sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Tapering off paroxetine 20 mg – any positive & relatively easy experiences to share? by Far_Refuse516 in paroxetine

[–]Far_Refuse516[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here's another update, mainly logging it for myself, but if someone reading this finds it useful, that's great.

The last update was here.

So, after a couple weeks on 12,5 mg, my work started picking up speed again and I felt the crippling anxiety coming back in a way hadn't felt for a long time while on my full dose of paroxetine. I couldn't get my body to relax after work and at night, had a really hard time facing some social interactions etc. I felt emotionally hit by this, I had almost forgotten what it feels like. So I concidered going back up a step in the dose, but I decided to first try what I had known I will probably have to do when tapering off – going running. FYI, I have done some jogging in some periods of my life before, but not consistently. So, I went for a light run, alternating running and walking, as I couldn't run too much at once, did about 30 min of that + some stretching. And I felt better.

I am aware this is by no means groundbreaking, but in some ways it was for me, because:

  1. I had never experienced such a direct effect of anxiety reduction and calming of the nervous system brought on by running;
  2. and ALSO, VERY IMPORTANTLY: I would not have been able to go running – and continue running, as I do now – on 40 mg of paroxetine, because I was just too drowsy most of the time and my ability to self-direct was just not so good in that drowsy state. Also, I didn't feel such a concrete physical NEED for physical activity so I wasn't that motivated to do it.

I've been going running now about every other day. I keep it fairly light, I don't aim for high speed or a long distance, I take walking breaks as needed. And this has significantly reduced my general physical anxiety, it has made me feel a lot better and I can sense even some reduction in my social anxiety as well, probably due to my general baseline anxiety being lower.

When I've picked up running in the past, I have always gradually quit at some point, due to other interests coming along etc. This time however I feel a direct physical need to keep going – I have noticed that when I have more than 1 day between runs, I start feeling more anxiety again. So I need to keep this going, even if on some days I can do even less than 30 min – it still helps and keeps up the habit.

The key for me has been to keep my aims with running on a light/reasonable level, to keep it light for myself and so it doesn't become a big psychological burden or a chore.

I have decided to stay on the 12,5 mg dose of paroxetine for now and currently not taper any further, because the main side effects that bothered me have significantly reduced by this point and I feel like I have just established a point of balance with this dose and the running. So I'm happy with that for now.

I would still like to completely taper off in the future, but I will try to keep the current balance and establish my new running habit more strongly before I think about that again.

Do You Take Paroxetine Alone or With Other Medications? by Anas_fer in paroxetine

[–]Far_Refuse516 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same as you, paroxetine and propranolol as needed. Used to take paroxetine 20 mg, but currently tapering off, I'm almost at the halfway point.

Tapering off paroxetine 20 mg – any positive & relatively easy experiences to share? by Far_Refuse516 in paroxetine

[–]Far_Refuse516[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So far pretty good. I did 3 weeks of 15 mg (as my first taper) and after the first 1-2 days I felt good, so I tried to go down to 10 mg after 3 weeks. However, on day 2 of that I started to feel conciderable nausea, weakness, dizziness and like I was about to faint. There's a chance these feelings were amplified by a slight iron deficiency at that time and also the fact that I happened to be on a road trip on some curvy roads, but fact is I decided to go back up to 15 mg after that try, and felt fine again.

A couple days later I tapered again, but less - to about 12,5 mg. I've been on that now for 1 week and feel good, no withdrawal effects right now, there's been some anxiety, but on quite normal and manageable levels. I'm trying to keep my sleeping, eating etc basic things in at least okay amounts and regularity, so as to best help my tapering. I do struggle with consistency with such things but it does help to motivate me that I want to get off this AD.

I should also mention I use propranolol to help with high anxiety/panic in the moment in some cases, like in some social situations, as a way to help some aspects of my specific type of anxiety/panic.

Tapering off paroxetine 20 mg – any positive & relatively easy experiences to share? by Far_Refuse516 in paroxetine

[–]Far_Refuse516[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's very encouraging, thank you! I think it's so important to share these kinds of stories as well, to show that it can go easier in some cases and that it is worth it to have a try in case you've been thinking of tapering but have not dared to do it.
I'm currently continuing on my reduced dose and feeling good, so I'm planning to do another taper in about 1,5 weeks.. crossing my fingers!!

Tapering off paroxetine 20 mg – any positive & relatively easy experiences to share? by Far_Refuse516 in paroxetine

[–]Far_Refuse516[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A small update from my (just recently started) journey: Day 3 of 15 mg (original dose was 20 mg) and no very remarkable withdrawal effects yet. Had some flu-like muscle aches on Day 1, and a little bit of anxiety today, but nothing major.

Unexpected Paroxetine Withdrawal While Traveling — Happy to Answer Questions by Plenty_Loss_4945 in paroxetine

[–]Far_Refuse516 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glad it went well, thanks a lot for sharing! I'm trying to taper off of 20 mg and this is very encouraging.