Hello there dear fellas! A week ago I would not believe that today I would be writing this post, but here I am. I began taking Paroxetine (Parix, Paxil) and Fluanxol due to depression and generalized anxiety, caused by panic attack and health anxiety. At the begging of September 2017 I was put on 20 mg of Paxil and Fluanxol. Under medical supervision I quit the Fluanxol in the summer of 2018 and then did a 3-months taper with the Parix, reaching 0 on the 1st of April 2019. Then, a month later all hell broke loose. I was in a constant misery. All kind of Withdrawal symptoms were present. I began shaking, like I was in a hypoglycemia (happend sometimes to me in the past, before drugs). I lost my appetite, fear ran trough my head. In the time before and after that I was feeling detached from the surrounding world but I wasn't aware of that till last few months where I felt more and more alive. The feeling was as if I was living in a cocoon. I felt jittery all the time, my sleep got bad. I was sleeping 5 or 6 hours, with adrenalin waking me up at 5-5:30 am., feeling dreadful. I could feel the fear inside my gut. Which prompted me to go to the toilet immediately. I was having diarrhea. The 10 month wave hit me bad. After that I was getting a bit better. I was still having the waves and windows, with the waves getting mute manageable and the windows longer and brighter. At year 3 after withdrawal began, I would say most of the psychiatric symptoms were pretty settled. From that point onward I was left with a condition mimicking interstitial cystitis for almost a year and a half. When it diminished, I was hit with the worst GI symptoms - unwilling to eat , bloating, no appetite, heavy stomach after a meal. With time it was getting a bit better till last month when i felt like normal again. In the meantime my mood stability came back, I was feeling more and more like myself. In the time between 2025 and this moment, I was able to fell joy, love, and was exercising 5 days a week till April this year. I was able to drink coffee, go to vacations and generally live my life as best as possible. Me and my wife got to know she is pregnant. We decided to organize a wedding and get married. Last Sunday we had our beautiful little wedding. It was very exhausting to do all things right and I believe this is what led to an unprecedented panic attack in the morning of wedding day. It went away. The day went by pretty well and I ignored what happened in the morning. To my unpleasant surprise, a few days later, I was hit with another bad panic attack. A third one came a few hours after that. This is the moment I felt like relapsing. The anxiety came back and is not getting away. My hand palms are sweaty. I feel trembling and stiffness in my muscles. I don't have the same energy, nor getting involved in the activities I liked just a week ago. My thoughts are racing that I am back to my initial condition and all these years of recovery were in vein. Well, 7 years after my WD story began, I am feeling the same as 5 years ago. So, my asking here is how possible it is that I triggered a bad wave due to stress or it is just my pre Ad condition back. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Welcome to the forum!

 

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I'm so sorry to read about the tough time you've had recently you will find plenty of support here for sure.

 

In my opinion it is completely possible that the additional stress has caused your nervous system to become more unstable. I have heard of this happening in others. I do think even after we have 'healed' that we need to be cautious with the stress we can manage and not push ourselves too much.

I am not a great believer in 'mental health' conditions, I think we react to life circumstances and with time things pass. ADs are certainly not the answer and only cause harm.

Diet can definatley play a part in all this too, so eat clean, avoid coffee, no drugs and alcohol. Basically look after yourself, don't add in any additional 'second fear' to the situation and try to accept, float and distract. Hopfully things will settle quickly for you.

In the mean time this is what I would do if I were you:

 

-Stay Hydrated 

 

-Eat a good clean whole food diet, avoiding processed foods and sugars.

 

-Stay away from caffeine, alcohol and antihistamines and any other psychoactive substances.

 

Supplements are to be avoided initially, as they often irritate our nervous systems. Try to get your nutrition through food.

 

Down the line, you may wish to introduce Fish Oil and Magnesium. Those who can tolerate them have found them calming to the nervous system. Be careful try one at a time and start low and see how you get on should you choose to try them.

 

A daily walk is very important as much as you can manage, if you can manage it. Gets you your fresh air and Vitamin D does wonders for your mind!

 

You are very welcome here and I hope you find the site supportive.

Hi @Tsetso, много съжалявам за това, което ни се случва. I never have taught that such a terror can exist on Earth. I also have taken Paxil for 14 years and this poison threw my in hellish anhedonia, took off all my feelings, emotions, everything humane... After that became one year of many drugs prescribed by the psychiatrist, different treatments... nothing worked. In March 2025 the doctor told me to stop everything but did this so quickly, so my Hell started. My story is long... Now the suffering is unbearable, especially the cortisol spikes during the night and early in the morning. But we have to hope that better days will come. It is important to support each other.

Светла

Edited June 7Jun 7 by skamen