Posted by audre on April 11, 2008, at 12:57:55
I've been on an SSRI , (Lexapro) since Nov. of 06. I switched to Paxil approx. Nov. of 07 and was up to 40 mg of Paxil about 2 months ago. This is all elements of my "diagnosed" anxiety - panic disorder. At one point about 6 months ago I was on 20mgs of Lexapro, 5mgs of Zyprexa, and .5 mg of Xanax Xr taken twice a day. About 3 months into this combo I was feeling a bit more anxiety and my "med guy" switched me to Paxil. I was up to 40mgs of Paxil for about 2 months. At one point in mid Febuary my "med guy" wanted to take me of the Zyprexa because it had put about 15 pounds on me and was making me sleep 12 to 14 hours a day. I soon was feeling sick and put myself on yet another medical leave from work. When coming off of the Zyprexa I would get these occasional dizzy spells. They came and went and finally went away. Bad news was that my anxiety went up and after a long talk my "med-guy" and I decided to go with a MAOI , Parnate. I'm under a time constraint relative to me medical leave. I have to be back to work by June 1 before I loose my job. A job I can't afford to loose. Bottom line: My "med-guy" did a fast ween of the Paxil. He weened me off of it in one week. Just before my last day of Paxil I started getting dizzy spells 24 hrs a day just like the ones I experienced coming off of Zyprexa. I've been off of the Paxil for 17 days now and am still having the dizzy spells on a constant basis. The dizzy spells are more of a constant pulsating thing. I called my "med-guy" and he said that the dizziness has nothing to do with the Paxil withdrawl any more and that I just have to deal with it as part of my anxiety. I started the parnate on the 9th of April. My med guy wants me to take 10mgs per day for 5 days then 20mgs for 5 days, and finally 30 mgs for two weeks then back for a visit.
I know no one has "the answer". I've been on the net and have already read the horror stories about some people having to go back on Paxil. This is not an option for me.
Could my "med-guy" be wrong? Could I still be suffering from Paxil withdraw?
I'm also on 6mg, (3mgs x 2) per day of Xanax Xr. My doctors and friends want me to be patient and wait for the MAOI to help a bit. I know it isn't going to solve all my problems, but I'm just looking for some hope.
Has there been anyone out there who has has gotten through a fast Paxil withdrawl? Also, I'm looking for feed back on a POSITIVE experience with partante.
Thanks for any feed back,Audre.
poster:audre
thread:822713
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20080220/msgs/822713.html