At first I attempted to get off 25 mg/day cold turkey. These triggered some
unpleasant symptoms including:

>Dizziness - I felt light headed even when sitting down; typically when
lying down I was fine. It is similar to the feeling that I am about to pass
out except for the blood pressure loss. The intensity of this sensation
varied. Sometimes I would reach out to balance myself and other times I
just bumped into/grazed things that I thought I was not going to contact. I
did not fall or have any other significant stumbles. I would say that the
dizziness presented enough discomfort through the day to create fatigue and
disorientation headaches; however, I did not have any raging headaches
although I took some analgesics which have mitigated some of the other
symptoms. Oddly enough, having a beer seemed to mitigate the symptoms.

>Tingling sensation in my arms and hands - it felt mildly like the
circulation has been cut off and my arms and hands are "asleep". This was
an intermittent sensation.

>Some auditory sensations that sometimes I think I hear things that I
determine are not there such as distant chimes ringing and other noises.

>Unusual number of dreams that I remembered and fairly intense dreams,
although they were typically normal and pleasant dreams; I did not have any
nightmares.

>Agitation: my family said that I was more agitated than normal. One
Friday, I was very irritable and removed myself from several situations
where conflicts were presented so I would not lose my cool. I have not
noticed significant mood swings, but seem quicker to snap and I have been
more impatient.

>Some sleep disturbances. One Friday night I went to bed and could not fall
asleep for quite a while even though I was really tired (too many late
nights watching TV and early mornings off to exercise). I have had several
times when I took a nap during the day and still felt general fatigue. In
general, I was able to sleep through the night when I fell asleep.

I went back on the 25 mg tablet for a short while until the adverse symptoms
mitigated. It has been over a month since my last dose of Paxil. I am
nearly completely free of any symptoms at this point. I weaned myself with
12.5 mg per day for 2 weeks and then 6.25 mg per day for another couple of
weeks, then 6.25 mg every other day for a couple of weeks. I still would
have the vertigo and tingling sensations while cutting down the dosage on
the first days after cutting the dose or the 2nd day of the every other day
regime. The symptoms persisted for a short while after ceasing altogether.
Once in a while I get a tingling feeling that I associate with the
withdrawal and periodically the vertigo; these symptoms are fleeting and
very temporary. Otherwise, I appear back to "normal" with little of the
agitation felt earlier.

During the period of weaning off the medicine, I was definitely not as
mentally sharp as I had been while on the medicine. It took longer to
respond to queries and situations and my memory was definitely not as good.
Now that the symptoms are abated, I feel much quicker and with stronger
short term memory. I also felt a lot more fatigued during this process,
requiring a full night of 8 hours of sleep and naps a couple of times a day
to recharge.

Although some writers have indicated that they think that Paxil is a
horrible drug, it really did a lot of good for me while I was taking it. It
helped me learn some new coping mechanisms that I expect will stay with me
for the rest of my life. I am much more apt to process rather than react at
this point, whereas my personality could be a lot more volatile previously,
often described as moody. I can see how some people would want to take this
sort of drug in the long term as a boost to alertness and sociability. As a
confirmed introvert, being on the drug definitely helped me be more
interactive in social situations and for longer periods of time than when
not on the medication. From my perspective, I do not like to be on a
medication longer than I really feel is necessary and this helped me get
through a tumultuous period in my life. When I first consulted my physician
to stop taking the drug, he suggested that I quit taking it cold turkey
which obviously did not work for me. I am not sure if the symptoms would
have abated in a similar time frame had I continued along this path.
However, using the weaning method really helped to allow me to function in
the short term while getting off the drug in the long term. One thing I do
wish is that the drug makers be a little more forthright about the potential
symptoms not only of taking the medication but when you want to stop taking
it.

On the morning of June 15th I woke up with the expectation of enjoying my day off with my husband. It is rare that we both are free on the same day. A few days earlier I had stopped taking my Paxil due to the side effects that would not subside. The insomnia kept me up nightly and my lack of sexual desire did not promote a healthy, well-balanced relationship. A couple years prior I had been prescribed celexa while I was in the service. Upon separating and thus running out of medication I had barely if any serious consequences. I have also stopped taking paxil for a brief period of time as well without unbearable withdrawal. So the experience I then proceeded to have did come as quite a shock. I just did not know. Like I said I had stopped taking Paxil in hopes of regaining my life and possibly trying something new. The first couple days I noticed I was a little more edgy and maybe moody. But it was day 3 that I came to realize there was a problem. The previous night I had the oddest sleep I had ever experienced. I could not tell most of the time if I was awake or asleep and the dreams were very vivid to the point if something fell in my "dream" my heart would begin to beat fast.Iwasalsodrippinginsweat at certain points of the night. At the start of my day as I began to get ready, I began to hyperventilate and anxiety just shot right thru me like never before. I was able to regain my composure and go out to breakfast with my husband. Afterwards we went shopping at the bookstore. As I sat at a table skimming a book, anxiety once again came over me, this time it was uncontrollable. I frantically looked about for my husband and when I couldn't find him fear took over my entire being as tears began to whelm up in my eyes. Nausea came quickly and I was forced to run to the stores bathroom. Eventually I was able to locate him and he got the car and helped me in. At home I laid down only to have more of those "dreams" and rest to where I was unable to know if I was awake or asleep.

When I got up Justus was playing with my bass guitar and decided to "quiz" me on the chords. I rambled " E, A,...uh uh" and then uncontrollable tears came forth. I could not stop crying, which caused me to hyperventilate and then came the nausea and vomiting. A bit later we decided that we could go pick up something at Wal-Mart and grab a bite to eat. A crowded Wal-Mart is not the place for someone going through any kind of withdrawal. Midway through our shopping quickly became the end of our shopping I managed to find my way to a bench to sit on as he checked out. The whole time wanting to just crawl underneath the bench and die. Again I was sweating and sweating and then moments later needed a blanket for the chills. I gripped my arm so tightly as my arms were crossed that my dull fingernail marks could still be seen hours later. We went home and this time I knew that I absolutely must stay there. The intensity of the pain I felt is beyond words. Whenever an attack would come on me all I could manage to say is "make it stop, make it stop". I think about and remember all the emotional lows I have had and even the most traumatizing events that I have lived through cannot even compare to the magnitude of the feelings of sadness, anxiety, fear, confusion and physical discomfort I was experiencing. Most of the evening became a blur. I remember lying down on my living room floor as if to say I give up while I lay there crying and shaking. I crawled to the bathroom cause I knew that I would be sick. And then I could not move from the little ball I had crawled into, laying on the cold bathroom floor sweating and coughing. At about 1am, I went and lie in my bed, simply for the fact that I knew my husband wouldn't go to bed with me still up. We had looked on line and found information regarding paxil withdrawal which stated it was generally safe to take Tylenol pm in order to help with muscle tension and sleeping issues. I would not take it, I have taken it many times before but just the mere thought of it, made me break out in a panic attack. I was angry and wanted to throw everything in sight. Fear gripped me. I was scared and I didn't even know what of. I was scared to sleep, I was scared of any medicine, I was scared to go lay on the couch. No logical reason for these things but it was just as a little child is afraid if they step out of their bed the monster will grab there leg, I was now consumed with the same kind of irrational fear. I could hear everything, the fan, Justus scratching his forehead, the wind outside. It all seemed so loud. So I cried out to God in my mind cause I just knew I could take no more. All I said was I need to hear you. And then as I lay there I didn't hear or feel any comforting words but I became a little less scared to take the medicine that would help me sleep so I did that. And I also realized that yes this was too way much and I need to rewind the process, I then took a Paxil. Not with the intentions of keeping on this life sucking drug but understanding that even though it only took one day to start, it would take many more to stop. This realization did not suddenly make everything better. I did continue to hear an audible noise that did not exist to which I woke myself with my own voice asking "what" in response to what I believed was Justus taking care of the "noise". I then looked over to find him sleeping. So as I begin this journey of being free from paxil I can only think "I wish I would have known.".. It has been about 2 months since I wrote that piece above, since then I have been able to tamper off paxil and have been paxil free for about 3 weeks. I still have an edge but at least I am a functioning human being once again.

First of all, I was on 25mg paxil for about 4 and a half months. And like most people on this web site I was not told beforehand about the possibility of horrible side effects if I ever decided to discontinue use of the drug. And to be completely honest I did not refer to my doctor before I stopped taking the pills, and I did it cold turkey. I would not reccommend that. My main reason for stopping was the expense and the pills really didn't do much for me except to make me feel tired and lazy all of the time, even if I took them at night. Also, I didn't like the idea of having to take pills for the rest of my life, which is something my doctor told me I was going to have to do to reap the so-called benefits of the pill. But at the time I was searching for something/anything to help me with social anxiety which had begun interfereing with my career and had forced me to quit several jobs over the last couple of years. I stopped taking the pills on Tuesday and on Friday the side effects kicked in. The first thing I felt were the electrical zaps. I immediately started researching sites to get more information and found that I wasn't alone. The next thing I experienced was intense nausea every time I ate and an overall feeling of just being sick and unhappy. I was miserable for the next two days but then I made a conscious decision that I would get through this and I did. It's been exactly one week since the withdrawals kicked in and I am feeling much better. The electrical zaps have almost disappeared completely and I get stomache pains once in a while but not as often as before. The weird thing is that I feel better than I did before I started taking the pills.

I'm still unemployed and almost completely broke because of it but I am motivated and have made more progress in the last week than I have in the last four and a half months in terms of my job search. I just want to encourage others to hang in there because the symptons do go away. Also stay busy, walking really does help even if you feel sick or the zaps are frequent, you can do it. Drink lots of water or herbal teas with no sugar, eat healthy and in small amounts all day long and read (even on my worst day when I was using my brain I wouldn't get those zaps) and write out your feelings in a journal. Another thing, and maybe the most important is to think positively and know that this won't last forever and when it does you will be grateful for your new found appreciation of being paxil free. Also prayer and a belief in something higher than yourself (God or whatever you'd like to call it) will make all of the difference in the world. I'll just suggest the book that helped me get through it and is changing my life as we speak. It's called The Essential Ernest Holmes. He founded the science of mind school of thought (not scientology) which basically says that we are all responsible for how we choose to respond to situations in our lives, good and/or bad. And that it is very important to know that we are all products of a higher being and that because of that we are special no matter what anyone else has done or said to us, people who know this will always react to things differently and more positively than others, we tend to call them arrogant. Its not about thinking you're better than others its about knowing that no one is more worthy than you. It's really a good book. I like it because it's practical, it makes sense, there are no judgements or rules to follow and it has helped me a great deal and will continue to for the rest of my life. But do whatever you can to get closer to that higher place no matter what you believe in, we are all the same, some of us are just more in tuned with our higher selves than others. But we are all capable if we change the way we think, which changes the things we say and do, which changes our lives. Think negative and your life is negative, thinking positive has the same effect. I'm doing my best to work on that now and forever, old habits do die hard but I know I can do it.

...I was prescribed 40 mgof Paxil daily for Panic disorder about a year ago. Then I was laid off andmy benefits ran out. What a blessing! I weaned myself off the evil drug by
cutting it in halfs and then quarters.Although I didn't really suffer from the brain "zaps", I did have extremenausea, loss of appetite, dizziness, tingling in my face and extremities,
chills, sweating... the list goes on, you know the drill. Reading your
website helped immensely. I felt like I wasn't alone, like I wasn't going
crazy or just imagining the symptoms. Exercise helps tremendously. I felt at my worst in the morning - that's when I hauled myself out of bed and jogged. It works. The symptoms get better. The strangest thing is - suddenly my anxiety is actually better. I thought it would worsen. When I watch a movie now, the sound is much clearer, the
colours brighter. I can FEEL again, something I forgot how to do.

I am 32 and was on Paxil for 3 months for anxiety attacks and had to stop cold turkey because of the bad reaction I had to paxil. Like most of everyone else, I have been through hell as well. I have been off paxil now for 4 weeks and am doing much better. I still have the tingling sensations in my head, face and extremities, occasional dizzy spells, and feel drunk most of the time. But, I don't feel like I did!!!! :) I am currently taking SaM-E and B stress complex and have not had 1 anxiety attack. As much as I hate to admit this, I seriously wanted to die when I first got off paxil. I was so ill, thought I was going nuts, to the point of suicidal thoughts. I have read alot of the stories and pray for each one of you all..Just know that IT WILL get better. I know for a fact that one of the main reasons I have gotten through this as well as I have is from your web site. Thank you all again for sharing yourstories and you for your site..God Bless

I am a 31 year-old woman. I was prescribed Paxil (10mg) by my family Dr. two years ago after complaining of general anxiety. I have always been a "keyed-up" person, but that year, there were several other contributing factors including my wedding, family problems, ect... The Paxil took a few weeks to alleviate the symptoms, but once it kicked in, I felt great. I was calm, cool and collected. I didn't take my husbands head off at the slightest provocation and things just didn't seem to get to me anymore. After two years, like anything else that must be done daily, being on Paxil began to loose it's appeal. I had taken up yoga and loved the idea of relieving stress naturally. My doctor had not once in those two years discussed when I should stop, so I decided that the next time I saw my Dr., I would approach him.

One Thursday evening (11 days ago to be exact) I realized that I had taken the last Paxil I had. Friday morning I called my Dr's office for a refill. When I went to the drug store that evening, it turned out that they had never called in the refill. Since I knew there was no way I'd reach my Dr. until Monday, I decided to quit then and there. I was in no way prepared for what was to come. The first few day were fine. I wasn't until Sunday afternoon, while hiking with my husband, that I realized something was very wrong. I began to feel very nauseous and dizzy. I thought that maybe I was just hungry, so we went to grab a pizza after our hike. I wound up eating just about the whole thing. That evening the dizziness continues and I began to hear a swooshing noise in my head. This "swooshing" would happen every time I moved my eyes and was very disconcerting. I woke up several time during the night bathed in sweat. It was awful. The next day at work, I could barely function. I was so light headed that I was afraid to leave my chair. I would break into tears for no apparent reason and two minutes later be laughing my self silly. I ate more food that you can imagine. I just couldn't stop myself. On Tuesday, things got even worse. I was unable to keep any food down and the "swooshes" were getting more and more frequent. I finally decided to call my doctor and see if he had any advice as to how to alleviate these symptoms. To my shock and disgust, my doctor told me that he had never heard of anyone complaining of these symptoms having quit Paxil. He reiterated that the drug was "non-habit forming" and then had the nerve to tell me that I may have an inner ear infection. I couldn't believe it. When I got home that night, I got online and found this site. Even though my symptoms were not subsiding, at least I knew that I wasn't crazy and that I was not alone. It's been 11 days now and I'm beginning to feel a bit better. I wound up taking the rest of last week off from work to try to just ride out the symtoms at home. I went back to yoga yesterday. I just want to tell everyone that it does get better. I still hear the swooshes in my head and feel perpetually "out of it", but I was able to work today and the nasuea has subsided. I hope that going forward I will be able to control my stress and anxiety on my own. I know that I will neve rtake this drug again. If anyone had told me that this could happen, I wouldn't have taken it to begin with. It's just not worth it.

My doctor weaned me off a 40 milligram dose in four weeks (30 milligrams daily for one week, 20 milligrams daily for one week and 10 milligrams daily for two weeks). He mentioned I might have "vivid dreams." The withdrawal (the flu) symptoms began in week three of the above regime. I started having most of the rest of your list about the time I ran out of pills. But I was determined to be off the drug. I survived knowing others had kicked the Paxil habit, exercise (walking on a treadmill) and chocolate. Oh yes, and WATER, WATER, WATER. I usually drank around 64 ounces of water a day, but I soon was chugging at least 100 ounces a day. When I wasn't drinking water, I was in the bathroom.

I have already dropped 15 of the 40+ pounds I gained while on Paxil. I was naseaueated most of the time, so I wasn't eating much (brown rice and steamed veggies). What I did eat went straight through me (the water might have helped). The weight loss was another thing that kept me going. After years of watching the scale go up and up, it was wonderful seeing my clothes get looser and looser.

It has been some six weeks since my last dose, I am mostly over the physiological symptoms. In the past week or two, I have noticed my mood swings have dipped lower than before (while on Paxil), which is to be expected. They seem to be fairly short lived, and chocolate helps. So does exercise.

I would also like to mention that I quit caffine cold turkey because the thought of coffee made me sick to my stomach. I have only been able to enjoy my morning cup of java in the last week or so, as long as it's not too strong.

Hi Frank! Friday I couldn't take it anymore so I took the day off work and went to the beach. I spent all day walking on the beach. Walking, walking, walking. I became obsessed with collecting beach glass (I guess it was something to focus on). I didn't sleep too well that night, but listening to the ocean was nice. (I splurged on an oceanside room at a B&B). Saturday, back to the beach, looking for beach glass. I must have walked 10 miles of beach. Finally drove back home Saturday evening with a sunburn and aching legs and enough beach glass to fill a rather large jar. Then around 9 pm Saturday night it hit me. It was like someone hit a switch. All of a sudden, I felt sleepy. Really, really sleepy. I slept for something like 36 hours (with a couple 2-3 hour breaks where I got up and sat in a chair for awhile).
Now it's Monday, I'm at work and although I feel a bit spacey, otherwise I'm fine! I did it, I beat Paxil. The jar of beach glass is going to be my souvenier.
Rebecca
p.s. I have some tips you might want to add to your tips list:

For me, the dizziness and "zaps" only lasted a few days. After that, my worst symptom was agitation, including a pounding heart beat, horrible insomnia, sweating, shaking, and a sense of terrible restlessness. This lasted about 2 weeks during which time I could not sleep for more than 2 or 3 hours a night. My advice for these kinds of symptoms:
— Keep yourself as cool as possible. Run the air conditioner (or turn down the heat, depending on the season). Drink lots of ice water. Take cool showers. Go swimming.
— You probably won't be hungry very often, but when you do get hungry, restrict yourself to very very light meals, e.g., a little soup and soda crackers. Digestion will crank up your autonomic nervous system, which is already running in high gear. So you may end up feeling much worse after eating. However, drink lots of water so you don't get dehydrated.
— Get as much exercise as possible. Even if you normally hate to exercise, you may find that going for long walks has a calming effect.
— Avoid alcohol like the plague.
— If you are a caffeine addict, cut back on coffee/tea/cola as much as possible. Watch out for non-cola soft drinks that have caffeine in them (read the labels). Avoid herbal remedies that say they will give you "energy" or "stimulate the mind" or improve "mental clarity" etc. because these may contain stimulants like ephedra. Also avoid any over-the-counter drugs that can stimulate the nervous system. Many cold, allergy, and asthma medicines contain stimulants such as ephedrine or pseudoephedrine (Sudafed). Of course, if you have asthma, talk to your doctor before changing any of your medications or inhalers.
— Find a hobby or project that you can work on obsessively during those late nights when you can't sleep.
— Keep reminding yourself that this isn't going to last forever!

I had been on Paxil for the past seven years to treat my social anxiety disorder. I had tried numerous times throughout the past two years to quit cold turkey from my 20/mg a day dosage but did not have success. With the encouragement of a very good friend of mine I started to taper my dosage. I decided to cut my daily intake from 20 mg to 10 mg. A few days after I made the 10 mg decrease, I began to experience a wide array of symptoms; most noticeably, the “electric shock” sensations that so many other users have reported. In addition, I developed flu-like symptoms for about a week after I quit.

I stayed on 10 mg for another two weeks and then decided to cut my dosage to 5 mg a day. This decision was made because my body had habituated to the decrease and the withdrawal symptoms had subsided completely. When I made the decrease from 10 mg to 5 mg the side effects were not as noticeable. I did not develop any “flu-like” symptoms and there was the absence of the “electric shock” phenomena. Once again, I stayed on this 5 mg a day regimen for about three weeks.

I was very excited about the progress that I had made, but I was also very hesitant and worried about discontinuing Paxil altogether. I had read all of the horror stories on the net about the hells associated with serotonin withdrawal syndrome and how getting off of Paxil is far more difficult than quitting any of the other SSRI’s (read Prozac, Zoloft, etc.) because of the drugs half-life. I had also heard that quitting Paxil altogether was synonymous to an alcoholic ceasing to drink (cold-turkey).

With that knowledge in hand, I decided to stop taking Paxil altogether. Within three days, my body was craving the drug. On day three I started the horrible withdrawal as described by many on this web-site. I began experiencing nightmares that seemed incredibly real, I suffered a terrible headache throughout the course of the day that would not let up no matter how much aspirin I took, the muscles in my back severely ached, I was extremely irritable, my sense of equilibrium and balance was impaired, I had intense insomnia as it was difficult to get to sleep at night and I felt an exhaustion which I would compare to infectious mononucleosis. In addition, a few times in a day for no apparent reason I would begin to panic for 30 seconds or so and then I would be fine. All of the aforementioned symptoms grew in intensity from day 3 of my discontinuance and peaked at approximately day 18.

I have now been Paxil free for 28 days. The majority of my withdrawal symptoms are behind me as the only ones that my body is now exhibiting are mild muscle aches (only in the morning), headaches, a slight feeling of fatigue and off and on nightmares. Conversely, I can honestly say that I now feel the best that I have in seven years.

It is strange, as I feel as if I now have more energy than I have ever had before. In addition, my mind is more alert and sharp than it ever has been and I feel as if everything is incredibly clear. It feels as if a heavy fog has been lifted from my life and the sun is finally shining through. When I listen to music, it sounds clearer and seems to flow better, and, it sounds better than it ever has before. I feel as if I am actually living now and I feel as if I can experience emotions again. I can feel and experience extreme elation or happiness. I actually feel more emotionally stable than I ever have and my sense of self-confidence has greatly increased!

In addition, I have noticed that my appetite has increased (luckily I am not gaining any weight, in fact I think I might be losing some weight), my vision seems to be clearer, I seem to be able to recall things more quickly and with more ease, and my encounters with other people now seem to be actual interactions instead of chores. Basically, I am happy, full of energy and vitality, and I feel full of life. A good quote to describe how I am feeling is “my cup runneth over”.

I now feel emotionally strong and I feel as if I am ready to take-on and handle the world. I experience a sense of peace and fulfillment that I haven’t felt in a very long time. I seem much more interested in the things that I used to love and I feel as if I am now actually living.

In conclusion, it should be known that I do not despise the makers of Paxil. Paxil helped to give me some of the tools that I needed to get over my social anxiety disorder. In the same breadth, I find it very unfair that SKB manufactured the drug without disclosing to the public that people do experience withdrawal symptoms upon discontinuance. Would I recommend this drug to any of my family or friends suffering from depression or anxiety disorders? Certainly not!

Lastly, an excellent tool that helped me when I was experiencing withdrawal symptoms was to just tell myself that each day that I was off of Paxil was another day closer to being “Paxil-Free”. I also convinced myself that I did not need drugs to help me cope with day-to-day life. Getting off of Paxil has been one of the most difficult things that I have ever experienced in my 23 year old life thus far, but, the feeling of being able to conquer such a feat only gives me that much more confidence. Thus, if you are reading this and experiencing withdrawal symptoms, don’t give up, hang in there, it is tough, but trust me, in the end, you will thank yourself that you are “Paxil-Free”.

To anyone who made read this. I am now on day 20 without paxil. I decided to quit after being on this medication for 6 years. In 1996 I had a terrible epidsode of panic attacks which quickly spiraled into panic disorder. I was placed on Paxil 20mg and it helped me immensely. But what was meant only to be a short term crutch to help me get through a crisis became problematic in ways I could never have imagined. Many of you know the drill. I was afraid to go off the drug simply because it had helped me so well. And I thought why not stay with it? But after a few relapses of panic attacks over several years I realized that this so-called miracle drug wasn't really helping me overcome my illness, it was masking it and not successfully really, but it was treating symptoms and not a cause. Depression, anxiety, panic, etc. are all very complicated illnesses and are probably caused by a combination of things in our lives. So it seems unlikely that altering one thing --which is very probably a symptom itself and not a cause-could really work long term. At least, that's how I see it.

I was lucky to have been introduced to a very very competent cognitive-behavioral therapist a few years ago, and in the past year I also have discovered that yoga (at least a form of Hatha called Iyengar yoga) helped me learn to trust my body again. With hard work, progress and relapse, including a couple of failed attempts to quit paxil, I was ready to quit again. Not because I was afraid of the medication but because I didn't need it any more. But of course there was another hurdle because of the withdrawal symptoms, and believe me, I have had most of the symptoms if not all of them. I had awful nausea every day all day long, headaches, lucid nightmares, pain, fatigue, depersonalization, panic attacks, depression. I also had the "less frequently reported" symptoms of heart palpitations, "trails" (or what they also call "delayed vision"), numbness/tingling in my face and extremities, LA LA LA. Oh and that "scratching" noise too. That has been extremely annoying as it sounds much like someone rubbing a balloon inside my head. Or a duck quacking or something. ANYHOW, it has been awful but it has subsided and every day is better.

Please tell yourself to be brave and that you are okay and you can get through it. And if you can, listen to Frank's audio message as I found it very comforting! Good luck to you all and don't judge yourselves. Your symptoms are real and it is understandable that you are angry and afraid but you can do it.

My name is Jan I am a 42 year old man from Denmark. I write you because I want you to know that your site has been my “bible” as I went off paroxetine 2 1/2 weeks ago… It is a very impressive site … good stuff. My physician did not mention any of the withdrawal symptoms at all. So if it hadn’t been for your site, I would have been very scared, as symptoms were very heavy. I had electric impulses jogging around in my body. Could not move my eyes, without feeling as if my breast/heart jumped around. (very unpleasant). And many more of the symptoms you write about. I am going to show your site to my physician in order to show her what not only I have been through but many others. I had moments where I had to go to bed just crying because I felt like if I had a stroke or something even worse. I still suffer from some minor spasms in my right hand and problems in the middle of the day with concentration. But overall I am fine again … And very tired