I was on an SSRI (Paxil) several years ago when my anxiety levels were at their peak. I found the Paxil did not eliminate the Anxiety but it certainly made it easier to cope at that time and made the panic attacks less frequent and less severe. I too had the brain zaps when I stopped taking the medication which was one of the few side effects it caused me. I slowly weaned myself off of it with a doctors advice. Looking back I am glad that I took the medication because my symptoms have not been that severe since I stopped taking it. The brain zaps were scary at first because I was unfamiliar with them but they only lasted a short time. The medication your were on before you stated did help you. You may experience the withdrawal symptoms again if you stop taking it but you will have to decide the pros vs cons of taking the medication and choose which you feel is right for you :-)
Thanks Davit for your input. I've decided to be willing about it... but now I'm trying to figure out a way to get to the doctor. And that is stressing me out. I wish I had tranquillizers to help me get there but i need to get there to get some.
I can not take SSRIs but if I could I would. They only modify the use of seratonin. People do stay on them sometimes for ever. You have to weigh the benefit against the side effects. This you have to do yourself, all your Doctor can do is prescribe. Even dosage is trial and error on your part. I guess the question here is can you tolerate the withdrawal when it is time. I would think that if using it has no side effects then you could take as long as necessary to withdrawal. Years even if need be.
luckily for me a Tricyclic works and I have never had side effects stopping, even rapidly. But SSRIs make me suicidal and never did stop panic attacks. Wrong drug for me.
Sorry if someone already did a discussion on this.
My therapist is suggesting I go back on meds to help with my agoraphobia. I was prescribed to Lexapro in the summer of 2006 at the age of 22. The only side effects I got from it was vivid dreams and sweating at night. I had panic attacks still once in a while but my anxiety subsided greatly. I think it was a good medication for me. But the bad part is when I got off of it. I didn't have any supervision over my withdrawal and I started taking halves from Sept of 2007. I don't remember exactly when I did every other day of halves after that but I did that for a while until I completely stopped in February of 2008. After that I got the brain zapping feeling for about a month and I had to get EKGs and CT scans for it since my doctors didn't know what they were from. But I found a forum online where everyone talked about the bad withdrawal symptoms from Lexapro and some other SSRIs and the brain zapping feelings were mentioned. During this time my then husband was overseas and I had moved back in with my family while he was gone, so I had to adjust to my new lifestyle. I think it was a really bad time for me to get off of it. And then in March of 08 my husband came back & we did a long distance thing... and there was so much things going on & anxiety for me. Eventually, I started to get really obsessed about the thought of death. They were not suicidal thoughts but the opposite... I was just terrified about it and depressed about the inevitable. I just didn't even want to wake up anymore because that's all I would think about. It was the worst time in my life. So, remembering the withdrawal symptoms, I don't ever want to take SSRIs. But, thinking about how it worked for me when I took it, I'd loved to do it again. I'm telling myself that this time might be different because I will be smarter when I choose to withdraw and I'll have my therapist with me and I will do it even more gradually. My brain is also older now. But I am stuck in this dilemma. But my question is how has everyone else's SSRI experience been and what type of withdrawal symptoms have you had from it. I understand that many will suggest to get the advice from my doctor, which of course I will when I get one, but I'd appreciate hearing everyone else's experience as well to get as much information I can get before I decide on what to do. Thanks.
