ABC PRIMETIME LIVE - PAXIL ADDICTION STORY

ABC PRIMETIME LIVE covered the issue of PAXIL ADDICTION on December 9th, 2004. Here is a clip from that episode. I'm glad I could help create awareness.

• Category

  News & Politics

[dave behm]

I quit cold turkey (after being on Paxil for 16 years) in May 2012.I experienced headache,low grade fever,diarherra,brain zaps,vivid nightmares,low energy levels,depression,suicidal idealation,a weird sensation when I shifted my eyes,etc.It is now end March 2013.Most are gone now,however some are still mildly present.My advice-Don't go on it !

[Tara McMullin]

I'm so glad to hear you are safely off this medication. Congratulations for making it through!

[zoeseek927]

Paxil causes PERMANENT BRAIN DAMAGE. I KNOW, I've been on it for 18 years and tried to get off. I used to be a creative, bright, sensitive Architecture student. My life has been forever altered from taking this drug. I can no longer feel emotion. My memory is GONE. My cognition is far below average now. I take as little as I can and still function. I MISS MY BRAIN AND SO DO MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

[Tara McMullin]

I feel the same way! I miss the person I was before going on this medication. I won't go above 20mg so I must be going through a mild withdrawal all the time. The brain fog, or 'depersonalization' described by many is a really serious symptom. As it the inability to feel your normal emotions. I'm now a dizzy, somewhat confused and forgetful version of my former self. Lots of headaches. On disability for Interstitial Cystitis, Fibromyalgia, Migraines after I got a strange UTI from a hot tub. WTF?

[Wayne Woodward]

Now I am scared. My Dr. just switched me from Zoloft, which wasn't helping me, to Paxil! Should I protest this?

[Tara McMullin]

It's hard to know whether you're one of the people who'd experience withdrawal. I wish I knew a quick way to find out, other than taking it and trying to quit it. hmm... sorry I'm not being very helpful :(

[GentlRebel]

I was on 20 mg Paxil for 2 years. It took me 6 months of hell to wean off, ~1 mg at a time. That was 10 years ago. I am not the same person I was before Paxil. I have an emotional deadness that I think is permanent. I can't cry. It's as if parts of my brain are dead. It's a hideous feeling to want to feel emotion and not be able to, as I am a sensitive person. I still have eye issues (feels like mini seizures.) People... Paxil causes irreversible neurological damage. GSK: burn in hell!

[BBbizzle]

Don't do it! I also just got prescribed Paxil too and after researching all these testimonies of negative effects galore i'm going to look for more natural ways to combat it i'm looking at this thing called htp 5..

[BBbizzle]

It's sad that my own "trusted" doctor just prescribed me this for my anxiety. I've done a heap of research and I am not going to take it.

[ThePianist1770]

People that are truly depressed or have dibilitating anxiety don't have the energy to search for nutritious foods, exercise, walk around the block, meditate, journal, or do any of those sweet and innocent nice bubble gum things.

[ThePianist1770]

Finally someone that speaks some sense! I'm noticing a lot of peoples' problems begin at their first sentence, "I quit cold turkey." LOL Why would you do that? Then blame the health care providers? The doctor is not God and common sense tells me you should do some research before putting anything foreign into your body. Finally, if you didn't have enough will power to get through your divorce without an SSRI, what makes you think suddenly stopping an SSRI would be easy for you?

[Rhonda Crockett]

In Jan 2012 I went cold turkey from Paxil & Xanax. It was the worst withdrawal that I pray know one will every have to go through. PLEASE dont start taking these medications.

It took me 30 day of fasting & prayer to go cold turkey and off the Pazil felt all the pain, anxiety, stress, frustration that was covered up over the 3yrs I was on it.

The medicine DOES NOT make the pain go away. It makes it woorst...

[negvar]

After I had major surgery, Paxil just quit working. I had taken it from 1998-2006. I wanted to get off it and it took 6 months to taper off!! The brain zaps are awful. AWFUL!!! When I started taking it in the later 90s, my doctor never told me about the withdrawal.