history of this site

  author, author

Traveling through Asia about 8 years ago, I all of a sudden thought that death had visited me a touch on the early side ....my first Panic attack soon turned into a full blown panic disorder (anticipatory anxiety -> agoraphobia -> depression). After a return to Canada, medical treatment was recommended, Imipramine prescribed then taken, and within a year life was back to more or less normal.

After having reduced the drug to a minimum, school stress caused my Panic to resurface...my very competent Dr. recommended Paxil: less side effects and better results, he argued....the results were fine (not better the previous higher dose of Imipramine), but the side effects were a touch deflating. School was over, the panic was in remission, so I decided to taper off Paxil over a period of two weeks….and all hell broke loose.

Although I new instinctively that paxil was at the root of it, I could find no confirmation for this anywhere I looked. It was at that point that I decide to create this site. Its purpose was multi fold: for one it served as an outlet for my frustration at not finding any information. It was also effective as a therapeutic tool, for while creating it, I could take my mind off the madness that was engulfing me. Finally it was to serve as a point of contact for fellow sufferers.

My fight with the drug has been won. All the withdrawal symptoms are only nightmarish memories. The brush with the abyss has left an indelible mark, yet life has returned to normal. As for this site: it will remain active for as long as people are taking this drug, or until SK B decides to amend their site by a) including all comprehensive information on Paxil withdrawal and b) creating some form of web–based support mechanism.  

Many of you have shared some of their most intimate moments of their life in your e-mails. I suspect that the combination of going through an extreme traumatic event coupled with the relative anonymity of the Internet has allowed people to open up more then they usually would.

I for one have always had a certain disdain for the relative recent phenomenon of divulging one’s private information to the world. Yet, when the crisis hit home, it felt quite natural and even imperative to at least share some of my experiences with the rest of the planet.

The following quick bio’s sole function is for you to get to know your messenger. It will provide the necessary context for you to judge and weigh the information provided on this Site.

First and foremost: I am not a doctor, nor do I possess any training as a counselor. Born in 1967 in the US, my parents, both German citizens working for NATO, where quickly reassigned back to Europe. After stints in Belgium, Germany and France, they both decide that Canada was to become our permanent home. Thus, at the age of 14, I landed in N. America once more and have since become a citizen of this magnificent nation. After High school, I studied German literature and language, first at the University of Waterloo, then at Dalhousie U. in Halifax. To my dismay, I found out that an MA in linguistics was about as useful as a nipple on a butterfly when it came time to find gainful employment. I therefore retrained in the IT field and am now crossing the continent developing web sites, databases and painting houses.

As bios go this one is a tad on the dry side, but hopefully it will suffice as a tool by which to judge the rest of the information found  in these pages.