Paroxetine (Paxil) is Addictive

My doctor told me that this medication was non-addictive. Even when I described the physical and mental effects I was experiencing from withdrawl, she insisted that this was due only to the bodies struggle to rid itself of a chemical. If this is not addiction then what is? It soon became obvious to me that, after taking the pills for a month, the patient knows far more about them that the doctor and they are, in effect, on their own.

Two weeks ago I took my last half-tablet after gradually reducing the amount I was taking. The side-effects I have experienced are as follows:

1. Panic attacks far worse than I experienced before going onto the drug.
2. disorientation and trouble keeping my balance.
3. Involuntary crying and the feeling that I cannot cope with the slightest problem.
4. Depression and sleeplessness.
5. Stomach cramps and sickness.
6. Dizziness when standing up.
7. Tiredness and mood swings.

I am posting this message because the withdrawl of this so-called non-addictive drug makes you feel as though this is the 'normal' state the patient is returning to. As though this disorientation, that makes you feel 'crazy' and out-of-touch with the world is how you are going to feel forever. But this is not the case as i am realising as the time since taking my last tablet increases. My father took Vallium in the sixties and was told at the time it was a non-addictive drug. This is now obviously not the case and I wonder if, in time, the same might be true of paroxetine. The withdrawl effects are severe enough to warrant further tests I'm sure.

SSRI discontinuance syndrome is real. Another patient reports mood instability was worsened by paxil. That patient became stable on 10 mg of Lexapro.

Thus, Breggin's recommendation stands: Don't use anti-depressants when depressed. Use talk therapy. This means that friends of depressed patients should maintain contact with thir depressed friends.

Have you talked with your negative and majorly depressed friend today?

Breggin Says "The best approach to antidepressants: Don't start taking them.

It’s time to say again what I’ve been saying for too many years on end. The antidepressants aren’t antidepressants. They are more likely to make a person worse than better. More tragically, these toxic agents push may people over the brink into suicide and violence.

It’s astonishing as I approach my 70th birthday that the FDA is beginning to catch up with what I’ve been saying for decades in regard to the limits of drugging children and adults to control their emotions and behavior. It’s gratifying but also a little frustrating. No, I don’t have a biochemical imbalance, I am outraged that my profession has consistently tried to foist off self-serving mythology as science and that so many people have been damaged or killed by the effects of the false biochemical diagnoses and toxic medications.

Meanwhile, the antidepressants are very difficult to stop taking. Withdrawal from antidepressants can lead to “crashing,” with agitation, violence and suicide. Withdrawal from these noxious drugs should be done slowly with experienced clinical supervision. These drugs are not only unsafe to start—they are dangerous to stop.

The best approach to antidepressants: Don’t start taking them.

Research into anti-depressants will show that 67% of people on them will show positive improvement compared to previous medication.

However, the 33% who don't like the new meds tend to under-report suicidal ideation either during treatment or when they discontinue medication.

The bottom line is, ADs are not recommended to substitute for proper treatment of depression, which should always be cognitive behavior therapy with temporary use of medication, as needed (mainly anxiolytics and sometimes sedatives).

To prevent any suicide attempts, medication should be doled out in 3-week allotments unless the patient can demonstrate lack of suicidal ideation.

Even a layman such as myself can figure this out on his own. Why can't shrinks?