Thinking about coming off Seroxat

[owainm]

Hi all looking for some advice here.

I have been on seroxat for 13 years constant and am thinking about coming off it. I was given it for suspected depression anxiety and ocd in 1999 20mgs at first then increased to 30mg in 2001. In 2003 I had a massive breakdown after being assaulted in the street my dose was raised to 50mg but I did not tolerate it so went back to 30mg. At this point I do not know if the seroxat was any help but because I was in such a state my docs were did not want to take me off it, I was given valium which sort of helped. I then requested propananol which helped it was the drug which made the most difference. Between 2004 and 2007 I came off the valium and propananol but stayed on the seroxat. Then in 2008 I had another massive relapse panic attacks and heart racing 24 hours a day valium again and back on propananol this time 80mg slow release. This once again sorted me propananol is the drug which works for me. Still on the constant 30mgs of seroxat.

When I first started taking seroxt I felt a bit strange for a few days but nothing major and seem to tolerate it well, only when I was put on 50mg did I feel weird however I was such a mess at that point it may not have been the seroxat. What I am now wondering is do I need to be on it at all bearing in mind I have had two massive bad episodes whilst being on it with the propananol being the medication that has helped me most. Is it possible to stay on seroxat long long term or should I come off.

All the horror stories I have read about withdrawal from seroxat are really stressing me out I have the worst anxiety I have had for months and I am paranoid that after taking it for so long I will become ill again if I stop it.

I should point out here that I am on 30mgs daily however I forget to take it all the time and prob only take it 4 or 5 times a week and I have never felt any bad effects because of this. I have also read about people on seroxat saying it has pooped out on them just stopped working, is this inevitable for everyone or can these drugs work for ever if you need them long term

Sorry for the long post I have never really thought about this and have got myself in a state over worrying about if I should stay on or come off seroxat and am nervy that it may just stop working leaving me with the terrible withdrawal I have read about.

Thanks Owain

[vetran32]

Hi my names Karl i was on seroxat for 13+ years till March 15 this year i quit its been hell to be honest.I am still going through it 7 months off and had to take 3 months off work when i first stopped and was bed ridden for 2 months because i felt so ill.

Not trying to frighten you i took this drug for 13+ years for panic attacks/anxiety and it realy helped but coming off is a nightmare.I was originaly told in 1998 by my doctor they wasnt addictive this is a lie also i experienced suicidal thoughts and still do somtimes after coming off Seroxat and i had never had a suicidal thought before or while i was on Seroxat and to say this was frightening is a understatement when you have never had a thought like that before in your life.I have found out since after researching that suicidal thoughts are very common when coming of Seroxat and the longer your on it people find it harder coming off.I would have quite happily took it for life but i have recently found out that eventually you have to stop anyway because your body will eventualy build up tolerance to the drug and it stops working.So then you have to stop and are left with horrible withdrawal symptoms this is known as poop out.Thing is if i had known this years ago i would have never have touched the drug and would prefer panic attacks than how it has made me feel coming off it is 100 times worse than panic/anxiety etc.I gave up smoking 20 a day cold turkey 3 years ago and it was a walk in the park compared with coming off seroxat.

Enough off what happened to me all i will say to you is i belive it can be done cut down gradualy,tell your family and friends what your doing,dont expect to feel better for a while some people have reported it taking them a couple off years to feel themselves after giving up after a decades or mores use.Also the withdrawl symptoms feel like your original anxiety but alot worst and a lot off people think its there illness coming back when in fact its withdrawal effects even your doctor will tell you its your illness but trust me its severe withdrawal effects.

Good site to check out is seroxat secrets,paxil progress, and look up professor david healy he has written a protoacal on how to stop seroxat and other ssris.He was the person who was on Panorama who found glaxosmithcline makers of seroxat guilty off hiding information about how addictive it is and dangerous this was in 2004 by that time me and 1000s of overs in this country were hooked on the drug.

Im stilll going through it so here to help you if you need me not on here much but you can contact me here or facebook Karl friend location london i wish you all the best mate coming off seroxat and will help you if i can:D

[Stormsky]

I was on amitripline for 10yrs, came off over a year ago now... It was he'll I admit for months, but I'm through it and happier off them than I was on them....

[Iggy131313]

I am going through protracted w/d too, its hell but I know it will end. Owain, I have pmed you again. But whats making you want to come off the drugs? Stuart Shipko recommends staying on if you have taken an ssri for over 5 years as the recoery time can be very long, the usual pattern is 18 months in bad w/d then 18-24 months, waves and windows of healing. You should be alot better at 2 years but then there is a further years healing (sometimes another 2 or 3 years)

Its alot to wrap your head around and the time frame is very scary at first but once you get used to the idea its not as scary, when I first found out I FREAKED but now I accept that its going to take a couple of years but I will get there.

---------- Post added at 14:17 ---------- Previous post was at 14:16 ----------

Veteren, its nice to hear someone coming from the same direction as me on here. x

[vetran32]

Hi Iggy yes it is frightening and im still going through it big time nearly 8 months of Seroxat and like you expect it to be a good couple off years till i feel somewhat better but like you hanging in there one day at a time.Finding work hard to cope with but managing just about i gave up from 10mg cold turkey which was silly i had been taking ten mg for the last year of thev 13 i was on it and just stopped.Wish i had tapered slower but im nearly 8 months off and as tempting as it is to go back on and cut down gradualy next time im going to try my hardest to stick this out here if you or anyone wants to chat Seroxat,anxiety etc :)

[Iggy131313]

8 months is a hard time but I bet you start to improve real soon, RI never works anyway, especially when you are so far out. I RI at 5 months and it failed so now Im back to square 1 , I regret it massivly.

I try to come on here to try to inform people, I see people saying, I stopped my meds and 2 months later was having panic attacks and had to go back on...me and you know that its w/d kicking in.

when will the drug companys admitt that w/d takes a very long and very hard time? it drives me crazy!!!!

going ct on paxil? your crazy! I did the same on cit and thought i had got away with it until 5 months later I went into accute w/d

what symptoms are you still getting?

[vetran32]

Loads of horrible symptoms severe anxiety all the time.What drug were you on and for how long Iggy?

I know people that have stopped seroxat after a decade for a year and then went back to it and were fine i stopped it once for six months went on citalopram but it didnt agree with me went back to seroxat and it worked so people who say reinstatement dosent work isnt necesarily true because i know loads of cases where it has mate :)

[Iggy131313]

yes i know, but it didnt work for me :( really I think you need to RI pretty early in your w/d to get the results but as you say everyone is different. ri is a crapshoot and i personally dont think its worth the risk when you are 8 months in, you could be just round the corner from recovery.

i was on citalopram for 2 and a half years, 1.5 years on 40mg then 1 year on 20mg, I CTed in Feb and full blown w/d kicked in in july. I RIed and things got alot worse, at the momn=ent im tapering off the RI.

Do you post on pp?

[dogsandtea]

I am going through protracted w/d too, its hell but I know it will end. Owain, I have pmed you again. But whats making you want to come off the drugs? Stuart Shipko recommends staying on if you have taken an ssri for over 5 years as the recoery time can be very long, the usual pattern is 18 months in bad w/d then 18-24 months, waves and windows of healing. You should be alot better at 2 years but then there is a further years healing (sometimes another 2 or 3 years)

Its alot to wrap your head around and the time frame is very scary at first but once you get used to the idea its not as scary, when I first found out I FREAKED but now I accept that its going to take a couple of years but I will get there.

---------- Post added at 14:17 ---------- Previous post was at 14:16 ----------

Veteren, its nice to hear someone coming from the same direction as me on here. x


this scares me....does everyone get 18months bad withdrawal?!
I've been on SSRI's for over 4 years now.. I don't want to be on them forever. But hearing things like '2-3 years to get better' is just depressing and frankly pretty scary.....

[JaneC]

No, Dogs, it absolutely isn't the case. The vast majority of people who stop taking ssris do so with no problems, especially if they do so gradually. Personally, I've cold turkeyed off prozac twice with no ill effects, tho I did have to do it slowly with a tricyclic. I'm very sceptical of stories of people suffering withdrawal months and years after coming off. It makes no sense. And how do they know that is what they are experiencing anyway?

---------- Post added at 14:42 ---------- Previous post was at 14:33 ----------

Veteran, where's your evidence for saying the body builds up a tolerance to ssris? Also, can you supply a figure for the percentage of people who experience poop out?

[dogsandtea]

No, Dogs, it absolutely isn't the case. The vast majority of people who stop taking ssris do so with no problems, especially if they do so gradually. Personally, I've cold turkeyed off prozac twice with no ill effects, tho I did have to do it slowly with a tricyclic. I'm very sceptical of stories of people suffering withdrawal months and years after coming off. It makes no sense. And how do they know that is what they are experiencing anyway?


Yeah... that's what I thought. I feel like some of the posts on here are trying to scare people a bit...

With anxiety and depression, who is to say it is the lack of drugs, what is the difference?! My dr says you do not get 'cured' of being an anxious person, you will always be one, it is just learning to cope with it and train yourself to stop the feelings (with cbt) and medication if you are in a bad patch. I personally couldn't imagine never being an 'anxious' person, my whole family are like this. Even when I have felt good, I still am the same person and know it is still 'there' if that makes sense.

So why would one assume there would be a whole personality change/cure to these feelings once you come off the drugs? I know myself the drugs just cover it up.. now i am on a lower dose it covers it up less. But i am trying to learn how to deal with it with less medication.

Side effects for YEARS just seems ridiculous to me. Obviously there is no way I would deny there is withdrawal from these drugs, of course there would be. But for years.. i'm skeptical. Besides, surely once you get that into your head.. the kind of people we are, you end up having these side effects more? I mean they are mainly 'mental' side effects..

And also, what if you get pregnant?! You pretty much HAVE to go off these drugs. All people who get pregnant and come off these drugs don't go insane.. (i hope not)

[julieannboo]

i tried tapering from 20mg of seroxat/paxil after being on it for 13 years - i got down to 5.2mg in the summer - after doing 10% drops using liquid - this took me a year.

i crashed. so now i am back on 10mg. i am still proud that i am half my dose. i will stay here for a few years before i start to taper again.

if you want to get off i suggest the 10% rule - every 3-6 weeks.

paxilprogress.org helps people who want to taper off these drugs.

some people can CT and have no side effects - i couldnt.

everyone is different.

best of luck.