Diet is good to average. I am strict during the week and eat fairly clean. On the weekends I have some beers and eat pretty much what I want. I play competitive tennis and am on the court at least 10 hours a week. So compared to the normal person, I am in good shape.
I should have guessed considering your username. 
I know proper diet and exercise helps with my anxiety issues. I was hoping maybe the same would help with your depression. But if you’re already doing all that though, I don’t anything to offer.
Good luck, I hope you find the answers that you need.
Yes, you are completely and utterly wrong. This is not an addiction like the kind that NA handles; this is a physical dependance that needs to be handled by a MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL. Not a bunch of former drug addicts.
**
To the OP: **
Call your doctor, please. You can taper slowly, and it’s the least painful way to go. I tapered off Effexor before docs really knew how horrible that was – the fast taper was hell. The slow taper, with help of a very, very low dose of Prozac, was easy. My doc also had me use Ativan to help with brain zaps and panic, and to help me sleep. YMMV.
Some people get off SSRIs, SNRIs, etc., by cutting the dose miniscule amounts. A liquid version of the med can help this.
I’ll post more later – have a meeting to go to. Lunch is over.
(But please fill your Paxil and take it until you see your doc!)
Thanks Shakes. Exercise does help with my depression/anxiety. When I do get off this, I will probably be as active as possible to keep my mind clear.
Thank you for the information. I did fill the script and am taking it again and feel pretty much “normal” again. One question for you. As I mentioned before, I went off Paxil after four years of taking 40 mg a day cold turkey and really only had a mild week of withdrawal. I was lucky. Do you think that means I would have an easier withdrawal this time? Or is it impossible to know?
It’s impossible for me to know. Especially since I’m not a doctor, just someone who’s been off and on antidepressants for various reasons (most recently for chronic pain). I’ve found some are more difficult to taper off. Prozac was really easy for me, but Effexor XR was terrible. I suspect that much depends on the dose you’re taking and your own body chemistry.
Do ask your doc about tapering - it makes things much less uncomfortable. I feel like I’m getting the flu, and my balance is affected, and I have awful dreams, so I’m a fan of a slow taper. YMMV.
Exercise can help a lot, especially to get you to sleep better.
And for a laugh, a few of my blog posts about getting off Effexor, which I now call “Satan’s Tic-Tacs”.
Good luck!
Satan’s Tic Tacks, haha!
Last weekend when I didn’t take the Paxil, I just remembered I had super vivid dreams. That wasn’t necessarily a bad side effect though.
Aaaaaaand…Swing and a miss!
To the OP: the slower the titration, the better.
It’s entirely possible. Several years ago I was prescribed a benzodiazepine sleep med (temazepam) for several weeks, and when I stopped taking it I experienced brain zaps for a while. As best I can recall, they were not quite as intense or long-lasting as the ones I got from quitting SSRIs.
Some users of MDMA apparently get them too, which I can neither confirm nor deny.
“Zaps” = brief moments of dizziness?
Not really for me. The best way I can describe it is like when you touch something metal and get a shock from it. It’s like that but it’s your brain getting shocked.
I wonder if what I describe as my head full of bees was the same as the brain zaps. It sounds similar but not quite the same.
Sorry, I feel compelled to add something additional for Mr. Wayne:
You are very mistaken about your points. Also, quite arrogant in attempting to diagnose an addiction based on an internet post when, to the best of my knowledge, you are not medically trained. We have actual doctors here on the SD who do not do such a thing - probably because they know better.
Please look up the difference between physical dependence, which is NOT an addiction, and addiction.
Have you any clue at all between prescribing a medication for a legitimate medical reason (including psychiatric reasons) and drug abuse? It doesn’t sound like it.
Are they the sort of people who believe addicts should go off ANY medication whatsoever, even those needed to preserve life and health? Because I have a lot of contempt for that sort. They can do a lot of damage to the chronically ill and I have seen that advice contribute to someone’s death.
This coyness is completely unnecessary here. We’ve all heard of AA, NA, Rational Recovery, and so on, no one has yet run screaming from the room at their mention.
Ah, I see - you assume everyone else is suffering from YOUR problem. Tell me, do you make a habit of playing doctor.
[quote[But if anyone here is a member and knows those words, I sure would appreciate if you would post them here. If you wish to remain anonymous, you can always send a PM to a moderator or to me and I will pass it along by posting it in this thread.[/quote]
Seriously???
Seriously???
Do you realize how few people here post under their own name? Do you think my name is actually “Broomstick” or something? We are already anonymous here.
Given the numbers of posters not only in this thread but on the Dope in general who have been brutally honest and forthcoming about their past and/or current addiction struggle I also doubt that overwhelming concern with people not knowing about the problem is an issue here.
OK, now some of your past posts begin to make a lot more sense.
Listen, Mr. Wayne, the odds are the OP is having a different problem than you did.
Yeah. It can be dizzying/disorienting but more than that, it really does feel like a kind of electric shock. For me they would frequently be bursts of three or more, usually triggered by moving my head or eyes. Sort of like
ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAPzapzap
The sensation is so odd and distinct that I think it’s one of those “if it happens to you, you’ll know” things.
You guys did notice that Charlie Wayne backed off, apologized for the bad advice, and thanked OP for setting him straight?
What are they supposed to do with the soapbox… put soap in it?
Yeah, yeah, yeah - except this is hardly the first time he’s posted a screed about addiction, and I suspect not the first time he’s practiced some on-line diagnosing without actual credentials. This was even more misplaced than usual. It’s getting tedious.
Newsflash: not everyone is an addict.
Jast taper really slowly. I don’t know how many milligrams the Paxil pills are but if you are taking 60mg pills and there are 30mg pills, start by by alternating 60mg pill, then 30mg pill, etc… then eventually switch over to 30mg then start alternating that, two days on, one day off etc… until you wean yourself off completely. Go slow.
If you don’t know anything about it, then you shouldn’t claimed it was a “mood altering substance”.
Yes, I know he apologized. But he flat out admitted he didn’t know anything about said medication – but made the claim anyways. Hello, offering medical advice when you don’t know jackshit about the subject? Jesus Christ.
(FWIW, I’m on Paxil to read Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
I didn’t know they were prescribing Paxil for dyslexia now.