Has anyone used Paxil for a long period of time?

achilles5

New member
I am a 33 year-old male. I have an Anxiety Disorder. I have been taking Paxil 40mg/day for over 7 years. Paxil works well for me, but lately I have been considering trying to quit taking it. I want to see what I would be like without the medication. As I began to research quitting, I have found nothing but absolute horror stories about the withdrawal symptoms that follow quitting. Some say that they have been permanently damaged by it. All of this has really scared the #*&@ out of me. The really scary thing is that I now fear the very thing (Paxil) that helps me to not fear. Pretty ironic, really. Anyway, I would love to hear from anyone out there that has taken Paxil for an extended amount of time, and then quit successfully. Without any permanent nervous system damage or permanent withdrawal symptoms. I'm not planning on quitting anytime soon - certainly not cold turkey, and certainly not without the care of doc. I would like to know that if I wanted to quit, I could. I'm very scared that having taken Paxil for so long, and at 40mg/day, has caused permanent damage. Has anyone out there taken Paxil for an extended period of time, and then quit without major problems or permanent damage? Thanks so much for your help.
 

froghat

Well-known member
I took Paxil for about 5 years and had no problems getting off it. For a few months I felt a little weird, but nothing serious. Actually, I'm considering getting back on Paxil. I've been off it for four years and my life has slowly been drifting back down to my pre Paxil period in high school. Constant fear and paranoia. Why do you want to get off it? You think you can do without it? I thought the same thing. I'm barely getting by.
 

Chriswinnipeg

Active member
Actaully if you get off paxil like lessen your dose really gradually over a period of time a couple of months. You won't get any withdrawl symptoms at all. I'm dead serious. And I think that taking B complex vitamins while tapering off them helps too. But tapering off it completely cold turkey or just a couple of weeks, that's another story. You gotta do it gradually where you don't even notice anything.
 

blackcap

Well-known member
I was on it for about 6 months, and then I stopped because its effects wore off. I didn't go cold turkey, but almost - I halved my dose for a couple of weeks and then stopped completely. For the next 2 or 3 weeks, I felt dizzy a lot and got motion sick quite often. It wasn't pleasant, but nothing to be scared of. Not sure whether being on it for several years makes it harder to come off or not.

I'd say if it's working for you then stick with it. What's if you come off it, find your anxiety comes back, and then start it again only to find it no longer works for some reason? If I found a drug that worked, I'd stay on it for life (unless there were proven long-term side-effects maybe).
 
i went off paxil about a year ago. i slowly weened myself off the drug. A few months later i experienced horrible depression for the first time in my life. I don't know if it was caused by going off the paxil or just certain negative events in my life. Maybe it was a combination of the two.
 

JackHackett

Member
Achilles, how does it compare being on paxil to being on nothing at all?

I know there is no 'magic pill' but I see a lot of people stay on some meds for years so they must be a great help?

It's really getting on top of me now and at 23 I want to try and improve things
 

lilygrace

New member
Maybe you should just stay on it and go on with your life dont worry about getting of it just be thankful it works.
achilles5 said:
I am a 33 year-old male. I have an Anxiety Disorder. I have been taking Paxil 40mg/day for over 7 years. Paxil works well for me, but lately I have been considering trying to quit taking it. I want to see what I would be like without the medication. As I began to research quitting, I have found nothing but absolute horror stories about the withdrawal symptoms that follow quitting. Some say that they have been permanently damaged by it. All of this has really scared the #*&@ out of me. The really scary thing is that I now fear the very thing (Paxil) that helps me to not fear. Pretty ironic, really. Anyway, I would love to hear from anyone out there that has taken Paxil for an extended amount of time, and then quit successfully. Without any permanent nervous system damage or permanent withdrawal symptoms. I'm not planning on quitting anytime soon - certainly not cold turkey, and certainly not without the care of doc. I would like to know that if I wanted to quit, I could. I'm very scared that having taken Paxil for so long, and at 40mg/day, has caused permanent damage. Has anyone out there taken Paxil for an extended period of time, and then quit without major problems or permanent damage? Thanks so much for your help.
 
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