Distraught symptoms and conditions

I have been reading a lot about some of the side-effects of coming off paxil. My girlfriend is attempting to do the same right now. Her withdrawal seems to be in line with some of the worse descriptions that I find on the net, and she is starting to question her ability to successfully come off the drug. I support her either way - on or off - but she really wants to come off for at least long enough to evaluate if she actually needs it any more (she has been on it for 7+ years).

She has had dizziness, nausea, and reported "shocks inside her brain" for the past 3 weeks while reducing her dose. Last weekend we went away, and she forgot her medication. In the past, we would have resolved the situation, but since she is in the process of reducing her dose (she went from 30->20->10) and was feeling OK, she decided to go from 10->0. At the end of 3 days, she is crashing hard!! Very distraught, emotional, slurred speach. Really having a rough time. She has gone back to 5 mg, which seems to have helped the physical symptoms a bit, but that is only 1 day after being off for 3. We will see... the emotional/self-questioning is the toughest part right now.

I think it would be good if I could pass along a "success" story... so many people have shared their problems online, which goes a long ways toward her feeling like she is not "going crazy". However, most people don't follow through when they get through it. I think she needs to hear that it is not all just trouble, and that there is an end to it (if, in fact, there is).

Just for the record... her doctor told her that she would be fine to reduce her dose to 0 over the course of 7 days... it was her own research that lead to her decision to try to do it over the course of 30 days instead. I can't imagine how she would have gotten through it if she had been so naive as to have followed his instructions!

Thanks for sharing...

Thank you to everyone who wrote in. It made me realize that I am not going crazy, and I am not the only one out there experiencing side effects due to Yasmin. I am normally a very level headed, happy go lucky person. I asked my gyno to prescribe me Yasmin because I had heard that it was good for people who retain a lot of water before their period. I started taking it over the summer. Around September, I started noticing that I was overly emotional during times that I normally would not be, and that my sex drive was non-existent. My emotions would go from very annoyed and angry to distraught and hysterical in the next moment. By this month, it had gotten really bad. I even think I experienced a panic attack! After that episode, I decided to stop taking Yasmin. My new gyno told me that she calls Yasmin "YASMEAN", and many of her patients experience the same side effects. I will be starting Ortho-tri lo next week. Hopefully, this will work out better than Yasmean!

well, i've been on pred the dread for my whole life on and off. First it was for asthma as a kid then at 15 for a brain tumor and on and off since i was 17 for crohn's. I just went back on it 2 days ago and was so distraught I dyed my hair pink just to make myself a lil more humorous. I hate Prednisone more than anything. And hopefully the remicade will kick in soon so I can get off of it. My moon face from the last time I was on it just started to fade and now I anticipate it will be back. buffalo hump, round face, hips popping out of joint, mood swings like I'm bipolar, hungry and can't sleep. Next week is my 22nd b-day. what a way to celebrate...