Date: Mon Nov 6, 2000 6:56pm

Hi everyone! I'm so glad that Cynthia directed me to this place. I too 
have a story.

I started taking Paxil 20 mg and Klonopin about 8
years ago for clinical depression. At that time in my
life I guess I was depressed. I had no energy, crying
spells, and generally felt "down". I also started
"talk" therapy which was one of the most insane and
assinine things I've ever done. Here I am stoned and
whacked out on these drugs and I'm talking about my
childhood and current relationships.
The Paxil worked for awhile and eventually I was cut
down to 10 mg a day with none of the Klonopin. I was
feeling pretty good and I moved to another state with
a roommate 1500 miles away from home. Since I didn't
have insurance (I had just started a new job) I ran
out of Paxil in my new city. I had awful withdrawl,
and I had to have my mother Fed-Ex me samples from my
doctor in my home town. That was a very humbling
experience...I felt like a junkie that needed a fix,
and I guess I was a "junkie".

I moved back to my home town about 2 years ago and
things were going pretty well until about 4 months
ago. I had just started a great new job and I have a
wonderful boyfriend. No signs of depression in years.
I have no idea why my doctor kept me on this drug if I
wasn't "depressed" anymore.

4 months ago started my living hell. I started to feel
tired, weak, shaky, had joint aches and pains, blurred
and jumpy vision, anxiety, panic attacks, difficulty breathing, 
lightheadedness, you name it. I was at a store with my sister and my 
mother and I had to have my mother take me home, because I couldn't 
feel my feet while I was walking. A very scary experience. I went to 
my MD who thought I had hypoglycemia. He did a bunch of blood
tests for hypoglycemia, thyroid, etc. and they all
came back negative. He then started me on a
hypoglycemia diet. Well, I tried that for a couple of
weeks and felt worse. Went back to my MD and he said,
and I quote, "We need to get an MRI done on you. It
could be a mild case of MS. But they have good drugs
to treat that these days." Talk about being scared out
of my mind?? Then I had to wait 3 weeks until I had
the test, then another 2 weeks to get the results
which were negative to my great relief.

My MD then said, "We've got to change your medication.
You're having mini panic attacks in your brain and the
Paxil isn't working anymore. Let's put you on 10 mg of
Prozac." I kept trying to convince him that I had no
reason to be anxious or depressed anymore. I kept
telling him that I hadn't felt THIS GOOD IN YEARS. But
he said that the chemicals in my brain didn't think
so. I wonder why, they've been screwed up for years.
Needless to say, I continued to get worse. Felt
horrible every day and I couldn't drive anymore. I had
trouble seeing and was light headed. I didn't want to
lose this great new job that I have, so I had to have
my mother drive me to work. A very embarrassing
experience when you're 30 years old. I stumbled
through work somehow and got my job done. Went back to
my MD and told him all of this. He told me, "Well,
we'll just have to up you to 20 mg of Prozac. It might
take awhile to kick in, but then you'll be fine." Up
to this point I blindly believed in my MD. Then I
started to do some research. I truly believe the drugs
are what's making me feel sick. I've kind of mellowed
out lately and can drive at least to work, but I still
feel horrible. I'm starting to have really bad dreams,
and my short term memory is shot to hell. I can
remember things from years ago, but can't remember
what I did yesterday, or a couple of minutes ago. This
is really freaking me out, because I've always prided
myself on an excellent memory.

I had an appointment with my MD yesterday and I had
reams of research that I've done to show him. I've started a 
withdrawal program and I'm scared as hell of the withdrawal process, 
but even more scared of these drugs in my brain. 

Thanks all for listening, and I'm sure to be a frequent visitor here!

Robin 

Date: Mon Nov 13, 2000 3:15pm

Hi guys,
My mother encouraged me to go to a chiropractor because I had pulled 
something out of whack in my neck. I thought, what the hell, I'll see 
if a new doctor can shed any light on my situation, and told him every 
little symptom I have. He's a really nice, personable doctor and 
listened to EVERY symptom and said at the end, "Are you on 
anti-depressants?" I was shocked and said yes, I was tapering off of 
Prozac. He said that all of my symptoms were from the drug!

So, while I'm tapering off, he has me on a detox program along with 
some adjustments and massage therapy for my neck.

Here's the detox:
1 32 oz. glass of water with a whole fresh squeezed lemon once daily 
to flush the system
2,000 mg. of vitamin C once daily to flush the system
Lots of fresh fruits and veggies to flush the system
And the ickiest part, I have to try and choke down a few beet slices 
every day because beets cleanse the blood of the drug

He's helped quite a few people out with this and I didn't even know 
this man was in my town! He's currently helping a woman who was on 60 
mng of Paxil taper off and she's down to 10 mg following this plan.

Wish me luck !

Robin

Date:  Thu Feb 8, 2001 4:46pm

Hey guys. I guess I'm having what I haven't really had yet in my 
recovery. A "bad day". It started last night when I got home from 
work. I just felt really hot and I was having hot flashes. This 
morning I woke up just feeling really out of it. Like I was just one 
step out of sync. Driving to work this morning was a little rough. I 
felt like I was in a fog.

As this morning has gone on, I'm feeling worse. Still feeling out of 
sync, but also extremely edgy and had a few flares of panic 
(butterflies, lightheadedness, etc.). I'm also shaky, my vision is 
blurry and I have a headache that feels like an enormous pressure deep 
inside my brain. Also, my coordination is off. I'm forgetting simple 
things (like how to type, phone numbers, etc.). My hands and feet 
don't feel like they belong to me, if that makes any sense. I feel 
like I can't concentrate, almost a feeling of dyslexia. My senses seem 
overstimulated too. Everything is too bright, too loud, etc.

I feel like I did when I was getting sick on the meds before I tapered 
off. I just want to go home and lay down but 2 things stop me from 
that. Too much work to do and I don't trust myself to drive at this 
moment. Any suggestions?

Robin

Date:  Thu Feb 8, 2001 5:35pm

Response:
---Hmmm, that's how I felt when I was dealing with the 
panic/anxiety...if thats what it really was. Juist try and keep your 
cool...try and be quiet and do some deep breathing..or mabey you can 
get someone to take a brisk walk with you on your break? Another 
thing that sometimes helped was water,,just drinking it. Good luck 
Robin, let us know how you make out. It sucks to feel like this! Love, 

Sherri