to this crap. I will deal with it, and all the other symptoms and Lyme symptoms too. The electric shocks are very bizarre. They start in the base of my skull-top of the neck area. They will shoot down my arms, sometimes one at a time. They will even go through the optical nerves at times which will throw my vision off for a split second. Because I suffer from Thorasic Neuropathy which involves a major nerve trunk running from the neck through the collar bone region and down through the chest. I often get 'spikes' that go through that area. Once in awhile they will shoot through to my feet. Sometimes if I am feeling very fatigued at work, walking can actually be a challenge (walking is often taken for granted!). I will sway while walking down the hallway or even miss step. Quite a crappy feeling. I too will get centralized headaches that will last for a minute, then mysteriously go away. I also get the tingling sensation through my face, especially my left side. This is also a symptom of chronic Lyme, however this is amplified by the Paxil withdrawal. Numbness in the face , usually on one side only, is a symptom of chronic Lyme, but again is amplified because of this withdrawal. Quick note, Neuropathy is a degenerative nerve disorder which hampers motor and sensory nerve functions. Life threatening? No, but very overwhelming. One can learn to manage it over time. There's other websites dedicated to Peripheral Neuropathy problems that are quite informative. Peripheral meaning limbs, such as arms and legs. So you can quickly see how these withdrawal symptoms can really screw someone up that is suffering from symptoms of other disorders, especially neurological ones. I am in a way relieved to know that I am not the only one 'out there'. I feel for everyone going through this. All I can say is hang in there & I wish everyone the best of luck. Hopefully over time things will improve! Keep the faith. Sincerely, Anthony Corvelli

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Date:
27 Apr 2002
Time:
10:34:38
Remote User:
Comments
Greetings everyone. First off, I feel fortunate that this website was the first hit on Yahoo. Fantastic site. I am not normally a sufferer of major depression, but was experiencing mild depression and anxiety fromdealing with symptoms from Lyme disease and EBV. EBV=fatigue, and Lyme=fatigue and other wonderful neurological problems. I probably should never have taken Paxil to start with. One of my biggerst withdrawal symptoms is this 'electrical shock' that everyone's talking about. I thought it was related to my bad nerves in my neck, but I am most confident it's related to Paxil. Why? While on vacation in the Fall, I forgot my Paxil, and 3 days later starting experiencing those electric shocks. I got an emergency perscription, and they went away that evening. Well, recently I figured since my current perscription was running out, I would try weening off & kick it. Well, now I have the electric shocks again. However, I am NOT going back to this crap. I will deal with it, and all the other symptoms and Lyme symptoms too. The electric shocks are very bizarre. They start in the base of my skull-top of the neck area. They will shoot down my arms, sometimes one at a time. They will even go through the optical nerves at times which will throw my vision off for a split second. Because I suffer from Thorasic Neuropathy which involves a major nerve trunk running from the neck through the collar bone region and down through the chest. I often get 'spikes' that go through that area. Once in awhile they will shoot through to my feet. Sometimes if I am feeling very fatigued at work, walking can actually be a challenge (walking is often taken for granted!). I will sway while walking down the hallway or even miss step. Quite a crappy feeling. I too will get centralized headaches that will last for a minute, then mysteriously go away. I also get the tingling sensation through my face, especially my left side. This is also a symptom of chronic Lyme, however this is amplified by the Paxil withdrawal. Numbness in the face , usually on one side only, is a symptom of chronic Lyme, but again is amplified because of this withdrawal. Quick note, Neuropathy is a degenerative nerve disorder which hampers motor and sensory nerve functions. Life threatening? No, but very overwhelming. One can learn to manage it over time. There's other websites dedicated to Peripheral Neuropathy problems that are quite informative. Peripheral meaning limbs, such as arms and legs. So you can quickly see how these withdrawal symptoms can really screw someone up that is suffering from symptoms of other disorders, especially neurological ones. I am in a way relieved to know that I am not the only one 'out there'. I feel for everyone going through this. All I can say is hang in there & I wish everyone the best of luck. Hopefully over time things will improve! Keep the faith. Sincerely, Anthony Corvelli

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Date:
27 Apr 2002
Time:
11:48:03
Remote User:
Comments
Hi, my name is Arlene and I'm married to Anthony Corvelli, who just ranted earlier. While he stepped out to his chiropractor to try to relieve the zaps and numbness in his neck and back, I decided to read the rants he printed from the past month or so. I was on paxil from 95-97, and after having my dosage gradually upped from 10 mg to 40 mg, my doctor told me I was maxed out when I felt like it didn't work anymore. I experienced severe violent thoughts, self pain infliction, severe mood swings, anger, sadness and most of what else was described, except for the zaps. I was told I would have to be checked into an in-house behavioral clinic if the Prozac he prescribed didn't help in 6 weeks. I was a danger to myself and the people around me. I can't tell you how many glasses I broke, shoes I whaled at the walls, and almost hurt Anthony, my then boyfriend. Thank god the Prozac worked, and we are now married and just had our first child. I don't even want to begin to think about what can happen from Prozac withdrawal, which I did while pregnant, but had to resume it less than 2 weeks after giving birth and the pregnancy hormones wore off. I actually got mad at the baby, and felt myself being angry. Now I watch as my husband is withdrawing from a drug I was told back then was "mild and safe", and I see the damage it has done. It may have helped with the neurapathy symptoms, but it's not worth it to see him suffer like this. Please let us know if there is ever a class action suit filed against GSK for this paxil nightmare. GrafikEffects@aol.com. Good luck to everyone out there.

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Date:
27 Apr 2002
Time:
16:06:54
Remote User:
Comments
I've been taking Paxil for six years. Numerous attempts to quit have failed due to the terrible withdrawal symptoms. Get this - my therapist, my psychologist, and even my wife, have pretty much decided that the withdrawal problems are due to MY mental condition! The concensus is, since I feel ok when I take Paxil, and not ok when I try to stop, I must NEED Paxil to be "normal." People who take Paxil are like diabetics who need insulin - they can't function without their chemicals. They have to be on it for life. The wife says, "Get used to it." I'm also not entitled to the emotional ups and downs "normal" people experience. Any sign of sadness or irritability, and I hear "Have you been taking your Paxil?" But it's been six years. My life has changed. I've changed. My question now is, "Who am I without Paxil?" Am I the same loser I was when I first walked into the shrink's office? Or have I grown and changed and learned to look at things differently, so maybe I can handle life a bit better than I could then? Think about the implications of this: "Everything good about me and my life today, I owe to a little pill I take every morning." Don't I have the right to test that statement?

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Date:
28 Apr 2002
Time:
12:40:14
Remote User:
Comments
I am a 40yr old white female, who has been battling depression all of my adult life. Have been on several types of medication for depression, none with any positive results. It is to the extreme that I can not even have a conversation with someone without crying, and I hate that. I have been a single Mom for 20 years, my youngest is 13, and he has adhd, that we are trying to manage without medication. In 1999, right before I started taking Paxil, my husband walked out on me, leaving my house in foreclosure, and myself in terrible debt. I am not one to blame anyone else for my descesions, so I do not say this to pass blame. I ended up filing bankruptsy, and getting my house back, but at a terrible emotional price. I truly thought the paxil was helping me pull through this rough part of my life. My Father was diagnosed with Cancer on Dec. 5, 2001. He died right in front of my eyes on Christmas day, 2001. Right before he died, he had this horrified look on his face, a look I had never ever seen on the strongest, toughest man I had ever known. I can not get that image out of my head. My job in the meantime was suffering severly. I started a job at the same time I started the paxil. I process payroll for small companies, with a client base of 300. At first it was not that bad, tollerable anyway. I chalked up my lack of concentration on my age rather than the medication that was seemingly helping me when I so desperately needed it. However looking back now, I think of all the calls my supervisor received from my clients stating that I did not call them back as I had promised, forgot to do something on their payroll, general complaints stemming from a lack of concentration that I did not even realize was going on. It got so bad after my Father died, that the problems were just stacking up and up, I felt like I was in way over my head. I could not sleep, I had to fight off anxiety attacks every morning before going into work. The job was in a call center, and suffering from daily headaches that got so bad, that I would come home every night, and have to put ice on my ears and head, the pain was unbearable. So in addition to the paxil, I was prescribed indomethacin for the headaches. Well, since they caused increased heart rate, and confusion (I would actually be talking to a client, and all of a sudden not be able to get my words out, or just completely forget what I was saying), I only took them when the pain was unbearable. Usually I opted for taking 4 200mg tabs of ibuprofin three times a day. I was so desperate between the anxiety, headaches, overload, and pain I could not take anymore, that I went to my Doctor for help. He told me to "quit the job", and to go off the paxil, start taking elavil, loose weight. Well, it has been only one week, and I cut my paxil in half, taking now 20 mgs a day, along with 75mgs of elavil, I walked out on my job, the thought of putting the headsets back on was more than I can take. Now I am suffering from insomnia, depression worse than in my whole life, headaches still there, flu-like symptoms, night sweats and terrors, anxiety, suicidal thoughts. I could not find the strength and courage to go back. Now I am broke, can not afford food, looking at foreclosure, homelessness for my son and I, no family or friends to help me out, truly a lost soul. My poor son, getting stuck with me as a Mother. In conclusion I feel that it is fair for me to say that Paxil ruined my life without my even realizing what was going on.

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Date:
29 Apr 2002
Time:
13:13:28
Remote User:
Comments
I started taking Paxil in Sept. of 2000. I was only on the drug for about two months when I decided to quit cold turkey. Yes it helped with my anxiety, but it also wiped out my libido 100%. I experienced all of the withdrawal symptoms mentioned in this web site, so I know how everybody feels. About 1 year prior to taking Paxil, I was taking Luvox, which is also a SSIR. It helps with depression, obssessive comp. dis., anxiety, but it also affects the sex drive the same way Paxil does. When I decided to quit that drug cold turkey, I experienced the same withdrawal symptoms as Paxil. Be careful if you're on Luvox, or thinking about taking it. For the past 5 months I've been taking Serzone for my depression. It works really well, but it wasn't doing anything for my anxiety. I went back to my Dr. and told him I wanted to go back on Paxil because I remembered how well it had worked for me. This was two weeks ago, before I discovered this web site. I have been on Paxil now for about a week and a half, and the only thing I've noticed is my libido is gone. After reading all of these horror stories, I've decided that I'm going to quit taking my Paxil, and stay on Serzone. Hopefully I won't get the withdrawal symptoms even though I've only been on it for a week and a half. Plus I will save myself $70cdn. per month for a prescription of Paxil. I don't know about you guys, but I do have to say Paxil worked for me in many ways, but eventually a person will go off the drug, therefore, is it worth it considering all the withdrawal symptoms? Yes it's unfortunate they do not tell us about the withdrawal symptoms, but it's a business eh! Oh well, at least someone was cool enough to create this web site to help out all of us who needed support. Thanks. Chris Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

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Date:
29 Apr 2002
Time:
15:37:18
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
30 Apr 2002
Time:
21:20:12
Remote User:
Comments
I live in New Brunswick Canada, and have just tried unsuccessfully to get off of this so called Miracle Drug for the second time in 4 years. I'm not impressed with my doctor who when I asked if Paxil was addictive said no. Hah, what do you call this crap? I'm on 20mg a day and have dropped down to 10mg a day (for 2 weeks, then quit altogether acording to my dr) I lasted a week this time, the last time 2 years ago I managed to stay off them for a month but was totally unfunctionable. I can only imagine there's a level of pain when withdrawing but try have Fibro and withdrawing. It's like being body slammed every 5 minutes. Great fun. I'm not impressed with the drug, the company that makes it and my doctor. Just found this site will be watching very carefully any leagal proceedings. Do these fools have any idea the havoc they are playing with people's lives? I think not.

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Date:
01 May 2002
Time:
09:22:26
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
01 May 2002
Time:
16:20:51
Remote User:
Comments
I am a 27 y/o dentist who was previously taking paxil for 6 months. During that time the drug worked wonderfully, except when I would miss a dosage. That day would be miserable. I would experience cold sweats, dizziness, nausea, and general malaise. When I would take the pill again I would start to feel better in about an hour or two and those symptoms would be relieved. After a few times of this I decided to quit. Only to find that I could not just simiply quit cold turkey,but I had to gradually ween myself over a period of 3 months. Yes that is right, three months of measured decreases in dosage from 20 to 15 to 10 to 5 mg every two to three weeks. I have finally been off of the medication for about five days and I still feel the occasional swimming of my head,but at least is is tolerable and not incapacitating as it once was. Please share my experience with others and you have my support in any endevour to warn people about the possible experience they may have. Thank you.

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Date:
02 May 2002
Time:
00:17:01
Remote User:
Comments
I have been on Paxil for approx.3 years. My primary care physician presribed it to me for PMS problems- well I had a full hysterectomy 2 years ago-so no longer need the Paxil and cannot get off of it!I can honestly say it is the worst thing I have ever took in my whole life.I am AGAIN trying to get off of it, I have severe electrical shocks in my head-I have considered suicide once, and I am normally a person that loves life.If I ever am truely able to get off of Paxil I will tell as many people as possible to not ever destroy their life with this. It should be illigal-I cannot say enough to keep people away fromit

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Date:
02 May 2002
Time:
14:28:52
Remote User:
Comments
I WAS ON 20MG OF PAXIL A DAY, AND DECIDED TO WEAN MYSELF OFF OF THIS HORRIBLE DRUG, BUT IT IS DAM HARD!!! THAT WAS 3 MONTHS AGO AND I AM NOW ON 1/4 OF 20 MG EVERY OTHER DAY. I SWEAT ALL THE TIME EVEN NOW, MY EYES ARE DOING FUNNY THINGS AND THE ROOM MOVES WITHOUT ME EVEN MOVING MY EYES. I HAVE TO TAKE THAT 1/4 OF A PILL JUST TO GET RID OF THESE WEIRD FEELINGS. I WAS ON PAXIL ABOUT 4 YEARS AGO AND NEVER HAD THIS HAPPEN TO ME!! MY DOCTOR IS A DICK HEAD AND IS WALKING A FINE LINE, HE SAYS MIND OVER MATTER, AND IF I DON'T TAKE THIS MEDICATION FOR A FULL YEAR MY DEPRESSION WILL COME BACK WORSE, SO IN OTHER WORDS I AM DOING THIS TO MYSELF!! I THOUGHT I COULD TAKE A FEW WITHDRAWL SYMPTOMS BUT THIS IS REDICULOUS!! I THINK I WILL STICK TO THE ANTIDEPRESSANT CELEXA, THAT WAS MUCH BETTER, THE ONLY REASON I QUIT THAT WAS BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WASN'T DOIN ENOUGH FOR ME, WAS I A BIG FOOL!!PROZAC WAS TOP OF THE LINE COMPARED TO THIS POISON I AM ON NOW! I CAN'T BELIEVE I AM NOTHING WITHOUT THIS 1/4 OF 2OMG PILL, IT IS INSANE THAT 1/4 IS NEEDED EVERY OTHER DAY TO MAKE MY WITHDRAWL A BIT EASIER, BUT I WILL DO IT FOR A WHILE AND THEN I AM AFRAID I AM GOING TO SUFFER A BIT JUST TO GET OFF THIS POISON ENTIRELY. THANKS TO THIS WONDERFUL SITE I DON'T FEEL ALONE. I SURE HOPE THEY TAKE THIS POISON OFF THE MARKET AND PUT IT WHERE IT BELONGS!!! WE ALL SHOULD SAY A LITTLE PRAYER FOR EVERYONE ON THIS PILL AND REMEMBER WE ARE NOT ALONE. THANKS SO MUCH

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Date:
02 May 2002
Time:
19:07:16
Remote User:
Comments
Let me just tell you. I am on day 2 of withdrawal after three months at 20mg/day. I am out-of-it! I feel like hell. Dizzy with incredible flu-like symptoms. Twitches in my eyes. Worse however was when I was actually taking the Paxil. Although it did lessen my anxiety, I never slept, missed like an average of 3 days a week of work from week 4-9, sweated profusely everytime I rested, had 'toe cramps' always and absolutely major sexual side-effects (loss of libido and anorgasmic). Additionally, I drank more alcohol in the last 5 weeks than I have in 5 years!!! My business is failing, and I got in an altercation with a police officer and was arrested !!!!! I've never even been in an argument with anyone in my 42 years!!! I know personally of two others that have had at least this bad a time on and off of Paxil. The thing that is most bothersome is that I called my physicians office to indicate I was having these symptoms and wanted to quit taking the Paxil. Sure, they said, stop today and don't call back!!!! I'm not even kidding. I want to sue them so bad right now! How long will this last!!! 42/Male/Otherwise good health

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Date:
03 May 2002
Time:
05:53:13
Remote User:
Comments
Please, HELP!!! This is the second time I've tried to get off this stuff and I am hoping that there won't be a third. Sure you cured my depression and took away those awful obsessions and anxiety attacks, but now I feel worst than ever before. It's only been 3 days, I have extreme nausea, feelings of wanting to die in a very violent way. Why? before I kill someone around me. God only knows what else is coming my way. Now, I'm really upset and want to sue your butt off. I'm just looking for a way to do it. But get ready, cause your Smith kline Company is going to hell. Sorry all you users of Paxil, side effects don't effect everyone the same way. Hope we don't have to hear you on this page.

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Date:
03 May 2002
Time:
18:39:51
Remote User:
Comments
I just read the article posted on this site that links Paxil use with increased risk of breast cancer. As a Paxil user I am not only angry about the withdrawl complications but am now absolutely furious and frightened about having my cancer rate shoot up because of this drug. They said it takes 10/15 years for it (cancer) to show up if it's going to and that just means a prolonged state of stress for me. AS a woman who tries to take care of her health, eat right, excersise, etc. I am saddened that I was unknowingly taking a drug that added to the possible detriment of my health. If I ever did get cancer I can count out trying to sue as they will never admit that it could have been the cause. I just can't believe it. I am in utter shock. God help us. -Sondra G.

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Date:
03 May 2002
Time:
21:49:00
Remote User:
Comments
I was first given Paxil in 1994 by a doctor in California because I was having difficulty falling asleep. I was 50 years old at the time and he said that I was suffering from anxiety. I had no previous history at all. I might add that he also gave me Ambien at the same time which alone made me sleep fine. After about a year on the Paxil I tried to stop and the sleeping problem again appeared. The symptoms of the now well known withdrawal all began. So after talking to the doctor again I resumed taking the Paxil. Recently I retired in 1999 and moved from California to North Carolina and after awhile my group health insurance from California is beginning to run out, so I applied to Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina and was promptly denied coverage due to a history of treatment for anxiety. I tried another insurance company and same experience. I am now mad as hell because I have gotten an education about Paxil from the internet sites and the legal websites about the class actions. I firmly believe that I was too quickly prescribed the Paxil for something that was more than likely a temporary stress induced sleep problem and then became hooked on the drug. Not only did I immediately taper off the Paxil after finding out the withdrawal problems and my own insurance situation, I believe that I should have done so back in 1994. My wife and I have done without a sex life for 8 years because of the side effect while taking Paxil and I have no been labeled a health risk. I might add that I have never had anything more serious that the flu in my life and I am being treated as if I have cancer or just had a triple by-pass. I am fuming at the mouth over this as it may well force me to relocate back to California in order to have health insurance. This would be financially devastating to us because of the high cost of living in California these days. Also, after almost a month of being completely off Paxil, I am feeling fine and seem to be almost back to normal, the way I was prior to taking the drug. Eight years for nothing! and am now really paying the price.

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Date:
05 May 2002
Time:
18:55:15
Remote User:
Comments
As much as I've suffered with depression, I don't think that depression compares to what I've been through trying to withdraw from Paxil. I have tried several times over the last 5 years, but the physical symptoms including: nausea, vomiting, headaches and especially the nightmares which always sent me right back on. Nothing equals what happened to me today. This was my fourth day of Paxil withdrawal (this time). I was in a grocery store, paid for some items in my cart, stuffed a few things in my purse and walked out the door. At the time my head and ears were ringing, I felt disconnected, like I was having another nightmare. Of course I was arrested, nobody believed me later when I started coming out of it. After I got home, I took a Paxil and started feeling more lucid. Now I don't know what to do.

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Date:
05 May 2002
Time:
20:09:23
Remote User:
Comments
Having been on Paxil for nine months (30mg) I have been forced to quit "cold turkey" when I found out I was pregnant. (And anyone who is prepared to call me "careless" for become pregnant on Paxil, I have only this to say--14 years of marriage with no pregnancy until now--hardly "careless!" Unfortunately even oral contraceptives are not 100% effective, and one pregnancy after 14 years doesn't make me careless!) I am now in a hell that is FAR WORSE than the original depression Paxil was prescribed for. I've seen a few folks here who have benefitted from Paxil "shaming" the rest of us by implying that we were asking for this hell by allegedly taking Paxil for non-legitimate reasons, such as looking for "happiness in a bottle." I have news for you: Paxil withdrawal symptoms are not caused by having taken the drug for the "wrong reasons." They can happen to ANYONE with a LEGITIMATE prescription for the drug. Having Paxil withdrawal is in NO WAY an indicator that the sufferer is some type of drugie or terminal looser looking for a quick fix to an occasional blue day. Even those of us with professionally diagnosed clinical depression can suffer from Paxil withdrawal, so please stop blaming the people who are suffering!! (And as for the accusation that people who shouldn't be taking Paxil are indeed taking it......now who's fault is THAT, considering it requires a DOCTOR'S prescription?! I would think the blame-placing there should be in the form of the question: why are doctors prescribing Paxil for people without clinical depression? As for me, I did not go into my doctor's office begging, or even asking, for antidepressants. I asked for his opinion whether or not he thought I would benefit from them. Yes, those exact words: "I'd like your opinion as to whether or not you think I would benefit from antidepressants." Well, when I first entered the land of the damned upon stopping Paxil, I had no idea what was causing the dizziness, heart palpitations, and the electric shock sensations that were happening approximately every 30 seconds. Worse: my doctor didn't seem to know either! Due to my sufferring from a pre-existing heart arrhythmia, my doc engaged me in all sorts of tests to determine what might be wrong with my heart to be causing these horrible effects, all to no avail. It was only through doing my own research on the web that I found other people experiencing similar symptoms after stopping Paxil. So now I find myself asking: 1. Why did my prescribing doctor not warn me of the difficulties of stopping Paxil? BECAUSE THAT INFO IS NOT AVAILABLE IN THE PRESCRIBING INFORMATION. 2. Why did my OB instruct me to stop the Paxil abruptly instead of tapering down the dosage? BECAUSE THAT INFO IS NOT AVAILABLE IN THE PRESCRIBING INFORMATION. 3. Why were all of my doctors unable to recognize the "zaps", palpitations, and dizziness as signs of Paxil withdrawal? BECAUSE THAT INFO IS NOT AVAILABLE IN THE PRESCRIBING INFORMATION.

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Date:
05 May 2002
Time:
20:09:27
Remote User:
Comments
Having been on Paxil for nine months (30mg) I have been forced to quit "cold turkey" when I found out I was pregnant. (And anyone who is prepared to call me "careless" for become pregnant on Paxil, I have only this to say--14 years of marriage with no pregnancy until now--hardly "careless!" Unfortunately even oral contraceptives are not 100% effective, and one pregnancy after 14 years doesn't make me careless!) I am now in a hell that is FAR WORSE than the original depression Paxil was prescribed for. I've seen a few folks here who have benefitted from Paxil "shaming" the rest of us by implying that we were asking for this hell by allegedly taking Paxil for non-legitimate reasons, such as looking for "happiness in a bottle." I have news for you: Paxil withdrawal symptoms are not caused by having taken the drug for the "wrong reasons." They can happen to ANYONE with a LEGITIMATE prescription for the drug. Having Paxil withdrawal is in NO WAY an indicator that the sufferer is some type of drugie or terminal looser looking for a quick fix to an occasional blue day. Even those of us with professionally diagnosed clinical depression can suffer from Paxil withdrawal, so please stop blaming the people who are suffering!! (And as for the accusation that people who shouldn't be taking Paxil are indeed taking it......now who's fault is THAT, considering it requires a DOCTOR'S prescription?! I would think the blame-placing there should be in the form of the question: why are doctors prescribing Paxil for people without clinical depression? As for me, I did not go into my doctor's office begging, or even asking, for antidepressants. I asked for his opinion whether or not he thought I would benefit from them. Yes, those exact words: "I'd like your opinion as to whether or not you think I would benefit from antidepressants." Well, when I first entered the land of the damned upon stopping Paxil, I had no idea what was causing the dizziness, heart palpitations, and the electric shock sensations that were happening approximately every 30 seconds. Worse: my doctor didn't seem to know either! Due to my sufferring from a pre-existing heart arrhythmia, my doc engaged me in all sorts of tests to determine what might be wrong with my heart to be causing these horrible effects, all to no avail. It was only through doing my own research on the web that I found other people experiencing similar symptoms after stopping Paxil. So now I find myself asking: 1. Why did my prescribing doctor not warn me of the difficulties of stopping Paxil? BECAUSE THAT INFO IS NOT AVAILABLE IN THE PRESCRIBING INFORMATION. 2. Why did my OB instruct me to stop the Paxil abruptly instead of tapering down the dosage? BECAUSE THAT INFO IS NOT AVAILABLE IN THE PRESCRIBING INFORMATION. 3. Why were all of my doctors unable to recognize the "zaps", palpitations, and dizziness as signs of Paxil withdrawal? BECAUSE THAT INFO IS NOT AVAILABLE IN THE PRESCRIBING INFORMATION.

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Date:
06 May 2002
Time:
00:22:54
Remote User:
Comments
When a Psychologist friend told me that there had been an article in the Toronto Globe & Mail about Paxil and breast cancer, I decided to stop taking it (without consulting my doctor, because I've lost all faith in her). I had about 20 pills left (20mg), so cut them in half and took the last half about 5 days ago. As soon as I started taking the halves, I became dizzy, couldn't get to sleep until 4am and started sweating profusely. Those symptoms seemed to subside, but now that I'm totally off Paxil, I'm going out of my mind with side-effects. I can't sleep, even with 2 Nytols, and when I finally drift off, I have vivid nightmares. When I wake up, I sob uncontrollably from the terrible dreams. I feel like a bobblehead doll, I'm so dizzy, and I fear falling in the bathtub. I have that dreadful sloshing sound in my head. I perspire. In desperation I called up Google tonight, typed "Paxil withdrawal symptoms", and I've been sitting here for 2 hours reading with my mouth open in shock! I'm not alone! Thank God for the person who built this site and for everyone who has submitted comments - you have given me the strength to get through this hell. You have also given me enough information to prove to my long-suffering husband that I'm not imagining what I'm going through. You have all done something wonderful for another human being tonight, and I am deeply grateful to you for it. I'm not alone! I've been addicted to the pill from hell! I just pray that these symptoms pass before too long, because I'd like to get on with a normal life again. Depression is hell, too, but nothing like this! Thank you!!!

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Date:
06 May 2002
Time:
13:59:15
Remote User:
Comments
I'm trying to cut back on paxil. I'm down to about 7mg now and each 1mg drop still elicits a withdrawal response. Let me tell you this really sucks. I've never been so depressed in my life. Funny, how an ANTIdepressant medication makes me feel MORE depressed. I'm also dizzy, sleepy and nauseus. I should have just listened to myself and resisted all medication. I asked my doctor for a "mild" antidepressant and I get the one that has the strongest side effects and withdrawal. I guess it's good to know I'm not the only one. Someday this will all be over, but that light at the end of the tunnel seems to be getting dimmer and dimmer.

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Date:
06 May 2002
Time:
14:18:22
Remote User:
Comments
I've been going nuts here not understanding the anger and self doubt while weaning myself off of Paxil. I had been taking it for 2 years and it had literally saved my life. No more social anxiety and I started feeling alive again. I felt like it was time for me to get off of it as I had a consistent feeling of self worth and ability to get things done. Man, I'm glad I came across this website. I am alternately angry, sad, and thinking I'm going nuts. Funny how these were the same reasons I got on Paxil in the first place. How appropriate we get to rant while we're getting off this piece of shit drug and our anger is at it's peak!!!!!!!!!! So much for prescription drugs - it's all a conspiracy. If I make it through this the learning experience will be a lasting one.

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Date:
06 May 2002
Time:
15:26:17
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I was on Paxil for about a year. After quitting my job (which I feel was indrectly related to being on the paxil) I lost my insurance, which also meant no more paxil. I quit cold turkey. I have been off for 8 days and wonder which is worse; the withdrawal or being depressed. I am contacting attorneys to get involved with the class action suit, and frankly, I think the only fair 'punnishment' for the makers of Paxil is to put them on it for about a year then have them quit cold turkey. Then they'd see how the withdrawal they don't think exits actually, and how it not only makes them feel like SHeeITle, but how it affects their family and friends too.

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Date:
06 May 2002
Time:
15:27:24
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I was on Paxil for about a year. After quitting my job (which I feel was indrectly related to being on the paxil) I lost my insurance, which also meant no more paxil. I quit cold turkey. I have been off for 8 days and wonder which is worse; the withdrawal or being depressed. I am contacting attorneys to get involved with the class action suit, and frankly, I think the only fair 'punnishment' for the makers of Paxil is to put them on it for about a year then have them quit cold turkey. Then they'd see how the withdrawal they don't think exits actually does, and how it not only makes them feel like SHeeITle, but how it affects their family and friends too.kellyab@alltel.net

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Date:
07 May 2002
Time:
03:49:13
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I have been taking 40mg (is that a lot or average?) of Paxil for the past 7 years. I attempted to go off and found the side-effects intolerable. i don't blame my doctor because there wasn't enough information about the effects at that time. Anyway, he told me that i must not have been ready and kept me on the paxil. A couple of years ago I tried to go off it again because my libido was non existent. Wow, i felt worse than before i started taking Paxil and I had swallowed a bottle of medicine. It took all I had to refrain from driving into a tree. I cried, was angry, violent, I had massive headaches, impatient, etc. So, i went back on the medicine. The other day my boyfriend asked me to try and stop taking Paxil. I immediately went into tears just thinking about the consequences. I'm afraid my doctor will think i'm exaggerating when I tell him I think it's addictive. Have your doctors been supportive? Molly mollybirdo@hotmail.com

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Date:
07 May 2002
Time:
15:06:11
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THE BROCHURE SHOULD READ, "CAUTION YOU MAY HAVE TO TAKE THIS DRUG THE REST OF YOUR LIFE." Suzy Maryland

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Date:
07 May 2002
Time:
16:41:32
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Date:
07 May 2002
Time:
16:41:36
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Date:
08 May 2002
Time:
01:21:33
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Date:
08 May 2002
Time:
01:38:51
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I am VERY relieved to have come across this information regarding withdrawl from Paxil. I was taking 30mg per day. It was prescribed due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I was also put on a toxic soup of many other drugs. I have slowly weaned myself off all of this prescription crap over the last 6 weeks. I was a mess on Paxil and all the other drugs and with the help of a Naturopathic doctor am finally returning to health. Paxil is/was the last drug to go. I am relieved to find out that it's Paxil withdrawls that I'm going through as I didn't know what was wrong with me. I have muscle aches, my joints ache, I feel spaced out and dizzy. I dream so much and so vividly that most nights I feel like I haven't really slept. I have heart palpatations and headaches. I often feel like I'm just going to keel over at any minute. Hopefully all this will go away soon. I will NEVER take Paxil or any other garbage the conventional doctors are so eager to dish out! It also makes me very angry that everything is dealt with through pills, pills and more pills rather than addressing the real cause of the depression or anxiety. I too was told I had a chemical imbalance; BULLSHIT! I have found myself a good therapist and the above mentioned Naturopathic doctor. With their help I'm dealing with the issues that were causing the depression and anxiety WITHOUT drugs!

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Date:
08 May 2002
Time:
11:13:46
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Date:
08 May 2002
Time:
12:05:34
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I woke up one night amid cold sweats looked around the room and knew for sure my son was gone.Stolen.I cried out and then began having what I deemed a mini seizure. A family member rushed into the room and assured me that my son was indeed curled up beside me where I had left him and coaxed me back to sleep. Then he came back the same man from the last dream- in all entirity paperclips. This whirl of office supplies chasing me into the crevices of a partially detonated forest. The world is coming to an end and if I do not play by the rules I will not be saved. Each rule more ardous than the next. Then I am seated in front of God's mafia my prosecution...Just beyond the courtroom door there are ravenous lions awaiting the outcome of my trial. This dream plays itself out in ten different variations before I am able to wake myself from a paxil induced mania. However today I cannot get up, my muscles are strained from the missed paroxetine. Any futile attempts render me spinning in the opposite direction I am trying to step. My body turns to the left yet I am still here??? -let us pause for an electric shock- this is virtigo. Though I take the missed dose I think that today I will die- the constant head-zaps,nausea,fever,confusion, the sensation of having been pummeled from head to toe. (Honey- mommy's not well)Please don't miss a dose.

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Date:
08 May 2002
Time:
12:30:36
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HI. I'm new to this. Forgive if protocal off. Just connected here from CBCnews item. Been on Zoloft for dysthmia for 2 years -- saved my marriage and my job! Just wondering -- with so many good SSRIs, etc. available, why Paxil? Everyone's chemical make-up is different, so why did all of you get Paxil first? I was reading some lit lately and was going to ask to switch from Zoloft to something newer/better like Paxil. But now I don't think sooooooo....

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Date:
08 May 2002
Time:
14:51:08
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Dear God,Pleassss help me, It's the 3rd time I have had to go back on this stuff, but only 10mgs as opposed to the 20mgs I was taking 2 weeks ago. I am trying the Vitamin B1,6 and 12 take medication for motion sickness, have severe headaches, can't sleep, screaming at the children all day long and feel like I'm becoming psychotic. I pray to God that I won't hurt anyone. Will I ever get back to reality??? Please tell me when I do so, cause I plan to haunt these money sucking medicine making manufacturers of this addictive med that will probably lead me to insanity. I won't let it happen, before I will sue your butts off and when I've taken all their money, I will feed each and everyone of you an overdose of the final existing meds on the market and hope you get breast cancer or whatever cancer derives from it....Thank you for listening

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Date:
09 May 2002
Time:
21:24:32
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to whom it may concern: you lying son of a bitches!!!!!!! I am now on my 3rd attempt to get off your dumb ass drug. I WILL get off it this time, even if it kills me!!! I absolutely refuse to put any more money in you low lifes pockets. I have been on paxil since 1996. I have also switched drs. since with all the withdraws, my previous dr told me I would be on it for life. NOT!!!!!!! thank God I have a very understanding husband. He has been a great support for me. I know at times I have been a royal bitch. my heart goes out to everyone that is going thru this. It is total hell. I also have a hard time dealing with "mommy" being too "sick" to be there for my childrens awards,ect. I think they should be responsible for the wrecked lives they have caused. I still, just yesterday saw a comercial on tv for Paxil, saying it's "not addictive". if it is NOT addicting, then why the withdraws? thanks for letting me vent, I'm sure my hubby appriciates it too.

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Date:
10 May 2002
Time:
03:17:21
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I took Paxil due to PTSD. I was stabed at work by an inmate. I found that on Paxil I didn't get mad,I became cold and ruthless. I have had to quit my job as I am now more scarry than thescum I am guarding. Now I want to quit the Paxil and become my old self after 2 yearson it, but it is a nasty drug. I don't like looking at people who piss me off like roachs. I used to be humane and just, I don't like this person I have become. Corrections Officer

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Date:
10 May 2002
Time:
20:24:51
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I don't even know where to begin. I took 20mg of Paxil every day for about 2 years nine months, and 2 months ago decided to come off it. I have not taken Paxil for about four weeks now, and I feel like my whole world is just going to pieces. I am well aware that the feelings of despair, rage, and all- encompassing low-grade panic which are now my constant companions would subside if I broke down and went back to the drug. But I'll be goddamned if I will! I blame every bit of my current condition on Paxil withdrawal, I absolutely refuse to believe that the world is this bleak and awful without the aid of this weird, chemical, seemingly so subtle and good, which is doled out so blithely by men and women whose understanding of it is perhaps 15% better than yours or mine. The clouds will break eventually, and I will emerge anew, undoped and unmuted, free of this addiction--and yes, no matter what they tell you, the thing is not that different from booze and dope proper. Not at all. I am so full of rage that almost anything I focus on or think about becomes a target for it--just this great, wobbling amorphous mass of horrid hurt that I just want to get rid of, somewhere, anywhere. It takes a great deal of conscious effort to keep from snapping at people; the most innocuous comments I take as personal insults, and brood for hours. When I do allow my temper to get the best of me in public, I recall it later with a crushing, red-faced shame: "You can't act like an adult, you can't handle anything, you can't you can't you can't...." and I cry. When you tell your psychiatrist about a thing like that, he smiles indulgently, maybe quotes some statistic at you, acts like it's no big deal. You tell him something more serious, like maybe you cut yourself or have been thinking of killing yourself, and he starts acting all concerned, and tells you this is sufficient cause for more medication, and maybe if you refuse he deems you out of control and court-orders you to the hospital for a few days until you are feeling more cooperative. That's what it always boils down to with the psychiatrists:one or zero, Medicate or Do Not Medicate, preferably the former. I used to think it was because they were evil. Now I think they're just poor bastards trying to get along like everyone else, trying to make a living, to keep the wheels turning. But that doesn't mean I want to be their fucking guinea pig. I apologize for the digression....I'm sure lots of y'all out there can share my sentiments on the subject of psychiatrists. Anyway, back to the main subject:the paxil pill, the little pink paxil pill, the sweet little pink pill I used to look upon with something very like love every day before popping it down the hatch. At first when I took it, it was like some kind of glorious peppermint tea for the spirit; after weeks of having severe panic attacks two or three times a day, and cutting myself (shallowly about the calves and forearms) almost as often, I would have done anything to make it stop. I didn't have the slightest idea how to stop. In this wretched condition I was bundled off to the hospital by my friends, and at the hospital I was prescribed paxil--as far as I know with no deliberations at all. "You're feeling anxious? Depressed? Want to kill yourself? PAXIL IT IS!!!" The same response if my mother had just died, or I'd just been laid off from my job, or any goddamn thing. "Got a problem? Have some paxil." Marvelous. At any rate it did clear up the panic attacks in what seemed to me to be nothing short of a miracle. I became fanatically devoted to the stuff, and I am ashamed to say that I did more than a little proselytizing about it to my friends, in those first giddy weeks. It was, I think, analogous to a person who has found a new religious faith--not that there's anything wrong with that, but that it tends to blind you, to bias you, to make you forget pertinent facts that don't fit your theories. After not too much time at all, I was completely used to the Paxil, couldn't barely remember how I'd felt before except for the darkest hours of it. I assumed that I was better off than before, and most people agreed with me--after all, they'd seen me a lot worse off, and now I was more functional, and on drugs, so the drugs must be good, right? One friend took me aside once and told me, not meeting my eye, that I wasn't the same anymore, that I was somehow "less" than I had been before. I said I didn't know what she meant, accused her of some sort of vague petty meanness or another. I said this very stridently and loudly, because deep down I'd felt the same thing and was alarmed that she could see it too:I -was- somehow...less...than I had been before. Some nice big chunk of me, to be sure the stuff of panic attacks and paranoia but also of dreams, imagination, relentlessness and dark, cutting wit, had just dropped right out of the circuit. I was a more soft-boiled, middle-of-the-road, NORMAL Erica than I'd ever been, and to be honest it didn't seem that ominous at the time--still giddy with the new lack of panic attacks and whatnot--but now it stops me cold, just thinking about it. You know what? I'm about played out for the time being. It's so good to have discovered this web site, especially now, after my I know my friends are getting good and sick of me using this withdrawal as an "excuse" for my weird behaviour; now, as the lethargy subsides and the writhing, impotent rage starts to take over and no one understands, its not some figment of my imagination, its not me looking for reasons to misbehave or for bids for sympathy, or to validate behavior that I know is inappropriate. I'm fucking losing it over here, while a throng of well-meaning bystanders looks on in part-pity and part-distaste, chorusing: "All in your mind! Buck up and get with the program!" It's good to know there's people out there who understand that it's not so simple as that. Just thinking of people reading this and knowing what I'm talking about is a very great comfort. I apologize for my great loquacity. Undoubtedly I'll write more later. Erica Isaacson Age 20 Bloomington, Indiana

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Date:
10 May 2002
Time:
22:33:23
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Respiridone (Respirdal .5-3mgs best route to get off - try for 7-14 days only One a day keeps the Zap away... and after 14 you should be ok but do, I repeat do stop the Respiridone (Respirdal)..... hope it helps

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Date:
11 May 2002
Time:
09:32:11
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After taking Paxil since November to curb panic attacks, I weaned down from 10 mg every day to 10 mg every other day for about a week and a half (on my doctors advice). This was making me feel very "loopy", so I went cold turkey and whoahhhhh has this been awful. Until I visited this site, I did not know about a liquid form of Paxil or pill cutters, those both would have helped me quit more gradually. Anyway, I though maybe I'd have a rough couple days, but here it is day 4 and I still having withdrawal symptoms. My husband says SKB obviously knows about the withdrawal side effects, as do the doctors, but they don't tell you because they think the benifits outway this. Well, if this is true, they are wrong. I have had awful panic attacks, but I would rather deal with my own mind fucking with me than some drug that is taking days to get out of my system. I question why my doctor gave me the stuff in the first place without getting me books or therapy for panic attacks. He just prescribed the stuff when I was despearte, then during the follow-up a week later I went in and told him I did not wnat to stay on the stuff, but he said that I should stay on it for 6 months, at least! So, here it is month seven and I decided I had enough. I let him know I was quitting, but did he warn me and tell me I would miss days of work and enter my own personal hell? NO! I am glad that today I feel more normal than the last three days of hell. my My withdrawal symptoms started with flu-type symptoms (aches, slight fever,nausea). Then, it started to feel like I was having de ja vu over and over again, or like I was in a dream state or like my brain was flipping or sloshing. I am trying to describe a feeling which is unlike anything else, so pardon my struggle to descirbe it... Anyway, this site has been a great help to me. If it were not for this web site, I might think this would not end! I feel better today than I did yesterday, thankfully. -Suzanne

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Date:
12 May 2002
Time:
12:54:12
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the worst part of all of my paxil withdrawls (i've had 3 or 4 but the worst was the last one coming off 40mg) was waking up to imaginary spiders. one day i thought there was a redback on me and mum had to put her hand over my mouth to muffle my screaming.

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Date:
12 May 2002
Time:
17:15:35
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Hi! This is my second time writing into the "rants". I am very grateful that I found this sight. My heart goes out to all of my fellow sufferers. I want to especially thank Erica Isaacson for her input. I read what you wrote Erica and wanted to tell you I really admire your openness and honesty. I also wanted to tell you that my friends too noticed I had become a different person when I was on Paxil. I had several people tell me that I seemed "dead behind the eyes" and that I "just wasn't the same funny person I used to be". I also have experienced flack from some of my less than understanding friends. People who have never experienced serious depression nor Paxil withdrawls. One so called friend in particular wrote me a very nasty e-mail recently as she believes I'm too "self absorbed and neurotic". Luckily I have other friends who are more understanding. I find it really difficult keeping how I'm feeling to myself as I've been through a year and a half of hellish PTSD, major anxiety attacks and depression. I am the type of person who heals by being able to talk about what's wrong. I am finally off all drugs and on the mend although still experience great waves of sadness and the Paxil withdrawl symptoms. I will be very glad to be "normal" again .... whatever the hell "normal" is! All I know is that I would never ever go to another psychiatrist nor would I get sucked into all those prescription drugs again. Sometimes reality is difficult but being soaked in so many drugs that I could barely remember my own name was a lot worse. Laura

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Date:
13 May 2002
Time:
06:08:00
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Date:
13 May 2002
Time:
12:51:23
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I feel like an ass. I'm going thru withdrawal right now. I've been off this crap for a week. So far, I have had vertigo, mood swings, depression, etc.... my head hurts and I feel like shit. I hate all this.

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Date:
13 May 2002
Time:
16:00:14
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GSK may read these pages, but I suspect that those people within that industry (who should be concerned) made the fatal mistake of getting hooked on their own goods because it made it easier for fulfil their addictive greed for big bucks. They are exhibiting the somewhat sociopathic disconnection from fellow beings that often happens on a small, familial scale as a side effect of paxil. In a way they what goes round has already come around to them. How could they deal with the immense guilt that rests on their shoulders for the suffering and death they have inflicted on innocent victims WITHOUT themselves becoming Paxil's Plastic Personalities? Prozac was created because LSD was banned and Eli Lilly were already addicted to money. Paxil was created because another pharmaceutical industry wanted a share of the big bucks. Greed and envy, power and profit. All the worst of mankind wrapped up in one industry and the wretched individuals who make up their whole. They are already in 'hell'. They created it and dished it out. We will survive it. But each individual within the industry who has dealt in fraud, lies and bribes will eventually have to face the fact that they sold their soul to their profit and loss accounts and will have to live with the suffering and death they caused until the day they die. They of all people need Paxil. I would rather be suffering from these horrendous withdrawals than belong to a group of cold, calculating social controllers. Don't expect sympathy from GSK. They have no conscience, and those who may retain a little of the same have no courage.

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Date:
13 May 2002
Time:
20:54:42
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Date:
13 May 2002
Time:
20:54:47
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Date:
13 May 2002
Time:
22:39:02
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i understand that some of you have have terrible withdrawal experiences but paxil has helped to give me my life back!!!! paxil does have many benefits.

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Date:
14 May 2002
Time:
00:29:13
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I have recently had to go off paxil cold turkey. Not by Choice. I don't know what to do with myself. I can't move my head without getting so dizzy that I want to pass out. I also feel the tingling in my face, cold/hot chills. I feel like I'm going nuts. I can't even clean the house or mop the floors in fear of passing out. I am so lucky that I have a husband that is helping me with the house work. I hate feeling like this!!!! Anyone have any ideas how to stop all this stuff. I can't do this any more. All I want to do is roll up in a ball cover up and cry. How long will this last????????????????? Help all of us Please and Stop making drugs that make people like this. I once read that our government was making drugs to make people like this to control people's minds. What do you think.

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Date:
14 May 2002
Time:
06:09:09
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The only 'benefit' of Paxil that I saw is that of anaethetised emotions, including those of fear, anxiety, love, sex and all the other delicate components that make up the human personality. Thats not quality of life (though it may seem so for a while when under the influence of the drug) and it can't be maintained forever, though it's a very handy quick fix controller where real social, environmental, psychiatric, policitcal and emotional issues are considered too expensive to be addressed. Trouble is, when the effects of this artificial-personality popper start to fade or long term neuro-psychological damage become become evident, what then? Then I'm afraid we end up with a) withdrawal symptoms that make our worst depression and our worst nightmares simply shrink into insignificance and b) much desperate hoping that in years to come we will have recovered completely because nobody knows yet what REAL long term damage may show up. But yes - while you're on Paxil and before you start getting indications of damage being done - fine. Life is so much (artificially) better, sing its praises while you can because its a "buy now, pay later" system and its at payment time its discovered that the price is far too high and may possibly carry on throught a lifetime. Peagee

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Date:
14 May 2002
Time:
06:36:10
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Forgot to add - the payment is a massive one. It not only has to be paid by the individual but also by society as a whole as the full damage reveals itself. Introducing this short-sighted social 'quick-fix' is only going to be cost-effective to the pharmaceutical industry who clearly had a long-sighted financial goal. Will the industry's goal ultimately prove to be history's most successful attempt to gain power and wealth at the cost of innocent people's lives? Peagee

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Date:
14 May 2002
Time:
07:35:54
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Well, I guess it's official: Nobody wants me. They want Mr. Paxil. Without this drug, I am unacceptable. See, I have emotions, things piss me off and I express anger. This is Bad. So everybody keep taking your Paxil so you'll be nice and people won't be uncomfortable and GSK will make lots and lots of money.

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Date:
14 May 2002
Time:
09:24:03
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I personally want to thank GSK for completely "making over" my life with the wonder-drug Paxil. BEFORE: I had an extremely high-pressure job that I basically handled pretty well if I must say so myself. I just couldn't sleep and had gained some weight from worrying about it. I had some panic attacks too, but when you have to answer to 150 people who all want different things right NOW, you might too. I worked 70 hour weeks, and pretty much took decent care of myself and my family (except for the complaints about the 70 hour weeks). In fact, when considering a new job/career, I considered becoming a DETAIL REP for a pharmaceutical company (no, not you, you lucky bastards)! AFTER: Within 8 fun-filled months, I have managed to go onto total temporary disability, lose virtually all of my friends because I would tell them to "shut the fuck up" one too many times, frighten my family into wondering if I was going to kill them whilst asleep, lose my job (hell, my company hasn't even sent me a get-well card and doesn't return my phone calls), completely drain my savings, and in the next 4 weeks when my disablity ends, I have no idea what I'll be doing. And it helps to have a doctor who tells you that "this medication doesn't usually do these things". My brain is swiss cheese, my memory --- fagettaboudit. DO you know what it's like to be a grown woman who has to tell herself how to lock or open a door by saying "righty-tighty, lefty-loosey" out loud? I communicate best now by finger pointing and charades. Yes, this is just the life I always dreamed of, and Paxil made it all possible. Hey --- any of you guys need a job? I have one for you.

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Date:
14 May 2002
Time:
10:52:20
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I was prescribed serotox for anxiety depression. I was having some bad days and had been off work for 6 months. I have taken the drug for just 30 days and finished the last pill last Thursday, it is now Tuesday. I am so nauseous that it is hardly bearable. I spend half my day running to the toilet and the mere thought of food disgusts me, I am even struggling to drink water. I ache in every bone and feel fluey. The nightmares have been bad but that was whilst I was taking the drug. I haven't slept for 3 days and having read the comments on this site I am really terrified. I have a high risk of breast cancer anyway and to think i was taking this stuff and risking myself even further terrifies me. No mention has made of the withdrawals. I feel bad after 30 days and the depression has returned I will not take anymore but am afraid how long I will suffer these symptoms . Please help. What permanent damage have I done to myself after only 30 daysI am scared.

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Date:
15 May 2002
Time:
04:37:07
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Date:
15 May 2002
Time:
09:41:36
Remote User:
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This is my second rant in two days! I've been reading through all of the sadness, pain, anger and despair of all of us out here in PaxilHellLand that to GSK (and some physicians as well), doesn't seem to exist. I've been told several times by well-meaning people (and attorneys) that "you can't blame the physicians if they don't know" (that this drug has these horrific effects) on the premise that the pharmaceutical company will not disclose. Well them, why aren't physicians reading these messages? Shouldn't they be keeping up to date with things? Shouldn't at least more than a handful have a clue about the dangers of Paxil? Why are literally thousands of people gathering together on a website and admitting what living hells their lives have become, and this is continuing to go on? My own doc swears on a stack of Bibles that Paxil "doesn't usually do these things" and evidently since I'm just one patient with a complaint in his practice (I'm guessing), then it must be ME who's got the problem. I have spoken to attorneys who have no idea about any class action suit involving GSK. My point is, what will it take for anyone to take notice of the problems concerning this drug enough to DO something about it that will have a lasting effect??? When will GSK finally come out and admit, hey, we screwed up people's brain chemistries?! Jeez! Now, I only mean this as humorous, but someone ranted on here a few messages up about LSD (in reference to Prozac) ---- (those of us who are old enough), remember when there was a political comment way back in the sixties about putting LSD in the water supply (who said it? Abbie Hoffman? Curious that he's gone too, a Prozac suicide) --- well, how about putting Paxil in the water supply of GSK! Again, I'm being HUMOROUS, but I'd like to imagine all of the GSK execs running around manic and homicidal and after they figure out what's happened, going through WITHDRAWAL and holding their zapping heads.

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Date:
15 May 2002
Time:
18:35:13
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The wife of the president of Eli Lilley committed suicide on Prozac. The fact that Prozac remained on the market regardless of the loss of his "loved" one and despite the negative results of their research on the drug proves what a warm-hearted, considerate, caring and devoted specimen of humanity was at the helm of the Flagship Prozac. No change in pharmaceutical policies re humanity since then by the looks of it. LOL, third rant..... But not the last..... Peagee

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Date:
16 May 2002
Time:
02:04:56
Remote User:
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I have been on Paxil for nearly two years and after hearing the news reports, I stopped taking it cold turkey on April 26th 2002. HELL is too easy a word for it! The first two weeks, I felt nausea, dizziness, light-headenss, terrible fatigue and what is call the zaps. The zaps are the worst, It feels like I'm being given an electical shock every five seconds or so that I can feel in my head, hands, and feet. The nausea has gone down and the dizziness, but I'm still getting the zaps and I still feel very fatigued. I force myself to stay awake everyday until bed time, but more often than not, if I'm sitting on my couch I will inevitably fall asleep. The nightmare dreams have calmed down as well thank goodness. I'm not working right now, and the way I'm feeling at this point, I honestly don't know how I will be able to hold down a full time job! GSK, you have taken my life away from me! You drug companies should feel ashamed of yourselves! Thanks for ruining my life!!!!! I'm only 37 years old, but I feel like I'm eighty, sometimes I feel like I'm dying! Give me back my life, or at least compensate us so that we can at least leave our financial worries behind, it's the least you can do!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Date:
16 May 2002
Time:
06:00:52
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SPECIAL RANT re FURTHER risks to those Paxil Victims who have put on a lot of weight. Naturally many of whom will be thinking "DIET." Quite a little cocktail Aspartame turns out to be..... http://www.akasha.de/~aton/AspartamWpn.html and it makes some interesting reading. Then there's the Pharma industries great concern for the Quality of Life of people in the Third World. For instance, When a 3rd World country produces a drug at a much cheaper rate which will help in its distribution and availability to AIDS victims, what happens?? The big Pharmas YES YOU'RE ONE OF THEM GSK, spend millions taking them to Court and getting the cheaper version of the drug stopped - F*&^ the dying victims of AIDS in poverty-stricken countries, the PHARMAS WANT THE FULL PRICE FOR THEIR EXPENSIVE DRUG and NOBODY in the THIRD WORLD or the FAR EAST is going to get away with helping vulnerable people by making a cheap version. Then there's the DRUG DUMPING GIFTS of nearly-out-of-date drugs to war-torn povery-ridden countries. Oh, very charitable. The countries don't want these out of date drugs, the DRUG COMPANIES (YES, YOU'RE ONE GSK) would have to pay a huge fortune disposing of the drugs in a proper manner and the recipient country can't afford to dispose of them safely, nor can they risk not accepting them IN CASE THEY UPSET THE BIG WESTERN DRUG COMPANIES. Now then, why don't they donate life-saving drugs that are NOT almost out of date to places where millions of people are dying of disease who can't even afford to eat and have no chance of paying for drugs? Because THE DRUG COMPANIES ONLY CARE ABOUT PROFIT. IS THIS MY FOURTH RANT? THEIR PROFIT BECOMES BEFORE ANYONE's QUALITYOF LIFE. This certainly won't be my last rant. AND LETS HOPE THEY DON'T BRIBE THEIR WAY INTO GETTING PATENTS ON PARTS OF THE GENETIC CODE, cos that code will eventually show cures for many things. And DRUG COMPANIES won't want cures.... where's the money in completely curing people hmm? Peagee

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Date:
16 May 2002
Time:
11:13:33
Remote User:
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I am so angry that anyone can get away with doing this to another person without some kind of warning of what will come when trying to stop taking this med. With all of the other meds that are used to depression and anxiety, why even allow a drug like Paxil to be placed on the market. I asked my dr. to prescribe Prozac to me. A med that I had previously used years ago with no withdrawal symptoms. But because Paxil was being pushed by the pharmacutical reps this is what I was prescribed. She never mentioned any kind of withdrawals. I just thought it was strange that evey time I mentioned discontinuing taking this med, she insisted that I stay on it. I feel betrayed by her and the reps and by the makers of this product. I have tried once before to stop this med only to fail miserably. I almost committed suicide over the first attempt. The drug manufacturer should be forced to take responsibility for this!

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Date:
16 May 2002
Time:
20:43:20
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From nitehawk@tscnet.com Fri Jul 11 11:46:49 1997 Date: Thu, 10 Jul 1997 17:24:35 -0500 From: NightHawk <nitehawk@tscnet.com> To: shuler.g@ghc.org Subject: You You did it huh? You went to the state... Well, you already know what happens now.... You are a greedy, psychotic bitch.... Don't fucking ever email me, don't ever fucking call me, and you better go find out who the real father is and find him, because It is not me...I am so fujcking sorry I signed that paperwork, but if you hadn't threatened me or gone psychotic on me I never would have...Under Duress is the legal term for it... I'll get a restraining order against you if you ever call me again. Scott

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Date:
16 May 2002
Time:
22:56:55
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I AM IN TROUBLE!! It is as bad as I said it was. It makes sense to me, now - I thought it was just me! The problem is, I don't want to go off paxil, I think I am addicted to it. I like the feeling, sometimes. I just don't like the screaming in my head, and the dizziness, numbness, memory loss, eyes not focusing, confusion, paranoia, the tremors, inability to concentrate, teeth grinding, white knuckled moments, insane thinking, thoughts of inflicting harm on others, and sometimes the desire to go get in a fist fight. (I got on Paxil 6 months ago, because I could not stop crying, and I did not know why I was crying... At my highest, I was a 40 - now I take 20.) I DO like the nausea, I do like the buzz, I do like the calm moments, I like the zombie feeling, sometimes,... It is like being high, sometimes. I know it is so messed up- it is so wrong, with a family history of addiction like mine, and here I sit, the "good kid" who never did drugs or got addicted -yet, I think seriously about giving up my paxil, and I say NO WAY. Zaps, and all- I get them all day long,.. and worse when I am near a computer or wearing a watch.... even though I am physically exhausted, somehow, I know I am addicted,... and I just don't care, so I run and take another dose, when I thought I was going to wean off,... and then a few hours later, I think,.. maybe I'll ask my Doctor to UP the dose!!! Rationally, I know I am screwed up,.. two days off paxil, and I am in ZAP-HELL, but, then again, even ON paxil, I am in ZAP-Hell. I don't care, though - I love the paxil, at the same time. There is something that it does to me that I LIKE, and I cannot describe it,... and I know it is not really a good thing that it is doing to me,... almost self destructive,.... but, I like the buzzzzzzzzzz. The dreams are bizarre!!! I ache all over. It kept me alive, and now I cannot live without it. I am confused all the time.... I am not me, anymore, I walked away from a potential business venture because I still feel like I am on the verge of a major mental crack, all the time. Yet, all I want is to take more paxil??? Can ANYONE please advise?????? Thanks!

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Date:
17 May 2002
Time:
01:12:09
Remote User:
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More frustrating than having withdrawl symptoms from Paxil is the complete lack of support from anyone in the medical profession. I was told by doctors pharmicist, and everyone in between that there were no withdrawl symptoms and that I was imagining my symptoms or that my pre-paxil symptoms were arising. This information needs to plastered over every TV screen, magazine and newspaper in the country!!!! I feel like I was raped by SKB!

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Date:
17 May 2002
Time:
03:48:21
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I'm shocked and scared, thats why I'm not taking Paxil anymore. I started Paxil 4 days ago for depression(no job, lost girlfriend, anxiety, just having a ruff time.) After 3 days I didn't feel anything. My doctor said it would take 3 weeks. Well, day 4 and I'm dizzy, I have that deer in the headlight stare, I yawn all the time and when I do yawn I get this sense of happiness, you know that tickle in your stomach when you go over a rollarcoaster, no feelings, numbness of feelings and some lashing out at people. Well, I started to read some of the stuff on here and I'm done with this stuff! **ALSO, I'm a 23yr old male I masturbate 1 to 2 times a day, always thinking of sex. Since Paxil, I haven't thought of it and try to do it and reaching orgasm is almost impossible. That is proof! Three days ago= 2 orgasms Three days later+Paxil= No sex drive or orgasm. I'm glad that people like you have posted this info. I'm going back to Marijuana and masturbation. That works better for depression than anything. Hopefully, The 4 pills that are already in my system haven't done any harm. By the way I'm on 20mg/1 pill a day.

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Date:
17 May 2002
Time:
10:49:16
Remote User:
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I have been taking this poison since July 2000. I went to my dr. for some mild anxiety/panic attacks. All I wanted was a mild tranquilizer like Xanax to help me get through some important decisions that I needed to make about my job. She insisited that Paxil would help my depression???? which I didn't even know I had. I started the meds and after about six months I decided that I wanted to discontinue it. My drs advice was that I really needed to be on it longer to feel the real true effect. What effect???? My life was in order. I wanted to be normal. The dr told me there would be no side effects while on this crap!!!!! Oh, yeah, tell that to me now. I have gained back the 50 or so lbs that I had worked so hard to lose. All I wanted to do was sleep and eat. I walked around like a zombie all the time. My poor kids kept saying something is wrong with Mom. She is very blah! all the time. I couldn't seem to make any kind of decisions for myself - my best response was Whatever!!!! Sex life????? What desire????? I lost all of my desire to attend any social get togethers even with family. I just wanted to stay in bed and sleep! OK so I decide to stop the med on my own right after Christmas. I tried to stop going cold turkey! What a mistake. I became an emotional basket case. I would rage and have tantrums like a 2 year old. I cried, I stopped showering, I couldn't eat. I felt like I was coming off some hard core street drug. My family begged me to start the med again. I almost lost my job because I just couldn't get out of bed and go. I didn't just contimplate suicide. I actuall drove to Hoover Dam and was going to jump! thank God my daughter called my cell phone and talked me out of it. After 2 days, I started taking the Paxil again. My dr. told me to just admit it - that I was a manic depressive and would need this med forever! So now 4 months later, after more research and learning that I am NOT a manic depressive and NO! I don't need this med forever I have decided that I am going to wean myself off this med. My boyfriend doesn't really understand the process nor does he seem to want to educate himself. He keeps repeating that it can't be that addictive - I have offered him the choice since today is his day off of coming to this web site and doing some reading and research or on Sunday I will be moving out to stay with my sister who will help and support me through this. His response was that after I 'detox' I can come back. My response was maybe after I come off this med I won't want to come back!!!!! He needs to understand what I am going through. He says I need it. I told him how does he know - he doesn't even know what I am like when I am not taking the med. I used to be fun and outgoing, exciting. Now I am a fat zombie who cannot even function like a normal person. So this is my plan - I take 20mg of paxil (I have read about peoople who are taking 60mg, I don't know how you function!!!!!) I have started taking my normal dose one day and I have cut my pills to approx. 15mg for the next day. I plan on alternating this dosage (20-15-20-15) for as long as I need to. Maybe even 2 weeks. After this time I will change it to 15 - 10. From this I will go to 10 - 5. Then to 5mg every day. I will after I feel comfortable go to 5 mg every other day, then to every third day, and so on until I feel like I can function and deal with all of this. I have been doing the 20 - 15 mg now for 4 days. I have been having some withdrawals - I get so nausous that I sometimes have the dry heaves, I get the tremors, blurry vision, headaches!!!!! that feel like my head is gonna blow off, I am very unrational about stupid small little things (like who took the last cup of coffee). I got m y first 'zap' yesterday. I made a deal with God to please not let me have anymore of those and I will try to stay strong and not fall back into the pattern and start taking the med again. I feel like a drug addict - I know where the meds are and I just want to take that full dose - I keep trying to rationalize to myself that it will be ok and I can start tomorrow. I just need it one more time. Then I think to myself that I have to stop this. It can't keep on like this. So far I have been able to stay in charge. I tell myself I am in control of this and no little pink pill is gonna run my life!!!! I don't know if this will help anyone but if I can help one single person to get through this I will feel satisfied. I have found that staying busy helps. Physical activity also helps maybe cos it tires you out and helps to make you sleep (a normal sleep). I joined a gym and get up every morning at 5 am (I am awake anyway) and go to work out. I walk at the park every night after dinner. I can't even begin to fathom how women with children cope with this. I babysit on Sundays for my grandkids 6 month and 4 years old. I don't know if I can cope with them for 6 hours. What if I get into one of those rages???? Thank God my kids are not small!!!!!! God bless every one of you mothers who are going through this with small children that you are totally responsible for. I hope this helps someone to get through this. I would be glad to e-mail correspondance with any one who feels like they need a friend or some support to get through this. Please e-mail me at lvwitch@yahoo.com Oh and after all this my rant for the the drug company - I could scream and yell. Or even swear like a sailor. But my only response is what goes around, comes around!!!!! Let's hope that these big executives sitting in their big offices had family members who are taking this med. Let them deal with it when their family member starts these w/d. The day will come when they have to pay for what they did. People who are unstable and need help don't need to be given a med that will f**k them up as bad as this med does! I had problems while I was taking the med. I say hit them where it hurts - in the wallet! They can't give me back the year and a half that they stile from me and my family. So I think I deserve monatary compensation. Thanks for listening all! And please feel free to send me e-mail if you think I can offer you support! Dawn

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Date:
17 May 2002
Time:
11:23:48
Remote User:
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A lot of people think Prozac will help them, but that's not true, i have the same symtoms as described here when going cold turkey on prozac. Especially when turning my eyes, it feels like my brain can't follow. Just wanted you guys to let you know that Prozac isn't much better then paxil:)

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Date:
18 May 2002
Time:
15:19:47
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Date:
18 May 2002
Time:
20:38:27
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Date:
18 May 2002
Time:
20:40:36
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Does anyone have uncontrollable diahrrea while they are on Paxil? I have had some problems with a spastic colon, but this thing is totally new! I barely made it to the bathroom in time.

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Date:
18 May 2002
Time:
22:45:57
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Date:
19 May 2002
Time:
06:52:26
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I'm in the UK. I'm 37. I was prescribed Seroxat for depression and feelings of low self esteem. I teach 7-11 year old children. Previously having come off of 60mg of Prozac with no problems, once I was ready to come off the 20mg of Seroxat I bagan the usual cutting down, very gradually. It was sheer hell. I have tried 5 times and every time have had to go back to 20mg. Right now I am only 4 days in on 10mg and am dizzy and nauseous. I'm a teacher. I have an incredibly stressful job. Last time I tried cutting down, I waited until the children had gone to lunch and I repeatedly slammed a ruler on a table until the ruler broke and dented the table. I kicked my filing cabinet. Terrified I would actually physically HURT a child in my care out of sheer rage ( altho what I was raging AT I couldn't explain, I didn't really KNOW. I just know I felt as if I would/could harm. I ended up self harming, scratching and cutting my arms in sheer rage and self hatred and to stop hurting other people). I talked to myself, like a mad person, twitching and shouting at myself. I cried huge racking sobs that seemed to come from the hellish parts of my soul. I shook. I screamed a lot at my parner for no reason. I had no choice but to go back up to 20mg. This is the FIRST time I have seen this site. I know I am going to have to go back to my usual dose. I am not in a financial position to take time off from work,I have a mortgae to repay, plus I have many responsibilities at work; as well as class teaching I lead a subject and a year group of colleagues on the management team. I cannot talk about this at work as it will jeapordise my career prospects as the next step up from my position is deputy headteacher.I cannot risk coming off these tablets while it's term time as I could hurt or swear at a child which is my biggest fear. Could GSK or another group consider producing something ( ack I hate to ask) but something so if Paxil/Seroxat is withdrawn we can come down to earth SAFELY? Please don't leave us with no choices except mental torture, insanity and dear god, suicide. I get chills thinking of the people who are dead. Responsibility. I have no choice right now than to go back to my original dose of 20mg, and to not laugh from my soul. I miss my soul laughter. I miss my libido. I have a wonderful man in my life and neither of us deserve to loose that wonderful side of our relationship because I am taking this tablet every morning like a Stepford wife. I have no choice because coming off it is not an option in my job due to the effects. No one has the right to take away a person's choice. I am lucky that I will have a 5 week holiday coming up at the end of this July. This site is so supportive and with my doctors help I will try. Damnit I will beat this. Kathy ( because I will NOT be an anonymous poster. I have a name. I am REAL. I love cats, Tori Amos, The Moon, The Goddess, writing and Monty Python. I am real. I have green eyes and long curly red hair. I am NOT anonymous. I am NOT a statistic.And if you met me you might really like me. I could be your dream come true! Don't you make me HURT damnit!)

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Date:
20 May 2002
Time:
00:55:02
Remote User:
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I was prescribed Paxil for Reactionary Depression from chronic neck pain and if that wasn't bad enough... Thank God I found your site and thank God I was only on Paxil for a little over 6 weeks!!! I stopped Paxil cold-turkey and it was an agonizing Hell. I vomited about every 1/2 hour for 12 hours only able to keep down 2 teaspoons of Sprite. I thought I was in line for the emergency room, but I told my husband I didn't think I could ride in the car without being violently ill. I held out until morning and I was finally able to eat saltines and some Sprite. We found your website that day and I bawled with relief because I had experienced all of the symptoms, both on and in the detox process. It has been 1 week and I still feel the depersonalization at night while sleeping and there is a constant ringing in my ears, but I am glad I quit cold-turkey and stopped putting that poison in my body. It was a hefty price to pay for a couple of days of feeling "groovy". This was an agonizing hell and I want to sue the drug companies not for the money, but to protect other people from having to live out this nightmare, which by the way is far worse than anything reality has thrown at me yet. Please, if you are trying to quit, the sooner the better. It is HELL, but your body and your life will thank you in the long run. You are NOT ALONE! My symptoms were: Depersonalization (still) Sweats Severe muscle aches (still, but better) (I found warm baths helped) cramping vomiting Explosive and mind-blowing headaches dizziness (still) Uncontrollable crying loss of sexual appetite (complete) vivid dreams (still) buzzing in head (still) vertigo (still) feelings of deep resentment toward this drug company (still) I will never again put any drug in my body without researching it thoroughly. They LIE! Life is FABULOUS without this poison. Laura B.

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Date:
20 May 2002
Time:
01:26:01
Remote User:
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It is so good to discover that I am not alone with my struggle to discontinue Paxil. I have been taking this insidious drug for three years now and have tried three times to stop taking the medication. No one ever emphazied or fully explained why you should never stop taking Paxil suddenly. I don't think my doctor had been informed properly about just how horribly addictive this drug is. All three times I have been unsuccessful because the demands of my work makes it impossible for me to function properly while suffering through the withdrawl symptoms. I too have experienced the horrible dizziness, nausea and vertigo to the point where I was bumping into walls as though drunk and/or hungover. I have experienced the night sweats along with the nightmares which leave you exhausted and feeling totally insane in the morning. I have also had the very strange brain twinges and horrible mood disturbances, the hossility, rage and crying jags for absolutely no reason. Paxil is so powerfully addictive it truly scares me and I know I have to try once again to get off of it and stay off for good which I know will certainly be a challege. At least I know I'm not the only one screwed up by this horrible drug.

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Date:
20 May 2002
Time:
03:28:14
Remote User:
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THANK YOU ALL for writing to this site so I could see I am not alone. I hate that you all are going through this but thank you for helping ME! My symptoms are the same as all of your. It is 2:19 Central time and here I am, unable to sleep from the burning "pricklies",severe headache and nausea and general agitation. I have signed the petition to be sent to SKB or SBG or GSK or WHATEVER they are calling themselves now... and a man at Medwatch gave me this address you may want to write to: Secretary Tommy Thompson, U.S. Department of Health And Human Services, 200 Independence Ave. SW, Room 639-G, Washington, D.C. 20201. The more people we can tell about this, the more we can possibly help others who HAVEN'T gone through this yet. It is too late for those of us going through this HELL but maybe we can help others make a clear decision on their own, WHO needs the Dr.'s?, and they will have the CHOICE to say," NO, I don't want this drug, I know what it can do to you while on it OR while getting off of it." WE didn't get to make that decision because we TRUSTED liars. Since tapering off from 30mg. now down to 5mg. starting on March 21, 2002, I have added ALOT of new people to my prayer list. ANYONE who is experienceing the things I am as well as their FAMILIES is on my list now!! This is THE most horrible thing I have ever gone through!! I once thought having a tube down my nose after surgery for 24 hrs. was the worse!! I was also in an abusive marriage for 10 years and THAT was easier than THIS!!!! It sounds SICK but..... I feel SO awful, worse than anything. I have been tapering off at a rate of 5-mg. every 2 weeks. Can't imagine just quitting like some have. I have another 2 weeks to go. I have NEVER thought about getting back on it. I pray for you who have had to. I can't wait til this is over, yet I see somethings keep occuring for a while afterwards. God bless all of you, your friends and families as we try to find ourselves again. E-mail if you want to. Linda... seeyousmile@snappyserve.com

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Date:
20 May 2002
Time:
10:32:08
Remote User:
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OK - I have been trying this for over a week now. Have gotten from 20 mg to 10 mg. Other than the nausousous feeling I thought I was doing just fine. WRONG!!!!!! Saturday night I got the worst migrine ever. I thought I was gonna die. Thought about going to ER, but figured they would have no idea what to do for me since the symptoms of withdrawal are so disputed. And I knew they would just tell me to start the med again. So I used what little part of my brain was functioning. I took 200 mg of ibuprofen and 5mg of paxil. Darkened all the lights in my room and ordered no one to make a sound. I slept for 12 hours straight and felt better in the morning. So I am back on the rigiment again. I figure if I got through this headache and one big constant ZAP I can make it through anything. That must have been the worst, right?????? But just wanted to say a special thanks to GSK for ruinging what was supposed to be a romantic dinner with my friend. Didn't even get to finish my dinner, and romance - yeah me hanging over the toliet puking out my brains was real romantic. Thanks again! You stole yet another special time in my life. I am keeping track of all the times and special things you have stolen from me and will expect to be rewarded for thes times by you. So don't forget your day and time is coming you will get your reward just as I will get mine!!!!! lvwitch@yahoo.com

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Date:
21 May 2002
Time:
00:30:49
Remote User:
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This is to the woman with bipolar disorder who says there is no reason to ever stop taking Paxil. I was prescribed Paxil for seasonal affective disorder. SAD is where you get depressed in the winter. This seasonal problem would seem to call for a seasonal solution -- I don't need a permanent prescription for a part-time problem. Well, let me tell you, Paxil is not the thing to prescribe if you're going to use it periodically. The withdrawal is crazy. I feel like I have a bad flu, plus I feel like I'm getting the head rushes I'd expect if I smoked a big bowl of pot but without any of the pleasant effects of being high. (That's my way of describing the "zaps" in the head that I and others have talked about.) In summary, although Paxil did keep me from being seriously depressed over the winter, I gained about 30 pounds being on Paxil, my sex drive is something I plain forgot about, my short term memory was really impaired, and now that I'm done with the stuff I find out that I have to put up with some really nasty side effects for a quite long period of time. Light therapy is starting to sound better and better! Of course, that's something you b**tards can't bottle up and sell, so the doctors don't think much of it because there isn't a sales rep from the sun who comes around to the Doctor's office to wine and dine him on the benefits of light exposure. In the past I've used St. John's Wort and never had a problem. However if the pharmaceutical industry gets its way there'll be no herbal alternatives -- they'll all be declared prima facie "unsafe" because they're unregulated. Big Pharma is basically a Mob deal with the FDA playing Joey the Leg Breaker. Read this month's Adbusters magazine for more information about the market in mood enhancers.

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Date:
22 May 2002
Time:
02:42:50
Remote User:
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How can a Company make such a pill much less a Doctor give it to you? It has helped my panic but made a monster out of me. I cry, rant, find fault, feel intence dislike for those I love. As for me I have sizures, my brain jerks and flips and dances. I have gas you wouldn't believe, making me less popular with my family. I couldn't care less about housework, I think why it just gets dirty again. My bills, they will still be there I think. Now I am filing bankrupsy. I can't seem to consentrate enough to care about the electric, water or anything. They are always in dire danger of being shut off. Not for lack of money but lack of interest. My family thinks I have lost my mind and I do too. I can't think and talk straight. I am mad, but I won't remember it in a minute.

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Date:
22 May 2002
Time:
15:23:00
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Date:
22 May 2002
Time:
19:13:34
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Date:
22 May 2002
Time:
22:10:40
Remote User:
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I just want to say that I am addicted to this "non addictive" drug Paxil. After attempting to come off, I suffered the most incredible withdrawal symtoms and thought that I must have had a stroke. The world was on a tilt, I had tingling and shock sensations throughout my body, I was completely disoriented and half the time when I attempted to speak, something completely different would come out of my mouth. I was nauseous, and terrified. I went to the doctor, almost certain that I had a stroke(I am only 38) only to learn that everything I was experiencing was condusive to my having been addicted to a drug and that I was suffering from extremely severe withdrawal symptoms. You can't even imagine (maybe you can) the shock that I was in to learn that the choice I made to go on Paxil was based soley on the fact that it was non addictive. Needless to say, I walked out of the doctors office in a state of shock and a feeling of betrayel, I realized that I had been intentionaly mislead and that I am addicted to Paxil. Because of the severity of my symptoms I was put back on Paxil until I get rid of the symptoms and I will attempt again to go off in another week. But beleive me I am petrified beyond words to explain the fear I have of doing this.

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Date:
23 May 2002
Time:
01:01:07
Remote User:
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I started Paxil, when I had this little problem at work, one day. I was sitting in from of the same, oh three thousand people as I usually sit in front of, every day, and I just started crying. I called my Doctor, whom I adore, andhe said- come right in. I did. I took the little test, and he said- Hey, let's start you on Paxil. Now, I adore this man, and I believe he is truely one of those rare Doctors that loves his work, cares about his patients, and remains professionally advised. I started the Paxil. It was 10, increasing to 20 over a week or two. Anyway, by day 2 or 3, I felt like I was watching a movie of my life. I walked, but did not feel the ground under my feet. I was calm, rational, reasonable, in control, and completely emotionless. OK, so I got thru the Holidays! I started "de-stressing" my life. Sometimes, I would forget to take my dose, and it simply did not occur to me that my bitchiness and the physical pain was somehow associated to Paxil. It was. I figured it out, pretty quick. I had a lot of extra anxiety, and went to see my Doctor. I told him I was freaking out a lot- so he upped me to 40. Teeth grinding!!! Mind Bending!! Tummy issues! Lack of comfort.... So, I cut that dose in half after a few days. Oh, here is where I get typical- almost every single symptom mentioned here with consistancy. Zaps,... oh yeah. That was wild! I thought I was having some kind of seizure! Nope, just the Zaps, dearie. I had to keep taking this Paxil-crap,.. and I have to go see my Docotr in a few days. I want off! Now, I just read about the breast cancer link,... all the women on Dad's side of the family died of it. Great. I have had my weight go up and down, my moods swing like a cheap out door play ground, and the headaches are almost blinding. Nervous, teeth clenching, physical pain. Shaking, tremors, tummy pains, emergency bathroom trips, tired all the time, yet, I never sleep enough! I could go on and on,... I have cut my dose to 10mg/day. In MY EXPERIENCE, there is no avoiding the side effects of lowering the dose,.. just gotta get thru it,... my symptoms lasted a week or so, I guess. I just had to eat tylenol and ask people to leave me alone. I took my phone off the ringer for a few days, that helped. I am totally worthless at work, and I cannot manage my finances. I have to sell my house and move back with my mother!!! And, I just don't give a rat's ass. How about that? I feel like there is a coating on my brain, all the time. I'll post again- when I lower the dose. I would really like someone to write to me, if you are willing to share your experience.... maybe start an IRC channel or chat room to talk??? flogthefrog@aol.com Thanks- CS

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Date:
23 May 2002
Time:
02:37:48
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Date:
23 May 2002
Time:
02:38:50
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Date:
23 May 2002
Time:
02:39:04
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Date:
23 May 2002
Time:
10:46:39
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i wonder if anyone whos using paxil developped HIATUS HERNIA!?!?!

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Date:
23 May 2002
Time:
12:41:26
Remote User:
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To Gsk: I would not have believed this except that I am now living in Paxil withdrawl hell. My doctor does not acknowledge this and has put me on a different med. I have not felt this depressed or ill in years. I counsel people with mental illness and now I am a wreck myself. I should never have been given this drug to treat the mild depression that I had. This drug should only be given for very serious illness, not just anyone having a bad day. Believe me, I'm having the worst days of my lift right now, trying to get off of this medication. VMD

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Date:
23 May 2002
Time:
16:16:32
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I'm glad there's a site out there like this. I'm hellbent on getting this shit out of my life. I'm 26 and I don't need to be dependent on a $3/pill prescription drug for the rest of my life. Two things I've found help the withdrawal symptoms: St. John's Wort - at least for a little while, it levels me out. Marijuana - I know we're not supposed to indulge in other drugs, but when I'm feeling especially stressed, the calming effect of weed can, if nothing else, help me get to sleep. I've been avoiding alcohol, since I tend to be a sad drunk anyway. Good luck to you all.

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Date:
23 May 2002
Time:
17:37:52
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Every time I see a lovely Paxil commercial I feel like throwing something very large at the TV - I can't believe how pissed off I get. The other day I was at my doctor's office and there were 4 pharm. salespeople there. One was a Paxil salesperson. I wanted to start screaming at her, but I realized that it would do no good. Very frustrating.

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Date:
24 May 2002
Time:
02:14:54
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I had been on paxil for only a month due to the stress from my job.I have now been off it for 3 days and have been experiencing dizziness,shockwaves in my head,nausea,weakness and bodyaches.Not knowing much about the product I had'nt any fear of taking it,trusting my doctor of course.I don't think the symptons are going to last for very long but I will never take a mood altering drug again!!!!

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Date:
24 May 2002
Time:
02:17:00
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Date:
24 May 2002
Time:
02:17:39
Remote User:
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I had been on paxil for only a month due to the stress from my job.I have now been off it for 3 days and have been experiencing dizziness,shockwaves in my head,nausea,weakness and bodyaches.Not knowing much about the product I had'nt any fear of taking it,trusting my doctor of course.I don't think the symptons are going to last for very long but I will never take a mood altering drug again!!!!

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Date:
24 May 2002
Time:
11:28:16
Remote User:
Comments
I'm at the end of the first week of Paxil withdrawal. It's bad, all right, but after reading this site and others like it I know I actually am lucky it's not worse, as it seems to have been for others. Bless you all for telling your stories. My doctor gave me some advice I haven't seen anywhere else- he said to time my Paxil withdrawal around the beginning of summer since sunbathing would help. Now, this is Canada so sunbathing means "sitting on the balcony in a warm sweater with my face turned up to the sun". I'm too dizzy to read or sleep so I just sit there in the sun, and if you can believe it, it works! I am so much less anxious and dizzy out there it's a miracle. So I recommend this to anyone. Other things that have helped me: - I feel a lot better after a carbohydrate-rich meal so I'm eating frequent small pasta meals. - Hot baths. I don't know why I feel better during and after a bath, but I do. Much, much less dizzy. I feel like myself and I don't have any zaps while submersed in warm water. - Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate! Well, any excuse for chocolate is a good one- I'm not convinced this actually makes much difference except that who isn't happier with a mouthful of chocolate? Milkshakes are my current drug of choice. :) - Sleeping as much as I can. I took some time off work and I sleep until I actually feel ready to get up- that first day when I had to force myself up with the alarm clock was so horrific I resolved not to do it again until I had to. - Sex. Heh heh- one of the best things about Paxil withdrawal is that my sex drive came back almost immediately- my poor husband will need to be treated for exhaustion soon! I'm trying to look on the bright side and it helps for me. And no matter how sick I get from the withdrawal, I will never regret taking this drug because it saved my life after post-traumatic stress syndrome (a fancy way of saying "I managed not to kill myself after seeing four of the people I love most in the world die"). If someone had given me the choice of feeling the way I do now, or feeling the way I did before I started taking Paxil, I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to take it all over again. Good luck to all of you going through this too. God bless.

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Date:
25 May 2002
Time:
09:43:21
Remote User:
Comments
WELL, JUST SAW THIS AFTER I WROTE IT IN THE 'CONTRIBUTION' SECTION. BUT HERE GOES AGAIN: I AM SO GLAD I FOUND THIS SITE. I HAD JUST BEEN PUT ON PAXIL -- AND HAVE TAKEN IT FOR JUST ONE WEEK. I KNOW THAT THE 'ACCLIMATION' PERIOD IS SUPPOSED TO BE ROUGH BUT SHIT! I CANNOT SLEEP DUE TO URINARY IRRITATIONS, BOWEL DISTURBANCES AND GENERAL DIZZINESS AND CONFUSION--I FEEL MUCH DAMN WORSE AND CANNOT DO MY JOB (SO WHO WAS GOING TO DO IT WHILE I 'ADJUSTED' TO THIS HORROR?). I WILL NOT TAKE ANOTHER DAMN PILL AND I WILL PRINT OUT WHAT YOU ARE SAYING HERE AND MAILING TO THE VERY SWEET DOCTOR WHO PRESCRIBED IT FOR ME. THIS IS SCARY! I HAVE SEEN A PAXIL SUPPORT FORUM AND WONDER WHAT IN HELL THESE PEOPLE SEE IN IT? HELL GETTING ON IT? HEAVEN FOR A WHILE? AND HELL MANY TIMES OVER (I SEE FROM HERE) GETTING OFF OF IT? I THINK DOCTORS MUST ALL BE PERVERSE MAD SCIENTISTS AND WE'RE THE FREAKING LAB RATS. THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME RANT... CHRIS EKSTEDT (HIGH POINT, NC)

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Date:
25 May 2002
Time:
09:45:50
Remote User:
Comments
AND NO!!!!! NOBODY TOLD ME ANY OF THIS!!!! THE DOC JUST THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO TRY SOMETHING ELSE OTHER THAN CELEXA SINCE CELEXA MADE IT HARD FOR ME TO CONCENTRATE (WHEN I TOLD HIM THIS HE SAID 'I THINK ALL OF THEM DO THAT') SO NOW I'VE LOST ANOTHER WEEK OUT OF MY LIFE THAT WAS PURE UNADULTERATED HELL AND I HAVEN'T EVEN BEEN THROUGH WHAT THE AUTHOR OF THIS SITE IS TALKING ABOUT! I'M ALSO SENDING THIS INFO TO MY COUNSELOR. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR POSTING ALL THIS...YOU'VE DONE US ALL A REAL SERVICE. I HOPE THE MAKERS OF THIS SHIT ROAST IN HELL.

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Date:
25 May 2002
Time:
16:54:27
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Date:
25 May 2002
Time:
20:10:38
Remote User:
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My head is not right - full and light at the same time - filled with muck! i will endure this madness - which is worse than the symptoms Paxil was prescribed for. I'm worth it to be free of this mind numbing feeling! Ahhhh!

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Date:
25 May 2002
Time:
20:24:02
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Date:
25 May 2002
Time:
21:48:55
Remote User:
Comments
MY TODAYS RANT HAS BEEN COMPRISED OF DOING INFORMATION OVERLOAD on my SSRI INFORMATION SITE. It has been worth it. The satisfaction of adding all sorts of anti-GSK artcle, lawsuits, Akathisia links et al has given me the total satisfaction akin to ranting here. LOL. Anyone with information want to add a rant of the GOTCHA GSK WITH THIS BIT OF INFO to my site, please go ahead lol. Its at http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/182310 And please DO GO VISIT GSK! I'd love an apology for you, would even start an SACKCLOTH AND ASHED thread specially for you. Peagee

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Date:
26 May 2002
Time:
13:45:21
Remote User:
Comments
Please believe me it will get better...... I keep thinking this and hoping that it is true. I want this out of me now...... But I know that I can't just stop. I hate myself every night when I reach for the bottle with the little pink pills. Pink used to be my favorite color. I hate the pills, but I love them too. Is this possible? As I sit here I come up with the thought that this med is comparable to the relationship I had with my ex husband. I loved him so much that I couldn't get enough. Even when he beat the crap outta me, I loved him. When he was good to me and making me feel loved, I knew I should leave him because it would just be a matter of time before the hurt would start again. But when he was hurting me, I was just wanting the good times back. Just like the paxil. When I am taking the med I feel happy and convinced that I can stop. But when I am 24 hours off and it is like my own hell has come to be, then I want nothing more than to take another one. I have been 15 days now and am down to 5 mg at bedtime. I need to try to stop completly. But I am scared. What happened to the resolve I had I am strong I can do this....... It left me with the paxil. I am tired of the headache, the aches and pains, the diarreha. When will this stop and when will I have my life back? lvwitch@yahoo.com

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Date:
26 May 2002
Time:
20:49:46
Remote User:
Comments
I WANT another rant, but the withdrawal symptoms are so diabling that I can hardly put one together. So will this do? You can run, GSK, but you CANT HIDE. Thought I wished you'd f****d off before you'd made Seroxat

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Date:
26 May 2002
Time:
22:49:19
Remote User:
Comments
I CAN NOT BELEIVE THAT BACK IN THE SUMMER OF 1998 I STARTED TAKEING 40 MG A DAY OF PAXIL FOR SEVERE PANIC ATTACKS. WHERE EVER THOSE CAME FROM THE STUPID THINGS. I BECAME PREGNANT IN DEC. OF 98 AND WAS TOLD TO STOP THE PAXIL COLD TURKEY. WELL I HAD NO CLUE WHAT I WAS IN FOR. I WAS SO DIZZY ALL THE TIME MY SUPERVISOR WOULDNT LET ME WALK DOWN THE STAIRS BY MY SELF. I WAS AND STILL AM AT A LOSS FOR WORDS QUITE FREQUENTLY. THERE WAS NOT A DOCTOR THAT WOULD SAY IT WAS A POSSIBLE WITHDRAWL OF PAXIL. SO I TRUSTED SMITHKLINE BEECHEM WHEN I CALLED THEM, AND THEY TOLD ME THAT THERE WERE NO OTHER CALLS FROM PEOPLE W/THESE SYMPTOMS, LIARS!!! BUT THE RATS TOOK MY INFORMATION CAUSE THEY WANTED TO KNOW HOW THE BABY CAME OUT DUE TO BEING ON THE PAXIL FOR A MONTH OF THE PREGNANCY. NOW I SEE HOW FAR BACK PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THE SAME WITHDRAWLS I HAVE HAD AND CAN NOT BELEIVE THEY SAT THERE AND LIED TO ME. RATS!!!!! NOW ITS BEEN FOUR YEARS AND I THINK MY BODY WANTS MORE MG'S BUT ILL TELL YOU WHAT IM GONNA COME OFF THIS SHIT. IM SURE MY HUSBAND WOULD NOT MIND!!IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. THANKS FOR THIS SITE I HAVE FOUND IT VERY RESOURCEFUL AND IM SURE THROUGH THE HELL IM GOING TO GO THROUGH I WILL FIND IT VERY HELPFUL

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Date:
26 May 2002
Time:
22:49:38
Remote User:
Comments
I CAN NOT BELEIVE THAT BACK IN THE SUMMER OF 1998 I STARTED TAKEING 40 MG A DAY OF PAXIL FOR SEVERE PANIC ATTACKS. WHERE EVER THOSE CAME FROM THE STUPID THINGS. I BECAME PREGNANT IN DEC. OF 98 AND WAS TOLD TO STOP THE PAXIL COLD TURKEY. WELL I HAD NO CLUE WHAT I WAS IN FOR. I WAS SO DIZZY ALL THE TIME MY SUPERVISOR WOULDNT LET ME WALK DOWN THE STAIRS BY MY SELF. I WAS AND STILL AM AT A LOSS FOR WORDS QUITE FREQUENTLY. THERE WAS NOT A DOCTOR THAT WOULD SAY IT WAS A POSSIBLE WITHDRAWL OF PAXIL. SO I TRUSTED SMITHKLINE BEECHEM WHEN I CALLED THEM, AND THEY TOLD ME THAT THERE WERE NO OTHER CALLS FROM PEOPLE W/THESE SYMPTOMS, LIARS!!! BUT THE RATS TOOK MY INFORMATION CAUSE THEY WANTED TO KNOW HOW THE BABY CAME OUT DUE TO BEING ON THE PAXIL FOR A MONTH OF THE PREGNANCY. NOW I SEE HOW FAR BACK PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THE SAME WITHDRAWLS I HAVE HAD AND CAN NOT BELEIVE THEY SAT THERE AND LIED TO ME. RATS!!!!! NOW ITS BEEN FOUR YEARS AND I THINK MY BODY WANTS MORE MG'S BUT ILL TELL YOU WHAT IM GONNA COME OFF THIS SHIT. IM SURE MY HUSBAND WOULD NOT MIND!!IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. THANKS FOR THIS SITE I HAVE FOUND IT VERY RESOURCEFUL AND IM SURE THROUGH THE HELL IM GOING TO GO THROUGH I WILL FIND IT VERY HELPFUL

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Date:
27 May 2002
Time:
01:53:18
Remote User:
Comments
This is the second time I've submitted a ranting. The first was only to inform you that I had been experiencing MOST of the withdrawal symptoms while still taking the drug Paxil. At my Zenith I was taking 45Mg per day. I began to get muscle pains last fall. I went to see my Dr. who "poo pooed" the whole thing. By December I was in tears with pain in my arms, neck, back and legs. I tried to see my Dr. who made himself unavailable to me. Instead I saw a college of his in the same clinic, who then prescribed "Flexural", a mild muscle relaxant, to ease the pain. I was not at that time making any connection with Paxil and my pain. I was still however having the other symptoms for a very long time. By now I was in tears most everyday and took myself to a sports clinic as my Dr seemed to be able to do nothing except till me to get more exercise. I do Yoga most everyday, and with this pain anything extra just made matters worse. The Dr at the sports clinic believed the problem to be inflamed nerves, which he prescribed "Voltaren" to combat. Now I was on 3 different drugs and none of them seemed to take away my pain. Then I found your website after viewing the CBC TV News program in regards to Paxil and it's problems. There I found that many people were having muscle pain. Off to the Dr I went with this new information, he knew nothing of any strange side effects with Paxil other than dry mouth, decreased sex drive and lethargy. I asked to be taken off the drug. He refused to allow it at that time and wanted me to remain on for another 2 month's to see if the muscle/nerve problem cleared up on it's own. I didn't listen and slowly started to decrease the dosage on my own. The side effects remained as discomforting as ever and many of them increased in intensity. BUT, the pain in my muscles/nerves began to decrease!!! I am now off Paxil for the last week, ditching the drug at 15 Mg. It has been a HELL of a roller coaster ride. Your recommendations to take time off and stay home should be well heeded by all. I still have the side effects today but they are finally beginning to taper off. BUT, now I have been bleeding from the rectum with fresh blood when I have a bowel movement. (sorry it's so gross but people have to know this) I am monitoring the situation carefully and will see a Dr if things get worse. I am having diarrhea as well. My urine has a chemical smell, as does my breath. I have seen and informed my Dr 2 days ago to let him know about my quitting the drug. I also informed him that I was taking Gravol to ease the nausea and buy me some sleep, which I was no longer doing at all. All of a sudden I was doing the right thing in his eyes. When will this end I wonder!? Now yesterday I heard of a woman in my city that has been confirmed with Lupus thought to have been brought on by the drug Paxil. I feel as if I have been poisoned. I asked the Dr and the Pharmacist on many occasions if there were serious side effects from Paxil as I had a heart attack in 1989 while taking "Ludomil" for postpartum depression. They both assured me that I had not to worry. They either lied, or GSK has never released the REAL information about its toxic concoction! Frankly Scarlet I believe it's a little of both! And they don't give a dam!

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Date:
27 May 2002
Time:
02:12:48
Remote User:
Comments
I just left a rant in ragards to Paxil If there is anyone in Manitoba Canada who has had or is having simular problems contact me and I'll give you the email addy of two Law Firms that are heading aup a class action suit against GSK in Ontario and Manitoba. The Manitoba case has been filed as of May 5, 2002. contact me at dsidley@ilos.net. It's time to bite those bastards back the only way they understand,,,in the wallet!!

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Date:
27 May 2002
Time:
18:33:13
Remote User:
Comments
Just like a junkie I stare at the half empty bottle of Paxil on the nightstand. I will not take it anymore, but I almost want to go back on it just to rid myself of this insanity. My head is spinning, my hands are numb and I keep hearing a pulsating thump and scratch in my head. Bolts of lightening run down my body - it hurts. I am frightened and I want it to stop.

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Date:
27 May 2002
Time:
23:56:46
Remote User:
Comments
I can't believe that my life is in the mess it is because of Paxil. That bull about 2 in 1,000 having adverse reactions when discontinuing Paxil is just that. I have been on Paxil for 5 years and I have gained 35 pounds and have come close to suicide on several occasions. I blame you and now I am going to sue your ass off. I'm on day four. Thank you very much for screwing up my life for the past five years. You will get what is coming to you some time or another.

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Date:
28 May 2002
Time:
07:47:43
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Date:
28 May 2002
Time:
13:53:47
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Date:
29 May 2002
Time:
00:48:17
Remote User:
Comments
I was given Paxil as a result of severe depression. While it totally helps with that now I find out that in order to go off the damn stuff I'm gonna go through all the symptoms. I didn't realise this and tried to go off it this week and nearly fainted at work. I'm really angry that my doctor failed to mention the negative effects of this drug and just prescribed it to me without trying to even look into al alternative. I AM NOT HAPPY

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Date:
29 May 2002
Time:
11:08:39
Remote User:
Comments
My doctor never told me about the addictiveness of Paxil. Maybe because the drug rep. conveniently forgot to tell him. I am 18 days into withdrawal from Paxil and have most of the symptoms, electrical shocks, light headedness, balance problems, phantom noises, insomnia, panic attacks, etc, etc. My understanding is that this could last for 6 to 8 weeks. My doctor says that he has never heard of this type withdrawal symptoms. Well I guess that's because he has not been here. The one good thing to come out of this, is that my sex life is returning to normal. GSK has an obligation to the medical community to educate them on the products that they manufacture. Apparently the dollar sign has gotten is more important than peoples lives! I am making a point to warn everyone that I know about the dangers of this monster drug! Ben C. Simmons

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Date:
29 May 2002
Time:
14:38:44
Remote User:
Comments
I seem to get more and more anger ever day over this. It gets better one day and then the next I am an emotional sobbing nothing. Yesterday at work I couldn't remember how to send a fax. A fax!!!!! For God's sake I have sent out so many faxes every day and now I can't remember where the numbers are on the machine for speed dial???? I am tired of feeling worthless. I am tired of being nausous and waiting for this to be done. I am tired of not being able to remember parts of my life that GSK has now stolen. I called to get a new referal for a new dr. Someone who can help me through all of this. I was told that they don't have a dr. that 'understands' the withdrawals from paxil, but that if I need a new prescribtion called in to the pharmacey they can do that. What kind of answer is this? I need help. Not more Paxil. At this point I am ready to say fuck it and take the pill again. It has been almost 30 days and I can't take anymore. People think I am crazy. My boyfriend wants to leave me. My kids don't trust me alone with my grandbabies. Where are the offices of GSK located? I want to go there and sit in the offices of the President and let him watch me go totally crazy......... Will this ever stop or am I doomed to be a basket case the rest of my short life? lvwitch@yahoo.com

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Date:
29 May 2002
Time:
19:23:42
Remote User:
Comments
After reading all this crap that's going on in everyone's lives and my own all due to a stupid drug...it just makes me wonder why the product is still on the market. wait...people have committed suicide? yeah. i don't think so. i believe with all my heart that this drug needs to vanish. -cherie

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Date:
29 May 2002
Time:
21:29:55
Remote User:
Comments
I started Paxil upon my Doctor's advise in Seeptember of last year, due to depression and anxiety. My Doc assured me that Paxil was non habit forming and hence no withdrawl symptoms. Last Friday, my meds ran out and I thought: "What the heck" Well, I've been there and back. Thank you dear Doctor for keeping the truth from me, or shall I thank the makers of Paxil for not supplieng the info to the Doctors? Did I mention I have no insurance and therefor no money for follow up visits to my Doctor since my hubby got laid off-which was one of the reason I got on? If I would have known what to expect, I would have chosen a different aproach to treating my deppression!!!! Now I feel like I have the flu, with lightning bolts running through my body, and not to mention the fact that I can't get off the Lu! I can't hold a conversation without raising eyebrows, I feel dizzy, and am sooo tired, yet when I go to bed, I toss and turn just to slip into wild "ass" dreams. Oh and the hot flashes-thanx a lot! I feel so angry and betrayed! Did I mention that my Doctor has failed to call me back? What's up with that? I could go on and on and on..... I just hope I have the strength to through with this "cold turkey".

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Date:
29 May 2002
Time:
22:14:51
Remote User:
Comments
Hello,I wrote this in the beginning of April and kept it until now: I have been taking Paxil since November 2001 for my annual SAD. I also take Xanax for my anxiety attacks,since the early 80's.I am 41 years old. I am a wife, mother of two, have a full time job, take care of my grandmother, who is 95, am a coach, volunteer for many of my children's activities, landlord, college graduate in social work and truly a busy person. My husband has 2 chronic very serious illnesses, and my son has one that is chronic, but treatable. I love my family very much, but feel that my pill taking has made me less than I can be. I feel like since I have been taking the Paxil, I have no feelings, sad or happy. It is really strange because I am basically a very emotional person and always have been. I am functioning on the outside okay, but on the inside I am not feeling anything, not even joy. Paxil helped my feelings that would cause the panic attacks,guilt, and feelings of impending doom, but has left me feeling pretty worthless. I have never emailed anyone before about this, and it feels funny because I usually do not open up to anyone like this. No one knows how I feel. I guess my PMS is kicking in today. My doctor gave me a lot of samples, so I have been taking 10 mg a day. I could never tolerate more, I can see that. I have only one 10 mg left, and am debating whether to take it or not today, to see how I feel. I do have a RX at the pharmacy though waiting, since I know that it could be hard to get off of. Anyway, thanks for listening, whoever you are and I hope things go well for you. It is good to know that others have issues too and that we are not alone. I wish I could just go somewhere far away, totally withdraw from it all, and come back, pill-free, ready to move on with my life. I am a good person, and just want to be better. I just need to be strong for my family, and the pills keep me a prisoner to weakness. By the way, I don't think I am crazy or anything yet, because of my high functioning level. But I am addicted and it stinks. I wrote this to a friend shorly after I reduced my dose to 5 mg per day : My medication discontinuation is killing me with a constant headache, dizziness, eyes can't focus, ringing in my ears, legs cramps,screaming,fee lings of rage worse than any PMS I have ever had, grinding my teeth, stomach cramps,depersonalization,neck ache,body aches,leg pains, and just a general sick feeling.I am still on the 1/2 dose,I will not take anymore,just live with it.I will be fine .It is just hard for now,I will get thru it .I wish I had known alll this 7 months ago. I write this today: Today,it has been 5 whole days Paxil -Free.I still have headaches,bitchiness,inability to concentrate,forgetfulness,and all that other craps-yes ,I get the ZAPS,and twitches in my face and head.But today,I cried for the first time in months ,so I know I am getting better.I refuse to take another pill like Paxil EVER again.I will NOT.My heart goes out to all of you that are going thru this and at a higher dose than I was on.Please take it easy on yourself.Cut the dose gradually and drink lots of water,a tranqilizer if you can get that,and exercise to help with the pains in the legs,etc.and a little prayer now and then helps too.I am still withdrawing,but I am feeling better.You can too.Just do not try it cold turkey,split the pills.This web site has helped me get to where I feel like there is hope...and there is .BE STRONG-I tell myself every day.Oh, by the way,I did not consult with my doctor,I just told him how and when I was going to stop.I don't really think he understands any of this.Good luck to all who are getting off this HELLISH drug.

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Date:
30 May 2002
Time:
00:24:42
Remote User:
Comments
Paxil ruined my life. I gained 65 pounds in 4 years.I have become a vegetable. A big fat disgusting vegetable. My life on paxil has been tragic. I will write about it later. when I have the energy. I am now in withdrawl.

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Date:
30 May 2002
Time:
11:47:19
Remote User:
Comments
I have been on Paxil for 1.5 years. I admit it helped with my depression and anxiety; however, I do not want to be on this drug forever as it numbs certain aspects of myself. I suspeced the withdrawal may be difficult as I would experience terrible symptoms if I were to miss a single dose. For the last 6 days I have been taking 10mg, down 50% from my regular dosage. I have been unable to function ever since, and I do not know when this will end. I am also afraid to stop taking the 10mg a day in fear of what else may happen. I feel as if this drug is very addictive and does not enable the taker to easily free himself. I have not been able to drive since I stopped taking the full dose. There is a delay between my eyes and my brain. I have constant dizziness/vertigo. I can't move my head fast or else I feel faint. My eye sockets are sore. I am having short-term memory loss. My speech is slurred. I have difficulty choosing my words. All I feel like doing is sleeping because it is miserable to be awake in this state. I have an appointment with my doctor about this today. I hope he can help. I don't know what to do.

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Date:
30 May 2002
Time:
13:58:54
Remote User:
Comments
Hello all, It's Now May 30th and I am now at 3mg/day of Paxil. I initially started weaning from 10mg in the beginning of April. Since then, I have been nauseous, dizzy, had diarreah, had extreme rage and uncontrollable crying spells that come out of the blue. I have become a hermit, only going out for work, church and for groceries. It's been an incredible ride, but I think I'm finally near the end. Thank you Lord! I'm still wondering how long I will have to wait until I am back to my "neurotic" self again (which is so much better than anything I ever experienced while taking Paxil). I will praise every panic attack from now on as a sign that I am truly Paxil Free!

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Date:
30 May 2002
Time:
14:00:20
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........let's talk about side effects. I remember two summers ago, when I had been on paxil for about 14 months, I had a semi-sever manic episode which landed me for a week in the hospital. No one had ever told me that anti-depressants can exacerbate mania (though it does make a kind of horse sense). So, to counteract the paxil they put me on depakote. Then, to counteract the psychotic tendencies often provoked by depakote, they put me on haldol. I'm sure that I do not need to stress the humor in this, and had I been at all clear-headed I would have seen it immediately and laughed in these outrageous people's faces. But for Chrissake, I was seeing demons in the clouds and cutting up my leg because I thought the wounds would stop me from flying off into a five-dimensional matrix full of supernatural beings!! They could have prescribed me LSD and cyanide and I probably wouldn't have argued! Anyway, there I was, on a drug to counteract a drug to counteract a drug which had, if not actually MADE ME SICK IN THE FIRST PLACE, had certainly cultivated the sickness to the point where I could not control it. People, don't you just love it? I could have walked in there with a mild case of hay fever and walked out with a fucking pharmacy, each new drug ingeniously made necessary by the one before it, too busy mopping up the floor to turn off the faucet. And of course, the more of these psych meds you are on, the less capable you are of seeing these connections.......... My bout with depakote and haldol, which lasted two or three weeks, was probably the closest I have ever been to totally insane. Never mind how sweaty and trembling I was those weeks; never mind being rushed to the emergency room at 2 in the morning with a horrible kidney infection (2 antibiotics, 1 painkiller) courtesy, I learned later, of the depakote. I recovered from all of that unscathed. But I remember how my mind was, that month, and I just go limp for a second. I regret that I can't find the words to describe that feeling. But think of all your beliefs, dreams, hopes, fears, and passions as little salamanders in a field or something. Then think of three enormous Sherman tanks rolling in and blasting all the salamanders to hell, leaving behind a few bloody smears, three plumes of smoke, and, of course, the tanks. Everything that makes you what you are, just...annihilated, and beyond that it's like trying to remember a fading dream. I was a gerbil, a paper bag, an automaton. And to think, without all those medications I was just a little manic. I dropped the D&H, and stuff more or less returned to normal.....now, at the time, I regarded depakote and haldol as worlds apart from the paxil. After all, paxil has (for a lot of people) little or no physical side effects, and the mental changes are slow, easy, and seemingly very benign. Nothing like the Sherman tanks. But I'm a lot less sure of that now that I've come off of the paxil. For the last two or three weeks I have alternated beetween total hysteria and a numb, foggy-eyed oblivion through which no thought and little emotion can penetrate. The only reason I have not hurt myself seriously is because just as I am about to, I remember what'll happen if I do: back to the hospital, back on the drug. Thank God that thought always penetrates the fog in time. I know what the doctors would say:that these troubles have nothing to do with "paxil withdrawal", that there is no such thing as "paxil withdrawal", paxil is totally safe and non-addictive, and I'm just a fucked-up individual with a bad chemical imbalance, and that I need their drug to maintain equilibrium. If any doctors who maintain this viewpoint are reading this right now, it is my great pleasure to say: my contempt for you is fathomless. I'm a real bright girl, I have spent thousands of hours thinking about these problems, and I hereby state, in plain terms, that what "chemical imbalance" I have ever suffered from has been made worse, not better, by your drug. I don't know if you are just naive and simple, or actually have some sinister ulterior motives for maintaining these obvious lies. Either way, you are fucking around with processes that you do not understand, in a very smug and dangerous fashion, and I hope that one day your lies will be exposed to the eyes of the world. I will stand by all of that. That's all for now---Erica Isaacson, Age 20, Bloomington, Indiana.

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Date:
30 May 2002
Time:
14:24:34
Remote User:
Comments
I have been on Paxil for 1.5 years. I admit it helped with my depression and anxiety; however, I do not want to be on this drug forever as it numbs certain aspects of myself. I suspeced the withdrawal may be difficult as I would experience terrible symptoms if I were to miss a single dose. For the last 6 days I have been taking 10mg, down 50% from my regular dosage. I have been unable to function ever since, and I do not know when this will end. I am also afraid to stop taking the 10mg a day in fear of what else may happen. I feel as if this drug is very addictive and does not enable the taker to easily free himself. I have not been able to drive since I stopped taking the full dose. There is a delay between my eyes and my brain. I have constant dizziness/vertigo. I can't move my head fast or else I feel faint. My eye sockets are sore. I am having short-term memory loss. My speech is slurred. I have difficulty choosing my words. All I feel like doing is sleeping because it is miserable to be awake in this state. I have an appointment with my doctor about this today. I hope he can help. I don't know what to do.

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Date:
30 May 2002
Time:
14:28:42
Remote User:
Comments
Ranting is one thing, but I think we'd all benefit by sharing remedies among ourselves about this serious withdrawal syndrome. Thanks to the Canadian woman who mentioned that sunbathing helps. It certainly does. I spent an hour poolside today, and it's the best I have felt in 6 days--currently I am enduring constant vertigo, but the entire time I was in direct sunlight, I felt perfectly normal. I also think exercise helps, even if you don't feel like doing it (just don't over-do it). We need to support one another and hang in there....

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Date:
31 May 2002
Time:
00:36:23
Remote User:
Comments
05-30-2002, 23:29 pm C.S.T. 31 minutes before my 25th wedding anniversary. I'll never see it. My life has been a roller coaster of emotion for years. In an effort to control my life and save my marriage, I turned to the medical field for help. I was given a Dr. who put me on Paxil asap. I as given a theparist to talk to. PAXIL HAS TAKEN MY LIFE AWAY FROM ME. I CAN'T LIVE WITH IT, I CAN'T LIVE WITH OUT IT. I've done so many unspeakable things to those that I love. Things I can never take back, Wife, family and friends will never know the HELL going on inside my brain and my body. I just need the pain to end. I WISH I'D NEVER ASKED FOR HELP ! I can't belive death is my only way out, I can;t look my family in the eyes I am not fit to live. Please don't let this happen to anyone else. The voices, the dreams, Please forgive me,' I have no one left to aks for help Kenneth L. Shearer Jr.

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Date:
31 May 2002
Time:
13:32:11
Remote User:
Comments
KENNETH, PLEASE DON'T DO THIS.... EMAIL @ AUROASTRA@HOTMAIL.COM PLEASE!!!!! TALK TO US!

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Date:
31 May 2002
Time:
14:42:59
Remote User:
Comments
KENNETH!!! the real honest, loving, and forgiving you is still alive inside of your heart somewhere and you HAVE to try and rescue it. it's so hard to remember that everything you are going through is DIRECTLY related to the drug. paxil rots people, it's NOT YOUR FAULT. it makes people do and say and think things that they wouldn't normally. what you are feeling now is a COMMON SIDE EFFECT. if you take your life now, it wouldn't even be YOU making that decision. death is part of your birthright, but to do it in this way is too dehumanizing to say - you wil be a statistic, a vicitim of a pharmacetical company. if you survive, you automatically become the hero of your own life! i know it's hard to believe in anything right now, but if you make the decision to LIVE and to keep going even in this painful place, you will have the power to do anything. it is innate. in the meantime, you need to ASK FOR HELP! don't isolate yourself. when you're alone you are at the most risk. remember to call 1-800-SUICIDE. don't think about it, just tell yourself you're going to call if it gets to that point. you need to find a safe way to let your feelings out. talk to someone. i'm sure there is already someone who is trying to understand... LOVE AND HOPE, megatonk@hotmail.com

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Date:
31 May 2002
Time:
15:06:20
Remote User:
Comments
If the poor man who threatened suicide on this site kills himself, GSK will once again have blood on its greedy hands. YOU FUCKING BASTARDS! You created a drug that is so insidious, so addictive, so hideous, that people think death is better than taking your product. May all of you at GSK rot in hell. Actually, hell is too good for you. I can't believe that you still deny that your freaking product has any addictive qualities. You greedy evil bastards. I canot even come up with the words to express my hatred for you. Are all your employees so shallow and devilish that they would continue to push this drug on society just to get a fucking paycheck? Have you automatically put all your employees on your mind-deadening medication to make them complacent zombies. You are the definition of evil. EVIL EVIL EVIL!!

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Date:
31 May 2002
Time:
15:21:14
Remote User:
Comments
Kennth, PLEASE know that there countless numbers of people out here who KNOW what's happened to you. We KNOW what Paxil can do to a person. You may have needed help originally, but Paxil did a lot of harm to you and you are NOT responsible for the things you've done! But, there is HOPE that you can get off Paxil, very slowly and get back to where you were before and you can finally get some REAL help for yourself for a GOOD doctor - they ARE out there, we just have to look. If you tough this out Kenneth, you'll someday be so glad that you did. It WILL be possible to educate your family on what drugs like Paxil can do to a person's rational thought processes. There is SO much information out there. The things you've done can be forgiven, but if you kill yourself, your family will suffer far worse than they already have and there will be no way to make things better for them, to give them closer. If you live, you'll be able to get better and educate them. PLEASE give them and YOURSELF this chance! I would be glad to talk to you. Deb La Plante (517) 547-5142 HANG IN THERE! IT WILL GET BETTER! YOU'RE FAR FROM ALONE!

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Date:
31 May 2002
Time:
15:23:02
Remote User:
Comments
Kenneth, Please listen to Megatonk's words. This isn't you making the decision...it is the drug. We know you're a good man but just in a lot of pain and not yourself right now...not at all. This is something the drug does. There are ways to come off this. It looks like you have tried and just not able to yet. It is very very normal to have quite a tough time to try to come off of it. THERE IS HELP AVAILABLE. Please read this page: http://www.prozactruth.com/taper.htm It takes a few steps and the committment has to be made to follow each but I have seen very very positive testimonials on this method! There is hope here Kenneth. Please get hold of one of us or call the number Megatonk gave: 1- 800 784 - 2433. auroastra@hotmail.com

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Date:
31 May 2002
Time:
15:33:36
Remote User:
Comments
KENNETH L. SHEARER, JR. IF you are still with us call the crisis hotline, go to the Chat page on this site, we will talk to you, and call the makers of Paxil at 1-888-825-5249 and rant to whoever answers. Please let us know if you are okay. If you want you can E-mail me at jansmith56@aol.com. Come on, Ken, suicide is never the answer, there is always tomorrow. Don't you want to collect even some of the judgment money that GSK is going to be forced to pay out? You and your family deserve at least that. Then, you have the pleasure of watching GSK fall big time for what they done. Surely, that is at least worth living for. You didn't do this. The makers of that PAXHELL pill did it.

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Date:
31 May 2002
Time:
16:11:53
Remote User:
Comments
Reading Mr. Shearer's suicide note makes my blood boil. I have this to say to the executives at GSK: You are child murderers, you are soul rapists, you are worse than a pile of dog shit. For the sake of profit, you are creating an emotional and spiritual holocaust far worse than what the Nazis did. I wish I could walk into your offices and spit in your faces. I wish I could piss on all of you. I wish you could be locked up in a gulag, starved day after day, beaten, and then forced to take your own product. How do you people sleep at night knowing what your drug does to people. How many Donald Schell's are there? Oh, I forgot, paying out big claims like that is just chump change to yor evil-mongers. Do you goosestep as you come to work? Do you chant Sieg Heil and raise your right arms in salute to the evil you have perpetrated on the world? Do you allow YOUR family members to take this poisonous shit your created to turn the entire population into brain-dead zombies? I hope the next terrorist act is someone flying a plane into your headquarters and blow you off the face of the earth. And considering the kinds of ideas that people get when they are on your shit, it just might happen. God, I HOPE it happens. What, you say? They would be killing innocent people? There are not inncocent people in your Reich. Every employee of your company has blood on their money-grubbing hands. You ae despicable human flotsam and jetsam. You are lower than dirt. You are doing the work of the devil. Whew. Maybe I can calm down now that I got that off my chest.

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Date:
31 May 2002
Time:
17:56:38
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Date:
31 May 2002
Time:
20:36:18
Remote User:
Comments
I will NEVER take Paxil again. For me it did relieve some of the depression, but not until I was diagnosed with Bipolar did I get the medicine I really needed to help me feel good. I was on a mix of Dilantin, Limachtel (sp) Serzone and Paxil. I was later diagnosed with Epilespy after two grand mawl seizures. As it turns out, there is a connection between seizures and Bipolar. The miracle was how well I responded to Dilantin for both disorders!!! I went 9 months without a major depression and for that I was very thankful. My RANT: I was not told of the side-effects of withdrawal of Paxil would be once I started. I started at 20 mg. went to 40 mg. and finally 60 mg. I was experiencing hypomania and inquired to my psychiatrist, who I do trust, and he recommended coming off the Paxil as anti-depressants can cause this. He warned me that I would feel like I had just been "kicked in the gut" as I came off Paxil We started weaning from 60mg. to 45 mg, 45 mg to 30mg, 30 mg to 24mg. He recommended I stay at 24 mg, but I'm dying to get off what I call my "fat" pill. I went down to 12.5 and have been there two weeks. It was only two days ago that I started to feel remotely like my old self. I'm staying at 12.5 mgs for several weeks before I start to wean any further. I was very scared thinking that I was going to suffer depression again, as one minute I was a raving lunatic and the next I was in tears. My husband can't do anything right while I'm in this frame of mind. I didn't have the option to send the kids and my husband away for two weeks. When I last saw my psychiatrist, I told him my emotional symptoms. He told me they should be expected also. I've had headaches, vivid dreams, (though I've always had vivid dreams), I've experienced some nauseau, diaheria (sp.) During the last two weeks, I came "two inches" away from telling my husband to admit me to the hospital!!! I am increasing my Limachtal as I'm weaning off of Paxil. That's supposed to help me and I do feel it a little. I thought it was humerous that my psychiatrist joked about how the medical community didn't like to call it Paxil withdrawal, but instead liked to call it Paxil discontinuation!!! What a play with words!!!! It is what it is! So GSK, why would you call it a less "intense" description than it really is??? I can't remember the last time I felt this bad!!! It was so scarey!! I thought I might stay this way for ever!!! Not only was the depression scarey, but my anger and intense irritability felt like hypomania!! That scares me to death, because when I'm manic, I can't think staight, lose my ability to present my anger in a mature way...the list goes on. I don't want my famiy to have to endure my withdrawal symptoms...I've been asking my husband to pray for me and anyone else who practices prayer. Take this medicine off the market. Two examples of extreme withdrawal symtoms were relayed to me: one person was hospitalized because of the intensity of the withdrawal symptoms; the other went cold turkey to try another herbal med and found herself so depressed, she made not just one, but two suicide attempts. Again, I ask you to take this drug off the market!!! HMG

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Date:
02 Jun 2002
Time:
10:50:24
Remote User:
Comments
10 years ago I was prescribed Seroxat paroxetine 20mg and have been taking them ever since,every day.Two years ago I decided that I had to get off them.My energy disappeared,my whole system felt like I had chronic fatigue syndrome,mixed with worsening feelings of depression,I was crying uncontrollably plus my legs ached really badly and my stomach/gut suffered from a sharp pain,plus the panic attacks which hadn't been an initial symptom ocurred more frequently.Within 2 months of slow withdrawal I just got worse and ended up quitting the job I love.I just couldn't handle it anymore.On many occasions I thought I was going mad.I struggled on and even had an endescopy to check out my stomach."No visible signs of infection", said the doctor after the endescopy."A perfectly healthy stomach".It certainly didn't feel that way to me.He then tells me to accept that I have depression and my stomach pain will disappear if i agree to go back on them.My life was in such a mess,I had to do something.My wife was going crazy with the way I was,lying in bed,crying most of the time.I was also irritable and just wanted to die.Anyway I've been back on the drugs for 2 years now and yes my mood lifted but the stomach pain is still there.I don't know what to do anymore.The doctors have basically told me to accept that I am a depressive person and one doctor even said to me,"Would you deny yourself insulin if you were a diabetic?"Some choice! I really don't want to spend the rest of my days on these pills.Where do I turn to next? Tim

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Date:
02 Jun 2002
Time:
11:07:07
Remote User:
Comments
Tim, There are alternative therapies. Both for the detox off these monstrosities and for the symptoms of depression. There are resources on this and on another site: www.prozactruth.com. And others actually. Look up naturopathic sites. Find a good Naturopath that can help you with all aspects of your life and design an wholistic therapy for you. If you can't see to do that, at least gather information on healthier alternatives. I'll help you if you want. I had fought depression for years and finally through healthy therapies made one heck of a lot of progress. I changed my diet, took up martial arts and was extremely healthy. Recently, I spent a year supporting a very sick friend until he died and that plus the grief afterward overwhelmed me and I ended up in a doc's office with symptoms. What I needed was extended rest, talk therapy (good talk therapy) and a healthy diet and lifestyle (while I supported my friend, I had no time and was under huge amounts of stress...no healthy lifestyle). Instead I had these very toxic psychotropic drugs which have not been adequated tested since the only organizations that have adequate funds for that have ulterior motives. Please do not give up on finding help or a way out of taking mind altering, refined poisons. Get support to put you on a healthy dietary regime and lifestyle. For the changes you want in your life, there are some lifestyle changes you must make. Don't take the quick fix that modern medicine pushes on you.... modern medicine is in a sorry state of affairs Tim. Good luck! Email me if you want: auroastra@hotmail.com Chris

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Date:
02 Jun 2002
Time:
11:19:38
Remote User:
Comments
Tim, Forgot to mention: I had many of the same symptoms taking these things as you. Here's my list (from the letter to my doc). After a week I knew I was poisoning myself...then I flushed the pills. 1. Frequent Urination Note: I only figured this out after one week of absolutely no sleep from having to go to the bathroom all the time-this was the Paxil....and also at work. Looked on the internet in exasperation and found the side-effects I was having at: www.drugawareness.org 2. Restlessness (and hence more sleeplessness) 2. Total utter exhaustion (whether I slept or not) 3. Gastric distress 4. Lack of ability to concentrate: problems doing my job and driving 5. Eating disorder: I ate continuously...craved carbohydrates 6. "Flat" feeling emotionally 7. Short term memory problems (still now too after 5th day of detox) 8. Joint pain and swelling 9. Extreme irritability (anger) (same experience as I had on Prozac) 10. Nosebleeds from sinuses being so dry....trouble breathing Chris

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Date:
02 Jun 2002
Time:
13:35:57
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Date:
02 Jun 2002
Time:
13:41:11
Remote User:
Comments
Has this wrecked my life....hmmm....Two days ago, I WAS considering an Exorcist...I dreamed in full technicolour, sound and smell about a Nuclear attack....bizarre monster dreams...I now fear spiders and snakes, which I never did before, I think people are stalking me with the intention of shooting me......etc....But I will NEVER take that crap again. Of course, all your Drs will say there are no symptons they are aware of. They are paid by the drug companies. I am now my OWN Dr, thank you 11 days down...How many more to go???

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Date:
02 Jun 2002
Time:
18:23:01
Remote User:
Comments
I believe Paxil added to the demise of my marriage and interfears with my everyday life. Withdrawal has not been possible x2 tries so far. The withdrawal symptoms are awful....Paxil wrecked my life and those monsters who created it won't even stand up and help us. I can not work, I can not think clearly for any length of time. I have the zaps, insomnia, nausea,and so many other discomforts associated with discontinuing Paxil. My God won't someone help us please. And May God Have Mercy and Bless Us One and all!

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Date:
02 Jun 2002
Time:
19:08:59
Remote User:
Comments
Hello..I just wanted to say this drug is terrible. I have been on Paxil for about 4 years for Panick Attacks. I have tried to go off deveral times unsuccesfully. I told my family doc about withdrawl symptoms I was having...he advised me that it definetly was not withdrawl symptoms...that it was probably the anxiety returning. NOw I find this web site today and Im reading everything I had been feeling. I am going to try to wean myself this time. In the past my doctor said if I felt better to just stop taking it. He never mentioned anything about weening off. I cant beleive he put me on the paxil when he is so uninformed about it. I thought this drug was to be non habbit forming. I have felt near death trying to get off this med. I have an 8 year old son who has also suffered because of severe irritation from withdrawl of this drug...I have never been this violent in my life. Where are the warnings for this???????

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Date:
03 Jun 2002
Time:
00:40:59
Remote User:
Comments
this will probably be rather tame for a rant, it's more of just an expression of relief to know there are others who understand. i recently decided to stop taking paxil that i had been taking for over a year.(note..i had been taking other brands of ssri's though for several years now) because i thought it was really aggravating my mind..i.e. racing thoughts that i tried to sedate by drinking them into submission, then a suicide attempt because i just felt my mind was out of control...i would never have attributed those symptoms to my ssri before reading this site as well as a couple of others discovered in the same evening. now that i am quitting, and yes i was bright enough to wean off, though it seems far more rapidly than suggested in several areas, i am experiencing some horrible symptoms. i was originally taking 60 mgs. of paxil (forty in the morning and twenty at night), so i thought reducing at ten mgs. a week would be a fine pace. not so. i started getting a lot of the 'physical' symptoms such as the vertigo and the 'electric shock' sensation. by far though, the scariest thing i have been experiencing is rage, unlike anything i have ever felt. my biggest fear is that it will escape my control while i am withdrawing and i will destroy my property or hurt someone. even my friends comment on my anger and rage that just seems to flow out of nowhere to full steam in seconds. another scary symptom is the overstimulation....especially from light and crowds and sounds. that in tandem with the rage is just not a recipe for a good time. i try to spend a lot of time at home but sometimes that seems to be an aggravant too, i just don't know where to escape to until my body can readjust. then there is the confusion, the memory loss. i mean i am not an alarmist...i believe some symptoms such as memory loss and such occur with age but i cannot imagine that they onset so rapidly. i also don't want to seem a 'crybaby'....i am not really angry at the drug companies for these problems...i mean we should know as reasonable grownups that when you take anything that alters your brain, whether legal or illegal, that there will most likely be consequences. the brain is such a delicate organ that there cannot be lack of repercussions when you decide to try to cue it to act as you wish with the aid of chemicals. also the antidepressants really did help me out of the depression i had been experiencing since childhood. i guess i don't want to be too negative...i want to say that i knew i was screwing with my brain but i guess i didn't expect to pay for it like this. but thank goodness for sites such as this one...otherwise i WOULD have thought i was just going crazy...but now i know i can be patient and ride it out as long as i can refer to this and other sites like it........

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Date:
03 Jun 2002
Time:
02:38:55
Remote User:
Comments
I've been searching online for info due to my husband's current process of weaning off of paxil. It has been so awful for all of us! We have a nine month old infant and I feel like I'm trying to protect her and myself emotionally from my husband's angry outbursts and irritation. I know he feels awful and sick during this weaning off process. He has been on 40 mg for about 2 1/2 years for mild anxiety. The doctor who prescribed it acted like it was really no big deal to take it and never followed up with him while he was on it and surely didn't mention anything about difficulty weaning. My sweet, kind, loving husband of two years has become mean, sarcastic, and hurtful. I pray that I will get to see the man I love again for all of our sake. He was so good with our baby girl. He went from 40mg to 20mg to 10mg to 10mg every other day and then 10mg every third day. He took his last dose on May 18th after beginning the weaning process on March 18th. Can anyone tell me if he will feel better soon? I feel bad for him and I miss him. I want our little girl to have the Daddy back that she was meant to have.

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Date:
03 Jun 2002
Time:
11:57:01
Remote User:
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Did anyone else gain 30+ lbs in one year on this crap?

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Date:
03 Jun 2002
Time:
14:40:55
Remote User:
Comments
Will I lose the weight that I gained now that I am tapering? It always felt more like a bloated frog (like i had eaten a pound of salt for breakfast) than fat...weird...why?

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Date:
03 Jun 2002
Time:
20:12:31
Remote User:
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Date:
03 Jun 2002
Time:
20:37:17
Remote User:
Comments
I am glad I took the time to read this, I was having weird symptoms and was looking up Paxil never dreaming that was causing these weird symptoms and in reading guess what I figured out. Yes I am having many on the list. I quit taking Paxil about three weeks ago and I haven't been able to sleep in weeks which is rare for me and hard on me, I need 8 hours or I am useless so this 2 hours a night is getting old. Then there is the electric shocks I feel a on one side of the top of my head, it is very painful and scary. Horrible dreams, these would make some pretty scary horror flicks, I didn't know I was capable of dreaming such stuff, let alone even remember a dream. I am also not a person that perspires much, and I am soaked, especially in the morning upon waking, it just pours. Some of this stuff is getting better, like the shock stuff it started with a fury and now it is tapering off. My God the cure is worse then what I needed it for, I will gladly live with a little depression then suffer these symptoms. They need to take this stuff off the market.

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Date:
03 Jun 2002
Time:
20:37:23
Remote User:
Comments
I am glad I took the time to read this, I was having weird symptoms and was looking up Paxil never dreaming that was causing these weird symptoms and in reading guess what I figured out. Yes I am having many on the list. I quit taking Paxil about three weeks ago and I haven't been able to sleep in weeks which is rare for me and hard on me, I need 8 hours or I am useless so this 2 hours a night is getting old. Then there is the electric shocks I feel a on one side of the top of my head, it is very painful and scary. Horrible dreams, these would make some pretty scary horror flicks, I didn't know I was capable of dreaming such stuff, let alone even remember a dream. I am also not a person that perspires much, and I am soaked, especially in the morning upon waking, it just pours. Some of this stuff is getting better, like the shock stuff it started with a fury and now it is tapering off. My God the cure is worse then what I needed it for, I will gladly live with a little depression then suffer these symptoms. They need to take this stuff off the market.

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Date:
03 Jun 2002
Time:
20:37:28
Remote User:
Comments
I am glad I took the time to read this, I was having weird symptoms and was looking up Paxil never dreaming that was causing these weird symptoms and in reading guess what I figured out. Yes I am having many on the list. I quit taking Paxil about three weeks ago and I haven't been able to sleep in weeks which is rare for me and hard on me, I need 8 hours or I am useless so this 2 hours a night is getting old. Then there is the electric shocks I feel a on one side of the top of my head, it is very painful and scary. Horrible dreams, these would make some pretty scary horror flicks, I didn't know I was capable of dreaming such stuff, let alone even remember a dream. I am also not a person that perspires much, and I am soaked, especially in the morning upon waking, it just pours. Some of this stuff is getting better, like the shock stuff it started with a fury and now it is tapering off. My God the cure is worse then what I needed it for, I will gladly live with a little depression then suffer these symptoms. They need to take this stuff off the market.

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Date:
03 Jun 2002
Time:
21:31:21
Remote User:
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Date:
03 Jun 2002
Time:
21:31:26
Remote User:
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i have been on

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Date:
03 Jun 2002
Time:
21:31:31
Remote User:
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i have been on paxil for

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Date:
03 Jun 2002
Time:
21:31:36
Remote User:
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i have been

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Date:
03 Jun 2002
Time:
21:31:41
Remote User:
Comments
i have been on paxil

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Date:
03 Jun 2002
Time:
21:31:47
Remote User:
Comments
i have

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Date:
03 Jun 2002
Time:
21:31:52
Remote User:
Comments
i

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Date:
03 Jun 2002
Time:
21:37:38
Remote User:
Comments
i have been on paxil for about a month and a half. i had been on prozac for about 6 months before that and it was doing nothing for me. so, under the advise of my doctor, i switched. i was told by a keiser pharmacist that it was perfectly fine to just start the paxil the next day. for about two weeks after that, i thought i was going insane. and i had no idea why, because i was not informed that i would experience any type transitional symptoms. it started to kick in and i came back to myself, but now i want off of it and they (kieser) are trying to scare me into staying on the drug. and now after reading the things on this site, i am scared to death and absolutly pissed off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that i'm going to have to do this. no one told me anything.........

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Date:
04 Jun 2002
Time:
04:27:19
Remote User:
Comments
At least I know I am not crazy. I see that others have the same problems. I have be on 40 mg of Paxil daily since 1995. I have tried to stop. After the third day of not taking it I can hardly walk. I have severe vertigo and have to spend all my time in bed.

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Date:
04 Jun 2002
Time:
04:27:33
Remote User:
Comments
At least I know I am not crazy. I see that others have the same problems. I have be on 40 mg of Paxil daily since 1995. I have tried to stop. After the third day of not taking it I can hardly walk. I have severe vertigo and have to spend all my time in bed.

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Date:
04 Jun 2002
Time:
06:47:24
Remote User:
Comments
I HATE YOU FUCKIN' BASTARDS. U ARE GOING TO BURN IN HELL... FOREVER!!! AT THE MOMENT U ARE MAKING MY MARRIAGE, MY WORK, MY FRIENDSHIPS, EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING, EVERTHING FALL APART!!!!! EVERYONE THINKS I'M FOKKEN BONKERS... HOOR JULLE FOKKEN DONNERS - BONKERS !!! FUCK U EVIL DEVILS... I WILL NOT LAY DOWN! I KNOW GOD HAS NOT GIVEN UP ON ME YET!!!! (MOST OTHER PEOPLE HAVE... AND TO BE QUITE HONEST, I THINK GOD IS GETTING GATVOL TOO...) BUT I KNOW HE KNOWS I'M NOT CRAZY... HE IS HOLDING ME SAVELY IN THE PALM OF HIS WARM LOVING HAND EVERY TIME U TRY TO FUCK WITH MY MIND! IF IT WAS NOT FOR HIM ( AND I MEAN GOD, U STUPID FUCKIN' DEVIL!),MY DEAR FRIENDS, AND CARING FAMILY, I WOULD HAVE BEING DEAD TODAY , DO U MIND ALTERING FUCKIN' COMPANY HEAR ME, DEAD... TODAY!!! YOUR DRUG ARE KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE. WHAT DO YOU CARE ABOUT LIFE... IF, TO YOU, IT IS ALL ABOUT MAKING,EVIL BRAIN KILLING MONEY... GOD: WILL NOT, AND I MEAN: NOT, HAVE ANY MERCY ON YOUR SOULES, BECAUSE U ARE FUCKING AROUND WITH OTHER PEOPLES SOULES!!!! WHY DO WE HAVE TO GO TROUGH ALL THIS CRAZY SHIT BECAUSE OF YOUR CARELESS MARKETING OF A MIND KILLING DRUG!!!! I WILL GET U BACK FOR THE LONG 6 DONNERSE BLIKSIMSE TORTURERIZING, VERY EMBARRASING WEEKS(TAKE NOTE U EVIL BASTARDS 666) ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. I WILL NOT LEAVE IT HERE. U ARE RESPONSABLE FOR MAKING ME ACT LIKE A BLIKSIMSE LOOONAAAARTIC!!! WE NEED TO TAKE ACTION. I WILL RECOVER, AND GOD WILL FORGIVE ME FOR SWEARING LIKE A FOKKEN MATROOS!!! VERGEWE MY HERE, EN AL DIE ANDER WAT DIT MOET LEES! TO ALL MY FELLOW SUFFERERS... YOU'RE IN MY PRAYERS!

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Date:
04 Jun 2002
Time:
14:35:40
Remote User:
Comments
I was on 20 mg for 6 weeks. I was just thrown on the medication by my doctor. I have mild anxiety because I am human not because their is any need for me to be on these pills which KILLED my sex drive and made me so sick and exhausted I couldn't focus on work or play with my son. Now I have stopped taking it for 4 days and I am sick again my head is SPINNING I cant focus on anything. WHO decided that this drug HELPS? I havnt seen any improvement Im only worse now. When did we become a PILL POPPING society. Always looking for the easy way out. Thanks Doc. Thanks paxil I've never felt worse!

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Date:
05 Jun 2002
Time:
01:58:25
Remote User:
Comments
if i had known how much pain i would feel from this drug during withdrawel i never would have started with it to begin with. it's done nothing to make me feel better and has made my life a living hell. i've been sick for three weeks now. i seriously feel like i'm dying. i can't wait to get my life back.

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Date:
05 Jun 2002
Time:
06:07:30
Remote User:
Comments
I have never felt so sick in my entire life. This drug has made my life an absolute living hell. I feel shockwaves going through my head.. half the time I think I'm going insane. They thought I had shingles for chrissake. I wish I had never started it to begin with.

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Date:
05 Jun 2002
Time:
11:13:30
Remote User:
Comments
i want GSK to be sued for lots and lots of money for not misleading but FALSE advertising

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Date:
05 Jun 2002
Time:
14:02:29
Remote User:
Comments
You know. I was very happy with Paxil. It helped me through my divorce and my desire to die. I put up with the nightsweats, weight gain, sexual side-effects and vivid dreams. All of that and I was only taking 10 mg. I stopped 3 days ago. I am dizzy, I have the "zap" sensation and twitches. My dreams last night were unbelievably vivid and horrifying. I thought I was doing the right thing by only taking a minimal dose. It appears that no dose of Paxil is minimal enough. Hope this ends soon. I am really frightened that it might not end at all.

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Date:
05 Jun 2002
Time:
14:02:41
Remote User:
Comments
You know. I was very happy with Paxil. It helped me through my divorce and my desire to die. I put up with the nightsweats, weight gain, sexual side-effects and vivid dreams. All of that and I was only taking 10 mg. I stopped 3 days ago. I am dizzy, I have the "zap" sensation and twitches. My dreams last night were unbelievably vivid and horrifying. I thought I was doing the right thing by only taking a minimal dose. It appears that no dose of Paxil is minimal enough. Hope this ends soon. I am really frightened that it might not end at all.

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Date:
05 Jun 2002
Time:
15:20:10
Remote User:
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Date:
05 Jun 2002
Time:
15:25:02
Remote User:
Comments
Hello, I am also one of the million people suffering with paxil. I just got out of the Hospital 2 days ago from withdraws because of paxil. I wanted to get off of the paxil and xanax because I want to have another baby, guess what your baby can have serious side effects being on these evil meds. I could just cry. I had it all planned out, get off the meds, start taking pre natals and get pregnant in August 2002. I am 30 years old. I pray for all and myself to be able to get off of this scary medicine and live a normal life without the zaps, dizziness, etc. God bless. Shelly

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Date:
05 Jun 2002
Time:
20:13:52
Remote User:
Comments
Thank God I found this place, I am truly freaking out. Been off Paxil completely for one week now and have never felt more out of control in my life. I was only on it for 7 months, due to PTSD from 9/11 (I am a survivor of the NY event). I was able to move on with life and stop crying once Paxil kicked in but I never really felt *well* on it -- just numb. I wanted to stop and not be medicated and just be my old self again, so I cut down the dosage and then quit. Now I am a FUCKING MESS. Crying at anything, hideous, terrifying nightmares every night, electric white-out sensations in my brain, and today I vomited three times in the ladies room at work. WHEN is this going to end -- I feel so bad, I am desperate.

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Date:
05 Jun 2002
Time:
20:21:32
Remote User:
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Date:
05 Jun 2002
Time:
23:16:40
Remote User:
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Date:
05 Jun 2002
Time:
23:47:02
Remote User:
Comments
Went to Doc 2 years ago with chest pains so bad I thought I was having a heart attack.Doc says I have high anxiety and gives me Paxil. I had never heard of Paxil. So trusting the Doc I took the mess.I am a person that doesn't take meds.Well I was hurting so bad I took it.I took it 5 or 6 mts I really couldn't say. My chest didn't hurt anymore. I didn't like the way it made me feel.I believe Paxil hides any underlying problems. Shortly after I stopped Paxil my chest pains returned. My gallblader was infected and had to come out.I am not the same person.I have electric pains right side of face,loss of hearing,I live on amodium a -d .I was in a car accident andthe Doc wanted me to take Paxil.3 different Doc's wanted me to take Paxil. I'm not depressed.Has this thought entered your mind? Maby our government wants a nation of passive people who spend most of their life close to the toilet because of the uncontrollable shits you get ?Its a scarry thought everyone on Paxil.

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Date:
05 Jun 2002
Time:
23:47:08
Remote User:
Comments
Went to Doc 2 years ago with chest pains so bad I thought I was having a heart attack.Doc says I have high anxiety and gives me Paxil. I had never heard of Paxil. So trusting the Doc I took the mess.I am a person that doesn't take meds.Well I was hurting so bad I took it.I took it 5 or 6 mts I really couldn't say. My chest didn't hurt anymore. I didn't like the way it made me feel.I believe Paxil hides any underlying problems. Shortly after I stopped Paxil my chest pains returned. My gallblader was infected and had to come out.I am not the same person.I have electric pains right side of face,loss of hearing,I live on amodium a -d .I was in a car accident andthe Doc wanted me to take Paxil.3 different Doc's wanted me to take Paxil. I'm not depressed.Has this thought entered your mind? Maby our government wants a nation of passive people who spend most of their life close to the toilet because of the uncontrollable shits you get ?Its a scarry thought everyone on Paxil.

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Date:
05 Jun 2002
Time:
23:48:12
Remote User:
Comments
Went to Doc 2 years ago with chest pains so bad I thought I was having a heart attack.Doc says I have high anxiety and gives me Paxil. I had never heard of Paxil. So trusting the Doc I took the mess.I am a person that doesn't take meds.Well I was hurting so bad I took it.I took it 5 or 6 mts I really couldn't say. My chest didn't hurt anymore. I didn't like the way it made me feel.I believe Paxil hides any underlying problems. Shortly after I stopped Paxil my chest pains returned. My gallblader was infected and had to come out.I am not the same person.I have electric pains right side of face,loss of hearing,I live on amodium a -d .I was in a car accident andthe Doc wanted me to take Paxil.3 different Doc's wanted me to take Paxil. I'm not depressed.Has this thought entered your mind? Maby our government wants a nation of passive people who spend most of their life close to the toilet because of the uncontrollable shits you get ?Its a scarry thought everyone on Paxil.

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Date:
06 Jun 2002
Time:
01:16:49
Remote User:
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Date:
06 Jun 2002
Time:
18:04:31
Remote User:
Comments
I have been taking Paxil for about 2 yrs now . When I take it a feel great ! Over the last few days I have been off it becasue it is soooo expensive to get it filled, so now I suffer the horrible withdrawls from it . The "zaps", feeling unsteady , unable to concentrate , dizzy , sleeplessness.. the list goes on . I know this is partly my fault becasue I stopped the medication on my own, reason being as I stated above its very evpensive to fill at this time because I currently do not have insurance . I hear some people say they never had any withdrawl from Paxil, good for them , but those of us who experience the withdrawl, it sucks !!! I have even been told by my doctor that I can take Paxil until "dooms day" with no effects and no addiction . WRONG ! I have every single effect from not taking the medication there is . It is a good drug for its purpose, but we weren't given to much information about withdrawl.

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Date:
06 Jun 2002
Time:
22:37:23
Remote User:
Comments
SKB, I hope that you read these letters, because you have a very serious problem on your hands with Paxil. I would like to give you the benefit of the doubt and believe that you had no idea of the dangers of Paxil, but I am just not that naive to believe that. I have been a prisoner to Paxil for 10 years. I have tried several times to come off of it, with withdrawal symptoms that must rival the depths of Hell. The side effects that I have from taking Paxil are gaining 50 lbs, absolutely NO sex drive, and being unable to feel "good" emotions. Paxil has seriously lowered the quality of my life. Please,please, please take this drug off the market, or at least warn people what they are in for. You MUST step up to the plate and take responsibility for your mistake.

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Date:
07 Jun 2002
Time:
01:49:19
Remote User:
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Date:
07 Jun 2002
Time:
02:11:40
Remote User:
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Date:
07 Jun 2002
Time:
03:14:25
Remote User:
Comments
I have been trying to get off Paxil for the past four months. I am now on five mg. For some reason I can't seem to get past this point. I was taking 20 mg. I have been on this poison for 4 and a half years. Oh God, I have so much to say but my brain is not working. This evil drug has ruined me in so many ways. Let me count the ways. I would but I can't count. Has any one else taken up drinking for a hobby while on this drug? That, I would like to know. While on this brain fucking drug I developed a craving for alcohol. I do not understand this. I am 45 years old. I only used to drink on occasion. Being a social phobic those occasions were few and far between. I am still a social phobic. I have noticed though that the decrease in paxil dosage has led to a decrease in my interest in alcohol. I used to be a creative, artistic person, but paxil took that away from me. Will I ever be myself again? Is my brain hopelessly destroyed? Will I ever love music again? Will I ever paint a picture? Does an artistic person need to be cured? I didn't think so. But a bout with depression and off to the shrink. Now , am I just like everyone else? Is it wrong to be me? Paxil and it's freinds may well be the mind control of the future. The future is here. I think I want to kill myself. I can"t even begin to tell my whole story of what my life has been like on Paxil. It is too embarrassing. I am too ashamed. The shame is overwhelming. Well, i guess I should get my affairs in order. The end is near. I wish someone could help me. I am better off dead.

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Date:
07 Jun 2002
Time:
08:45:16
Remote User:
Comments
Day 5 of dizziness, brain shocks and poor visual tracking. I feel like I am going to pass out sometimes. At first I thought, hey, this will go away in a few days, I can handle it. Now I just want to scream at someone. I feel like I am drunk. I can't concentrate. I am so pissed off at the pharmaceutical company now. I am afraid to take any medications at all because apparently no one has researched them very well.

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Date:
07 Jun 2002
Time:
12:03:50
Remote User:
Comments
To the lady who posted: ................................................................... "I have been trying to get off Paxil for the past four months" ........................YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!!! There are ways to get off this drug without having to resort to destroying yourself!!!! .......... Please read this page (I know you are having trouble thinking and concentrating...please take your time but READ!!!) ............. http://www.prozactruth.com/taper.htm ................... I have read other natural ways to detox the body that are most effective and minimize side-effects. From everything I've read: this method should work along with taking other anti-oxidants like Selenium, Magnesium and Omega-3 fatty acids. This is what I am doing....I was not on as long as you but had severe side effects like you. ................... If you feel that you are considering suicide please don't do this! It is the drug....IT IS NOT YOU!!!! Don't leave behind hurt for others who love you! Do this instead: Call: 1-800-SUICIDE ............................ Here is the site again that can help you detox READ IT PLEASE!!! ........ http://www.prozactruth.com/taper ................ If you like too you can email me @ auroastra@hotmail.com ...... Chris

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Date:
07 Jun 2002
Time:
12:36:29
Remote User:
Comments
This is also for the woman who posted about the end being near. Have you been on the message board at this site? http://bbs.onecenter.com/paxilhelp/ It's the older of the 2 message forums and unmoderated. Please post there for support. What's happening to you is not uncommon and you can get past this awful time and you will start feeling better. Keep telling yourself that it's the Paxil that's doing this to you and try to hang in there. Most of the problems that Paxil's left you with will start to diminish over time. Please e-mail me if you like at jkaulins@tc3net.com Hang in there - you're worth it! Don't let those sons of bitches at Glaxo Smith Kline win! Get tough - you can do it.

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Date:
07 Jun 2002
Time:
13:04:46
Remote User:
Comments
Bastards! You fucking bastards! Do you read these rants? People are so desperate to get off this poison called Paxil that they would rather kill themselves than be a slave to your evil purpose. How can you let this happen? Don't you see the blood dripping from your hands? Do you let your loved ones take this horrible pill? I'll bet not. I hope you all get cancer and die a miserable death.

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Date:
07 Jun 2002
Time:
22:43:55
Remote User:
Comments
I've been on Paxil, 30 mg., for 10 months, and am frightened. The first 2 weeks were highly discomforting. I was very tired and nauseous as well. After 2 weeks the these side effects gradually decreased and are now gone. What scares me is that I have been feeling so good the past 9 months. I was depressed, irritable, unable to sleep, exhausted, tense, withdrawn, and a total mess before the Paxil kicked in. Now I'm cheerful, sociable, upbeat, energetic, alert, and thoroughly enjoying life. My horror now is that because of complaints from forums like this, Paxil will be withdrawn from the market. Then, after a couple of weeks of annoying but not dangerous side effects, I will have to go back to being utterly miserable. So will millions of other happy Paxil users. Thank God I didn't come across this web site before starting Paxil. I probably would still be miserable. The scientific evidence is that Paxil helps or cures about 2/3 of patients and enormously improves their quality of life, with annoying but not dangerous side effects. Discontinuation of Paxil leads to annoying but not dangerous side effects for a minority of users. A very small minority develop severely unpleasant (not dangerous) disontinuation effects and require 3-6 months to withdraw. Probably many of you never had the medical guidance to take Paxil properly, to understand the side effects and times frames for Paxil, nor to withdraw gradually as recommended. That's unfortunate, but educating yourself is the cure, not ignorant ranting.

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Date:
07 Jun 2002
Time:
23:04:35
Remote User:
Comments
To the happy Paxil user above: You don't know what you're talking about for one thing. 75 - 80% of people on Paxil experience withdrawal symptoms and just where do you get off saying thay aren't dangerous? Isn't passing out at the wheel of your car dangerous? And if the doctors weren't so damn ignorant, much like you, we'd be able to get medical help with this withdrawal problem, but since the company that makes this poison LIED, most doctors DENY that there is any withdrawal at all. When you try to stop taking Paxil please come back and tell us how you felt. You might change your mind about whether or not the withdrawals are dangerous or not.

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Date:
07 Jun 2002
Time:
23:19:33
Remote User:
Comments
Another "to the happy Paxil user above" To your "The scientific evidence is that Paxil helps or cures about 2/3 of patients and enormously improves their quality of life, with annoying but not dangerous side effects. Discontinuation of Paxil leads to annoying but not dangerous side effects for a minority of users". You miserable bitch. You don't mind seeing all the misery and suffering on this page... and yet you tell these lies. You're contradicting yourself my dear!!!!!! How can you say all that shit you've said here and just before this you said: "My horror now is that because of complaints from forums like this, Paxil will be withdrawn from the market." "CAN'T YOU FUCKING READ? ARE YOU SO FUCKING DRUGGED YOU CAN'T THINK STRAIGHT?????? YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A SELFISH SELF CENTERED BITCH. YOU SAY "I was depressed, irritable, unable to sleep, exhausted, tense, withdrawn, and a total mess before the Paxil kicked in." AND YOU SAY YOU'RE SCARED THEY'LL TAKE IT OFF THE MARKET. OK, LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT: YOU WANT THIS TO HAPPEN -- MINE AND ALL THE HORRIBLE WITHDRAWALS RECOUNTED ON THIS BOARD...THE NUMBER OF SUFFERING PEOPLE HAVING SUCH A BAD TIME OF IT THEY'RE PUTTING SUICIDE NOTES UP HERE...PEOPLE HAVE LOST THEIR JOBS AND MARRIAGES AND BASICALLY THEIR LIVES ALL BECAUSE YOU JUST GOTTA HAVE THIS BRAND OF DRUG SO YOU WON'T FEEL TENSE AND WITHDRAWN.. GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK!

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Date:
07 Jun 2002
Time:
23:58:01
Remote User:
Comments
Oh god am I glad I stopped this early! When I felt the side effects building, and could see and feel the damage that was being done I stopped...but I still am having problems with dizziness and remembering things...even though I just took it a very short time! I hope no permanent damage was done but I wonder! Oh thank god I stopped! Thank you so much for this forum! I didn't know that what I was going through was due to this drug until I saw the side effects listed here! And...to that lady who is scared they'll pull this drug...what are you? I don't think you read this board at all (but your post kind of says you did?) I wouldn't be frightened of losing Paxil...I'd be scared if I was you of losing my soul. It doesn't seem like you have much of one.

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Date:
08 Jun 2002
Time:
01:05:39
Remote User:
Comments
WEll here's another "ignorant rant". I don't think that Paxil should be banned . I think it should just be renamed. Call it Brain-Fuck. If your doctor prescribed a drug by that name, would you take it? Oh, and FUCK YOU to the happy paxil user. Sooner or later you will find out what a happy Brain-Fuck it is. Let me repeat. FUCK YOU.

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Date:
08 Jun 2002
Time:
05:12:24
Remote User:
Comments
I've been on Paxil since late June, 2001. My doctor told me that it was not addictive...that's a joke! In all the information I read about this, all the drug monographs and patient information sheets, NOWHERE did it list the withdrawal effect. If I miss two days, I know it physically. I get the "electric shocks to the brain" that so many others refer to on this site, plus dizziness, confusion, inability to concentrate, and I either want to sleep all day OR I'm awake all night. Also, during the normal course of the drug, I actually experienced a severe increase in anxiety, and had to go on a separate drug concomitantly in order to combat this. I went on Paxil at 19, I'm now 20 years old, and a sophomore in college. I'm young enough that I shouldn't have to deal with this...of course, I wouldn't wish it on ANYONE. I've always taken care of my body, NEVER even tried drugs or cigarettes (not ONCE), and was leery about over-the-counter and prescription drugs. I only chose to take Paxil after I was assured it was safe and effective, with no serious side-effects. I'm intelligent, with an IQ over 140, I was a straight-A student previously, but I can't function academically at all anymore. The paxil worked initially to combat my depression when I was put on it, but the 20mg dose just doesn't cut it for me anymore. When my doc tried to raise it to 30mg, I took it for two weeks, and for those two weeks I DID NOT SLEEP. At all. After that hell, I immediately went back to the original dose. Therein lies the problem...it's no longer working for me, but I can't come off it fast enough or for long enough to go on a different drug like a tricyclic or MAOI. The withdrawal is way too intense. I currently have not taken the drug for two to three days, and am experiencing symptoms severe enough that I am going to bite the bullet and just take my normal dose tomorrow. I can't think of anything else to do...it's just too disruptive, particularly with this being finals week at the university. Right now I can't do much more than sit and stare...I couldn't even study tonight. I'm afraid that I may have to go into the hospital just to withdraw from this drug in a controlled environment. I didn't need this, I really didn't. I had enough problems trying to fight the depression. I didn't need to fight the drug that was supposed to be making me well. B. Brake Columbus, OH

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Date:
08 Jun 2002
Time:
11:22:12
Remote User:
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Date:
08 Jun 2002
Time:
11:27:40
Remote User:
Comments
Hey there...I am in day 3 of detoxing--feeling like I have cotton in my head and I am biting everyone else's head off. I have been on 20 mgs for about 9 mos and have gained 15 lbs. My brain feels like it is in sideways..,thoughts are gone and I feel like a zombie. I warned my husband and my kids about the withdrawal. I have cut 20 to 10 mgs...is this too much? my doc said take 10 mgs for 2 weeks and then 10 mgs every other day for a week. and , then it should be over...is this bull shit? i drank a beer last night. it actually made the vertigo more bearable. my dreams are outrageous. thank you for this forum. i don't feel quite so alone. has anyone been able to detox in 3 weeks? kim in VA

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Date:
08 Jun 2002
Time:
11:43:13
Remote User:
Comments
To the Hapy Camper on Paxil: Your brain is dead, you ignorant, callous bitch! What makes you think that these symptoms won't happen to YOU? Just miss one dose of your Paxhell Poison and see what happens. Better yet, miss TWO doses and then you'll be in OUR hell. Oh, and if it does happen to you, you're the kind of person who would be screaming the loudest to get this shit off the market. Paxil has the ability to wipe out your cognitive functioning, as it obviously has done with you. One day you are going to wake up and realize that this drug cured nothing, but it will have caused a whole laundry list of physical symptoms such as diabetes, MS-like symptoms, fibromyalgia, brain damage, memory loss, weight gain, etc. That's just for starters. Then there is the overwhelming rage and anger, the unrelenting akathisia that causes some people to kill themselves and others. Oh, yes, my dear, your Paxil is a godsend. NOT! When it stops working for you, (and it will) you will have to up your dosage which will cause your synaptic nerve endings to FRY -- yes, that's right -- FRY! I'd say that Paxil is just what someone like YOU needs. Keep taking it, baby, because one day you will have to pay the piper and you will be running to this website to bitch like crazy.

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Date:
08 Jun 2002
Time:
22:31:27
Remote User:
Comments
i have been on klonopin for over 6 months for severe anxiety and panic. the dose of .25mg 3 times a day. this last month and 1/2 coming okk klonopin. i am down to just .125mg these last 10 days and i am feeling the crunch big time. choking sensation all day dizzines, pressure in head, tightness of chest blurred vision and overall worst breathing restriction than before, oh don't forget interrupted sleep cycles. what the hect is all this and when will it end?????

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Date:
09 Jun 2002
Time:
00:52:28
Remote User:
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Date:
09 Jun 2002
Time:
02:32:39
Remote User:
Comments
(this is my letter to paxil. I'd only been on it for about 8 weeks at 20 mg; I thought everything was going well. My doc recommended I ramp down due to some side effects; I did as he suggested and the the last two days have gone down badly. I sent a nicer letter earlier in the evening; after that I passed out, had nightmares, my (diabetic) blood sugar peaked at surreal levels and I started barking at everyone. Once I saw the quitpaxil.org site I became infuriated that I wasn't notified about these issues before starting this vile little drug): Hi I sent your company a note earlier this evening. My symptoms from ramping down from Paxil are getting worse, and I decided to do a little internet research. I mean, I'm a diabetic with 2 small kids and can't be having these weird "shoop-shoop" head things all day -- ESPECIALLY from a drug that advertises itself as non-addictive and light effect. Imagine my surprise to come across the web site "http://www.quitpaxil.org/voices.htm" that describes 70-80% of my problems -- from HUNDREDS!!!! HUNDREDS!!!! of people just like me; same symptoms; professionals with UN-FUCKING-ACCEPTABLE cold turkey symptoms that you do NOT NOTNOTNOTNOTNOTNOTNOTNOTNOTNOTNOT warn people about. My doctor, Richard Cherlin in Los Gatos, will be hearing from me before your call on Monday morning; he'll get a voicemail diatribe to STOP prescribing this vile little drug, as I will threaten to sue him. I won't of course; I've never sued anyone. But I'm SHAKING!!!! I'm so ANGRY that YOU KNEW!!!!! YOU KNEW!!!!!!! Your drug is DAMAGING. It's FUCKING UP MY MOST VALUED POSSESSION - My life, my sanity, my kids, my existence. HOW GOD- (AND I DO MEAN GODGODGODGODGOD -) *DAMN* YOU put me in this position. Cherlin will get my recommendation to *NEVER* prescribe this drug, along with a detailed and COMPLETE description it would have on all his diabetic patients. In the meantime; try stopping taking your own drug (I doubt any of you take it). That's the worst curse I could put on you legally. E R God DAMN paxil

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Date:
10 Jun 2002
Time:
00:10:39
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Death and SSRIs. The SSRIs, including Paxil, have been found to be related to suicide. This was reported on the webMD web site. You can read the full article at http://my.webmd.com/condition_center_content/whp/article/1663.53053 By Jennifer Warner WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Michael Smith, MD May 7, 2002 -- A recent drop in nationwide suicide rates may be due in large part to a dramatic increase in the number of people using antidepressant drugs, according to new research. Current estimates show that more than 29,000 people in the U.S. commit suicide each year, but researchers say it's the first time that number has dipped to below 30,000 in more than 25 years. At the same time, the number of prescriptions for antidepressant drugs has risen by 41% from 1995 to 1998. "It's possible that antidepressants, which are known to treat depression -- the most frequent cause of suicide -- are contributing to a very positive trend," said John Mann, MD, president of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). He presented the findings today at a news conference in New York City. Mann points to the fact that prescription rates rose sharply in the early 1990s with the introduction of the new generation of antidepressants known as SSRIs, and shortly thereafter in 1994 there was a sudden acceleration in the rate of decline in the number of suicides. He says suicides among youths, an age group at high risk for suicide, had tripled between 1955 and 1985. But in the last decade, rates have dropped by 27%. Meanwhile, studies have shown that prescription rates for antidepressant medications for this age group has skyrocketed." Well, I have bad-mouthed the SSRIs many times (Prozac and Zoloft just made me tired and didn’t help me at all). But it looks like the SSRIs have saved thousands of lives over the past few years. Maybe all of us on this web site are wrong?

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Date:
10 Jun 2002
Time:
01:01:08
Remote User:
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Can we say propaganda? And that's what that article on WebMD is! There are estimates that there may be as many as 50,000 suicides linked to Prozac alone. And everytime you hear the news it's another murder/suicide. These doctors are full of shit! These are the same assholes who say taht there are no withdrawals to Paxil. TOTAL BULLSHIT!!! I'd like ot know how they cooked the books on this one considering that anyone who's ever tried to get off this crap had impulses to harm themselves.

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Date:
10 Jun 2002
Time:
06:50:24
Remote User:
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To Mr. or Ms. "Death and SSRIs" Can you read this page here? Or are you too lazy to read anything other than WebMD bullshit??? Why don't you scroll around here Mr. or Ms. propaganda (do you work for GSK?...I think so) before you start spouting off some doctors' off the wall speculations that make him feel warm and fuzzy and like he doesn't have to do any real work. I bet they'd like it to be that way...then they could take the easy way out and just write that script instead of helping in healthy ways (I'm sure they don't know what those are...they don't teach it in med school)

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Date:
10 Jun 2002
Time:
10:26:41
Remote User:
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Hmmmmm..what could have lead the Happy Paxil User to a site called QUIT PAXIL that you can key in by typing Paxil Withdrawal....???? Foreshadowing of what is to come for her/him....

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Date:
10 Jun 2002
Time:
12:47:20
Remote User:
Comments
I've been off of Paxil for about a week now and seriously thought I was losing my mind....or that my PMS was extremely bad this month :) I've been crying or laughing hysterically over absolutely nothing. And the emotions can change in a matter of minutes. Thank you for your site....I'm not nuts afterall :)

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Date:
10 Jun 2002
Time:
14:11:56
Remote User:
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To Happy Paxil User. You poor thing. You might end up feeling miserable if Paxil is banned? Well, you can always take LSD, or Heroin, or Methadone can't you? Cos they're all near enough the same stuff. Had Paxil not been developed (or Prozac from which it is cloned, or LSD from which Prozac is cloned etc etc), had ELI LILLY not made that first LSD for the CIA's MIND CONTROL EXPERIMENTS, had they not then followed it up once it was banned with something similar, had they not lied and cheated, had not the next chemical company GLAXOSMITHKLINE then copied their profit-making drug and developed Paxil, then thousands upon thousands of lives would have been saved. Thousands of children would still have a parent, parents would still have their child, surviving victims would not be suffering from symptoms, possibly permanent, that are a cross between electrocution, central-nervous system and brain damage and Multiple Sclerosis. But, of course, that would mean that YOU might have been a bit miserable. My heart goes out to you, you poor self-centred human being. And try doing some REAL SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH (if you still have enough of your own mind to have any insight left into the position you are in NOW and the position you will be in at a LATER DATE). You are typical of people who have lost their insight and are artificially happy. Enjoy your Brave New World, enjoy being a Stepford Wife. It isn't going to last forever. The drug hasn't been on the market long enough to see what happens to those people who are having their minds altered for years and years. You'll probably end up worse than us, perhaps long term you'll find that you are in a situation like Alzheimers without ANY hope of surviving because you would not even remember that there is a Rant Site here. BY THE WAY, why were you searching and how did you end up on this site? Subconsciously maybe your brain recognises that it is being damaged even though you consciously are unaware of this? Hence your 'curiosity' led you here? Still, at least you have a wingeing sense of self-importance, how more important your being miserable is than that of those people who have lost their lives, so there's still a BIT of life in your brain (but not life as we know it). And if you're a GSK agent - just how much DO you get paid for posting your unscientific, simpering, sicophantic, sick, selfish posts on boards where people are suffering, and where not long before your message someone called Kenneth wrote his suicide note? Poor, poor you. Poor miserable childish you. Why not have a tantrum? I WANT MY PAXIL DAMN YOU. I DONT CARE, I HATE YOU ALL, YOU MIGHT TAKE AWAY MY PAXIL. That sorta sounds like you. It all sorta sounds like a drug addict. Thats what you are. Addicted to Paxil. Feel free to email me. I'll describe MISERY to you. Paxil Withdrawal misery. Suicidal attempts. Akathisia. Muscular pains. Eye pains. Eye bleeds. Electrical torture. To name just a few. Will do so in as much detail as you wish, so you know just what you have coming to you ONE DAY. paula.g@ntlworld.com AND TO GSK: HAVE YOU KILLED KENNETH TOO? YOU NEARLY KILLED ME LAST WEEK. YOU HAVE KILLED THOUSANDS.

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Date:
10 Jun 2002
Time:
14:27:32
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Date:
10 Jun 2002
Time:
19:10:24
Remote User:
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When I try to lower my 20 mg dose of Seroxat to 10mg, I am hit by severe joint pains. My back, hips, knees and feet all ache until I up the dose again!! I also get severe migraine, nausea, dizziness and electric shocks in the head and cravings for salt! I have watched movies about heroin addicts and this feels like their cold turkey symptoms only much worse. Its so weird that none of this is mentioned in the notes with the pills. Susan

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Date:
10 Jun 2002
Time:
21:07:35
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Date:
10 Jun 2002
Time:
23:16:34
Remote User:
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TO THE HAPPY PAXIL USER ABOVE: YOU SAY THE WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS AND SIDE EFFECTS ARE ANNOYING, BUT NOT DANGEROUS. WHEN YOU ARE STANDING OVER THE GRAVE OF A LOVED ONE WHO COMMITS SUICIDE WHILE WITHDRAWING FROM PAXIL, WOULD YOU SAY THAT WAS MERELY ANNOYING OR WAS PAXIL DANGEROUS? ACTUALLY, YOU WOULD PROBABLY FEEL NOTHING SINCE YOU HAVE YOUR LITTLE HAPPY PAXIL PILL.

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Date:
10 Jun 2002
Time:
23:40:50
Remote User:
Comments
I'm confused. I'm taking Paxil for depression. I feel better and my husband says I'm much more upbeat and friendly. But after reading all the terrifying posts on this site, I'm afraid I made a mistake and should quit Paxil. I didn't know it had such horrible side effects and discontinuation effects. I read on this site that Prozac alone has killed 50,000 people. I don't want to die. I also read that the CIA may have been involved in developing Paxil and other antidepressants as a mind control technique. I asked my psychiatrist about this information, but he said ignore it, it's just a bunch on nonscientific nonsense from ignorant people. It makes me wonder if my doctor is part of a conspiracy with the drug companies to make money. Or maybe he's working with the CIA. Who's right, my psychiatrist or the people on this forum? I don't know what to do. I'm afraid to quit Paxil because I was extremely depressed and suicidal before taking it. I don't want to go back to being suicidal, but I also don't want to die from taking Paxil.

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Date:
11 Jun 2002
Time:
00:36:13
Remote User:
Comments
Yes, your doctor is part of the conspiracy. It is a FACT that Eli Lilly made two tons of LSD for the CIA for their mind control experiment called Project MK-ULTRA. Oh, you don't believe me? Well, do a google search on MK-ULTRA and see what you come up with. You'll be shocked out of your wits. It's also a fact that Paxil affects the brain similarly to LSD and PCP, both of which were once legal drugs. Your doctor is an idiot for saying that we're ignorant. I'll bet he doesn't know half as much about Paxil as most of the people on this rant page. Well, honey, if you think you were depressed and suicidal BEFORE taking Paxil, then you'd better stay on it because hardly anyone gets off Paxhell without serious thoughts of suicide. THAT'S HOW BAD THE WITHDRAWALS ARE! You'd rather be DEAD than try and get off this shit! And a lot of us who survive getting off this neurotoxin are never the same afterwards because THIS DRUG CAUSES BRAIN DAMAGE!!!!

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Date:
11 Jun 2002
Time:
07:12:35
Remote User:
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Doctor thinks this is all from ignorant people? Well, to follow up the posting from someone with regard to MKULTRA, here's just ONE site which summarizes the CIA and LSD position: http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/CIA%20Hits/MKULTRA_CIAhits.html An extract: ....."The CIA says its mind-control experiments were a strictly defensive response to Chinese 'brainwashing" of US POWs during the Korean War (captured US pilots were making public statements denouncing US germ warfare against civilians). Actually, US brainwashing experiments predate the CIA itself. CIA mind control activities (also called behavior control) did accelerate in 1953, under a program that was exempt from the usual oversight procedures. Code-named MK-ULTRA, many of its files were destroyed by CIA Director Richard Helms (who was with it from the start) when he left office in 1973, but the surviving history is nasty enough.. MK-ULTRA spooks and shrinks tested radiation, electric shocks, electrode implants, microwaves, ultrasound and a wide range of drugs on unwitting subjects, including hundreds of prisoners at California's infamous Vacaville State Prison. The CIA saw mind control as a way to create torture-proof couriers (by implanting memories that can only be retrieved with a prearranged signal) and programmed assassins, as in The Manchurian Candidate. There's evidence Sirhan was treated by a CIA-linked shrink before killing RFK. The agency also wondered if it could disorient its adversaries with mind-altering substances like LSD. It was so fascinated with LSD that, in 1953, it tried to buy up the entire world supply. For many years, the agency was the principal source of LSD in the US, both legal and otherwise (one ClA-connected dealer produced tens of millions of doses). Before ultimately dismissing LSD as unpredictable, the CIA tested it on countless people-including its own-without their consent, provoking several suicides. One CIA germ warfare expert hurled himself out of a tenth-story window after a "surprise" dose. It was 22 years before his family found out the real reason for his death....." Pity GSK and Eli Lilly don't test their drugs on "their own" people so that their own experts throw themselves out of the windows... peagee

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Date:
11 Jun 2002
Time:
08:02:56
Remote User:
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AND HERE's AN EXCTRACT FROM ANOTHER SITE: "MKULTRA-CIA DOCUMENT #3 MKULTRA and LSD This June 1953 document records Dr. Sidney Gottlieb's approval of an early CIA acid test. "This project will include a continuation of a study of the biochemical, neurophysiological, sociological, and clinical psychiatric aspects of L.S.D.," the CIA scientist writes. [document begins] DRAFT -9 June 1953 MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD SUBJECT: Project MKULTRA, Subproject 8 1. Subproject 8 is being set up as a means to continue the present work in the general field of L.S.D. at [deleted] until 11 September 1954. 2. This project will include a continuation of a study of the biochemical, neurophysiological, sociological, and clinical psychiatric aspects of L.S.D., and also a study of L.S.D. antagonists and drugs related to L.S.D., such as L.A.E. A detailed proposal is attached. The principle investigators will continue to be [deleted] all or [deleted]. 3. The estimated budget of the project at [deleted] is $39,500.00. The [deleted] will serve as a cut-out and cover the project for this project and will furnish the above funds to the as a philanthropic grant for medical research. A service charge of $790.00 (2% of the estimated) is to be paid to the [deleted] for this service. 4. Thus the total charges for this project will not exceed $40,290.00 for a period ending September 11, 1954. 5. (Director of the hospital) are cleared through TOP SECRET and are aware of the true purpose of the project. Chemical Division/TSS APPROVED: [signature of Sidney Gottlieb] Chief, Chemical Division/TSS MKULTRA-CIA DOCUMENT #4 MKULTRA Materials and Methods This 1955 CIA document reviews the Agency's research and development of a shocking list of mind-altering substances and methods, including "materials which will render the indication of hypnosis easier or otherwise enhance its usefulness," and "physical methods of producing shock and confusion over extended periods of time and capable of surreptitious use." DRAFT 5 May 1955 A portion of the Research and Development Program of TSS/Chemical Division is devoted to the discovery of the following materials and methods: 1. Substances which will promote illogical thinking and impulsiveness to the point where the recipient would be discredited in public. 2. Substances which increase the efficiency of mentation and perception. 3. Materials which will prevent or counteract the intoxicating effect of alcohol. 4. Materials which will promote the intoxicating effect of alcohol. 5. Materials which will produce the signs and symptoms of recognized diseases in a reversible way so that they may be used for malingering, etc. 6. Materials which will render the indication of hypnosis easier or otherwise enhance its usefulness. 7. Substances which will enhance the ability of individuals to withstand privation, torture and coercion during interrogation and so-called "brainwashing". 8. Materials and physical methods which will produce amnesia for events preceding and during their use. 9. Physical methods of producing shock and confusion over extended periods of time and capable of surreptitious use. 10. Substances which produce physical disablement such as paralysis of the legs, acute anemia, etc. 11. Substances which will produce "pure" euphoria with no subsequent let-down. 12. Substances which alter personality structure in such a way that the tendency of the recipient to become dependent upon another person is enhanced. 13. A material which will cause mental confusion of such a type that the individual under its influence will find it difficult to maintain a fabrication under questioning. 14. Substances which will lower the ambition and general working efficiency of men when administered in undetectable amounts. 15. Substances which will promote weakness or distortion of the eyesight or hearing faculties, preferably without permanent effects. 16. A knockout pill which can surreptitiously be administered in drinks, food, cigarettes, as an aerosol, etc., which will be safe to use, provide a maximum of amnesia, and be suitable for use by agent types on an ad hoc basis. 17. A material which can be surreptitiously administered by the above routes and which in very small amounts will make it impossible for a man to perform any physical activity whatever. The development of materials of this type follows the standard practice of such ethical drug houses as [deleted]. It is a relatively routine procedure to develop a drug to the point of human testing. Ordinarily the drug houses depend upon the services of private physicians for the final clinical testing. The physicians are willing to assume the responsibility of such tests in order to advance the science of medicine. It is difficult and sometimes impossible for TSS/CD to offer such an inducement with respect to its products. In practice, it has been possible to use the outside cleared contractors for the preliminary phases of this work. However, that part which involves human testing at effective dose levels presents security problems which cannot be handled by the ordinary contractor. The proposed facility offers a unique opportunity for the secure handling of such clinical testing in addition to the many advantages outline in the project proposal. The security problems mentioned above are eliminated by the fact that the responsibility for the testing will rest completely with the physician and the hospital. [deleted] will allow TSS/CD personnel to supervise the work very closely to make sure that all tests are conducted according to the recognized practices and embody adequate safeguards." That extract was from http://www.psychops.com/MK_ULTRA/mk_ultra.html How Nice to see that things are still the same. WE ARE ALL NOW the victims of this nasty little nest of Gottlieblings. The chemical companies (more reassuringly calling themselves the "pharmaceutical industry") seem happy to revamp poisons for the people, (reassuringly giving them names such as anti-depressants, SSRI's) and there are enough corrupt individuals and agencies (reassuringly calling themselves things like "psychiatrists" and "regulatory bodies") that are only too happy to let the people suffer. Nazi Germany (as someone not far up the board so beautifully posted LOL) has NOTHING on what is going on now. GSK et al's poison pills are a fast-creeping, silent assault against the people. No concentration camps, nothing obvious to alert the world, just a quiet deadly move across the world. Even the victims aren't aware whats happening UNTIL they eventually realise they are in deep trouble. Many of those STILL don't find out, as there are plenty of bribed people-holding buildings (reassuringly calling themselves sponsored hospital units and clinics") who simply change the poison pills for some other poison pills (reassuringly called "treatment") and its only the 'lucky' few of us whose disabling symptoms give make us suscpicious and so we happen to come across forums, articles and research stuff. BRAVE NEW WORLD of the 21st Century by courtesy of pharmas such as GSK (which - unreassuringly - happens to be an acronym of both GlobalSerialKillers and GraveyardSepulchreKeepers). Peagee

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Date:
11 Jun 2002
Time:
09:33:19
Remote User:
Comments
Acronyms Rant. PHARMACEUTICALS: Poisonous Harmful Akathesia Raising Mind Altering Chemicals Experts Using Treacherous Indecorous Contrived Abhorrent Labelling Shamelessly. UK English spelling but GSK will understand cos they ARE English (much to the embarrassment of those of us in the UK who have not lost our souls to greed). Peagee

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Date:
11 Jun 2002
Time:
11:00:22
Remote User:
Comments
Thanks to my very ignorant GP and the existance of this abominable drug I now feel like I am going to hell in a rocket! Going through withdrawal of Seroxat is worse than when I was withdrawing from sleeping pills. I have this white noise in my ears and half my brain is 'humming' so I bascially have to stay awake until I drop from exhaustion. Do you know what is the funniest, I was assured that Seroxat was not addictive and it says this in the leaflet as well.

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Date:
11 Jun 2002
Time:
11:52:53
Remote User:
Comments
The mass drugging of our population with Paxil, Prozac, and Zoloft is nothing more than a vast mind-control experiment. It's not about CURING anything. It's about control, people. We are in an Auschwitz without barbed wire. We are in a concentration camp without boundaries, thanks to Paxil and its cousins. WAKE UP! Do the research. Stop listening to your doctors who have been brainwashed by the pharmas (brilliant acronym, btw). How many Frank Olsen's have there been (he's the one who jumped out the 10th floor window after being dosed with LSD and 22 years later the CIA gave his widow $700,000 and admitted what they did!) Pick up your local newspaper. Anytime you see a bizarre murder or murder/suicide, or just plain suicide, you can almost bet that one of these drugs was to blame. GSK = GlobalSerialKillers!!!!!

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Date:
11 Jun 2002
Time:
11:53:49
Remote User:
Comments
Well here I am in the begingin stages of getting off paxil. I have been on it for 3 years. I tried to get off paxil 2 years ago and couldn't. I had really bad withdrawls and didn't know what it waw at that time. I am very sure that if I knew what I know today things would be different in my life! You money hungry company's don't have any concern over human life, we all suffer from what you neglect to disclose! THE WITHDRAWAL SYDROME FROM PAXIL!!!!!!!!!!! You will be lucky to survive after the law suits that have and will be filed!

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Date:
11 Jun 2002
Time:
11:53:54
Remote User:
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Well here I am in the begingin stages of getting off paxil. I have been on it for 3 years. I tried to get off paxil 2 years ago and couldn't. I had really bad withdrawls and didn't know what it waw at that time. I am very sure that if I knew what I know today things would be different in my life! You money hungry company's don't have any concern over human life, we all suffer from what you neglect to disclose! THE WITHDRAWAL SYDROME FROM PAXIL!!!!!!!!!!! You will be lucky to survive after the law suits that have and will be filed!

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Date:
11 Jun 2002
Time:
16:08:34
Remote User:
Comments
FOR POST CALLING PAXIL SEROXAT: Presumably you are in the UK. There's some UK specific information on my Info Board, some of it new today (see date of messages) which you might find useful. http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/182310 Peagee

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Date:
11 Jun 2002
Time:
20:14:01
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Date:
12 Jun 2002
Time:
03:03:09
Remote User:
Comments
"SSRI's have saved thousands of lives...". Who is the asshole that believes this shit? And why report it here? I almost killed myself last week because of an SSRI called Paxil. As a matter of fact I wrote a sort of suicide note to this site , I believe it was about June 7. Now you may say that the reason that I became suicidal is that I am reverting to my old depression, or whatever, since I am reducing my dosage. But, while I was taking it as prescribed, there were many times that I seriously considered ending my life. Why? Paxil stole my soul. It destroyed my mind.(do I sound like an idiot? NOW I am). It ruined my body. ( I did not mention in my suicidal rant that I had gained over 60 pounds). Now, what will kill me? Suicide? Brain damage? Obesity? Will any of these be linked to Paxil? I doubt it. Well, my brain is going now. It is hard to believe that I used to be an intelligent person.

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Date:
12 Jun 2002
Time:
15:48:58
Remote User:
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I'm not sure I can rant right now- despite being naturally gifted with a lousy temper all I seem to be able to do is cry. My poor children. I've been on Paxil for 9 months after being diagnosed with postpartum depression and I quit cold turkey 4 days ago. The Paxil DID make me calmer and nicer to everybody and it stopped my panic attacks in their tracks. I was grateful for that. But is the cost going to be that I either have to stay on it for the rest of my life (and just pretend to want to make love to my husband) or that I quit, get all my old symptoms back plus 15 pounds and a gyroscope for a head? I should have been told up front. That's my complaint. Someone should have said, "You'll have a tough time trying to come off it but it should alleviate your symptoms. It's your choice." I would have appreciated the dignity of deciding whether or not I wanted to be an addict. Reading your stories tears my heart out. Please believe that there is a loving God who cries harder for us than we can for ourselves. We are suffering now but there is justice for those who doggedly do evil and mercy for those who are sorry. I hope all doctors who casually slap down Paxil samples after a 30-second consultation will think seriously about their own obligation to know about the meds they throw at people. Anyone who just trusts a drug rep from a pharm. company is either criminally stupid or willfully ignorant. This is not very coherent but that's about par for the course. Remember that you are a precious person and that this is not all there is. We will get better, and God loves each individual with a love beyond telling. Bless you all.

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Date:
13 Jun 2002
Time:
03:17:13
Remote User:
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Hi all! I wrote a while back and said THANK YOU to all of you who had written in as I could see I was not alone in this. Well, I have been Paxil free for about 3 weeks. The symptoms have lessened, the pricklies not as continual but still bothersome. Mood swings, crying, axiety, anger, confusion all still remain but I have been tols by an ACTUAL ER nurse who admits and knows about these withdrawal symptoms, that this could continue for months until it is TOTALLY out of you system. Alot to still put up with but alot to look forward too being free for good from this stuff. Yes, it did help a little although never real well while I was on it, but people need to know what is in store for them when they get off. I am still in prayer for all those still coming off it and remembering how desperate I felt until I found this site. THIS SITE was the ONLY comfort I had, just knowing I wasn't alone, not knowing ANY of you but feeling an understanding that we were all here for the same reason. GOD BLESS each of you. Keep fighting this and know each day, you are one step closer to being off of it!! I still have ALOT of trouble sleeping but DID find that BENEDRYL helped with that as well as the pricklies. Not every time, but some. Linda seeyousmile@snappyserve.com

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Date:
13 Jun 2002
Time:
04:50:01
Remote User:
Comments
I have been trying to finish this rant for about a week now. Every time I write a few lines, then I get confused and have to stop. Thank you Paxil. Yes, thanks to paxil, I almost died last year. Last year I got drunk, got behindthe wheel and wrecked the car. I BROKE MY NECK. Fortunately the spinal chord was not injured. My God. I never did anything like this in my life. I am a middle aged person, and I never... What if I had injured someone else? Now that I am withdrawing from this nightmare drug , my conscience is returning. I can't accept what I did. There were other things that I did, strange things, criminal things. I had never been in trouble with the law in my life. What happened to me? What did this poison do to my brain?

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Date:
13 Jun 2002
Time:
15:37:00
Remote User:
Comments
I believe the rebound effect of the withdrawl sypmtoms last much longer that we think. I weaned off without much problem over about a month but about 2-3 months later I was having panic attacks again, generalized anxiety far worse than I ever had before. I can't sleep and am irritable and fatigued all the time. I went on Paxil for migraines and was on it about 4 years. I gained about 40 lbs and lost motivation for a lot of things in life. I am 45 year old female. I am trying to put my health back together. Dr's are not much help at all I have had multiple tests and nothing concrete is wrong. I have heat and exercise intolerance as well. Not toblame Paxil for everything but there needs to be more research on these symptoms and quit shoving them under the rug. That is the biggest crime. Not acknowledging these complaints and trying to do something about it. These drugs do have a place but they are over RXed and drs have no clue how to help patients get off them and try to make the pts think they are crazy. This many people cannot be crazy. This feels like a bigger coverup than the tobacco industry tried to pull off. How can you sleep at night.

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Date:
13 Jun 2002
Time:
15:37:37
Remote User:
Comments
I believe the rebound effect of the withdrawl sypmtoms last much longer that we think. I weaned off without much problem over about a month but about 2-3 months later I was having panic attacks again, generalized anxiety far worse than I ever had before. I can't sleep and am irritable and fatigued all the time. I went on Paxil for migraines and was on it about 4 years. I gained about 40 lbs and lost motivation for a lot of things in life. I am 45 year old female. I am trying to put my health back together. Dr's are not much help at all I have had multiple tests and nothing concrete is wrong. I have heat and exercise intolerance as well. Not toblame Paxil for everything but there needs to be more research on these symptoms and quit shoving them under the rug. That is the biggest crime. Not acknowledging these complaints and trying to do something about it. These drugs do have a place but they are over RXed and drs have no clue how to help patients get off them and try to make the pts think they are crazy. This many people cannot be crazy. This feels like a bigger coverup than the tobacco industry tried to pull off. How can you sleep at night.

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Date:
13 Jun 2002
Time:
22:21:58
Remote User:
Comments
Not only do I wish I had been informed of the withdrawal symptoms- I wish my doctors had been better informed. This is so horrible that I truly believe paxil should be taken off the market. If not that, then PLEASE put some honest information out. We can decide for ourselves and be responsible,(as opposed to laying blame), only when we are given facts that are somewhere within the realm of realism. I made the choice to take this drug and I should be allowed to stop the drug the way I was told. No one would willingly put themselves through this horror.Over a 4 yr. period I have seen 8 regular doctors and have been to The Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, and The University of Charleston Medical Center. Not even 1 of those doctors ever mentioned anything related to this drug being the cause of some mysterious symptoms. Only 1 recently told me in passing that while I wanted to come off of paxil, he had just heard stories of the drug being addictive. This was the understatement of my lifetime. Please review the prescribing guidelines and inform the doctors so that more people don't ever have to go through this. Thank you for your time and consideration.

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Date:
14 Jun 2002
Time:
08:58:57
Remote User:
Comments
Started on 20mg then my doctor decided that 30mg was the way to go. Well two years later i have manged to get that back to 10mg. The next drop will be the hardest . You have no idea what pain and heart ache you have put me through. I have lost MY JOB - MY WIFE - MY HOUSE - MY FREINDS - MY LIFE due to your so called non adictive tablet. Well i hope that you the manufacturer can sleep at night cos i sure the hell can't!!!!! Lets just hope that one day the old saying "what goes around comes around" & strikes every member of the board. stu_north@yahoo.com

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Date:
14 Jun 2002
Time:
09:00:22
Remote User:
Comments
Started on 20mg then my doctor decided that 30mg was the way to go. Well two years later i have managed to get that back to 10mg. The next drop will be the hardest. You have no idea what pain and heartache you have put me through. I have lost MY JOB - MY WIFE - MY HOUSE - MY FREINDS - MY LIFE due to your so-called non addictive tablet. Well i hope that you the manufacturer can sleep at night cos i sure the hell can't!!!!! Lets just hope that one day the old saying "what goes around comes around" & strikes every member of the board.

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Date:
14 Jun 2002
Time:
11:04:44
Remote User:
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I have been off of Paxil for a week and have experienced numerous side effects. I have not slept for more than three hours a night for the past four days. Furthermore, I am experiencing periodic dizziness when I move my eyes from left to right. For lack of a better description, I am also experiencing "mind drops". For a fraction of a second, it seems as though steady background noises change pitch and I become disoriented. It happens so fast that I am kinda like ... what the hell was that? I wonder if it really occurred or if I made it up. It happens quite frequently now and it doesn't appear to be noticable to anyone else. I have not experienced any anxiety or depression since coming off of Paxil. I feel as though GSK needs to recognize that these symptoms are real. I am just thankful that my symptoms are tolerable and pray for all of you suffering through extreme withdrawals.

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Date:
15 Jun 2002
Time:
17:48:07
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Holly fuck. this is a bit mad people, anyway, i am Darren 25 and from Northern Ireland, i have been on the UK paxil tabs for about 4 years (20mg), my Doctor put me on it because (get this) "i was having problems sleeping" lol..... i came of it about 4 weeks ago, yea it was mad and still is at times, but i can handle it, I sometimes just lie in my bed at night and think i am going mad, and then just seem to pull myself away from hell, The dreams have been so fucking cool, but not in a way. Hey you know what i think, and i am telling you all the truth here, we have all been used by the makers of this fucked up DRUG as Test-subjects. i get these tight feelings around my neck and chest and the Zaps in the head along with 100 other messed up things, my eyes went down hill, and i now wear glasses, but hey my Girliefriend thinks i look dead sexxy in them, so its not all bad..... We have been let down people, we are junkies and we did not even know it, it was forced on us, are minds have been raped by a thing that we did not even know was raping us, I for one an not going to stand for this, i have been reading all your mad storys, and i feel so fucked off... BUT... living where i live and being who i am... i can do something about these Bastards who have been fucking RAPING us for so long. hey they made me insane, now its time i started acting like it .... wink wink see you all in a better place junkies!

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Date:
15 Jun 2002
Time:
22:40:14
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well....i've been taking paxil for 3 years. I started taking it right after i had my twins, now i'm pregnant again and my gyno told me i need to stop taking paxil. Thought this was going to be easy?? HELL NO! He told me to take my regular dose every other day (1 and a 1/2 pills) for two weeks, after that, stop taking them and i'll be fine. FINE?? MY ASS I"M FINE...now i'm stuck , i know i have to stop taking paxil because of the pregnancy, i have no choice..however..these withdrawls are enough to kill someone..i can't drink, smoke or take anything else because i'm pregnant. My husband probably hates me, no one could understand what this is like unless you live through it, and i'm trying to take care of my two kids at home right now. My head literally feels like it's about to fall off...i turn to look at something and it's like a split second later the rest of my brain catches up , sweating like crazy at night, nightmares so bad i don't want to sleep, throwing up , dizziness...there has to be something to aleviate these things just a little..at this point..just a little will be fine for me...i can't take these brain zaps and i'm aboug to freak out...i dont know what to do ...reading all of your posts at least made me feel like i wasn't crazy and that my body wasn't freaking out...i can't believe people prescribe this medicine.. does anyone have any tips on anything that seems to help?? i'll try anything at this point... pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee

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Date:
15 Jun 2002
Time:
22:41:16
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well....i've been taking paxil for 3 years. I started taking it right after i had my twins, now i'm pregnant again and my gyno told me i need to stop taking paxil. Thought this was going to be easy?? HELL NO! He told me to take my regular dose every other day (1 and a 1/2 pills) for two weeks, after that, stop taking them and i'll be fine. FINE?? MY ASS I"M FINE...now i'm stuck , i know i have to stop taking paxil because of the pregnancy, i have no choice..however..these withdrawls are enough to kill someone..i can't drink, smoke or take anything else because i'm pregnant. My husband probably hates me, no one could understand what this is like unless you live through it, and i'm trying to take care of my two kids at home right now. My head literally feels like it's about to fall off...i turn to look at something and it's like a split second later the rest of my brain catches up , sweating like crazy at night, nightmares so bad i don't want to sleep, throwing up , dizziness...there has to be something to aleviate these things just a little..at this point..just a little will be fine for me...i can't take these brain zaps and i'm aboug to freak out...i dont know what to do ...reading all of your posts at least made me feel like i wasn't crazy and that my body wasn't freaking out...i can't believe people prescribe this medicine.. does anyone have any tips on anything that seems to help?? i'll try anything at this point... pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee

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Date:
15 Jun 2002
Time:
23:29:12
Remote User:
Comments
Hey...to the pregnant lady trying to detox. GO TO THIS PAGE ON THIS SITE HERE: http://www.quitpaxil.org/subpages/guide_to_paxil_withdrawal.htm This is a pretty good detox guide. There's another on the www.prozactruth.com site that uses Immunocal...the testimonials are very positive. See the "http://www.prozactruth.com/taper.htm link there. Good luck! Believe me, you're not alone and if you need further 'talk' support go to the message board on this site...we're around. Chris

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Date:
16 Jun 2002
Time:
04:50:11
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Date:
16 Jun 2002
Time:
11:06:09
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GKS learned from the Nazis that its much better to use human test subjects instead of vermin like rats and mice. And yes, that is what they did. We were all part of a gigantic mind-control experiment. We were the guinea pigs. The rats. The mice. That's why the Nazis experiments were so helpful and valid because they used humans. Paxil isn't about curing anything. It's an evil form of mind control. Keeps the masses complacent, compliant and open to suggestion.

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Date:
16 Jun 2002
Time:
16:29:45
Remote User:
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Going off of Paxil was a nightmare...I had all of the side effects but the zaps were the worst starting in my toes and finishing in my tongue... It's been 4 weeks and last night I had a double drenching while sleeping ( I had always had night sweats while on Paxil but they stopped after he second day that I started tapering). It was like an exorcism - the next day my withdrawal symptons seemed to subside dramatically. I gained nearly 30 pounds and after about 3.5 weeks the weight started to melt off -- maybe my metabolism has started to kick back in...so keep the faith everyone -- it will get better!

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Date:
17 Jun 2002
Time:
00:34:49
Remote User:
Comments
Hello, I posted a little while back, telling what it felt like for me - lowering my dose. (flogtthefrog@aol.com) I had to go to 20mg, then ten, then 5... I prolonged each week to two weeks. This helped a lot. A VERY supportive boyfriend also helped. I have been off for - I guess- a week or so? (Time is irrelevant now.) Funny thing happened- out of NOWHERE< I got ZAPS again! I am not even on it,.. then I felt the "fog" lower over my brain. Crying jags,... disassociative to anyone I encountered. It started as the b/f and i were driving thru town. Lasted during the trip to the mall. Started to lift as we were heading home, again. But, as it lifted, the ZAPS came back for a while. It is like the Zaps, in my case, are a marker for an "episode". We went to rent movies, later,... try explaining to the on-lookers why I started feeling withdrawl of pills I am not taking.... Thank God my B/F is wonderful and supportive. He just held me and told me to wait in the car while he paid and then we took off. I was freaked, a little,... I felt the side effects, as if I was still on the damn meds! Now, some might say- see- you need to be on paxil,... but, I'll tell you what, I would rather deal with an occassional jag than the daily eye grinding of paxil. The headaches, while intense and painful to the pain of vomitting- are lessening. I still feel my eyes "bounce" and I feel my bones grind from time to time,.. usually when I am over-tired. But, basically, we all knew that getting off this DRUG would not be a joy-ride. So, so long as I keep myself in perspective and realize that it is normal to feel residual side effects, I can tolerate it. I am blessed to have a caring b/f. The side effects did get to be less and less, shorter periods of time.... less symptoms. I will never ever ever take anything like paxil, ever again. I feel like ME AGAIN, I am able to smile and not feel like I have a freggin teflon coating on my brain all the time. WE CAN SURVIVE this - you just have to dedicate yourself, educate your doctor, and have ONLY supportive and understanding people around you, Get rid of the shit-people,... get rid of uneccessary stress, and TAKE IT SLOW. Take it really slow..... spend a month going down one level, if you want,.. just take it slow and talk yourself down when the side effects hit hard core. They will, be assured -but don't be scared. Find love in little things. Give yourself permission to avoid the assholes of life. Give yourself permission to take care of YOURSELF. TALK TO PEOPLE. If you let them know, most people I have told totally understand. Hell - many have already been educated on the evils of paxil, and are willing to help you in whatever way they can. Yes, I have had a FEW panic attacks,.. but, honestly, I am even dealing with them better nowt hat I am not actively taking paxil. I think paxil served a purpose in my life, for a VERY brief period of time, but I needed to be ME again. I am slowly coming back - as me, and able to remind myself that the ZAPS will only last for a little while, and to distract myself. Please don't give up!!!! Take it SLOW,... Anyone can email me,.. I appreciate the email, and I write back,.. just head it as paxil so I do not delete it. Hang in there, brothers and sisters- find a support group if you need to talk to people - don't fool yourself if you truely need HELP - but seek the opinion of several professionals, who are educated!!! Love to all CS

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Date:
17 Jun 2002
Time:
07:23:24
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I am totally tripping on this board. Being on 40 mil of Paxil for 6 years I tried to go off of them cold turkey and got the "spins" like my head was rolling around inside my skull. I had headaches, moody, and very tired. I couldn't tollerate the "zaps" any longer and called my doctor in the middle of the night and he told me to take a whole 40 mil pill. When I did, the "zaps", "spins" (whatever you want to call it) went away within hours. Reading some of these posts have answered so many things that I have been experiencing and why. For example, I have always been thin and since I've been on Paxil, I have went from 150 pounds to 200! And yes! It's mostly in my gut! I feel ugly, depressed, lifeless, reclusive, unsocialable, angry, irritated, etc. Yesterday I started to ween myself from 40 mil to 20 mil by cutting my pills in half. Since I no longer have my job with the insurance I simply cannot afford 100 dollars a month to continue this drug. I'm supposed to start a new job in a couple of days and I'm afraid I'm gonna flip out or something. I noticed people were mentioning they are having sleep problems, but I'm on sleeping pills and will continue those longer. I am amazed that some of these posts of people on paxil with the weight gain, no emotions, etc. I read some posts that I thought I was reading about myself! I will continue to ween off this and somehow deal with the withdrawals if it means I have to hide myself in the closet till the withdrawals are over with.

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Date:
17 Jun 2002
Time:
12:37:14
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Comments
DO NOT TAKE PAXIL!!!! I am still surviving the after effects of this drug from Hell. I had panic attacks 2 years ago. I was at my shrinks office and he suggested that Paxil would help me to have control of my thoughts and it would curve and end these attacks. I was just crying for no reason and had a hard time handling the 'bad' things that were happening to me. Actully, I was in the middle of a divorce and my emotional state was interpreted as a 'slow drip of saritonin in my brain and that Paxil would replace and increase the flow so I would be more in control. Well, I BELIEVED THE DOCTOR--THAT WAS MY FIRST MISTAKE!!! Now I am trying for the second time to get off this dumb drug. I was only at 20mg. and then I went to 10 then 5. Now that I am off it agian I feel like I should go right back on. I know that it is not how long I am taking to come off, it is that I just get off period. My brain and body does not know how to preform normally anymore. Below are my symptoms, I am not sure how to stop it all, mentally and emotionally and physically, I am a wreck!! -lots and lots of crying -angry over the really small things adn unable to handle the large ones -yelling and screaming -turning inward and blocking everyone out -feeling worthless -depression -anxiety about leaving the house or doing anything for that matter. -unable to express the true emotions that I feel. -unable to sleep at night -wanting to do nothing but sleep all day to avoid life -did I mention the tuns and tuns of crying -not wanting to be with anyone and feeling like noone wants to be with you -nothing goes right. -Throwing up every morning like clockwork. -dizzy spinning and loss of equalibrium -"the all famous 'ZAPS' that come from nowhere and are Horrible" -weight gain and loss -loss of appitite There are more and more. Some of them not as bad as others. They come and go. This drug is so so so so bad. I was not told that the side effects of this drug once coming off of it would be like this. If I had known then I would not have made the desicion to take it in the first place. I did not want to go one any drugs for this at all, but I took about 6 months to decide adn did as much research as I could. I wish that there was more information for me then. I wish I never put the damb pink pill in my mouth!!!!

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Date:
17 Jun 2002
Time:
13:42:24
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Date:
17 Jun 2002
Time:
14:35:33
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I just saw a new Paxil commercial on TV last night and wanted to throw a large brick at my TV screen especially at the very end when the announcer says "non-habit forming!" This pill should be taken off of the market! What are they thinking. I have taken the liberty of rewriting this commercial. ...Feeling anxious, uneasy, then we have the answer for you. Just one of these little pink pills and you'll experience a lifetime of LSD inspired dreams, insominia, brain zaps, nausea and more. Paxil melts all the problems away and places you in a world of confusion and unreality. Ask your doctor about Paxil today and let's start tripping! We guarantee that it will be the best experience you've ever had since that Acid overdose back in '69.

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Date:
17 Jun 2002
Time:
21:53:16
Remote User:
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i thought a got a brain tumor! what else could explain these 'zaps'!? it is un-fucking-believable! i am up, down, wicked, angry, emotional, and this constant 'pausing', zapping, wa-wa-wa-washhheeeeet, that goes through my head is driving me insane! does it end? will it end? is this my life now? you can have it! i've weened myself off and it's been about 4 days since my last hit. after the doctors telling me 'paxil has no withdrawl symptoms', i thought i was going crazy. just this morning i ordered another months worth of paxil because the coincidence of going off and what's happening now didn't make sense. thank god i found this site. i guess i suffer like you'all, i'm sooo sorry. it feels good that i'm not alone.

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Date:
17 Jun 2002
Time:
22:07:58
Remote User:
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please, someone answer one question: will this end? or am i to zap for the rest of my life? if i know it'll end i can deal, if not...then... anyone know where the 'paxil headquarters is'? : )

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Date:
17 Jun 2002
Time:
23:02:37
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Hello again everyone. I am a returning ranter. I posted info a couple of months ago about the withdrawal symptoms I was experiencing. Well, I have now been off this garbage for 2 months now. Thankfully, I think the worst is now behind me. The zapping sensations have subsided after a couple of weeks. The only symptoms I still seem to carry are the slight vertigo, increased anxiety, which I've been dealing with, and mild depression. I did write to GSK on their website several weeks ago, and got the typical automated response. However, about a week later I got a consent form in the mail asking if they could have my doctor fill them in about ailments I had and other medical history. Hopefully something useful will come out of this. Although, I guess GSK doesn't feel all to threatened since I saw a TV commercial for Paxil the other evening. Now they have a disclaimer the "Paxil isn't for everybody". Thanks assholes; we're well aware of that now. :) Anyhow, I can't fully determine if all the symptoms I have now are truly related to Paxil itself. I mentioned in the past that I had a neurological disorder known as Peripheral Neuropathy, on top of Lyme and EBV, which all greatly contribute to weakness and fatigue. Sounds like fun, huh? I just want to let everyone know, even with all the crap I have to experience on a daily basis that there is hope after the first couple of weeks of withdrawal. Just try to tough it out as best as possible. The worst symptoms should eventually pass. I will check back in a few months with an update on my progress and symptom status. Thanks everyone! Be strong! Anthony Corvelli mfr751@optonline.net

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Date:
17 Jun 2002
Time:
23:36:48
Remote User:
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Anthony here again. I just wanted to confirm something that someone wrote a few days ago about a 'mind drop'. That cuaght my attentin. In the first couple of weeks after going cold turkey, I did also experience whar he/she mentioned. I would relate it to a split-second blank-out moment. It was almost like a seizure of some sort, yet it happens so fast that you don't quite know what it was. He/she described it quite well. A split-second seizure is about the only way I can describe it. Although it would trigger some adrenaline, it didn't push me into a panic attack....thank god. So, I just wanted to mention that since I forgot about that one. I did also forget to mention one thing; after I started taking Paxil my eyesight went extremely poor in my left eye. Many people described having eye movement & visual problems while taking the drug and after stopping the drug. I too experienced this. In fact this shit has altered my eyesight during withdrawal to point that I have to get to an eye doctor to update my glasses again. Note: I had to update my glasses when I started taking this crap.* I have to go back to the eye doc now that I am off Paxil. Go figure. Anyway, just wanted to mention this stuff. Thanks again. Anthony Corvelli

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Date:
18 Jun 2002
Time:
07:35:18
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Date:
18 Jun 2002
Time:
14:47:10
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Date:
18 Jun 2002
Time:
18:07:57
Remote User:
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**PLEASE READ** i'm butch, the one who wrote about thinking he had a brain tumor. it's now 5 days since going off paxil and it ain't gettin any better. i am so pissed off right now i can't stand it. LISTEN CLOSLEY!!! i am a filmmaker. this got me thinking last night while yelling at the ceiling at 3am; let's document this! borrow, steal, beg, whatever you have to do to get a video camera and document, on tape, all you are venting on this web site. i'll put together a little documentary and have it seen all over the world. 20/20, niteline, whatever, would eat this shit alive! if i can see/feel the frustration of everyone invoved here thru writing, i can imagine what will come across on tape. what do you think?? let's get this bastards thru their own sourse, the media. let's 'teach' our doctors the horror this drug produces and let's help all the millions of people out there that don't even know yet that they will be prescribed paxil!!! email me at paxilsucks@yahoo.com ( i will try to get that address now) if not i will post SOON another to keep in contact. document your hell, your families hell, and let's give it back to them!!! we'll all pull through this, i know we will, let's stick together!!! i love you all.

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Date:
19 Jun 2002
Time:
09:16:39
Remote User:
Comments
Does anyone know how long it takes to loose the weight that this evil drug put on? I don't understand what form the weight takes on when I was burning more calories than taking in. Is it water weight? I have been off the drug completely now for about a week and am wondering why I still can't loose the weight when I am excercising like a maniac!! I am so angry that I am scared to talk to anyone! I just blow up for the stupidest things and I hate my life more now than before I even took this stupid drug. If anyone knows anything about how to loose the weight please help me!!!

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Date:
19 Jun 2002
Time:
09:42:44
Remote User:
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To the last poster.....for me it took about 8 months (of exercising moderately and NOT watching my diet). All of the sudden after 8 months the weight came right off! My Dr. said it takes 8-9 months to get this totally out of your system. Keep up your regimen because all of the sudden the weight will go away (it might take a while) and you will be left with the muscle that you developed underneath.

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Date:
19 Jun 2002
Time:
16:19:49
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Has anyone noticed it makes him/her snore?

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Date:
20 Jun 2002
Time:
00:35:32
Remote User:
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I'm a 57 year old women with heart problems. The heart problems began about 2 years after I started taking Paxil. After reading the posts on this forum, I became concerned that Paxil may have caused the heart problems? Is that possible? My son, who is a nurse, told me that Paxil and the other SSRIs don't cause heart problems. He referred me to this website at Harvard University: http://www.health.harvard.edu/article.cfm?id=51 The article there says that the serotonin antidepressants may cut risk of heart attacks by 65%. Since heart disease is the number 1 cause of death in the U.S., this could mean saving hundreds of thousands of lives. Now I'm really confused. What should I believe, this Harvard University newletter or the rants at this site? Here's the article, judge for yourself. Antidepressants for the Heart Originally published in the Harvard Mental Health Letter. For subscription information, click here. (Updated: 2002-03-01 09:50:44) Smokers who take fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), and other SSRIs may be lowering their risk of a heart attack by as much as 65%, according to a study published in the journal Circulation last October. Another recent study, published in the American Heart Journal, suggests that sertraline speeds recovery from a heart attack in depressed patients. Telephone interviewers compared the use of SSRIs among 600 smokers hospitalized with a heart attack and 3,000 controls who were also smokers. They adjusted for age, sex, race, education, exercise, body weight, aspirin use, the number of cigarettes smoked per day, and family histories of heart conditions, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. When all those factors were considered, a current SSRI user, compared with a non-user, was nearly three times less likely to have a heart attack. Strictly speaking, these results apply only to smokers, but the authors see no reason to believe they would be different for people with other heart attack risk factors. Clinical depression is associated with a doubled risk of heart disease, so it's not surprising that a treatment for depression lowers the risk. The question is how the treatment works. It could be an indirect effect — people who recover from depression are more likely to exercise, eat properly, and follow medical directions. But the authors suspect that something more specific is involved. By way of its effects on hormonal and neurotransmitter activity, depression increases blood clotting, which raises the risk of a heart attack. SSRIs enhance the activity of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which tends to lower the rate of clotting.

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Date:
20 Jun 2002
Time:
01:02:40
Remote User:
Comments
Does obesity increase the risk of heart disease? Read up on that. Do ssri's cause weight gain? Read. Listen and learn. Listen to real people. Our experiences are real. Doctors are paid by the pharmaceutical companies. Medical researchers, likewise. We have nothing to gain. Real people with real experiences, or doctors under the influence of big pharma. You decide.

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Date:
20 Jun 2002
Time:
01:02:46
Remote User:
Comments
Does obesity increase the risk of heart disease? Read up on that. Do ssri's cause weight gain? Read. Listen and learn. Listen to real people. Our experiences are real. Doctors are paid by the pharmaceutical companies. Medical researchers, likewise. We have nothing to gain. Real people with real experiences, or doctors under the influence of big pharma. You decide.

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Date:
20 Jun 2002
Time:
04:41:22
Remote User:
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To GSK: Fuck you. That's right, fuck yourselves. And when your done, fuck yourselves again. Oh, don't mind me, I'm just in the throes of the non-existant paxil withdrawl. "Paxil is non habit forming". " It may cause weight loss". Ha! How do you get away with the fraud? I would really like to know. If a drug is not addictive (or, "habit-forming") then, why do so many people suffer from withdrawl? What kind of semantic mind-fuck is being pulled here, and how do you get away with it? I would like to know. If I could do it myself I could rule the world! You will soon, I would imagine. AL these compliant brain dead addicts praising the Lord PAXIL. Oh, ranting is so good! So therapeutic! If only I could take this idea, put it in pill-form. TAke the RANT PILL you'll be good as new- problem is, someone will actually have to listen to you. WE can't have that. What? You were molested as a child ? WE don't want to address ugly issues like that. Take your happy Paxil brain-fuck pill. You won't care, because we don't care. We make lots of money, and you don't. Therefore you do not exist. Your money does, however. The advertising after 911, did you think it was a "chemical imbalance" to be upset over this horror? YOU really stepped up your advertising campaign after that tragedy, taking advantage of our REAL sufferring, our NORMAL fears, and anxieties. in the wake of a real tragedy. Oh, did I say FUCK YOU? Sorry, I meant to say FUCK YOU, YOU C#$k sucking bastards. Sorry about the omission but as I said, the imaginary withdral and all..

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Date:
20 Jun 2002
Time:
04:44:09
Remote User:
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To GSK: Fuck you. That's right, fuck yourselves. And when your done, fuck yourselves again. Oh, don't mind me, I'm just in the throes of the non-existant paxil withdrawl. "Paxil is non habit forming". " It may cause weight loss". Ha! How do you get away with the fraud? I would really like to know. If a drug is not addictive (or, "habit-forming") then, why do so many people suffer from withdrawl? What kind of semantic mind-fuck is being pulled here, and how do you get away with it? I would like to know. If I could do it myself I could rule the world! You will soon, I would imagine. AL these compliant brain dead addicts praising the Lord PAXIL. Oh, ranting is so good! So therapeutic! If only I could take this idea, put it in pill-form. TAke the RANT PILL you'll be good as new- problem is, someone will actually have to listen to you. WE can't have that. What? You were molested as a child ? WE don't want to address ugly issues like that. Take your happy Paxil brain-fuck pill. You won't care, because we don't care. We make lots of money, and you don't. Therefore you do not exist. Your money does, however. The advertising after 911, did you think it was a "chemical imbalance" to be upset over this horror? YOU really stepped up your advertising campaign after that tragedy, taking advantage of our REAL sufferring, our NORMAL fears, and anxieties. in the wake of a real tragedy. Oh, did I say FUCK YOU? Sorry, I meant to say FUCK YOU, YOU C#$k sucking bastards. Sorry about the omission but as I said, the imaginary withdrawl and all.....

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Date:
20 Jun 2002
Time:
14:50:58
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Date:
20 Jun 2002
Time:
15:06:34
Remote User:
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Point one: nobody put a gun to your head and forced you to take Paxil. Point two: Everything you put into your body is going to have side effects. The fault is with all of you for not researching the drug, or if you went on it before research was available, for being naive enough to think that there were going to be absolutely NO side effects. Do you think that GSK intentionally put this out there as part of some evil plan to make all of you miserable? Point three: Yeah. Great. Get Paxil recalled. Then what the fuck am I going to do? I've been on Paxil for about a year now, and I've never felt better. I was miserable before, and probably would've been dead if it weren't for Paxil. Nothing else I tried worked. So if you don't like it, don't fucking take it, just don't ruin it for the rest of us. All these people talking about "healing" and shit need to realize that one part of maturity is taking responsibility for your own actions i.e. starting to take Paxil. I'm real sorry if you guys had bad experiences, but there's a lot of us out there that really need Paxil and like it a lot.

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Date:
20 Jun 2002
Time:
19:20:33
Remote User:
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To the asshole above here. The only research you can do on this horror of a drug is to come to sites like this and see what others are going through...EXACTLY WHAT THEY ARE GOING THROUGH!!! THAT'S HOW I FOUND OUT AND THAT IS THE ONLY WAY I COULD FIND THIS OUT!!! If you will read these posts (you can read?) you will see from many of them that there was no way they could possibly have known what side effects would occur or that withdrawal would be a particularly heinous form of hell. GSK DOES NOT TELL YOU THAT! The doctors COULDN'T TELL YOU THAT. The fact is that many many many many TOO MANY people are having their lives ruined, their bodies ruined, and some even dying because they cannot stand the drugs effect on them yet withdrawal devastates them...ALL THIS WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING. NOBODY KNOWS THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS DRUG....UNTIL WE POST HERE--THE DRUG COMPANY HAS BLATANTLY LIED TO US...PROLIFERATED FALSE ADVERTISING AND 'HOOKED IN' THE DOCTORS. It's a RUSSIAN ROULETTE GAME AND YOUR LUCKY ASS CHAMBER WAS EMPTY. I'm happy you're doing so well on it but I see you don't give a damn about anyone else's nightmarish experiences on this. Ok, so we don't give a damn about yours. Now go take your damnable drug and get the fuck off of here....

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Date:
20 Jun 2002
Time:
20:33:42
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This is to the "Paxil Lover" a note or two above mine.OK pal, you think you're doing fine now? I have a very strange feeling that your tune will change once you realize that you are an addict, and in order for you to get off of this terrible drug, chances are you will go through hell. Yeah, it made me feel better when I was on it, but when my new doctor, who was wise to this "medication" had me gradually taper off, I went through one of the worst times of my life. And although it's been a year, the psychic scars from this nightmare formula are still with me, and because of this I have had to go into counseling. I have GSK to thank for a lot of this. Imagine a drug that's supposed to help psychological problems, and in the long run causes more of them! So, my good friend, I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that there is a very good possibility that you will be in for something like this when you finally go into withdrawal. And one more thing... I'm not so sure Paxil is all that good for you even when you are taking it. I could tell you a lot of stuff about my own experiences with this "substance", but I'll spare you. However, my sincere advise to you is, for your own sake, see your doctor and have him/her help you get off of this garbage as soon as possible. GSK has lied and held back about withdrawal. Can you imagine what they must be holding back concerning what this stuff is doing to your mind and body when you are on it? Best of luck, brother, and for your sake, I hope the "Paxil withdrawal gods" are easy on you!

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Date:
20 Jun 2002
Time:
22:58:50
Remote User:
Comments
To the Paxil Junkie who loves his drug of choice: FUCK YOU! You're an addict. Period. You just wait until you try to ditch this monkey and then you'll see why there was no fucking research available to tell you why NOT to take this drug. You are a guinea pig in a massive mind control experiment. I guess it worked, because you are freaking brainwashed. Hey, why not miss a few doses and see what happens? Oh, and the best part will be that after missing a few doses, and taking your regular dose to kill with excruciating withdrawals, that dose will not longer work and you will have to keep upping your dose until your nerve endings FRY!!! Yes, that's right. FRY! And the very best part will be when you do try to get off the drug for good, you might not be able to and you will have to spend $100 a month to stay addicted. Whooopppeee. You deserve this shit, you arrogant little fart. Very few people are immune to the terror of withdrawals from this poison. Happy trails, bucko.

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Date:
21 Jun 2002
Time:
02:46:11
Remote User:
Comments
Where to start.....I cannot believe this drug is doing this to me. I am 32, I've got a couple of master's degrees, I have a wonderful husband, I work as a pastor taking care of other people and I've had a couple mild depressions over the years. The one last year turned rather profound, and I went on paxil (my first time on meds) because I couldn't watch one of those damned Zoloft commercials (the one with the sad little bubble hiding under a rock) without crying. Should have asked for the Zoloft, by the way. Anyway, the paxil worked wonders. I had a little dizziness going 'up' and then months of very even mood, though I was fairly lethargic most of the time. So, it comes time to get off the paxil and who would have ever guessed it could be like this. I was on 20 mg for a year, then went to 15 for two weeks, then 10 for a month, and four days ago I went down to 5. Every time I drop, I have two weeks of hell. I have these indescribable buzzes that move through my head. I can feel them and hear them and they've got to be little miniseizures of some sort; they are that irrepressible and scary. On top of that, every time I move my eyes, there is a whooshing sound/feeling and I feel dizzy. In fact, movement of any kind sends me reeling and the nausea is like a bad day at an amusement park -- it's like being car-sick 24/7. It doesn't matter if I eat or don't eat, I sit here wanting to puke. I have this odd dizziness/vertigo like my head doesn't keep up with my eyes and occasional crying fits/panic attacks that are all centered on the fact that I feel like I'm going CRAZY. Oh yeah, and for some reason my lips and the skin around my mouth tingle and feel numb. And I have had so many migraines I'm almost out of medicine for them. My insurance only gives me six pills per month. I usually go through three in a month and I've eaten six in the last 10 days. I had no idea this could all be related to the paxil withdrawal and went online to try and figure out what dreaded disease I must have -- multiple sclerosis seemed the obvious choice -- I had almost every symptom -- and I made a doctor's appointment until I happened across your site, quite by accident. I cannot believe one little pill can cause this much suffering. I have been able to combat some of the nausea with Dramamine (thank God for whoever put that helpful hint up on your site), but anything like riding in a car is unbearable. I've canceled two commitments this week simply because I couldn't bear to be in the car long enough to get to them. I have been unable to function for 5 out of the past 7 weeks. I am sleeping like 15 hours a day (probably from the dramamine), which is good because being conscious really sucks. I've had to tell my churchpeople (my employers) that I'm a mess because of paxil withdrawal, which is information I did not want to share but I'm sitting there with my head buzzing, missing commitments and they can tell something's very wrong. I am so pissed off I don't know what to do. And I haven't even gone to 0mg yet. And today I sat and listened to another Paxil commercial on the TV where they had the nerve to say again, "and paxil is not habit forming". I quit smoking years ago. I've quit some other nasty stuff, too, and none of it was as scary and bad as quitting paxil. Not habit forming, my ass. Anyway, thanks for giving me space to rant and for your site -- you have no idea how you've saved my sanity these past weeks. At least I know that I don't have MS and that I will get through this and when it gets so bad that I'm sitting here shaking and crying, I know that I'm not alone or crazy. That's a great gift.

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Date:
21 Jun 2002
Time:
13:07:18
Remote User:
Comments
I would like to force feed all GSK management with high doses of Paxil for a few months, then cut them off COLD TURKEY!!!! I would then let them all suffer together on an island where they could have anything except what they need for withdrawal relief. They would be shown to the world, televised nightly as they suffer. I would call the show Paxil Island. I have tried to get off this evil concoction many timed over the last 5 years and have been unsuccessful. I have all the classic symtoms on every attempt, plus one I call "Non Existance Event" My brain literally stops processing for a few seconds. It gets worse as time goes on during gradual withdrawl. I am currently taking 30mg a day with no hope of stopping. I wish I was back to just being a little depressed, before I started taking Paxil. I HOPE GSK GETS SUED INTO NON EXISTANCE, AND ALL ITS UPPER MANAGEMENT AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL FOR 20+ YEARS.

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Date:
21 Jun 2002
Time:
13:55:55
Remote User:
Comments
I'm a 20+ year veteran of a vestibular disorder -- VERTIGO!! HA! Five years ago I was still highly functioning but after having been placed on PAXIL for the anxiety caused by the disorder my life is now a living hell. 40 lbs. heavier and addicted to the drug. I've tried a dozen times in the past to quit with no success but this time I will conquer it one way or the other!!! I quit cold-turkey four days ago after having successfully trimmed down from 40 mg to 20mg. It's the last 20mg I can't live without!! Currently I sit here barely able to move my fingers due to the racking, uncontrollable muscle cramps, electrical charges, jaw clenching, and ANGER I feel. Here's how I started the process: TUESDAY -- I prayed unlike anything I've done, followed by night sweats, jaw clenching and nightmares I've yet been able to put in words. WEDNESDAY - much the same. THURSDAY - all hell broke loose. After hours of struggling alone, I walked to the kitchen for a bucket of icewater and fell apart. I knew that if I stopped moving I'd die. So I walked back and forth for hours with icepacks on my neck, face and jaws. When the breakdowns hit I slid down the walls and cried /shook until it passed. I crawled my way back up and started walking again. NOW: I've had to stop and do the same thing!! Keep moving... don't sit down...

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Date:
21 Jun 2002
Time:
15:01:25
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
21 Jun 2002
Time:
15:14:15
Remote User:
Comments
I have read most of the postings of this site. It's taken me over 2 weeks to do this as I must stop several times because of the excruciating headaches I have been having for the last 3 weeks of weaning myself off this drug from hell. I have been on 20 mg. of paxil for 4 years now. I went looking on the web about a month or so ago for any info related to this because of all the screwed up things that have been happening to me. As like most of you, I have been tested over and over, and "nothing wrong" with me. The only thing I could think of is that this so called "helpful pill" has slowly destroyed me as a person...mentally and physically. I am taking 20 mg. one day and 10 mg the next...been doing this for 3 weeks, and I am NOT NEAR ready to take it down to the next level yet...I am not sure when I will be able to. A sloooow process, and I am sick and tired of all the side effects... weight gain, no periods for over 2 yrs now, headaches, body aches, weird dreams, body acne, altered thinking from day to day, physically bed ridden for 6 or more days a month (on my worst days)... I have been to my doctor over the past year about all the above side effects...and all have been treated individually, but not once has he mentioned that any of this might be related to the paxil. I am at my wits end, and have done my research here and now taking matters into my own hands.. I am glad I found this site, and unfortunately for all of us here, I feel right at home with all of you. I am not a minority in my own drugged up hell. I NOW KNOW what all has been happening to me. No use telling my doctor. I will just go along getting my refills for this garbage until I can get off it slowly and become paxil free. There is hundreds of us posting on here ! Is there nothing we can do as a group to go after GSK? I am willing to join the bandwagon...this is the most horrible thing to happen in medicine to all of us. Feel free to send me an email...I will listen to you, and I need the support as well. Glad I was able to post today ( I am having a "rare" good day, and was able to write) gingerbabe@excite.com feel free to drop a line to me, we can all help each other through this !!

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Date:
21 Jun 2002
Time:
20:44:09
Remote User:
Comments
Thank you for the much needed information! I have had almost all the symtons in 2 days after only being on it for less than 4 weeks. I have been so sick today and was thinking that I was imanging all of it. I had to rush to batroom from a store to a nearby gym to the bathroom I was so sick. i came back home but I cant sit still or rest. I just called to get Jeff to bring me something called emitrol for Nausea. I have had thoughts that I have never had before since this medicine. Denise Brock dbrock14@aol.com Rainbow City Al.

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Date:
22 Jun 2002
Time:
00:14:12
Remote User:
Comments
No solution in a pill. These anti-depressants are harmful. I'll admit they do offer some releif but it is short lived and eventually they lose their effectiveness. The problem is that the side effects and harm it causes aren't worth the benefits. Side effects include apathy, feeling weak, loss of sexual ability,weight gain, panic attacks, and the shocks and nausea associated with the drug withdrawel. Its gotten to the point where I can't take the pills anymore. Non-drug approaches are the only long term solution. CBT behavioral therapy is scientifcally proven. There are natual supplements that can facialitate neurotransmission naturally without the harmful side effects. These include cardio exercise, st. johns wort,sam-e, certain amino acids,5-HTP, b vitamin complex and so on.

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Date:
22 Jun 2002
Time:
01:13:42
Remote User:
Comments
I posted 2 messages up from this one... My email address is ginger_babe@excite.com was posted incorrectly..

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Date:
23 Jun 2002
Time:
03:52:55
Remote User:
Comments
I've read all the posts on this thread. On the one hand, Paxil-Hell, Paxil-Poison, uncomfortable discontinuation effects. On the other hand, Paxil reduces depression which causes heart disease, stroke, suicide, atrophy of key parts of the brain (hippocampus). Paxil and other SSRIs cut risk of heart disease by 65%, cut suicides, restore mental health and happiness. Sites like Harvard University support efficacy of antidepressants. Sites like this exaggerate, distort, spin space-cadet such as CIA-Drug company conspiracies. There are some real legitimate complaints about the SSRIs, and many legitimate complaints on this site (gaining weight, insomnia, nausea, sexual dysfunction, unpleasant discontinuation effects), but far too many posts are brainless tantrums and delusional fantasies.

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Date:
23 Jun 2002
Time:
12:46:12
Remote User:
Comments
I took paxil for about 7 months to treat my anxiety. While it did help me, the side effects coming off it were intolerable. To make matters worse, my doctor didn't believe me, even laughed at me. Then he would tell me to go back on it. I was only on it for a short time, and the zaps were awful. I had intense vertigo. The only thing that helped was to stand or sit up. I slept, if you could call it sleeping, sitting up for 2 months. The worst part is during this whole thing, I would think about killing me and everyone around me, and I've never ever thought about suicide before. I would just sit around and cry all day. No one understood. I thought I was going crazy. My prayers go out to everyone coming off it. It got better for me after the 2nd week. If I could give anyone some advice it would be, Don't go off it cold turkey! WEAN! It really is a lot easier. It sucks though. And it just goes to show how the big drug companies really do have the doctors in their pockets.

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Date:
23 Jun 2002
Time:
14:20:41
Remote User:
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Date:
24 Jun 2002
Time:
01:52:40
Remote User:
Comments
I have been on anti-depressant meds for about a year and a half. I was having severe panic attacks and as a result ended up afraid to drive, leave the house, etc. I took Effexor for about 7 months and gained about 25 pounds. I was then prescribed Paxil. I was happy to take it as the ads led me to believe it would not have the weight gain associated with the other meds and help my depression and anxiety. Boy was I wrong! On Paxil, I had no energy and NO desire to do anything. I was always hungry and gained another 30 pounds. Finally, I had enough and decided to wean off under my doctor's supervision. I decreased my 20 mg. dose to 10 mg., then to 5 mg. and then 5 mg. every other day. The first few days without Paxil seemed fine and then about the 4th day it hit me. Even with the reduced dosage, I am just coming out of a 2 week period of extreme withdrawal symptoms. Exhaustion, muscle pain/weakness, dizziness, horrific dreams, extreme nausea, trouble walking and keeping my balance. I am going into my 3rd week without the Paxil and I am having chest pain, difficulty swallowing and stomach cramping. I feel like I have cotton balls stuck in my throat. I am also really mean right now but I am determined to beat this! Up until I read this site, I was convinced I was having a heart attack. Everyone that is experiencing withdrawals, hang in there! You can do it!!!

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Date:
24 Jun 2002
Time:
01:53:08
Remote User:
Comments
I have been on anti-depressant meds for about a year and a half. I was having severe panic attacks and as a result ended up afraid to drive, leave the house, etc. I took Effexor for about 7 months and gained about 25 pounds. I was then prescribed Paxil. I was happy to take it as the ads led me to believe it would not have the weight gain associated with the other meds and help my depression and anxiety. Boy was I wrong! On Paxil, I had no energy and NO desire to do anything. I was always hungry and gained another 30 pounds. Finally, I had enough and decided to wean off under my doctor's supervision. I decreased my 20 mg. dose to 10 mg., then to 5 mg. and then 5 mg. every other day. The first few days without Paxil seemed fine and then about the 4th day it hit me. Even with the reduced dosage, I am just coming out of a 2 week period of extreme withdrawal symptoms. Exhaustion, muscle pain/weakness, dizziness, horrific dreams, extreme nausea, trouble walking and keeping my balance. I am going into my 3rd week without the Paxil and I am having chest pain, difficulty swallowing and stomach cramping. I feel like I have cotton balls stuck in my throat. I am also really mean right now but I am determined to beat this! Up until I read this site, I was convinced I was having a heart attack. Everyone that is experiencing withdrawals, hang in there! You can do it!!!

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Date:
25 Jun 2002
Time:
00:10:52
Remote User:
Comments
I have been off Paxil (40mg) for almost a week. Severe nausea and my head and chest are always pounding. Uncontrollble crying. i have gained about 30 pounds. I am sweating at night and have weird dreams.

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Date:
25 Jun 2002
Time:
00:48:56
Remote User:
Comments
Damn my whole head is glitching. Did any one see the matrix. My brain feels like theres a glitch in the matrix going on inside it. Ive been lowering my dose for 3 weeks and im about ready to scream. Its so irritating. I will NEVER EVER take another SSRI for as long as I live. Thanks so much to GSK and the FDA for doing their usual shitty job of warning the public.

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Date:
25 Jun 2002
Time:
05:21:34
Remote User:
Comments
GSK-When I first started Paroxetine, it made me go so loopy. I thought it was supposed to make me feel like that and 6 weeks later when my mood dropped, my G.P. increased the dosage. I just found out 1 week ago, that this medication wasn't suitable for me and was given a plan to wean off. By day 3, I thought I was going fucking mad and nobody was listening to me. It was only by reading some of the websites on the net , that I realised I wasn't alone. When, I rang to talk to the psychiatrist at the hospital, he told me he had never heard of people having withdrawal from coming off the tablets and there was nothing in his manual about it. He told me to go to my G.P. and get him check me out. It makes me so angry, that the same doctor who wrongly prescribed these pills in the first place, knew exactly that I was suffering from withdrawal, yet the psychiatrists in the mental health system, who know best about prescribing these type of pills, didn't have a fucking clue about withdrawal symptoms. GSK, it think it is time that you came fucking clean and informed all doctors, psychiatrists and patients about the potential withdrawal effects of this medication. I live in hope that once I totally get off these pills, my life for not just myself, but for my 3 kids and husband, gets back to normal.

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Date:
25 Jun 2002
Time:
05:21:40
Remote User:
Comments
GSK-When I first started Paroxetine, it made me go so loopy. I thought it was supposed to make me feel like that and 6 weeks later when my mood dropped, my G.P. increased the dosage. I just found out 1 week ago, that this medication wasn't suitable for me and was given a plan to wean off. By day 3, I thought I was going fucking mad and nobody was listening to me. It was only by reading some of the websites on the net , that I realised I wasn't alone. When, I rang to talk to the psychiatrist at the hospital, he told me he had never heard of people having withdrawal from coming off the tablets and there was nothing in his manual about it. He told me to go to my G.P. and get him check me out. It makes me so angry, that the same doctor who wrongly prescribed these pills in the first place, knew exactly that I was suffering from withdrawal, yet the psychiatrists in the mental health system, who know best about prescribing these type of pills, didn't have a fucking clue about withdrawal symptoms. GSK, it think it is time that you came fucking clean and informed all doctors, psychiatrists and patients about the potential withdrawal effects of this medication. I live in hope that once I totally get off these pills, my life for not just myself, but for my 3 kids and husband, gets back to normal.

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Date:
25 Jun 2002
Time:
10:09:08
Remote User:
Comments
I was on paxil about three years started at 10mg moved to 20's . I gained over 40 lbs. I saw a new MD he said go to 40mg and see him in three months. About 5 weeks ago I started to cut the 40's in half. I saw my MD last week and he said that was such a small dosage, I should just go cold turkey. It's been eight days now. I cry at the drop of a hat and I'm very irratable. I've felt dizzy which I hadn't realized was the withdrawal. I know I'll be ok but I just want to lose this weight and to stop being so emotional. Good luck to you all and may God bless you all in this difficult time for us.

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Date:
25 Jun 2002
Time:
16:43:17
Remote User:
Comments
i am so messed up trying to get off this paxil.even with the help of a specialist who gave me klonopin to help i still wake up dizzy and nausiated but at least i am not having the tremors(because of klonopin). today I've been sleeping from 12noon untill 5 and am afraid to get up. this paxil sucks and i pray to God its errased from this earth!!!!

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Date:
25 Jun 2002
Time:
23:51:22
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
26 Jun 2002
Time:
11:48:04
Remote User:
Comments
I was utilizing Paxil for at most two months - my first reaction was wow this is incredible -I was able to function in public situations whereas needless to say previously i was not able to do so however upon forgetting to take my pill one morning while at work - I felt the withdrawal immediately - I felt extremely angry and irritated and for no apparent reason -I felt as I have never felt before -My body ached -I felt confused mentally and terrified not knowing what was happening to me - I never took paxil again - recently as of this week I was contemplating resuming the Paxil as I am starting to feel depressed again and having trouble leaving my home without having someone with me - I remember feeling how wonderful it was to be "normal" like Paxil was a miracle pill - I thought maybe my withdrawal experience was a fluke now after finding this page and reading all of this I will not ever consider Paxil again – Thanks to you all for saving me the grief… I must add I benefited from Prozac for 3 years with no problems aside from the first two weeks that my body adjusted.

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Date:
26 Jun 2002
Time:
13:30:01
Remote User:
Comments
I am a 34 year old mother of 4 children ages 2, 3 , 5 & 7 and I feel almost all of the symptoms listed on this site. I have gone off 20mg. Paxil cold turkey and it's only the 3rd day. I'm very glad that I found this site or I would have ended up in an emergency room or worse. I don't know how much worse this is going to get, if the electric shocks are not enough! I experienced some of the withdraw symptoms before I even went cold turkey, like the vivid dreams and sweats so I hope that I am not in for a worse ride then some of the stories I have read. I will not go back on this drug no matter how bad this thing gets. I am afriad of it...I pray that I get throught this and If I do I will do my best to warn anybody that is thinking of going on this drug to seek alternatives. This is worse then the horrible anxiety attacks that led me to Paxil in the first place..I have lost the love of my life and I hope not to loose my life itself.........

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Date:
26 Jun 2002
Time:
14:12:55
Remote User:
Comments
INFORMATION ON OVERDOSE OF GRAVOL

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Date:
27 Jun 2002
Time:
04:45:11
Remote User:
Comments
GSK: Thanks for making my life a living hell.

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Date:
27 Jun 2002
Time:
23:54:01
Remote User:
Comments
Chris, I am the one who wants to get pregnant but cannot thanks to paxil and xanax. I will check out the websites you have requested. Thank you so much. All I can do for myself and for all other sufferes on this medication (evil drug) is pray for us all that we can all defeat these withdraws, zaps and all. God please put your hands on all of us and help us your children to beat this. God bless you all. Is there any possible way to take this manufacturer down leagly???? Is there a form we can all sign? Please let me know. This shouldn't be legal at all. "o.k. your suffering from panic attacks, depression, ocd, etc. Let's put you on paxil and xanax. Good luck getting off of it though." Why don't they tell us that in the first place? Why let us all suffer like this. This is more depressing trying to get off of this horrible drug, than it was having attacks. And to the person that wrote it is our faults for not doing the research on the drugs itself, We as Human Beings trust our Doctors judgement. That is what they go to school for right. We are not all analysts. We trust their judgement and do what they say. It is not fair that you blame our suffering on us. Had we all known about these horrible side effects I guarentee that there wouldn't even be this web-site. Shame on you for judging us for trusting our Doctor who put us on this garbage. And if you are not a suffer of these horrible side effects, you should take your little self with your little words and get a life and quit picking on those who thought they were making the right decision to get help. Go find another web-site for people who need a life and want to pick on others, maybe you can have your own web-site being as you know it all. Again shame on you. This is supposed to be a support site, not a put us down site. Shame on you. Didn't you Mother teach you, "IF YOU CAN'T SAY ANYTHING NICE THAN DON'T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL". To my fellow sufferes, God bless you and lets stick together. I am going to another Doctor to see if he can wein me off my meds correctly so I can get pregnant. Please for those who believe in Jesus, please pray for me and I will pray for you all. God bless. Shelly.

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Date:
28 Jun 2002
Time:
00:55:22
Remote User:
Comments
I have been on Paxil for 3 years after experiencing 1 year of Post-Partum Psychosis fallowing the birth of my son. I have tried to get off the drug about 5 times, and was shocked the first time I went from 20mg to 10mg. I lasted 2 days before I had to go up to 20 again. One year ago I tried and went smoothly from 30mg to 20 mg and from 20mg to 15mg but I couldn't get below 15mg successfully because I work, have 2 kids and was constantly fatigued with vertigo, irritability, crying, anxiety, extreme headaches, loss of appetite. So today I am on 30 mg and am pleased with who I am and how I cope while I am on the Paxil, but I dread the idea of being on any drug for the rest of my life, and I also fear the day I must go off in order to get onto something else. I fear that the drug will one day be recalled and I will become a murderous lunatic. I tell anybody and everybody who is facing anti depressant perscription NOT to take Paxil, no matter what the Dr. says. I do not believe that GSK set out to line their pockets with our pain, but it is now clear that there is a problem and they really need to be taking the drug off the shelf for NEW patients, and help us through this turmoil. I am not a fanatic but then again, we'll see how kind and understanding my message is when I am on day 3 of withdrawl! To this day, after 48 hours without a pill, I begin to withdraw. As soon as I get a headache or dizziness my first thought is "Did I miss my Paxil yesterday?" I shouldn't be frantic to find a Dr. when I am out of town to find out I forgot my Paxil at home. This drug is a major nuissance and my Dr. said nothing about the hell it could be. My Dr. knew my plight, gave me perscription and I trusted him to know well. He may not have known then, but certainly does now, and I'll bet he still gives out Paxil to new patients. If GSK would spend some of their billions of dollars figuring out how to get their clients OFF of their drug, I would be somewhat appreciative. They are probably saying that there is no hard, scientific evidence that our symptoms are from Paxil, but that is as blatantly silly as the Tobacco companies denying that their product has anything to do with cancer.

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Date:
28 Jun 2002
Time:
01:27:42
Remote User:
Comments
Dear GSK: Thank you sooo much for developing this wonderful drug--Paxil--that has helped so many millions of people experience happier lives--including me. The short-term side effects, such as nausea, fatigue, insomnia are irritating, but pale in comparison to the wonderful benefits of Paxil. Paxil saves hundreds of thousands of lives by reducing suicide and heart disease. Your scientists deserve a medal for developing it. From a very happy Paxil User

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Date:
28 Jun 2002
Time:
03:40:02
Remote User:
Comments
Are you really a happy paxil user, or do you work for gsk? Either way, FUCK YOU!

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Date:
28 Jun 2002
Time:
12:01:16
Remote User:
Comments
To the GSK representative posting 1 post above here. Have you no conscience at all? Guess not.... damage done by this stuff is not your concern is it? No, profits certainly are aren't they?

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Date:
28 Jun 2002
Time:
12:22:35
Remote User:
Comments
Dear Happy Paxil User: Do you know why Phen-Fen and Redux (also SSRIS) were yanked from the market??? They caused heart valve damage. I would suspect that in the years to come, we will see that Paxil cures aboslutely nothing, but it actually MAY CAUSE heart problems. We know that it causes suicide and murder. You are obviously in pharmaceutical LaLa land with your beloved Paxil. Just WAIT until you try to get off this shit. You have no idea what's in store for you, and I'll just bet that you'll be one of the many who will be screaming at the top of your lungs about what a dangerous drug this is. You're too neurochemically blissed out to understand that the very science behind how Paxil works is completely BOGUS!

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Date:
28 Jun 2002
Time:
22:38:04
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
28 Jun 2002
Time:
22:45:59
Remote User:
Comments
I wrote on the 28th for the first time, I had Post Partum Psychosis 3 years ago and have been on Paxil ever since. Upon reading the rants and reflecting on my own experiences with Paxil, I feel it is crucial for me to get off of the drug ASAP, but I am afraid of the withdrawl again. I have to work right now while my husband is on disability for 3 more months. We have a 6 year old and a 4 year old. I am 26 and also studying nursing. With this full plate, I need some advice from you all on how to make the weaning the least painful. I have experienced depression 5 times since I was 15 and have been suicidal in the past. I feel great now on 30mg, and know I must be on something for now. Is it possible to wean off of Paxil while starting on something else and eventually ccompletely trading one for the other? I have coped well in the past on Ativan as well. Should, or rather, can I take a lot (probably 6-8 pills a day) of ativan while I wean off of the Paxil? And what kind of pain med (ibuprofen or acetaminophen) could I take when symptoms become painful? I am not big on drugs but am willing to do what it takes to get me and my family through withdrawl safely. Please address your responses to PPD (post partum depression).

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Date:
29 Jun 2002
Time:
00:04:07
Remote User:
Comments
It's PPD! I just read J.B's article on easing withdrawl symptoms. Whad'ya know, every question I asked answered! Thanks!

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Date:
29 Jun 2002
Time:
06:41:05
Remote User:
Comments
LOL... to all the recent Paxil Lovers. It really has done you TONS of good. Your life must be AMAZING now. Its improved your life style SO MUCH that you're busy living it, busy enjoying it, out and about, taking in all the experiences that human beings should. OFLMAO : SO WHY ARE YOU SPENDING YOUR TIME ON THE INTERNET ON WITHDRAWAL SUPPORT SITES POSTING ON RANT BOARDS. DOESN'T SEEM TO HAVE REALLY DONE MUCH TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE THEN, DOES IT! And for the 'delusional fantasies' message poster WELL... Do more research. BUT.. if it were DELUSIONAL FANTASY, then - it would be an effect of this mind-altering psychotropic drug anyway. ANYWAY, TO ALL YOU PAXIL DEFENDERS - GET YOURSELVES A LIFE OFF SUPPORT BOARDS IF YOU FEEL PAXIL HAS HELPED YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH - IF IT DOESN'T ADVERSELY AFFECT YOU THEN SURELY YOU DONT NEED A SUPPORT BOARD, SO WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? JUST GET A LIFE!! Peagee

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Date:
29 Jun 2002
Time:
06:56:22
Remote User:
Comments
FOR GODS SAKE, I had a life before PAxil.. I CERTAINLY WOULDN'T WANT TO BE WASTING MY LIFE on RANT BOARDS IN SUPPORT FORUMS IF I WERE BACK TO NORMAL. There is SO MUCH life out there to experience. So much to do. So much to see. So much to achieve. AND PAXIL LOVERS SPEND TIME SEARCHING OUT THESE BOARDS WHEN PAXIL HAS DONE SO MUCH TO ENHANCE THEIR LIVES? OFLMAO..... If this is the best you can do with an enhanced, paxil-improved lifestyle I DREAD to think how much of your life you must have wasted before you ever felt you needed the stuff... WHAT A HOOT! Whatever reason you came in here to praise Paxil, you've certainly given an insight as to how much it 'improves' your life. LOL, I hope plenty of people read your posts and realise that Paxil at its best has its fan club's wasting time and energy on boards they say they don't need! SO, THATS what it does for your life when it works WELL? AMAZING! GOD, how I wished it had done that for me. I'd be spending my valuable life achieving nothing but looking up support boards that I wouldn't need so I can post on them. The withdrawal symptoms feel unbearable, but not as unbearable as the idea of being so chemically lobotomised that I'd end up living life believing I was enhanced by a drug and, at the same time, not really 'living' (in the full sense of the word) AT ALL. Either its that or you must be getting paid pretty well for such a pointless task as posting on these sites ... Peagee

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Date:
29 Jun 2002
Time:
07:12:15
Remote User:
Comments
PS to the Paxil lovers: if you ARE getting paid for defending Paxil, then you should be prepared to lose your job cos you're probably the best adverts AGAINST the use of Paxil on this rant board LOL. Paxil Chemical Lobotomy adverts OFLMAO.... Peagee

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Date:
29 Jun 2002
Time:
07:21:33
Remote User:
Comments
OH and to the PERSON WHO SAYS ITS OUT OWN FAULT WE SHOULD HAVE RESEARCHED. YOu are SO PATHETIC. WHERE DO YOU THINK THE RESEARCH NOW AVAILABLE CAME FROM? AND WHO DO YOU THINK SHOULD BE SUPPLYING THE INFORMATION? AND WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE A COMPUTER. AND WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE WHO RESEARCH BUT ARE THEN TOLD BY PROFESSIONALS THAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS WITHDRAWAL AND THAT ITS JUST INTERNET HYPE? HUH? The only way YOU can research is because other victims have posted their experiences. Unless, of course,you have access to the undisclosed researh results from the pharma. DUH... yet another chemically lobotomised sterilised tunnel visioned paxil-happy poster wasting valuable time on the internet defending drugs... Peagee

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Date:
29 Jun 2002
Time:
07:23:56
Remote User:
Comments
I don't know why I am wasting my time and energy writing to you fucking idiots(GSK)again but I just wanted to add the latest developments in the course of my withdrawal from Paroxetine. Day 12 of withdrawal and I feel like every major system in my body is up the shit. My digestive system is fucked and I'm now on medication to stop the nausea and vomiting. My kidneys ache so bad. My whole female hormonal system is stuffed, the sharp pains in my ovaries are causing extreme discomfort, it's probably just as well that I don't want to have any more kids because I think your stupid fucking tablets have put an end to my child bearing days. The panic attacks are still coming full on several times a day. Would somebody from GSK like to make a response to this site because I'd really like to hear what you think about all these complaints. I personally would like to put every single one of you idiots who support the use and manufacture of this product on trial, as guineapigs, on a high dosage for a period of 6 months or more and then watch as you all go cold turkey, in front of an audience of all the sufferers of withdrawal from this medication. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, MAKE MY DAY GSK AND MAKE A RESPONSE TO THIS SITE.

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Date:
29 Jun 2002
Time:
07:40:14
Remote User:
Comments
AND by the way. I DID my research. I had post op blues due to a sudden unexpected absence of oestrogen. I had never heard of SSRI's and I listened to my doctor when he prescribed it because he was medically trained and I am not. I then researched correctly by thoroughly reading through the information sheet that went with the medication, because it was written by the manufacturers of the drug who employ scientists to research and report on the drugs. I took note of the listed side effects and possible 'mild flu like symptoms' that I MIGHT (if I was one of a 'rare' minority) experience. THAT IS THE RESEARCH THE PATIENT IS SUPPOSED TO DO. THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO RELY ON ETHICAL RESEARCH HAVING ALREADY BEEN UNDERTAKEN BY THE EXPERTS - because the average patient is neither medically trained or has a degree in biochemistry. WE ARE SUPPOSED TO RELY ON OUR DOCTORS AND THE MANUFACTURERS EXPERTS FOR RELIABLE INFORMATION. BECAUSE WE ARE NOT THE EXPERTS... THEY ARE. And we don't expect them to mislead us. And we are entitled to honest disclosure as we have no way of scientifically studying the effects of drugs ourselves. I hope the 'you should have researched' poster understands what I'm saying? Or is it too difficult a concept for you? Peagee

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Date:
29 Jun 2002
Time:
07:42:26
Remote User:
Comments
Um... I think thats it. Thats my rants for the week over LOL. Lots of love to all (well all those people who are suffering because of Paxil). Peagee

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Date:
29 Jun 2002
Time:
11:15:10
Remote User:
Comments
Paxil has ruined my life!!! How dare you put this dibilitating drug on the market without first informing the public of ALL it's detrimental side effects!! I was a very happy, smiling healthcare worker, until I was prescribed Paxil for a bit of depression I was suffering due to my father's dying of cancer. I have since been unable to work and lead a normal life since experiencing the side effects of the drug and the side effects connected to withdrawal. Is the profit worth all the peoples' lives that this drug has ruined. As angry as I am, I hope that your loved ones never have to suffer the way I have. I would not wish this experience on anyone!!!

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Date:
29 Jun 2002
Time:
11:15:16
Remote User:
Comments
Paxil has ruined my life!!! How dare you put this dibilitating drug on the market without first informing the public of ALL it's detrimental side effects!! I was a very happy, smiling healthcare worker, until I was prescribed Paxil for a bit of depression I was suffering due to my father's dying of cancer. I have since been unable to work and lead a normal life since experiencing the side effects of the drug and the side effects connected to withdrawal. Is the profit worth all the peoples' lives that this drug has ruined. As angry as I am, I hope that your loved ones never have to suffer the way I have. I would not wish this experience on anyone!!!

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Date:
30 Jun 2002
Time:
08:14:45
Remote User:
Comments
I am on my fourth day of reducing my dosage of paxil. The withdrawal symptoms have not be too bad but I can tell I am in for a wild ride. I am very disappointed that my doctor did not tell me about the possbile difficulty in getting off this drug. So far I have only suffered the sweats, dizziness, and lack of concentration. I do not believe that doctors should be handing out drugs without being totally honest about all the effects you might experience. Wish me luck!

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Date:
01 Jul 2002
Time:
03:29:55
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
01 Jul 2002
Time:
10:35:04
Remote User:
Comments
I was never told by my Dr. that xanax was addicting...I was on 3 mg a day now i'm tryng to go down to two mg. My eyesight is terrible, I get very dizzy and I cry alot. Still having panic attacts!!!!!!!!! How do I get off this crap?

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Date:
01 Jul 2002
Time:
10:38:51
Remote User:
Comments
I WAS ALSO PUT ON PAXIL TO 'HELP' ME TO WEAN OFF THE XANAX......THAT JUST MADE THINGS WORSE! 2 WEEKS ON PAXIL..EYESIGHT FAILING, DIZZINESS, SCREWED UP STOMACH..YOU NAME IT. I HAD TO TAKE A MEDICAL LEAVE FROM WORK BECAUSE I DRIVE FOR A LIVING. YOU WANT TO PAY MY BILLS???

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Date:
02 Jul 2002
Time:
11:16:52
Remote User:
Comments
I would like to thank all of you for the information about what you have been through or are going through. I have quit cold turkey from the paxil about a week ago and did not know anything about what I might have to look forward too in the weeks ahead..( a little humor, it feels better to laugh than to contiue to cry). I was on Effexor before I starting taking the Paxil. I too had been many of the same side effects, like headaches, blurred vision, the out of body feelings while taking the Effexor, so I called the Doc who put me on the Paxil. I have gained 25 pounds in the last two yrs and have diareaha. I thought I was the only one going through all of this and felt very crazy. The confusion and difficulty expressing myself kept me from being able to make my family understand what i was feeling. My husband and three girls, whom i stay home with, would see me screaming like a maniac and then burst into tears. Great for your 2, 4 and 7 year olds to see their mom doing! My whole family just started to steer clear of me! Dont blame them really... Anyways, i am still recovery from the withdrawal, but this site has helped me to make my family understand I really am not crazy! I just want to thank all of you for your support and information. So there is a lot of good comming out of our experience, we are keeping others from this HELL! Like you I am very upset and disturbed that this could happen to us and the drug companies not feel it is important to reveal! But we do have a voice and we will be heard! Keep up the support !

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Date:
02 Jul 2002
Time:
16:39:16
Remote User:
Comments
I have been taking paroxetine for 18 months amd have been trying to come off it for the last 4 months. My face is permanently tingling, I feel as though I'm gonna fall over every time I stand up. I have a permanent headache, cry for no reason at all. I can't breathe, I can't sleep. I feel worse now than when I first started taking the drug. And at the time I was assured it was non addictive. I've now been prescribed tranquilisers to help me cope with the withdrawl effects of the paroxetine. It's ruining my life. Thanks for nothing GSK.

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Date:
03 Jul 2002
Time:
07:15:59
Remote User:
Comments
The Zaps are almost constant... 24/7 since the first day i went off paxil. They're driving me nuts, and there's nothing I can do about it. I can't walk down the sidewalk without zaps hitting me, for several seconds, giving me a second of reprieve, then starting again. It's been 5 days now. I was in a county system in Virginia, which provided meds. Now I'm in a different state without residency, or meds, (I lost my job due to depression). Paxil had lost it's effect a couple of months ago, but taking it kept the withdrawal/zaps away. I wish I had tried something else, or nothing at all.

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Date:
03 Jul 2002
Time:
07:16:13
Remote User:
Comments
The Zaps are almost constant... 24/7 since the first day i went off paxil. They're driving me nuts, and there's nothing I can do about it. I can't walk down the sidewalk without zaps hitting me, for several seconds, giving me a second of reprieve, then starting again. It's been 5 days now. I was in a county system in Virginia, which provided meds. Now I'm in a different state without residency, or meds, (I lost my job due to depression). Paxil had lost it's effect a couple of months ago, but taking it kept the withdrawal/zaps away. I wish I had tried something else, or nothing at all.

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Date:
03 Jul 2002
Time:
13:00:58
Remote User:
Comments
I'm on 40mgs a day and recently had to go at least a week without it because I ran out. I had no idea the hell I was in for. First there were the back to back nightmares every time I slept and a couple days later upset stomach set in. I couldn't keep anything down. As a crank addict, I am very familiar with the term "dope-sick". Well, this is the same thing. The only difference is that paxil is legal dope.

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Date:
05 Jul 2002
Time:
03:36:49
Remote User:
Comments
In March 2001 I started on 20 mgs. By the time school ran out, I also ran out of paxil. I didn't have any other insurance but schools, I even called my physciatrist who recommended the drug. He would not do anything over the phone or fax diddly squat for me. THe point is, I felt like I was going crazy. I was nauseous, dizzy, I had headaches, I was extremely weak - so weak I was afraid to move! It scared the living shit out of me. On Oct 10, I was hit with Bacterial Meningitis. For three months I was in intensive care and was not receiving Paxil. For the times I was concious, I was crying all the time and had moments where I was angry or upset about anything. When I made i to rehab the crying was so often and I felt so miserable, my father finally said to a nurse "Please give her, her paxil again. Up it if you have to because it looks like it'll never end." So ever since then I've been on 40mg and so far I just don't want to go to bed and my anxieties differ from day to day after surviving meningitis. I am scared to death to even try to get off it in any way.

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Date:
05 Jul 2002
Time:
20:48:26
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
06 Jul 2002
Time:
02:38:12
Remote User:
Comments
I am probably not writing this in the right place, but I just want to thank this web site. I took Celexa for 3 months and quit it cold because I did not think it was doing anything. I had symptoms but they were not too bad. My doctor prescribed me Paxil today instead, thinking it would work. I started looking around, to see what people were saying about it, and this web site has convinced me not to touch it, or any other SSRI. It seems you have saved me a lot of possible hardship down the line. Thanks.

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Date:
06 Jul 2002
Time:
05:29:46
Remote User:
Comments
Duped? Thats putting it mildly, here in the UK the Seroxat debacle has only just hit the public domain. I was prescribed the drug as a result of severe post natal depression and panic attacks, prozac had stopped working. My GP assured me that Seroxat was non-addictive, low on side effects etc. I read the leaflets with the medication but still took them. My depression was worse, my concentration abysmal, I was practically incapable of doing anything. I alienated my husband and young son, family and friends and was finding it difficult to function. I returned to my doctor who urged me to continue taking Seroxat and that it would take a few more weeks for it to start to work. Six months later after not having much improvement I returned to my doctor once again. I made the decision to stop taking Seroxat and she told me I could just stop. Mistake. Within less than 48 hours the nausea and dizziness started, the strange sensations in my arms and legs that felt like mild electric shocks - these intensified over the next few days, vivid dreams which became horrendous nightmares. I honestly thought I was going to die. I had weeks of this before I felt any better, my doctor told me it was no way caused by stopping taking Seroxat. I now know this to be untrue. I wish I had searched the net more at the time I stopped my medication. GSK really deserve to pay for this - basically I feel like a human guinea pig, I was ill informed all round and just feel duped and let down. Fortunately I haven't suffered as much as some of you have but my thoughts and hopes are with all of us as we continue to face our demons. Kathy - Yorkshire, England

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Date:
06 Jul 2002
Time:
10:00:30
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
06 Jul 2002
Time:
21:02:41
Remote User:
Comments
I have been off of Paxil for almost 3 months and I still get the occasional zap -- but only at night and only after drinking -- so my advice, understand that this drug takes a while to get out of your system and try not to do anything to exacerbate the withdrawal symptoms (like drinking). I also bit the bullet and quit caffeine cold turkey two weeks prior to tapering/quitting paxil...also a bad but short withdrawal period but I feel so much better as I think caffeine may have caused me undue anxiety..as the Paxil has worn off and I have been caffeine-free, I have hardly any anxiety. Good luck.

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Date:
07 Jul 2002
Time:
00:07:28
Remote User:
Comments
I ONLY JUST DISCOVERED THAT THIS WITHDRAWAL THING IS AN ACTUAL ISSUE WITH THOUSANDS, SO I AM COMPLETELY NEW TO ALL THIS- SOME QUESTIONS CAN SOMEONE HELP- 1-I HEAR ABOUT 5 HTP - HOW MUCH SHOULD I TAKE DAILY? 2- AFTER SUFFERING FOR MONTHS FROM ALOT OF THE PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS, IN THE LAST 3 MONTHS I HAVE HAD SEVERE IRRITABILITY, FITS, AGGRESSIVE THOUGHTS- ANYONE HAVE ADVICE FOR THESE SYPTOMS? AND HOW LONG AFTER I AM TOTALLY OFF THE PAXIL (IT'S BEEN 5 DAYS) WILL ALL THE SYMPTOMS BE GONE? KATKEAR@AOL.COM

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Date:
07 Jul 2002
Time:
00:07:35
Remote User:
Comments
I ONLY JUST DISCOVERED THAT THIS WITHDRAWAL THING IS AN ACTUAL ISSUE WITH THOUSANDS, SO I AM COMPLETELY NEW TO ALL THIS- SOME QUESTIONS CAN SOMEONE HELP- 1-I HEAR ABOUT 5 HTP - HOW MUCH SHOULD I TAKE DAILY? 2- AFTER SUFFERING FOR MONTHS FROM ALOT OF THE PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS, IN THE LAST 3 MONTHS I HAVE HAD SEVERE IRRITABILITY, FITS, AGGRESSIVE THOUGHTS- ANYONE HAVE ADVICE FOR THESE SYPTOMS? AND HOW LONG AFTER I AM TOTALLY OFF THE PAXIL (IT'S BEEN 5 DAYS) WILL ALL THE SYMPTOMS BE GONE? KATKEAR@AOL.COM

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Date:
07 Jul 2002
Time:
00:08:02
Remote User:
Comments
I ONLY JUST DISCOVERED THAT THIS WITHDRAWAL THING IS AN ACTUAL ISSUE WITH THOUSANDS, SO I AM COMPLETELY NEW TO ALL THIS- SOME QUESTIONS CAN SOMEONE HELP- 1-I HEAR ABOUT 5 HTP - HOW MUCH SHOULD I TAKE DAILY? 2- AFTER SUFFERING FOR MONTHS FROM ALOT OF THE PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS, IN THE LAST 3 MONTHS I HAVE HAD SEVERE IRRITABILITY, FITS, AGGRESSIVE THOUGHTS- ANYONE HAVE ADVICE FOR THESE SYPTOMS? AND HOW LONG AFTER I AM TOTALLY OFF THE PAXIL (IT'S BEEN 5 DAYS) WILL ALL THE SYMPTOMS BE GONE? KATKEAR@AOL.COM

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Date:
07 Jul 2002
Time:
15:55:50
Remote User:
Comments
You bastards! Your drug Paxil has dangerous side effects as well as HORRIFYING withdrawl effects. On your website side effects are listed as "mild and temporary"--umm, bullshit. I was on 10 mg of Paxil for 14 months and decided to go off of it due to my severe vertigo on a daily basis, inability to have an orgasm, weight gain, heart flutters, and hypotension. When I tried to get off, I consulted mt doctor and he told me to cut down to 10 mg evry other day. That was horrible. I felt like my head was detatched from my body and I was convinced I wad dying. The 6 1/2 months it took to wean me off of Paxil were the worst ones of my life. I also was prescriberd Buspar to regulate my serotonin levels while getting off Paxil, and when I finally got off of it, I had to take Seraphgem to feel normal. I just want you to know that I hate you for not informing people of the adverse side effects of this medication and for making 2 years of my TEENAGE life a living hell.

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Date:
08 Jul 2002
Time:
00:06:49
Remote User:
Comments
To the person who wrote this: Date: 9/26/2001 Time: 12:57:22 PM Remote User: Comments This will probably not be anything that anyone visiting this site wants to hear, but i feel every side should be represented. I take paxil and i love it. I suffer from bipolar disorder and anxiety and paxil is extremely helpful in treating these. What i don't understand about this whole "paxil withdrawal" thing is why anyone would ever "try" to quit. If your depression is chemical, it's not something that can be treated in a year or even ten. You have to take your meds every day, that's WHY you take them. It's like insulin to a diabetic. Likewise, if your depression is not chemical-related, you should NEVER take a medication that is intended as a chemical supplement. That's like taking ecstasy every day for a year and then one day stopping and wondering why you feel so stupid and sad. COME ON, PEOPLE, Paxil was never intended as happiness in a bottle for people who are "feeling a little sad now and then," it is a legitimate supplement for people whose chemicals function on a sub-par level. If your depression is chemical, for pete's sake don't stop taking your paxil. If you were lazy enough to make assumptions based on a "self-test" on a website (which is not, incidentally, legally responsible)and then convice your underpaid and overworked HMO doctor that you needed some sunshine, please, please take yourselves OUT of the gene pool, NOW. Or else get some good counseling. Not everything can be solved with a pill, and for those of us who truly suffer and are genuinely served by paxil, your threat of legal action is an insult and quite frankly, frightening. I would gladly testify on the part of GSK in any action and i hope some of you out there can stop and see the narrow-mindedness in this. If anyone wishes to email me about this and offer another opinion, i'm open for discussion. I do "truly suffer" from chemical depression. I didn't just take a self-test online and whine to my HMO doctor. I saw a psychiatrist and was put on Paxil by her. I didn't ask for this drug. Nor did I ask for this hellish withdrawal. People who are chemically depressed going off Paxil is NOT the same as a diabetic going off insulin (which obviously would be irresponsible). I went off Paxil because I want to switch to another antidepressant. It's great that Paxil works for you, and to some extent it works for me. However, I'm exercising my right to choose what medication I take. I want an antidepressant that doesn't torture me when I stop taking it. I support the suit against the drug companies. It's too bad that it insults you, but you're not the only one who suffers from mental illness. I wasn't on Paxil for "sunshine." I was on it for survival and something like sanity. Now I'm struggling without it, but I won't go back. I hope you can respect this suit, even if you don't relate to it. There are many of us with real mental illnesses who do.

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Date:
08 Jul 2002
Time:
03:09:02
Remote User:
Comments
To the ignorant bitch who just posted: Take ourselves out of the gene pool? You are so fucking crazy that you have to take drugs to exist and you are demanding that we "Take ourselves out of the gene pool"? What are you a fucking Nazi or something? Is GSK involved in eugenics? If so, then you would have to be eliminated from the "gene Pool" because your fucking mental illness is genetic. Insulin to diabetes is NOT a correct analogy to SSRI's to depression. SSRI's are NOT an injection of seratonin; and even then the link between seratonin "deficiency" and depression has never been firmly established. Lazy? You fucking asshole! Lazy? Some of us were persuaded by the doctors themselves to take this shit, you asshole! It didn't work, it destroyed us. So we want out, but there is no easy escape. It takes MONTHS of SUFFERING to get off this shit! YOu know, there are some people who have committed suicide and even MURDER because their brains were so deranged by this shit. They didn't ASK for it, their doctors told them they had a CHEMICAL IMBALANCE IN THEIR BRAINS and they should take it: kind of like "insulin to the diabetic". Some of these people were CHILDREN. LAZY worthless children who are now dead or in jail. There is one thing I would like to know. How much does GSK pay you to spread their propaganda? I would like to know because I am LAZY and would like to make a fast buck. What the hell, I don't have a real conscience anymore thanks to you fucking wonder drug. Incidentally, I was not LAZY until I took PAXHELL, and I hate your fucking guts, you goddammed GSK plant. Hey, I can't contribute to the "GENE POOl" anyway because I have no interest in sex, which is a damn shame for the world because my IQ is over l50, I am musically, and artistically gifted, I USED to be physically fit, and I USED to be a nice person. Now I am reduced to being a human vegetable responding to the idiocy of big pharma plants on this website. "HEIL PAXIL".

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Date:
08 Jul 2002
Time:
07:34:03
Remote User:
Comments
Yep, me too. Same symptoms, same hell on earth. I too went to the ER, only to be laughed at and treated as tho I were insane. It's been almost 2 years since I got off Paxil, the electric shocks come back from time to time. There is such a level of immorality going on here it's almost unbelievable. And the commercials are still running on tv. What is the matter with you people? I spent two weeks in hell coming off Paxil - not weaning, cold turkey, because my Dr. assured me there were no withdrawals. STOP LYING. People are suffering. I totally agree with another poster. The CEO of SK B should definately take this drug for about a year and then quit. LOLOLOLOL. How fast do you think it would come off the market then?

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Date:
08 Jul 2002
Time:
12:46:56
Remote User:
Comments
I have been on Paxil since 9/12/01. They told me that it would help me cope with my losses in September. Well, I have gained 26 lbs., don't want sex and could kill anyone at anytime. I am going to try and come off of it. My doctor is against it. He tells me to hang in there !!!!!! I feel like hanging myself !!If he won't let me come off it I will do it myself. How long does it take to get it out of your system? I can't deal with it much longer and I haven't even come off it yet. HELP !!!!!

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Date:
08 Jul 2002
Time:
16:38:47
Remote User:
Comments
Another message to the cyber community....I am a skeptical, 32 year old well educated woman who thought she knew alot about ssri's. I believed there were no side effects or withdrawl symptoms associated with Paxil. I would have kept believing it too, had I not gone on it for myself after a traumatic event in my life. Now I am trying to get off it and it is proving to be quite difficult. I am down to 5 mg p/day from 20mg at the outset. I was still feeling okay at 10mg but now (@ 5mg) I think that I am losing my mind and am steps away from checking myself into a hospital. I am dizzy, moody, nauseated and have become quite impossible to deal with. I fear I will chase my husband away if this keeps up. He's so sweet and is trying to help but I am making it so hard and I don't mean to. My self loathing at my uncontrollable behaviour is only adding to my burden. I think that doctors need to be educated about this withdrawl from PAxil and the only way to do that is to prove (through court) that it is INDEED addictive. They won't believe us without the science. The only way we are going to get that science is to go through the courts. Nobody should be subjected to the pain of withdrwal against their will, such as Paxil induces. I will overcome this but my heart goes out to those who will not/are not successful in their attempts. I say we all need to sue the makers of this drug. Only then can we prevent others from going through the same terrible challenge. -See you in court.

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Date:
08 Jul 2002
Time:
16:41:06
Remote User:
Comments
Iv'e been off Paxil for 3 weeks now and havn't been able to sleep since, I'am really tired !!! Otherwise apart from being really angry I guess I'am OK. How long will this Last. I need sleep !!!

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Date:
08 Jul 2002
Time:
20:37:03
Remote User:
Comments
To the person who "truly suffers" from chemical depression: JUST WHAT FUCKING TEST DID YOUR QUACK GIVE YOU TO DETERMINE THIS CHEMICAL IMBALANCE? You've been duped, stupid! Just wait until this drug rips your body and mind apart and you start having one illness after another with no explanation as to its cause. I'm with the guy who posted above -- YOU'RE the one who should be taken out of the gene pool because the number one rule of eugenics is that the mentally ill shouldn't breed.

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Date:
08 Jul 2002
Time:
21:24:18
Remote User:
Comments
klonopin has ruined my mind and body help!

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Date:
09 Jul 2002
Time:
00:24:13
Remote User:
Comments
oh how I wish I woulda found this site 2yrs ago.. I was on that fucking medication b/c of depression and SI ... fucking moron doctors. after 2 yrs I decided it wasnt doing ANYTHING, but I was outta therapy.. so I decided to stop taking it. OH did that suck. So much withdrawl, I thought I was going insane. And even before then if I missed a day I would get dizzy and over-emotional and nauseous. awful.

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Date:
09 Jul 2002
Time:
10:44:58
Remote User:
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Date:
09 Jul 2002
Time:
13:26:45
Remote User:
Comments
Hi all. been coming here daily to make sure Im not dying. The problem i have seen here is that ( saldly) no one is answering the big question...WHEN DOES IT STOP?????? I have been on 30 mg of Paxil for the last 4 years and have decided to get off of it. i had a suicide attempt in may and they upped me to 40mg for 6 weeks till i told them i couldnt remember my own name at times and now they have been weaning me offf paxil and on to effexor...i have a ffeling this is a veeerrrryyyy bad idea. today is my fist day paxil free in 4 years and i feel like hell. same symptoms as everyone else. the shocks Im used to because I used to forget to take my paxil until it would so kindly remeind me with a good shock. I have been wondering if they have made it that way one doesnt forget to take the damn stuff. .".i dare you to forget this stuff for 2 days...you WILL BE REMINDED" (NOT SO NICELY TO TAKE THE PAXIL.) the makers should be sued out of exsistance and i am going to get on any and every class action lawsuit I can. even if i dont get a dime in compensation i want these fuckers to PAY even if it is a sleazy lawyer. now i am reading that effexor is even worse to get off of and my shrink thinks medication is the only way im going to not be depressed. ( although i have a sneaky suspicion that if i were to miracuously win a few mill from SKB i might not feel that depreesed!!!!and ironicly would finally have the money to pay for their shit too hahahahahahaha)I have also noticed that through this board i havent seen one person NOT refer to GSM as "fuckers". i hope too this can come out in court haha. I was also prescribed Ambien for my insomnia and i think Im becoming QUICKLY addicted to it. I LOVE the nice mellow feeling it gives me.Im too afraid to take it now because its so wonderful. I sleep hard despite the dreams that even hollywood couldnt get rated they are so damn scary. ( i dreamed Hannible Lechtor was eating my liver and drinking my blood last night, it was lovely.)where can i get some LSD??? at least I know i come off that shit after two days. rant rant rant rant rant...it will never be enough. Oh well. Good luck all...Im off to take my 3rd dose of excedrin for the day and hope to god i dont trip or smash into a wall on the way to the bathroom. PS if anyone would like to chat about this and rant via email mine is acattywompus1@aol.com please feel free to write me

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Date:
09 Jul 2002
Time:
14:51:48
Remote User:
Comments
My 13 year old daughter was on 15mg initally, but we successfully dropped her to 5mg shortly after starting to mitigate the side affects. Paxil did help with her rather severe panic attacks which had left her home-bound. We moved to take her of Paxil whe our doctor told us of Paxil's link to an increased occurence of breast cancer. We tapered her off per our doctor's instructions, and started Prozac, but of couse there is not much tapering you can do from 5mg. She proceeded to become VERY sick. She missed almost 3 months of school, she lost 10 pounds, occasionally vommited and was largley home-bound during that time as she was severly nauseous. No amount of words can convey the suffering she endured. Over time, depression set in and she on several occasions said she wished she was dead. We had no choice but to put her back on Paxil. We are now trying again by tapering her VERY slowly 1 Ml at a time using liquid Paxil. We had no clue this could happen and indeed every doctor we have seen is in disbelief that this could even happen. They always say something like; I prescibe this all the time and no one has had problems. The thing that frosts me most is that we have doctors that completely believe everything the drug companies say. Non have taken the time to look at other sources. Of course, you can falut the FDA for having an inherantly flawed approval process

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Date:
09 Jul 2002
Time:
15:17:17
Remote User:
Comments
To the mother who put her 13 year old on Paxil: YOU ARE GUILTY OF CHILD ABUSE!!!! None of these drugs have been approved for children. The doctors you are going to are whores for the drug companies. God only know what kind of LONGTERM DAMAGE YOU HAVE DONE TO YOUR CHILD!!! Shame on YOU! What are you, one of those quick-fix yuppies driving a gas-guzzling SUV and don't have time to find out WHY your daughter has anxiety. It's probably because of YOU! So you just drug your child because it's easier than getting her some therapy???? You disgust me!!!!

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Date:
09 Jul 2002
Time:
21:59:39
Remote User:
Comments
advertized on t.v. for boost sex drive

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Date:
09 Jul 2002
Time:
22:12:44
Remote User:
Comments
GSK and the doctors are guilty of child abuse, not the poor mother! The only thing she is guilty of is being concerned about her daughter, and trusting the doctors.

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Date:
09 Jul 2002
Time:
23:07:44
Remote User:
Comments
TO the person condemning the mother of the l3 year old: You are guilty of being an asshole. Panic attacks can be the result of neurological problems that are not the mother's fault. Imagine the pain a mother endures watching her child suffer, then she will probably read your insensitive and completly uninformed comments. TAlk about adding insult to injury. The makers of paxil and the ignorant, and/ or greedy doctors are the child abusers, and you are the asshole. You really should be ashamed of yourself. ASSHOLE.

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Date:
09 Jul 2002
Time:
23:34:38
Remote User:
Comments
To the "person" who gave the poor mother hell over trusting her doctors and giving her child Paxil: For the record, I am a nice, Southern lady who does not use obsenities, but for you; you are a stupid fucking jerk, and a fucking asshole. GO STRAIGHT TO HELL!!!!!!!

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Date:
10 Jul 2002
Time:
14:09:23
Remote User:
Comments
HI, (zap) i wrote yes(zap)terday. Today is day 2. are you sure Im not going to die? I sure fucking feel like it. (zap) (zap ) I now have that relly cool "scratching" noise in my head too! ( this is a ( zap) new sensation!! good, i was getting so ( zap) tired of the old ones). I think after all this I will start using massive doses of herion because i really dont think the with(zap)draws from it could be all that bad now that i have done this (zap). I have fallen down twice today, screa(ZAPZAP)med at my 19 month old son for nothing and have spent and hour in the (zap) bathroom crapping my colon out (ZAAAP!) I am praying that all this gets sent to GSK. then i hope that the person who decided to keep this stuff in production(zap) is pummped full of about 70mgs of this shit, locked up for a year, force fed it and then TAKEN(ZAP) OFF ABRUPTLY and told that he/she will have to deal(zap)with IT!!! There is no wor(zap)d in the english language to describe my hatred for this comapny and i wish a thousand miseries on all of them(zap) Rant over( zap ) will update tomorrow (zap) acattywompus1@aol.com

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Date:
10 Jul 2002
Time:
14:26:36
Remote User:
Comments
Are you doing anything to help the many more people before they begin taking Paxil??????? I can't believe that Paxil is still being prescribed by doctors. Ridiculous!

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Date:
10 Jul 2002
Time:
14:57:32
Remote User:
Comments
crackxil thats what i frickin call it was listening to the commercial yesterday in acute care and its non habit forming hahahaha thats funny we should force feed all the exec at glaxil some of there non habit forming crap for few months the cold turkey them hehehehe we shall see what happens next;P

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Date:
10 Jul 2002
Time:
14:57:38
Remote User:
Comments
crackxil thats what i frickin call it was listening to the commercial yesterday in acute care and its non habit forming hahahaha thats funny we should force feed all the exec at glaxil some of there non habit forming crap for few months the cold turkey them hehehehe we shall see what happens next;P

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Date:
11 Jul 2002
Time:
11:45:40
Remote User:
Comments
Hello all, Well day three on my lovely vacation to hell. i think I just have one long ZAP now. or at least they are longer n duration. like 2 seconds instead of one. I have been sleeping well thanks to the ambien and after my 4th anxiety attack last night ( or maybe it was just a 6 hour one I dont know. i have never in my life had one until now) I decided that I am going to break the law and go and get some Xanax. I have a "friend" who can get me some on the steet. Its gonna cost about as much as the paxil but at this point i will sell my soul to get ANY relief and not melt down like I did yesterday/lastnight. I felt REALLY suicidal last night but i wont tell anyone because I am afraid Ill end up in a the same loony bin I did when i attempted suicide in may. and that place was no picnic.Being "baker acted" is about on par with this withdraw. And besides, i just have to keep telling myself " Its just the craxil....its just the craxil." The only good thing that has happened is that my libido seems to have come back with an astonishing voracity!!! Poor hubby wont know what hit him when this is all said and done! It will be a good payback for all he has put up with though and that makes me smile. I have no idea what the day will bring, but i do know that Im one day further out of the woods. Until tomorrow (ZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPP) acattywompus1@aol.com

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Date:
11 Jul 2002
Time:
13:15:20
Remote User:
Comments
To the person who left a message 8th July - I think you're misreading the ranter you're replying to :) That person is quoting someone from 6th September 2001 (who mentions the 'gene pool') in the first half of his/her message and is then replying to it. Its just that there's no paragraphs on here. I THINK this is the start of his/her answer which is the bottom half of the message....... "I do "truly suffer" from chemical depression. I didn't just take a self-test online and whine to my HMO doctor. I saw a psychiatrist and was put on Paxil by her. I didn't ask for this drug. Nor did I ask for this hellish withdrawal. People who are chemically depressed going off Paxil is NOT the same as a diabetic going off insulin (which obviously would be irresponsible). I went off Paxil because I want to switch to another antidepressant. It's great that Paxil works for you, and to some extent it works for me. However, I'm exercising my right to choose what medication I take. I want an antidepressant that doesn't torture me when I stop taking it. I support the suit against the drug companies. It's too bad that it insults you, but you're not the only one who suffers from mental illness. I wasn't on Paxil for "sunshine." I was on it for survival and something like sanity. Now I'm struggling without it, but I won't go back. I hope you can respect this suit, even if you don't relate to it. There are many of us with real mental illnesses who do." ............. AND NOW FOR THE PERSON WHO SO CRUELLY CRITICISED A CARING MOTHER'S CONCERN OVER HER CHILD'S WELLBEING: How could you? There are many mothers who have lost their children to this drug. The responsibility is NOT with the mother who trusts the doctor's ethics, and the mother is NOT a scientist that reasearches the drug who she will have assumed was honest and professional. The responsibility lies with GLAXOSMITHKLINE and YOU sound like a typical plant - trying like all greedy cowards to put the onus of responsibility onto the vulnerable, the victims. Anything to protect your pocket. Shame on you, what kind of person are you? You disgust me. The only other option I can think of is that your cold and callous remarks reflect yet another chemically lobotomised paxil defender. Either way - your remarks to that poor mother and her little girl show Paxil defenders as emotionless and GSK plants as worthless pieces of excrement. Well done for showing us how our hellish withdrawals (and pain watching others in withdrawal) are almost desireable acquisitions compared to the alternatives of being a cold sociopathic Stepford Wife or an equally sociopathic money-loving GSK plant. TO THE MOTHER: Much love to you and to your child. Peagee

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Date:
11 Jul 2002
Time:
16:52:40
Remote User:
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Date:
11 Jul 2002
Time:
17:43:23
Remote User:
Comments
Okay, I admit it, it was an assholiness thing to do to rant at the mother who gave her child Paxil on the advice of the child's doctor. My anger was displaced, and I'm sorry. But I think it is also high time that parents take some responsibility in what they allow their children to ingest. The days of trusting the family doc are over. For any parent to assume that a child should be on some new-fangled antidepressant that hasn't been approved for children is derelict in their duties to their child. parents need to start asking questions and stop being in awe of doctors. Ask these questions when some doctor suggests that your child take Paxil: Has it been approved for children? Will is cause withdrawals? Can you guarantee that my child will not suffer permanent damage from this drug? If you don't like the answers, or if your doctor cannot give you answer, then don't let your child take this drug. Start taking matters into your own hands. Start standing up to the medical community and the pharmaceutical companies who are force-drugging anyone they can. And for God's sake, before any parent lets their child take a psychiatric medication, make sure you have exhausted all the alternatives FIRST!!!

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Date:
11 Jul 2002
Time:
22:03:02
Remote User:
Comments
You're still an asshole.

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Date:
11 Jul 2002
Time:
23:11:09
Remote User:
Comments
I AM A PAXIL SURVIVOR. If you hear nothing else, please consider this: DO NOT GO OFF PAXIL COLD TURKEY. EVER. If you are one of the fortunate few who can be "weaned" from it over weeks or months, congratulations. More likely you will need to replace Paxil with a less addictive drug, then wean yourself off the less addictive drug. As much as I hated having to go onto another drug, I failed in repeated, desparate attempts to escape Paxil until I replaced it -- at least short-term -- with another medication. I'm not saying that this is for everyone, but I know the hell of Paxil addiction, so for what it's worth, this has been my experience.

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Date:
12 Jul 2002
Time:
07:20:34
Remote User:
Comments
To the poster who said his/her anger was displaced. There's logic in what you say to a point, but distrust of the medical profession only happens AFTER AN EVENT, whether it is observing the experience of someone else's problem or an experience of our own. Up until that point people TRUST the medical profession. The very fact that we are here on the rant board is evidence that we have already either observed or suffered at their hands. BEFORE we came on forums such as this I expect ALL of us here had some faith in those we are meant to trust. Its easy to be wise AFTER the event. But, as children, we are brought up to trust doctors to ease our pains. Those children grow up and have children. They trust the doctors to look after the well-being of their own children in turn. There is no point in advising on forums like this that all people should distrust the medical profession (or the pharmaceutical profession) because the only people who will be here to read that advice will be those who have, too late, already found out that their trust was misplaced (with the exception of pharma plants of course) and therefor no longer need to know that. If you are not a plant, then you will have arrived here because some negative experience has already 'taught' you to come here and other places to search for support. Either that or you already have access to education on SSRIs, most people do not. The mother in no way bears the guilt for her child being on Paxil. In fact she is a responsible mother in that, having seen that something is wrong, she has searched to the best of her ability to find out what it is. She has arrived at support boards and is looking for some answer as to how best to deal with it WITHOUT exacerbating her daughter's suffering. This indicates that she is a loving, caring and concerned mother. She is also fortunate enough (as we all are) to have access to the internet and able therefore to do a search. Many people do not and will never find out what the problem is. Because those they trust are not going to inform them. .......................................................... I don't know how the mother in question is going to feel after having had the onus of guilt publicly put on her shoulders on this board by you, but I think maybe you need to consider how you would feel if that were you worried about your own suffering child, you searching to find an answer, finding a forum, asking for help and then getting such a scathing reply. I imagine she has suffered already and, having now seen the evidence, is dreading what might lie ahead in the future for her child. She needs love and support, not displaced criticism. Perhaps, after you have considered her feelings, YOU could offer YOUR support? We all make mistakes but, if we truly care about other people, we can make significant attempts to rectify them :) Peagee

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Date:
12 Jul 2002
Time:
07:48:11
Remote User:
Comments
A correction: In my last post I erroneously used the term "pharmaceutical profession" which should more accurately be termed "chemicals industry". There is nothing 'pharmaceutical' about producing poisons and nothing 'professional' about duplicity. Peagee

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Date:
12 Jul 2002
Time:
10:51:59
Remote User:
Comments
Well well well well....I can't believe it. Its day four and I am actually feeling better!!!! the zaps are much more mild. Not gone mind you...oh to be THAT lucky, but they are not as intense. The scratching sound feels like its moved about 6 inches away from my head instead of right on top of it and I am feeling pretty "up". I am a little groggy from the ambien/xanax/tylenol pm I took last night but i actuallly dont feel like dying today. I would like to make a note on something that may or may not have anything to do with how I am feeling but I am noting it nonethelesss because I am finding it peculiar. At abot 2pm yesterday I was in a meltdown...it is the lowest i have been since this all started and I was the closest to commiting suicide that I have felt sinc eall this happened. I was about to call the hospital when i just began praying. (Well if you call yelling at God praying). I begged for strength...begged for mercy....told him either he could take me or I would and that I HAD HAD ENOUGH! then I just sort of passsed out. abouyt 15min later I awoke o the phone ringing. Its was my husband. after talking for a few moments he said..God, you sound so much better! You have life in your voice again. Hummmmmmmmmmmm. I told him I was faking it so he wouldnt worry so much ( though he should have bben pretty damn worried). then it hit me....hummmmmmmmm was I answered? I dont know, and i never will but I have to admit from that m0oment forward I have felt better and better. Moral to this? Hey, try it in your depthts of dispair. It might just work...and it can t hurt. Prayer is a force science is just now begining to take seriously...and from now on I will too. Now, I am off to get my couldron out so that I might whip up a curse for our dear friends at GSK...I think Ill start out with a pile of shit and then add some Exlax... Ill report tomorrow acattywompus1@aol.com

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Date:
12 Jul 2002
Time:
15:29:11
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Date:
12 Jul 2002
Time:
16:07:28
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Date:
12 Jul 2002
Time:
16:19:43
Remote User:
Comments
I've been on Paxil for 9 months. Tried to quit more than once. Cold turkey did not work. Felt like the withdrawal was all my fault for not following the doctor's advide. He told me to taper off the useage to quit. I'm doing that now, but my body doesn't want to cooperate. I get severe headaches, zaps, exhaustion (for no real reason), my hands shake, and I feel nervous. My boyfriend probably thinks I'm a nut cause I sleep all day, easily cry, and do not want to be around him, his kids, his friends, his family, or anyone for that matter. I do have good days, in which I feel ok and only have zaps occasionally. But, that's not often. I end up going back to my normal doseage some days cause I'm not enduring the withdrawal well. I don't know what I should do once I run out of medicine. Should I even bother getting a new doctor who can prescribe more Paxil for me? This is worse than quitting smoking. With smoking, at least after a few days or weeks, the cigarette habit subsides and one can feel better; you know you did something good for yourself. But, quitting Paxil is far too strange. Something's not right about this. There are too many people unsatisfied with Paxil to deny that it is not helping.

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Date:
12 Jul 2002
Time:
20:03:45
Remote User:
Comments
It has taken a month, but I think I've kicked the habit....I was on 20 for 10 months, went down to 10 for 2 weeks, then 5 for a week, then 5 every other day for a week, and now none. It has been 5 days, and I still suffer from vertigo, but not the mind numbing headaches and screaming insanity that I let loose on my family. I still cry at the drop of a hat, but that too will subside, I am sure. To anyone looking into Paxil...look another way. Paxil is the devil. Good luck everyone! Kim in VA

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Date:
12 Jul 2002
Time:
23:27:28
Remote User:
Comments
This is not a rant, but is there anyone with information who can get back to me in regards to General Anxiety Disorder. Is this a problem that will last a lifetime without the use of addictive drugs to calm the problem? Will this ever go away on it's own. I am now going to try and taper off clorazopam. This process itself will take 6 mnths. After that the withdrawal may take 6 mnths. I don't know if the anxiety will still be there after the withdrawal from the drug. I tried to taper off too quick and I thought I was going to go nuts. Now i find the withdrawal may take 6 mnths. even after completely tapering off the drug.I don't know if I can stand 6 mnths. of withdrawal symptoms. ex.unable to eat,sleep,concentrate,feeling I'm going nuts. Has anyone been able to get through their withdrawal in one piece. Joe M. e-mail jmloro.sales@verizon.net

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Date:
13 Jul 2002
Time:
06:58:15
Remote User:
Comments
JOE M have emailed you a couple of suggestions which MIGHT or might not help, hopefully they will.

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Date:
13 Jul 2002
Time:
14:47:34
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Date:
13 Jul 2002
Time:
21:43:59
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Date:
13 Jul 2002
Time:
21:44:06
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Date:
13 Jul 2002
Time:
21:44:13
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Date:
13 Jul 2002
Time:
21:45:19
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Date:
13 Jul 2002
Time:
22:29:42
Remote User:
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Question: I just saw my OB because I want to get pregnant. I was on a 20mg of paxil and a 2mg of xanax I only took at night. He said, I have to get off of the xanax and put me on 1mg at night. Then gave me some samples of paxil. 25mg. And also 12.5mg. I have taken the 12.5mg for 2 days now and 1mg of xanax. Can I get pregnant on paxil? He said no problem. How can it be safe for a baby who I plan on nursing. This stuff can go through your milk. I am 30 years old, have been on paxil 40mg for 3 years and 2mg xanax as well. I tried weining off of these meds and ended up in the Hospital with horrible zaps, etc. What everyone else is going through. They told me to go back on the 40mg. I said no way. I was so drugged up on this crap meds that a cashier guy looked at me because I was not myself, I could not think, I felt retarded, I was totally spacy. He took his hand up to his mouth and made a gesture of putting a joint up to his mouth and looked at me and sucked in air. I am sure you know what I am talking about. I only smoke camel lights. I cannot drink on this stuff. I don't like the feeling. Again, how can it be safe to be pregnant on these meds???? THE WITHDRAWS SUCK HORRIBLY. I have a 5 year old now who askes me Mommy why are you so mad at me. I don't mean to yell at her, I love my Daughter do death, she is my best friend. I cannot hold back my rages anymore. No matter how hard I try I just blow up. If paxil is the wonder drug and xanax helps you relax, why do I still have rages of anger????? Go figure. Someone told me to take valerian root one day and paxil the next then gradually decrease the paxil and continue taking the valerian root instead. Anyone tried something like that? I want to have an other baby so bad. My Doctor told me "JUST GET PREGNANT AND YOU WILL TELL YOURSELF YOU HAVE TO QUIT AND EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE" Come on I am not stupid, it is not mind over matter in this case, It is going through withdraws again that scare me. And I will not get pregnant when I am on these meds. I feel deep down in my heart that it is not safe. Please someone help. Can you have healthy babies on these meds? Isn't it like cocain or crack? Won't this garbage hurt a fetus. Will the baby be born with a withdraw? God how unfair to all of us who have to suffer this way just because we listened to our Doctors advise. "Take these it will help" I feel like saying here, you take these for as long as I did and stop. See how you feel. Oh by the way Doc, plan on gaining weight too like I did. Last thing I wanted. Thank you GSK for ruining our lives, for lying to us, for your false advertising, for our suffering. Please someone respond with an answer for me about babies and paxil. God bless. GSK shame on you. As long as they keep getting their money thats all that matters to them. Shelly in Michigan

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Date:
14 Jul 2002
Time:
01:14:58
Remote User:
Comments
it's a sin what these drug companies are allowed to sell to people...all in the name of greed. not just paxil but all antidepressants are extremely risky.

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Date:
14 Jul 2002
Time:
08:09:07
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Date:
14 Jul 2002
Time:
08:16:25
Remote User:
Comments
Thank God I've found this site: I thought I was going out of my mind!! I'm a 42 year old man living in the UK. I was prescribed Paxil after a detox from alcohol. Needless to say I'm now back on the drink and need another Detox - this time for alcohol and Paxil! I was never given any information regarding withdrawl from this crap-it has totally screwed my erstwhile successful attempt to get off the booze, and just as an added bonus it has nearly ruined my relationship of 18 years standing. markpbob@yahoo.co.uk

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Date:
14 Jul 2002
Time:
14:48:00
Remote User:
Comments
I have suffered from bi-polar disorder or dysthymic depression (depending on which doctor you listen to) for years. I have tried many medications, and have constantly changed because of the side effects. I have had to withdraw from each one i stopped, obviously. Recently because of the side effects of paxil--heartburn, nausea, inablility to feel emotion at all (my mother died and i couldn't even fucking grieve her while on the medication), inability to achieve or keep an erection or have a normal ejaculation--I decided to stop it cold turkey. Let me tell you, I HAVE BEEN TO HELL!!! I can't eat, i can't sleep, i cry several times a day for no reason at all, I don't want to be around anyone, I am severely angry and irritable, and feel like i am going absolutely insane. I can find no joy in anything I try to do. It got so bad the other day that i had to take one again for fear that i would just kill myself. I don't know what to do! Stay on the shit for the rest of my life for fear of the withdrawal or commit myself to the psych ward for a few months to get off of them. I am very angry with SKB. All these drug manufacturers care about is the fucking almighty dollar!! I agree with others who have ranted on here, make the manufacturers take this damn drug for about a year them take them off cold turkey. I want all of them to experience what the rest of us have. Bastards.

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Date:
14 Jul 2002
Time:
16:18:06
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Date:
14 Jul 2002
Time:
16:27:25
Remote User:
Comments
Hi everyone! My heart goes out to each and everyone of you, especially the mother and her 13 year old daughter. I too am a mother of a 13 year old daughter who is now into her 2nd week of withdrawl of paxil. We put her on paxil under the guidance of her doctor and we sincerely thought we were helping her, just as I am sure all of you thought you were doing for yourself. Little did we know the horror this evil drug is doing to everyone. Shame on you GSK for making innocent people who really need help go through this nightmare! We have been up nights with her crying and asking us to please help her, it seems that the itches and prickling feeling is what is most bothersome to her. She is tired and just can't sleep. It breaks my and my husband's heart to see her in this pain. I hope to find some relief for her, if anyone has any please suggestions we would appreciate them. All of you are in my prayers daily that everyone can beat this awful drug.

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Date:
14 Jul 2002
Time:
17:09:11
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Date:
14 Jul 2002
Time:
17:09:18
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Date:
14 Jul 2002
Time:
18:14:47
Remote User:
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I hte

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Date:
15 Jul 2002
Time:
13:45:28
Remote User:
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I was on Paxil for 1 1/2 yrs. 20 mg a day. I came off of it over a two month period. The dr. had said over 1 month but I didn't listen to him as he had taken my mom off too soon and her depression came back. I was on 15 mg. for a few weeks, 10 mg for a few weeks then 5 mg. I am completely off of it for nearlytwo mths and had no side effects. I am shocked anyone would be on more than 20 mg. DON'T ALLOW YOUR DR TO PRESCRIBE MORE THAN 20 MG! And take several mths to come off of it or you may get sick again.

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Date:
15 Jul 2002
Time:
13:51:35
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Date:
15 Jul 2002
Time:
14:01:36
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Date:
15 Jul 2002
Time:
14:25:15
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Date:
15 Jul 2002
Time:
15:50:46
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This weekend was really really awful for me. I had no idea what to expect when i decided to go off of Paxil and Wellbutrin. I had severe nasuea, itching until I almost bled, panic attacks, electrical shocks and upset stomach. I thought a week was "tapering off" but I guess not. Luckily a doctor lives next door to me and was able to tell me what I was feeling was "normal" withdrawl symptoms and put me back on the full dosage medication and a calender plan for coming off. It scares me to death to know that my body is so dependent on this medication. Will I ever be the same again? -Losing Hope

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Date:
15 Jul 2002
Time:
19:46:23
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Date:
15 Jul 2002
Time:
19:46:56
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Date:
16 Jul 2002
Time:
10:50:20
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I would like to add my rant. I have been off Paxil for 2 1/2 months and am still experiencing whirring sounds in my head. Feelings of weakness. In fact had trouble climbing the stairs, out of breath. I feel like I have a heart problem now, which I never did before. This company ought to be ashamed of itself. Where has morality gone, integrity, concern for those who will be on your drug. The almight dollar looms very large in this overall equation. "Love your neighbour" as Jesus said, "love works no ill to its neighbour". I think companies like yours should be putting the welfare of the patient first, if you do that and truly and honestly check out your products, you will gain patients who will have a trust in you and make your money in the end.

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Date:
16 Jul 2002
Time:
14:45:26
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I am a 45 year old female. I have been on 20 mg's of Paxil for nearly 8years. I was first diagnosed with depession the same time I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. My doctor said I was too apathetic. Little did I know that the symptons for hypothyroid and depression mimic each other. With the addition of Paxil (the evil drug from hell) I have gained a total of 30 pounds. I feel as though I have been just exisiting and not participating in life in general. I had reached a point where I questioned whether or not I was ever depressed ! I talked to my Doctor about getting off the Paxil. She wanted me to stop taking the Paxil and begin taking Prozac - all within a two week period. Now, I know about the weird symptoms - having missed doses in the past - and there was NO WAY I was going to get through this in two weeks. I did some research and decided that not only did I not want to take Paxil anymore - but I didn't want to jump on another drug either. Six months ago I became tapering my dose MYSELF. Pill cutters are the way to go. I have finally reached 5 mgs a day, and this being the first week, I am experiencing those lovely withdrawals once again. My stomach is upset, I have the zaps, dizziness, headaches, vivid dreams, lump in my throat, hoarseness, tingleing in my extremities, irritable, my leg muscles ache like crazy and I just plain have an overall miserable feeling. I wish I could go home and hide in my bed till its all over. Every time a Paxil commercial comes on TV I could scream - they almost always end it with"...and its non habit forming" Bull **** it may or may not be - but if one does not want to experience a myriad of systmptoms from hell - you will quickly realize the habit of taking paxil simply to avoid feeling like you are going crazy! Who writes those stupid commericals!! And when is this Totally Irresponsible Drug Maker going to come out with the TRUTH!!!!! Paxil is not a magic pill - Paxil will ruin your life. This drug needs to go away for good.

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Date:
16 Jul 2002
Time:
20:18:10
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SHELLEY, regarding pregnancy while on Paxil. Theres a copy of research studies on various aspects of SSRI's, in amongst them there are various studies regarding babies born while mother has been on an SSRI and there's also some on rat progeny. I don't know if there are any others studies elsewhere that would show more positive results or not: http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/message?forumid=182310&messageid=1017830140

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Date:
17 Jul 2002
Time:
00:22:24
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People WHO sadly believe that DRUGS such as paxil can FIX or abate a SUPPOSED CHEMICAL imbalance through a PILL such as PAXIL ,need to regroup. First off drugs ,ANY DRUGS work on MANY different receptors in the body. The DRUG makers themselves WILL CONFESS ,they DON'T know HOW most drugs work,so HOW can they say ANY drug is working on a certain receptor and creating that VOID chemical necessary for normalcy?????????? DRUG Co'S will stop at NOTHING to make a BUCK,this is FACT. DRUG REACTIONS KILL more people every year then any other disease or accidental deaths. WHAT DOES THIS TELL YOU. My advice is to STAY AWAY FROM ALL DRUGS. The HUMAN body has a way of taking care of all that ails it. Buckle down and wait it OUT! Whatever it is~ Cancer Treatments? Still out on that one~! But as for Over the counter drugs...perscription drugs and mood drugs~ STAY AWAY!

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Date:
17 Jul 2002
Time:
01:15:38
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I'm a 27 year old female that has been on paxil for 8 months. I have tried to go off of paxil 2 different times, only to be met with SEVERE withdrawal symptoms. I didn't realize they were withdrawal symptoms. I thought I had the flu. In fact my doctor subscribed anti-nausea medication, and suggested returning on the paxil to calm "anxiety". Unaware of the withdrawl symptoms, and not advised by my doctor, pharmasist, or drug companies; I continued the drug. I'm now pregnant, and have to stop cold turkey. The warnings of going off paxil should be printed on the drug, and educated to ALL doctors. I'm sadden at the amount of physical pain that I'm going through, and hope to join a class action suite against your company. Sincerely, Melissa C.

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Date:
17 Jul 2002
Time:
11:05:21
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I would like to let GSK know two things: 1. Paxil did help to ease my panic attacks, social disorder, and obsessive compulsive behavior. 2. I'm now at a point where I should be able to be "weened" off of this drug, but I can't because the dizziness, "zaps", and nightmares are so horrible I have no alternative right now except to stay on Paxil. If your purpose was to make an expensive, addictive, drug to help secure your own personal financial well-being...you have succeeded. I have one final note for you, GSK. I am 24 yrs. old and am an honest, hard-working person who is not "sue-happy". In fact, I have never filed a law suit in my life and I am not looking to get rich. I just pray to God that you f*ckers go broke just like Enron, and WorldCom for all the crap you are hiding from your clients. It is time for big businesses like you to realize that you cannot jeopardize peoples' well-being to help inflate your wallet. I will do everything in my power to be sure that GSK pays for their wrong-doing and I hope everyone else that has had the misfortune of experiencing the infamous "zaps" feels the same way.

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Date:
17 Jul 2002
Time:
11:36:39
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I am an owner of a small business with several employees ( pardon me if I make some spelling or gramatical mistakes, but my head has been spinning for 6 days now and I find it hard to concentrate )I came accross this site today and have become progressively pissed off the more I have been reading. I was prescribed Paxil to sort out panic attacks which were caused by the death of two close family members ( brother and mother ) after 2 years on Paxil I felt that I can cope with the panic. However, I have a new problem - I can't cope with trying to get off this ******* drug. I have tried several times now. I have tried pareing down the dosage but I find that the symptomes are the same as going cold Turkey. I am presently in my 6th day of no Paxil after taking a half dose for appx. a week. I feel like total crap. I had to let my wife see this site to prove to her that I was not a wimp. I am having scatching noises in my head, wowing feelings and vomiting. I can't deal with my employees. I realy do hope that this gets better. Oops have to run as I have forgotten about an appointment. Chris

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Date:
17 Jul 2002
Time:
15:23:19
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Chris....You have all of my sympathy. I've been experiencing the same exact symptoms that you have (and I'm also not a wimp). Unfortunately I couldn't take the spinning anymore after the 6th day so I went back on Paxil and the problems stopped in 4 hours! Please keep me (this site) up-to-date. I would like to know how much longer your symptoms last. Damn the GSK!!

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Date:
17 Jul 2002
Time:
20:53:45
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I have just started my Paxil withdrawal (coming off of 2 Years / 30MG), and I must say, it is sucking every day. Everything I have read on all the support sites is true about the symptoms (ZAPS and increased anger being my worst). It's amazing that I had to use the web boards to find all this out, and not directly from the source (GSK). I must say that Paxil 'seemed' to work (or mask my Social Anxieties), but man, this withdrawal stuff is out of hand. Once I'm off, talking therapy is going to be my medication...Good luck to all those in the same boat! We shall overcome, dammit!!!

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Date:
18 Jul 2002
Time:
04:09:47
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I was on the highest dosage of Paxil. I recently went to a psychiatrist and he prescribed me a different medication and had me withdrawal from Paxil by taking 20mg 1 day, 10mg 2 days, and 5mg 2 days. On July 16,2002 at 5:30 pm I had this tingly sensation come across my body. I thought maybe I was feeling this way because I had not eaten dinner yet. On July 17, 2002 (today) it progressively became worse. Right now I feel like my heart is going to burst out of my chest, I am short of breath, the tingly sensation is not stopping, and I keep having these shocking feelings up to my head every 5 seconds. I can't stop talking to myself. I feel like I'm going crazy. I can't get to sleep, last night I was up until 4:00 in the morning. I really feel like I'm going to die. This is the worst feeling I have ever had in my entire life. I don't know what to do. It won't go away. I just burst into tears all the time. I am so angry it is beyond words. How could a company do this to so many people??? How could my doctor do this??? Withdrawal in 4 days!!!! I am so freaking mad. I hope this company gets what they deserve and I will be there all the way to make sure they do!!! - Ashley Vrolyk

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Date:
18 Jul 2002
Time:
12:29:23
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I been on paxil for 10 years. Every time I tried to stop I had to restart as the withdrawl was so bad. I've made it 7 days now, althought I feel like hell, it's to late to turn back now. Does anyone know how long it takes before all these sypmtoms go away? Stephani sstewart@alltel.net

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Date:
18 Jul 2002
Time:
15:00:19
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Date:
18 Jul 2002
Time:
15:48:05
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Date:
19 Jul 2002
Time:
06:00:51
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Date:
19 Jul 2002
Time:
06:02:55
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Ok you guys I thought I was in this alone now I see a whole bunch of idiots out there have joined me! Although not taking Paxil I have been on Zoloft - unfortunately in South Africa everyone just does as they are told buy there GP's- we do not have the protection as you have in the States - Geez - I know I will get through but right now Arghhhhhhhhh!

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Date:
19 Jul 2002
Time:
07:00:31
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Hi, my name is April. This website is my saving grace! I cannot express that enough. I was prescribed this horrific medication just over five years ago. It has had such a horrible affect on my life. I went to my doctor seeking help for depression, and what has resulted in my life, I swear is hell com- pared to the depression that I experienced. Please!!!!!!!!!!! Anyone who is willing to help me with some advice, please do. I have been off for 2 months and I have the vivid nightmares every night. I have the electric shock feelings every day. I am on zoloft now, but I am scared. I just want to be ok again. I have 4 children that are everything to me. please help with any input. Thankyou so much!!!!

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Date:
20 Jul 2002
Time:
00:51:16
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I am just amazed by the number of people who think that drug testing in the past or cerification for use means that anyone knows what the side effects really are. I mean how can a new drug be released with ANY idea of what the side effects are after 5 years long term use, until it has been in fact released onto the market for longer than five years! I took zoloft for almost 7 years and decided to come off it. Afer the last twleve months, of coming off slowly, going back on when withdrawal was too much, I am finally on the home stretch. My doctor told me that he wasn't awwre of withdrawal side effects, but as we see now, withdrawals for all sorts of SSRIs is finally coming out. I have experienced horrible withdrawals, the brain zaps, and latedly this excrutiating itchiness. However, some of the ridiculous posts like "F*** you paxil lover" etc, just shows how some people have absolutely no ability to take responsibility for their own actions! Take all new drugs with care, responsibility and trust your own body and miind is all I can say. I hate these withdrawals but to tell you the truth Zoloft prevented me from committing suicide or worse... descending into absolute insanity. So I am willing to not "sue the bastards" etc because I take personal responsibility for my decision to have taken the drug. So to everyone coming off the similar paxil, stick with it, eventually the side effects wear off, but don't get obsessed with aportioning blame. It will just be waste of precious time.

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Date:
20 Jul 2002
Time:
16:23:33
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Date:
20 Jul 2002
Time:
16:23:42
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Date:
20 Jul 2002
Time:
16:24:07
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I Wont off this drug

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Date:
20 Jul 2002
Time:
17:05:44
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I went off paxil after 3 yrs of use - 2 on 20 mg, 1 on 30 mg. Went off cold turkey, no medical help. Severe lightening bolts through my head - lasted for 6 months. Had to stop driving a couple of times bc worried I would drive on purpose into oncoming traffic. Now my sister is going off - cold turkey in a clinic overseas - use of paxil, combined w/other problems has made her suicidal. DON'T TELL ME THERE ARE NO FUCKING SIDE EFFECTS. DON'T TELL ME THERE ARE NO PROBLEMS WITHDRAWING. DON'T TELL ME IT IS "NOT ADDICTIVE." My brother also attempted suicide having been drugged up with paxil and god knows what else. KEEP RUNNING YOUR BLOODY COMMERCIALS IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE TO CREATE PROBLEMS IN PEOPLES HEADS WHERE THERE WERE NONE TO BEGIN WITH.

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Date:
20 Jul 2002
Time:
17:16:09
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Date:
20 Jul 2002
Time:
23:03:50
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i was perscribed the medicine neurontin for panic and anixty and i am affraid to take it as i want to make sure this is what it is for. can you tell me if this will help i am already taking serex and this is sapose to help me also.

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Date:
21 Jul 2002
Time:
01:09:00
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Date:
21 Jul 2002
Time:
01:32:49
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I wish Drs. had told me about the withdrawal problems. The problem I was put onto Paxil for not longer exist but getting off it is awfull!!!!!!! Beth

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Date:
21 Jul 2002
Time:
02:20:46
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Date:
21 Jul 2002
Time:
09:04:40
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Date:
21 Jul 2002
Time:
19:52:03
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I had been taking paxil for about nine months. Then, around June 10 2002, I ran out of the medication, and decided I would just quit taking it, because I didn't feel that I needed it any more anyway. At this time, I had no idea, and was never told about, any withdrawal effects from the drug. Strangely enough, unlike many of the accounts and testimonials of the people writing to this site, a few days after stopping Paxil, I only noticed a very subtle effect. It was a mild "shocking" sensation, or impulse, which seemed to originate in my head and travel very quickly to my heart, almost as if trying to trigger extra heart beats. These pulses happened about 2-3 times in rapid succession, and would continue on and off throughout the day. I did not notice them immediately after I woke up; they seemed to only occur after I was awake for a while. They were also most noticeable when sitting still. It has now been a little over a month now, and the pulses are still there, but not nearly as frequent and as noticeable as before. The effects are starting to subside, and hopefully, will completely disappear. This feeling was not very bothersome and didn't interfere with day-to-day activities, however, it was enough to prompt me to go to Google.com and search for "Paxil Withdrawal", where I almost instantly found this site. I knew the shocking/pulsing feeling was caused by the paxil, because I had noticed it on two other prior occasions, when I had ran out of it for 3 days or so, and then restarted after getting more Paxil. After taking one dose after running out, this effect was gone the next day. As of now (July 21 2002), I have not touched any Paxil at all since June 10. I don't know why I'm not having all the other horrible side effects from this that many people speak of. Either I'm just one of the lucky ones, or maybe it's the Herbalife nutritional supplements that I'm taking that are helping to purge this toxin out of my body!

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Date:
22 Jul 2002
Time:
13:58:19
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Whilst I am grateful for the relief of depression that Seroxat (I`m from the UK) has given me, I feel extremely angry that I was in no way prepared for the hellish withdrawal symptoms. Mood swings, nausea, dizzyness and a really unpleasant tingly/fuzzy sensation in my head to name a few. Oh, and the BIZARRE dreams that disturbed my sleep every two hours as well. This is NOT acceptable and how many people have to send these messages until you realise that these side-effects do exist??

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Date:
22 Jul 2002
Time:
21:43:11
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Where do I start? I am a 36 year old professional, who has had his share of kicks in the pants. A survivor of 7 years of sexual and physucal abuse, a veteran. Type A personality--like to have it in control. A pastor, a counselor. For the last month I have been trying to get off the drug--kicked booze when I was younger, but this! I have never felt as vulnerable, as invulnerable, as kind, as mean; as forgiving, as vindictive all in one day. I will sit at my desk and wonder where I have been for the last 5 minutes. I try to read--my passion in life--but feel ill at the turning of a page past my eyes. I try to go running, too dizzy; but just for a moment. My dreams take me back to places that I would rather not remember--as if I were there again, the the tears, the anger. So much of this mimics Post Traumatic Stress. Perhaps this is what this is. It seems that withdrawl has affected my brain the same way as trauma. If this is true then I know what to expect. The rational, religious, belief system part of my brain has gone south for the season. Rage? I am a man of peace and forgiveness. How could I feel that way about a brother, a friend? Guilt. My emotional, "fight or flight" responses are on high alert. Interestingly these are what Paxil has suppressed for the last year. That explains the tears, the irrational behavior. This is not a sign of illness--it is the natural response of the brain to trauma. Intrusive thoughts and pictures, mood swings, a disruption in core beliefs abouit self and society. It will not always be like this. I am still here--though hidden.

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Date:
22 Jul 2002
Time:
22:06:44
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Date:
23 Jul 2002
Time:
03:35:26
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I think I needed help. I am not mad that I went on Paxil in the first place. I am mad that psychiatrists are so uninformed about side effects of withdrawal! My doctor diagnosed me as manic at one point trying to go off the meds and having EVERY one of the bad symptoms -- insomnia, moodiness, thick headed. So now I have a bipolar designation, which thank goodness my current therapist does not agree with. I am a fairly normal person. I do struggle with depression but I'm no different than you... Please don't write off the immense difficulty associated with Paxil withdrawal only because I am not a doctor or CEO. I am intelligent and loving and hurting like hell because I can't control my life off Paxil and it's 3:40 in the morning and I still don't want to sleep.

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Date:
23 Jul 2002
Time:
04:14:08
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Before I get started, here's an idea. We need to start a group... Paxilaholics Anonymous. But on a more serious note here...I started out trying Prozax, Effexor and some other drug (sorry I can't remember, but thanks to Paxil, my memory is shot to hell) for treating severe PMS. None of them really worked, so after watching a Paxil commercial, I just KNEW this was going to be my miracle drug (if only I'd known!). So I had my doctor prescribe this addictive drug. After a few months of losing all interest in everything such as family activities, church, etc. I thought I needed to 'up' my dose, so at my request, my doctor up'd me from 20 mgs to 40 mgs. Needless to say, the side effects worsened. I had even gained MASSIVE amounts of weight that my short frame just can't carry. (And that definitely did not help matters in the bedroom either, if you know what I mean...lol..all I can say is thank God for a sweet, kind and understanding husband.) So in all my infinite wisdom, I decided to QUIT taking the Paxil cold-turkey. BAD IDEA! All the symptoms I have read about I began experiencing. So I called my doctors office and told me I shouldn't have done that. (a big DUH) They told me I needed to taper off the medicine. So I went back to taking the 40 mgs. one day, then 20 mgs the next. And I was to continue that pattern until I felt comfortable enough to go down to the next lower dose. Well, guess what? I never made it to past the first week of tapering off. I felt so bad I just ended up going back to 40 mgs again. A few weeks later I told myself that this was ridiculous and I was going to get off Paxil one way or the other. So I called my doctor back and asked him to switch me from Paxil to Wellbutrin (thinking that it might be easier to get off the Wellbutrin...but someone please advise me if they've tried the Wellbutrin and what you think about it, as I'm very leary of taking anything anymore). I stopped taking the Paxil last Thursday and started taking Wellbutrin the next day. Of course by the next day I was already starting to suffer withdrawal symptoms. It has been less than a week since I've stopped the Paxil but even with the Wellbutrin, I'm still having those nasty "brain zaps" (and many thanks to the person that came up with that name..I had been having a hard time finding the right word or words to describe the sensation to my hubby), that weird feeling of turning my head only for there to be a delayed reaction in the image, the major "gastrointestinal" problems (if you know what I mean), dizziness, headaches, the extreme mood swings (laughing hysterically one minute, only to start crying inconsolably later, and talk about the ANGER! and that scares me the most!), extreme sensitivity to noises of any kind (I was in the shower yesterday and a bottle of shampoo fell behind me and I became so unglued I started crying and cursing), and then there's this nasty problem with just talking. At one time I was a very intelligent person with a very high IQ, but I now have a problem with finding the right words to say and have the vocabulary of a 10 year old (not to insult 10 year olds, but considering I'm 35..) And now I have developed this "sensation" of a lump in my throat and because of that I have developed this nervous "tic" of clearing my throat constantly and coughing..which leads to terrible sore throats. Now that I have complained enough about my symptoms I now must say that after finding this website I now realize that I'm NOT crazy and I'm NOT the only person going through this HELL! As a matter of fact, when I found this site and started reading everyone's problems I started crying! I really feel bad that so many of you are suffering, but I'm also relieved to know that I'm not the only one in the same boat. And if anyone has any advice on how to get through this I'd certainly appreciate it. And please feel free to email me at PinkPanther5700@aol.com

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Date:
23 Jul 2002
Time:
05:01:48
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I just had the most glorious thought. I was sitting outside, 5 in the morning smoking yet another cigarette and I realized I can do this. I will wake up one day and not take any pills and I will not take a Paxil and I will be fine. The thought is already fading. I just need to be patient with myself and go slower. When I try to do things at my normal speed it gets messed up and I freak out -- this isn't me. it's withdrawal. I need to be patient with myself. APPLY FOR FMLA AT WORK!!!!!!!! It protects your job in case you have to leave due to symptoms. I can't think quite straight. I forget what I'm saying. I can't sleep. The nightmares are horrible. I didn't know what a panic attack really was before this. the shakes so bad I can't type which I need for my job, the sweating, blocked thoughts, confusion, fear. I am strong. In pain but I can do this. So can you. I know this will be at the bottom of a huge rant list and thus probably never read but I had a momentary burst of inspiration and wanted to share. To GSK -- read this and tell me it is an unintelligent person. Read this and tell me that it is just me being silly. Read this and tell me that going off Paxil has nothing to do with the crying, the confusion. I love and I will love without Paxil. Unfortunately right now -- all of 8 days into it it's all I can do not to lash out at infractions by others that normally I would not bat an eye at. Please have pity. I know you will keep making Paxil because it makes money and it makes us feel good -- at the time -- like any other addictive substance -- And I'm confused and find myself doubting my judgement. Am I really just like a diabetic who needs their insulin? Really? I feel lost and I can't sleep. A lot of people are saying this will pass and I'm willing to give it a shot. Diabetes doesn't pass off insulin, it kills you. Is that really what you want for me GSK? To be so addicted to a drug I think I'll die without it? Please, just make a plan for people going off the drug -- even if you aren't going to pull it.

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Date:
23 Jul 2002
Time:
05:48:10
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hehehe Dear Lord! If this site isn't a good example of the kind of rage withdrawal causes I don't know what is. It's now 6 am and I've been reading these in chunks. The group towards the beginning of July 2002 -- hehehe I can relate more than I can express to the 'I am nice christian girl but what the f**jk!' hehehe please God, let someone care enough to get it and put a warning on these bottles a/b withdrawal. At least we can say it's our own fault and have some control then.

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Date:
23 Jul 2002
Time:
19:19:00
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Went to my doctor in January for severe heart palpitations. After various tests he said it was related to stress and gave me Paxil. He told me he liked to give Paxil because it's a more "natural" way to treat stress and that it is non addictive. I know NOTHING about this drug and I trust him. Over the course of the next few months I notice what I now know are brain zaps. I begin to relate them to the fact that if I forget a dose of Paxil they hit me and the longer I go the worse they get. I see my doctor for my six month Paxil check up. I tell him I've noticed as if someone is electrocuting my brain if I miss some dosages. He gives me, "are you stupid" look and has no idea what I'm saying. He says I'm too stressed and actually need to raise my dosage. I then say, "By the way totally unrelated to Paxil I noticed a couple other things lately. I never have dandruff but my scalp is itching soo bad and I'm getting scabs on it. Plus my neck, shoulders and chest are itching like crazy. It started happening about a month into Paxil." He said it's dry skin. I then say that I have intense cravings that are exactly like when I quit smoking ten years ago. He gave me the "you're nuts" look again and gave me more Paxil to take. I'm concerned and begin my own research on the internet only to find out about the zaps, the itching, the lack of memory, literally forgetting what I'm talking about in the middle of a sentence, dizziness, extreme dreams and difficulty sleeping, irritability, rage, feelings of going insane, withdrawal, depression, sadness and feeling like I'm walking around in a dream...like nothing is really happening around me. All of these things are hitting me hard as I'm trying to get off. I feel like I can't tell anyone with fear of them thinking I'm a nutcase and those who do know just can't comprehend it. Was on 20mgs for 6-7 months. Went to half dosage for two weeks. Then half dosage every other day which is where I'm at now for the last week and a half. The symptoms are unbearable at times. It's like it'll never end. I haven't noticed any decrease in these symptoms. All because a physician didn't research his drug he likes to prescribe to people. Scary stuff my friends.

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Date:
24 Jul 2002
Time:
01:24:18
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The worst part of all of this was my concern about getting addicted in the first place. My doctor assured me that this drug was totally non addictive. I feel totally violated for not being adaquately informed in the first place. Its been 2 1/2 years for me on this stuff. This is my third and final attempt and getting off it. It has not been easy and that battle still goes on. I thought it might be smart to switch to something else (cellexa) then stop that. I just ended up with two sets of withdrawls. I just keep praying that everyday I wake up it will be easier....here's to tommorrow morning! cheers.

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Date:
24 Jul 2002
Time:
02:31:18
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It's me the crank addict again. I got back on my 40mgs/day because the nausea was so bad that I ate less food than when I was tweakin all week long. After reading this site and going through what I went through. I'll take crank (or weed or acid) any day over paxil.

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Date:
24 Jul 2002
Time:
06:53:51
Remote User:
Comments
I am soo damn pissed off at this company, my doctor (who may have thought he was doing the rite thing, but how fuckin wrong can u be) and most of all this god-awful drug im on. I am a 17 year old girl, and i live in the UK(Wales to be exact) and i was put on a drug called Seroxat (also known as the deadly Paxil in the US-its in disguise!)back in march, april time of this year. Although I am only on the 20mg dose of it, it has made my life hell and since i started reducing my dose to 2mg per time, i have experienced the following problems: fainting, passing out (whatever u want to call it)and stopping breathing electric zaps(shocks) pins and needles in my hands and feet hearing an insessant voice masquerading as my beloved boyfriend telling me to kill myself(thank u to him by the way for loving me and sticking by me thru thick and thin) panic attacks (the worst resulting in me telling my wonderful mum that i hate her and threatning to cut my wrists, thus resulting in an ambulance and armed police to be called to my door..how fuckin embarrasing) anger hate anxiety attacks (thinkin everyone is out to kill me or hurt me lack of trust in everyone around me (most of all the people who love me the most) putting on almost a stone in weight need i go on? I am sure most of u are familiar with these symptoms I must say, however that the drug has appeared to have cured my depression, but its not worth goin on it just to get a whole host of new problems which are fucking ruining my life. I am now focussed on concentrating on the future, and what it holds when im off this fucking shit. I hope to be done with this bollocks in time for the reading festival, which i intend to get extremely wasted in, and indeed in time for my 18th birthday. I haven't even finished developing yet, and Paxil has changed me for the worst, i dont even recognise myself nemore, and the sooner this bastards are sued the fucking arse of them, the better. They are sick money grabbing fuckers who all deserve to be shot for what they put people thru. It's fuckin disgusting that innocent people are being prescribed this crap everyday without being informed of the severity of the aftermath of being on them (if that makes sense) Thank u for listening to my complaints, and your doing a great job of informing people about this drug! Keep it going! A x

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Date:
24 Jul 2002
Time:
12:43:17
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
24 Jul 2002
Time:
22:54:18
Remote User:
Comments
Dear GSK: After a particularly stressful time in my life my physician placed me on 20mg of Paxil per day. I felt relieved at the time, to know that there was something I could take that would help me over the hump and according to my physician, it was the safest and best alternative to me. When last November, I missed two consecutive days of Paxil and starting experiencing the withdrawal symptoms, I had not yet put two and two together yet and figured that I was experiencing pre-CVA symptoms. You see, GSK, I am in the medical profession and have been so for the last 20years. How wonderful it is to be lecturing medical students and all of a sudden not be able to move your mouth or be able to vocalize what you are thinking. Hands falling asleep and your entire body jumping wildly and uncontrollably at the sound of a coffee cup being placed on a desk. That wonderful buzzing sound that explodes in your head and disorientates you just long enough that everyone in the room notices. I am now at the point of trying to get myself onto 5mg per day and am once again struggling with all of the symptoms; I know that I am looking at months of trying to wean myself off of it and all I can say to you is shame, shame, shame. I'd love to call you every name in the book, but even those are to good for you. Science, gentleman, should be honest and you are a bunch of liars.

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Date:
25 Jul 2002
Time:
19:51:56
Remote User:
Comments
Right now, I could put my fist thru my computer monitor. It has been 9 days post paxil, and while certain symptoms such as the flu-like symptoms are better, the irritability/anger seems to worsen. I feel dead to the world other than irritability and anger, my head seems numb like nothing can get thru to it. God help us all thru this.

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Date:
26 Jul 2002
Time:
08:23:47
Remote User:
Comments
I took Paxil, 10mg, for ONLY 4 DAYS. The side effects were terrible- shaky, sweaty and sleepless. My doctor warned me about side-effects and withdrawal, but I thought that after 4 pills I wouldn't have problems quitting. Now, a few days later, I feel like I have a stomach flu. I'm more irritable than ever and I still can't sleep. I don't have 'the zaps' and I'm sure I'm getting let off more lightly than most of you, but taking antidepressants was a huge mistake that I won't make again. My deepest sympathies to those who are really, truly suffering.

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Date:
26 Jul 2002
Time:
12:10:44
Remote User:
Comments
COMING OFF THIS DRUG(SEROXAT) IS TERRIBLE. DIZZINESS,FEELING SICK, TINGLING SENSATIONS,DIAHORREA,SPACED OUT FEELING,BAD COORDINATION,SLEEP PROBLEMS,MOOD SWINGS....FUCK IT I`D RATHER STILL BE DEPRESSED.SURELY YOU MUST BE ABLE TO RECOMMEND A WAY OF COMING OFF THESE WITHOUT THE SIDE EFFECTS.

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Date:
26 Jul 2002
Time:
13:00:22
Remote User:
Comments
I have been on Paxil for about 5-6 years. Before I began taking the Paxil, I was traveling, meeting people, and owned a gift shop. I had pretty much overcome the Panic Attacks by myself, before I ever took the Paxil. When I was prescribed the Paxil, I was depressed because I onication for a sinus infection, having severe PMS, and my husband threatened to divorce me, all in one day. The doctor never told me about the side effects: the weight gain, the sexual dysfunction (lack of interest in sex), the horrible vivid dreams. Then, a year ago in August, after another one of those horrible nightmares, I awoke having a full-blown panic attack. I went back to the doctor, the leader of the group of psychiatrists, and instead of decreasing the Paxil, he increased it to 40mg! Since then, I have kept having the horrible nightmares, depression, weight gain, etc. Then, in May, I told them that I didn't think the Paxil was really helping me much anymore. The constant nightmares were making me have more anxiety. I dreaded going to sleep at night, because of the horrendous dreams. At first, my dosage was titrated from 40mg. to 30mg. one week, then, 20 mg. one week, then, 10mg. the next week. I went from 40 to 10 mg. in a month, and when I got down to the 10mg., I began experiencing severe nausea and withdrawal symptoms. The nurse at the doctor's office said to call it "discontinuation symptoms". Since then, I've been to two M.D.'s, the first said that the Paxil wasn't the cause and wanted me to go to a gastroendirologist. The second M.D. has been trying to work with me to get off of the Paxil. I have been prescribed two other drugs, one that gave me headaches, and the other which I accidentlly took too much (as prescribed by a doctor), causing even more nervousness and anxiety. I have been taking Ativan for the last couple of months when I have a severe anxiety attack. It helps but I have also learned that it can be very habit-forming. I have also been to the Emergency Room twice. While visiting the doctors and E. R., I have caught two cases of bronchitis, and a mysterious flu-virus. I've never had bronchitis in my life, until then. I am still on the 10mg. of Paxil, and taking the Ativan. Now, the doctor wants me to take Depakote. This whole situation has been a total nightmare!! I am afraid to lower the 10mg. Paxil dosage or take anything else because I am terrified of the side effects and the "horrible withdrawal symptoms". Thank the Lord that I can turn to this website. Sometimes, I have felt as though my situation is hopeless, and when is my life going to return to normal. Something definitely needs to be done about a company who advertises a drug as non-habit-forming. Throughout the years that I have been on Paxil, when I began complaining about the nightmares that were frequent and severe, causing anxiety, my dosage was increased. In fact, at the present time, I feel as though taking more Paxil is the only way to end this crisis that I am going through. At times,I have been so sick and frustrated, that is difficult to get mad. I am just hoping and praying that I find a solution for this problem. Please pray for me and anyone else who is experiencing this nightmare. Pray that somewhere there is help for those who are suffering as a result of taking Paxil. I just want my life to return to normal, be able to go places, and enjoy life without feeling so uncomfortable. Also, if there is anyone who has a better solution for "quitting Paxi", please tell it on this website. I need help in dealing with this.

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Date:
26 Jul 2002
Time:
13:00:29
Remote User:
Comments
I have been on Paxil for about 5-6 years. Before I began taking the Paxil, I was traveling, meeting people, and owned a gift shop. I had pretty much overcome the Panic Attacks by myself, before I ever took the Paxil. When I was prescribed the Paxil, I was depressed because I onication for a sinus infection, having severe PMS, and my husband threatened to divorce me, all in one day. The doctor never told me about the side effects: the weight gain, the sexual dysfunction (lack of interest in sex), the horrible vivid dreams. Then, a year ago in August, after another one of those horrible nightmares, I awoke having a full-blown panic attack. I went back to the doctor, the leader of the group of psychiatrists, and instead of decreasing the Paxil, he increased it to 40mg! Since then, I have kept having the horrible nightmares, depression, weight gain, etc. Then, in May, I told them that I didn't think the Paxil was really helping me much anymore. The constant nightmares were making me have more anxiety. I dreaded going to sleep at night, because of the horrendous dreams. At first, my dosage was titrated from 40mg. to 30mg. one week, then, 20 mg. one week, then, 10mg. the next week. I went from 40 to 10 mg. in a month, and when I got down to the 10mg., I began experiencing severe nausea and withdrawal symptoms. The nurse at the doctor's office said to call it "discontinuation symptoms". Since then, I've been to two M.D.'s, the first said that the Paxil wasn't the cause and wanted me to go to a gastroendirologist. The second M.D. has been trying to work with me to get off of the Paxil. I have been prescribed two other drugs, one that gave me headaches, and the other which I accidentlly took too much (as prescribed by a doctor), causing even more nervousness and anxiety. I have been taking Ativan for the last couple of months when I have a severe anxiety attack. It helps but I have also learned that it can be very habit-forming. I have also been to the Emergency Room twice. While visiting the doctors and E. R., I have caught two cases of bronchitis, and a mysterious flu-virus. I've never had bronchitis in my life, until then. I am still on the 10mg. of Paxil, and taking the Ativan. Now, the doctor wants me to take Depakote. This whole situation has been a total nightmare!! I am afraid to lower the 10mg. Paxil dosage or take anything else because I am terrified of the side effects and the "horrible withdrawal symptoms". Thank the Lord that I can turn to this website. Sometimes, I have felt as though my situation is hopeless, and when is my life going to return to normal. Something definitely needs to be done about a company who advertises a drug as non-habit-forming. Throughout the years that I have been on Paxil, when I began complaining about the nightmares that were frequent and severe, causing anxiety, my dosage was increased. In fact, at the present time, I feel as though taking more Paxil is the only way to end this crisis that I am going through. At times,I have been so sick and frustrated, that is difficult to get mad. I am just hoping and praying that I find a solution for this problem. Please pray for me and anyone else who is experiencing this nightmare. Pray that somewhere there is help for those who are suffering as a result of taking Paxil. I just want my life to return to normal, be able to go places, and enjoy life without feeling so uncomfortable. Also, if there is anyone who has a better solution for "quitting Paxi", please tell it on this website. I need help in dealing with this.

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Date:
26 Jul 2002
Time:
13:00:37
Remote User:
Comments
I have been on Paxil for about 5-6 years. Before I began taking the Paxil, I was traveling, meeting people, and owned a gift shop. I had pretty much overcome the Panic Attacks by myself, before I ever took the Paxil. When I was prescribed the Paxil, I was depressed because I onication for a sinus infection, having severe PMS, and my husband threatened to divorce me, all in one day. The doctor never told me about the side effects: the weight gain, the sexual dysfunction (lack of interest in sex), the horrible vivid dreams. Then, a year ago in August, after another one of those horrible nightmares, I awoke having a full-blown panic attack. I went back to the doctor, the leader of the group of psychiatrists, and instead of decreasing the Paxil, he increased it to 40mg! Since then, I have kept having the horrible nightmares, depression, weight gain, etc. Then, in May, I told them that I didn't think the Paxil was really helping me much anymore. The constant nightmares were making me have more anxiety. I dreaded going to sleep at night, because of the horrendous dreams. At first, my dosage was titrated from 40mg. to 30mg. one week, then, 20 mg. one week, then, 10mg. the next week. I went from 40 to 10 mg. in a month, and when I got down to the 10mg., I began experiencing severe nausea and withdrawal symptoms. The nurse at the doctor's office said to call it "discontinuation symptoms". Since then, I've been to two M.D.'s, the first said that the Paxil wasn't the cause and wanted me to go to a gastroendirologist. The second M.D. has been trying to work with me to get off of the Paxil. I have been prescribed two other drugs, one that gave me headaches, and the other which I accidentlly took too much (as prescribed by a doctor), causing even more nervousness and anxiety. I have been taking Ativan for the last couple of months when I have a severe anxiety attack. It helps but I have also learned that it can be very habit-forming. I have also been to the Emergency Room twice. While visiting the doctors and E. R., I have caught two cases of bronchitis, and a mysterious flu-virus. I've never had bronchitis in my life, until then. I am still on the 10mg. of Paxil, and taking the Ativan. Now, the doctor wants me to take Depakote. This whole situation has been a total nightmare!! I am afraid to lower the 10mg. Paxil dosage or take anything else because I am terrified of the side effects and the "horrible withdrawal symptoms". Thank the Lord that I can turn to this website. Sometimes, I have felt as though my situation is hopeless, and when is my life going to return to normal. Something definitely needs to be done about a company who advertises a drug as non-habit-forming. Throughout the years that I have been on Paxil, when I began complaining about the nightmares that were frequent and severe, causing anxiety, my dosage was increased. In fact, at the present time, I feel as though taking more Paxil is the only way to end this crisis that I am going through. At times,I have been so sick and frustrated, that is difficult to get mad. I am just hoping and praying that I find a solution for this problem. Please pray for me and anyone else who is experiencing this nightmare. Pray that somewhere there is help for those who are suffering as a result of taking Paxil. I just want my life to return to normal, be able to go places, and enjoy life without feeling so uncomfortable. Also, if there is anyone who has a better solution for "quitting Paxi", please tell it on this website. I need help in dealing with this.

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Date:
26 Jul 2002
Time:
14:56:57
Remote User:
Comments
I took Paxil for 4 day's and on the 5th day the room started to spin and I had diarrhea really bad and I was very anxious. I called the doctor and she said I was having a panick attack. I new I wasn't so she said to quit taking Paxil and that I wouldn't have any side effect because I only took 5 doses of 20 mgs. Boy was she wrong! It is now day 4 without Paxil and I still have diarrhea, I can't sleep and haven't eaten anthing but Jello which is out of my system in about 20 mins. I still have a hot tingling sensation in my scalp and shoulder to my hands. I get hot flashes too. I am mad at the Doctor for not telling me the risks of taking this drug! I was put on it for panick attacks. I would rather have a panick attack than what I am going through now.

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Date:
27 Jul 2002
Time:
13:23:22
Remote User:
Comments
i have tapered off extremely slowly, over 4-5 months, and still i am experiencing the same horrid side effects. I was down to 1/4 pink pill every second day, and stopped that 4 days ago and feel all the same things I remember feeling when I tapered off last time (and quite after 1/4 pink daily), down from 1/2 for two weeks. I am really frustrated and hating this. I have quite alcohol and smoking many years ago, and this is right up there with smoking withdrawl. How long will it last - give me a time frame -anything so I can have a goal....

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Date:
27 Jul 2002
Time:
17:00:45
Remote User:
Comments
I started having side effects while still taking Paxil, about 18 months after being put of the drug.. Each time I took my morning dose I would get a zap like volt and a few minutes of confusion and nausea. I tried withdrawal on my own. It was a nightmare. I got violent images surrounding my head, like watching a bad horror movie, extreme nausea, diarrhea, confusion, blurred vision, muscle pain, you name it. Later I learned from a particularly good psychiatrist that the violent movie aura effect was a pre-seizure symptom. I almost had a seizure!!! I told my doc I wanted off this drug. my doc decided to switch me to Celexa and said that I could just do that and would not have trouble. WRONG! The same symptoms reoccurred and I ended up in the emergency room -- suicidal -- that weekend when my doc was on vacation and could not be bothered to take any phone calls. Luckily there was a psychaitrist on call who recognized the Paxil withdrawal thing but she wanted to put me back on it!!!!! It is not just the corporation that manufacturers this drug, it is also the incompetent pill pushing docs who have NO IDEA what they are doing.

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Date:
27 Jul 2002
Time:
20:51:22
Remote User:
Comments
Most doctors don't really want to acknowledge the withdrawal symptoms of Paxil. But the symptoms are real, and to me, a nightmare, as well. Sometimes, I feel as though I need to be in a drug rehab center. One day, I feel better, the next day nervous and anxious. We've all got to stick together to get through this @*#!! I'm still on the 10mg. a day (from 40mg.) I'm taking Ativan to help the horrendous anxiety attacks. At first, when I had the severe nausea attacks, I took Bonine (motion sickness medicine), and it really helped. Try to stay busy. Walk as much as you can. Cry when you can! Scream, if you must! Most of all, stay with this support site. We're not alone. Nancy

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Date:
27 Jul 2002
Time:
21:35:03
Remote User:
Comments
Tonight, I'm really frustrated about my Paxil withdrawal. I've found another location on this site where everyone can chat. It's the Message & Chat Board at www.quitpaxil.org. You just click on it and just put in your user name. There is a message that says most people talk around 8 P.M. EST., but I was the only one in the chat room. Anyone care to join me? Nanciann

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Date:
27 Jul 2002
Time:
21:42:58
Remote User:
Comments
This drug should be called hillbilly heroin.I have never went through so much in the past few years that I could actually take a few heads with me if this is going to kill me.Today again was very bad,tired of drs telling me its all in my head when there I sit with my tongue out and its big,blue,red,purple,feelings of going to choke. Panic attacks that I have never before had in my life,pulse of 140.Not one part of my body I dont complain about.I dont sleep nor eat,if I fall asleep I have more visits from dead people then I do live ones.When I eat its like I am starving,then I dont eat again for days.I hate this shit Paxil!! I never know when I need a pooper scooper (I dont own a dog) and when I am going to pee myself.And when I do have to drink water..I have to have a bucket under me I am like a skeleton clad only in skin. take a needle and stick it up the makers ass and watch them suffer.Then their money wont help them either. So pissed at them for destroying my health and DOCTORS know nothing about it. At least tonight I can get a finger working to type,any mistakes forgive me as I am not with it. I had the burning in the head that landed me in the hospital and I had to leave because they were treating me as another patient (all Quacks) This is causing some of my organs to take a beating,UTI which is very bad now,my name should be almost BRAIN DEAD and full of infection from THIS SHIT PAXIL. Thats just a short story for the time being.....burn in hell SMITHKLINE BEECHAM

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Date:
29 Jul 2002
Time:
12:25:59
Remote User:
Comments
Me again--I have been weaning off the Paxil. I use the liquid and am now down to the equivalent of 2mg per day which amounts to about 1\2teaspoon of the liquid. The anger has subsided some--still a few outbreaks into tears (At six foot tall and 250 lbs no one else seems to mind:))A migraine yesterday that shut down my vision for a few hours. That may have been because of the heat though, I have had migraines for years before Paxil. A few tips: 1. You are not going crazy. You have become addicted to a psychological drug, expect withdrawl symptoms to effect your thought process, emotions, motor skills. 2. Drink lots of water--you should do this anyway, not soda pop, not alcohol, nothing caffinated (sp) drink water at least 8 glasses a day. 3. As per alcohol--I know that it can be relaxing, even medicinal. I occasionaly use Jaegermeister (2 tablespoons) when I have the flu. BUT--your mind and body are going through trauma now. Though you may be relaxed at first, after two hours teh alcohol becomes an irritant in your system and adversly affects whatever quality of sleep you have left. Also--you do not need cross addiction now. Why complicate Paxil addiction with another addiction. 4. Vitamin B complex, GNC has a good liquid that I use. 5. Someone mentioned motion sickness medication. That works well. Keep something in mind for your wallets sake: One dramamine tablet is 25mg of Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride, One Benedryl is 25mg of THE EXACT SAME STUFF. I recently bought A bottle of 100 Wal Mart brand Allergy tablets (Equate they are the generic Benedryl) for under $5.00) 6. Remember--there is a point where things will settle down. 7. When you start to feel better--GIVE OTHERS HOPE! Stop back here and let us and others know. Hope is a wonderful gift to give someone that is hurting. Craig God bless

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Date:
29 Jul 2002
Time:
13:28:25
Remote User:
Comments
I was so glad to find this site. I thought I was going crazy. I have been on Paxil about 18 months and am trying to go off. I was on 20 mg every day, then went to 10 mg every day and just finished a week of 10 mg every other day. I am experiencing nausea, loose bowels, loss of concentration, slurred speech. I feel like I am always drunk. Plus, I keep crying for no good reason. I am totally miserable. Someone hit the nail on the head when they said, "I just want me back."

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Date:
29 Jul 2002
Time:
22:14:26
Remote User:
Comments
You are crying for a good reason--that is to say that your body is responding to circumstances and physical and chemical adjustments that are not normal. Withdrawal is trauma. But it ends. You are farther along now than you were a week ago--and you make many of us feel good that you have come this far. God bless you.

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Date:
30 Jul 2002
Time:
10:43:55
Remote User:
Comments
OK--day two without Paxil. My last week has been on 2mg. Took some motion sickness medicine for the dizziness. Woke up this morning REAL stiff. Felt like I had been on a three day drunk. We'll see how it goes.

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Date:
30 Jul 2002
Time:
19:09:34
Remote User:
Comments
My heart goes out to those of you who have suffered from the side effects and whatever disorder or condition that caused you to be put on Paxil in the first place!! I was on Paxil for 7 years straight, then it no longer worked for me because I was misdiagnosed as teenager. I suffer from Bipolar Disorder as well as Epilepsy. I was fortunate enough to not to have suffered the horrible withdrawals or side effects that have been stated here. It took the medical community months to admit that I have a form of epilepsy that does not register on their tests. During this very scary time for me I was placed on Valium as well as a plethora of other meds, including Prozac. Want to talk about side effects. I quit all of those meds COLD TURKEY (My Valium addiction was to the point that I would go through 100 pills in a 4 day span!) This was both a physical & mental addiction and it took me over 6 months to recover! I too am VERY concerned about many drugs that may cause either long lingering to permanent effects. Whether fortunate or not, I am now on a drug cocktail that is treating both my Bipolar Disorder as well as my Epilepsy. I pray for all of you who are suffering so, I DO KNOW THAT HELL! I am also dedicated to speaking out about any medication that causes such suffering and permanant damage! This is a great place to speak out, but we must also find the strength to fight back against not only the drug manufacturers, but also the FDA and the AMA who allow us to be treated like test subjects, forced to endure either a long lingering or permanent effects of drugs such as Paxil (& MANY OTHERS')! Case in point; Palm Beach County, in this past year has had pharmicies robbed both by threats of violence some which include weapons, as well as break ins for the soul purpose of obtaining Oxycotin! I am sure this is a nation wide epidemic and that drugs such as Paxil are involved as well! My prayers'are with all of you suffering!

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Date:
30 Jul 2002
Time:
19:21:33
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
30 Jul 2002
Time:
19:27:48
Remote User:
Comments
This is for the person who wrote positive notes about paxil for her Bipolar disorder...did your Dr. tell you or did you even know that anyone who is Bipolar should NOT EVER take paxil...

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Date:
30 Jul 2002
Time:
20:33:36
Remote User:
Comments
I thought I was losing my mind until I read all of these stories about the wonderful world of Paxil withdrawal symptoms...I am a person who has suffered from severe depression for about 7 years now & thought Paxil was "all that" until I had to quit taking it secondary to pregnancy...man will I ever be normal again?! I am so dizzy & nauseated that I can bearly complete the simplest tasks without having to lay down & regroup...it's been about a week since I stopped taking the drug & I have yet to feel any better...I cannot believe that something that is supposed to make you feel good can make you feel sooooo bad...I should have known how difficult it was going to be to stop Paxil completely because when I was taking it daily if I were to miss a dose or even just take it a little later than the day before, I became nauseated & dizzy...just not quite to the extent that I am experiencing now!!!

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Date:
30 Jul 2002
Time:
20:36:58
Remote User:
Comments

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Date:
30 Jul 2002
Time:
21:28:16
Remote User:
Comments
I think it is SICK that this SmithKline Beecham company plays off the fears of shy people. I am PAINFULLY shy and anxious around people. It is sickening that they would sell a dangerous drug to get money from shy people. What jerks.

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Date:
31 Jul 2002
Time:
01:11:22
Remote User:
Comments
To the person who asked me, did I know that people with Bipolar Disorder should not take Paxil , not until WAY after the fact. As I originally stated, I was misdiagnosed as a teenager (they said I had clinical depression) and I have learned ,through extensive research, that I did not tell my doctor about my mania & dysphoric mania episodes because I did know I was having them (which is common among people with BPD). All I knew to be wrong was that I was so depressed that I just wanted to die (for no discernable reason) and as many times as I've attempted suicide (when I was not on medication) you'd think I'd be dead, however, I have one hell of a guardian angel/spirit guide. Believe me I wish I did not have to rely on meds' to keep me alive and kicking, but I do what I can and try to make the best of each moment cause I know no one leaves this world unscathed! Again, My Prayers are with all of y'all!

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Date:
31 Jul 2002
Time:
11:34:25
Remote User:
Comments
Hi Everyone! I've found a message from a lady, "RN INDY" who tapered off of the Paxil and is completely "Off". Just go back to the beginning of this site. Click on the block that says, "Message and Chat Board". Then, click on the top "go there" for the forum that shows her message. Then, click on "Quit paxil org.withdrawal support. Then scoll down to "Finally and Completely "Off" Paxil and click on that to read her message. She tapered "off" very slowly, and her message is of great encouragement to all of us who are experiencing the "Paxil Withdrawal Nightmare". Hope this helps you...there is hope for all of us.

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Date:
31 Jul 2002
Time:
13:50:25
Remote User:
Comments
Thank God for this rant opportunity. Just what kind of HELL did I descend myself into?? My doctor told me Paxil was the way to go because it leaves your system sooner than Prozac (I told him I wanted to get pregnant in six months). I cannot believe how this withdrawal process has dragged out. It just goes on and on! The scratching in the head is the most disgusting, frightening, weird thing I have ever experienced. I can only imagine what I have done to my body and now I'm afraid to get pregnant for fear of adverse effects to the fetus!! SmithKline Beecham, you do the devil's work and YOU SHOULD BE PUT OUT OF BUSINESS FOR YOUR FRAUD AND DECEPTION!!!

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Date:
31 Jul 2002
Time:
20:53:24
Remote User:
Comments
I went through 4 months of hellish Paxil withdrawal, extreme migraines, spastic type jerking in my neck, and legs, when I walked, nightmares, brainzaps and continually whoosh sounds in my head every time I moved, or changed direction; inability to concentrate; I lost my job of nearly 5 years, for being late to work. After complete slow withdrawal, I still had zaps and whooshin in my head for over 13 weeks, and it still comes back now and then. Go to www. antidepressants facts .com, click on the three part article on the Pineal gland, if you want to know how this drug causes brain damage. Drug withdrawal; more like the brain needing time to try, rebalance, and conpensated for the damage. This drug company, GSK not only needs to make full accountability; it needs to take the drug off the market. Depressed and anxious people need help, not to make matters 50 times worse.

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Date:
31 Jul 2002
Time:
23:41:00
Remote User:
Comments
Life is returning to normal - thank god! i weaned myself off over 4 months, at the end i was on 1/4 pink pill (5 mg) every second day. Then off it all - then the real hell started and lasted about one week (i had noticed symptons along the weaning time, but nothing compared to what happened of of everything. Today, I only had a slight headache and I can concentrate a bit more, plus im not ready to smuck my family at every turn - im so happy that its improving not getting worse or staying the same. I am never doing any "drugs" again.

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Date:
01 Aug 2002
Time:
04:53:37
Remote User:
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Revised: 01 Aug 2002 04:53:44 -0400 .
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Revised: 01 Aug 2002 04:53:44 -0400 .
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