Does this site need more staff? Why I am 'HERE"

May 18, 2026··

Posted in:Diet & Research Finding Meaning Introductions and Updates Staff – Who We Are Support Symptoms & Self-Care Tapering

I am here because surviving antidepressants is not running.
I am here because my 4 years of research led me to a fellow Aussie, Dr Mark Horowitz.
I am here because Dr Josef interviewed Mark.
I am here because I spent 3.5 years researching, before I went down a rabbit hole that led me to Mark and 'Surviving Antidepressants"
I am here because a deep research dive led me to Georgi Dinkov talk about high serotonin causing mental illness.
I am here because I am in Australia, and I have no medical safety net. Australia is not the lucky country when it comes to medical options. I cannot find a Psychiatrist here who knows as much as I do.
I am here because I have a 4 year degree in Psychology along with my 4 years of endless study and research into medication, interactions, enzymes and neurotransmitters.
I am here because I know more than most psychiatrists in Western Australia about tapering, enzymes, neurotransmitters etc..

I spend hours on Reddit helping people and getting them to join this group. Is there enough staff? most threads don't get answered and I don't want to leave these people without support. It is very time consuming for me to do this alone. More specifically, is there anyone on here who has survived paroxetine? Not tapered, not still recovering, not still healing, not on another antidepressant...Someone who is clean and functional after at least 6-12 months? Or I am I pioneering this alone?

Paxil — 2.5 — 24 years — reinstated | Mirtazapine — 15mg — 3 — reinstated | Valium — 2.5 — 7 months — actively tapering | without clinician
Also tapering Tapentadol and dexamphetamine

5 Replies

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BasedStaffMay 18

Community AnchorEffexor

Hey Lost Summer! Weve only been up for about 6 weeks so were still accumulating community members. I appreciate you sharing the community on reddit! We dont have any designated staff, everything is on a volunteer basis. As the community grows, well get more people who are active and supporting eachother! I appreciate your deep knowledge on the topic, if you feel inclined, please share it with the others when they make posts and ask questions. As I see so far, there are few people who have made posts on the paroxetine forum, but everyone is actively tapering. One person jumped from 7mg to 0mg and was feeling quite poorly after it. I understand that youd like to have more people active, us too, i think were on the right path. Cheers!

Creator of Taper Community, here to help you.

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CatinaMay 18

Community AnchorEffexor

Hi @Lost summer, I really appreciate your thoughtful post. As was mentioned, this peer-support community is fairly new. Surviving Antidepressants (of which I was a member) started in 2011, so it had a long run and had many members. We appreciate your patience as we grow this community. Can you specify which threads or members have not received any interaction? I make it a point to "follow" each member and do my best to answer any questions I personally see. Please let us know what needs attention, and we'll be sure to follow through. We really appreciate having you here and directing others to Taper Community. We have people here from all over the world, so sometimes the different time zones can affect when we see and respond to different posts. Thanks for directing people here from Reddit! Catina 🩷

Venlafaxine (tapering) - Current dose 17.92 mg
Trazodone - 50 mg
Levothyroxine - 25 mcg

“Your brain and body know how to heal. Trust the process and keep going.”

Please Note: I am not a healthcare professional. Any advice given is based on personal experience and that of others in the lay withdrawal community.

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CatinaMay 18

Community AnchorEffexor

"More specifically, is there anyone on here who has survived paroxetine? Not tapered, not still recovering, not still healing, not on another antidepressant...Someone who is clean and functional after at least 6-12 months? Or I am I pioneering this alone?"

Have you checked the Success Stories thread on Surviving Antidepressants?

anne noni moss1d ago

WelcomerPaxil · holding

@Lost summer I truly hope to hear more from you on this! How are you doing?

atypical in presentation of side effects, super sensitive to small doses and general delayed responder. never took a psych med that didn't' make me sick immediately with infections and restless legs. have never been able to tolerate being on them, but have never had support to get off so I've been bouncing back and forth. i don't like capital letters. sorry.

Paxil — 1 mg — 2 yrs — holding until Oct. 7 doc appt.
Seroquel — 50 — planning taper |
trileptal -75 planning taper
prasozin 1 mg planning taper

Peggy Wallace1d ago

WelcomerCymbalta · holding

You are not alone in your struggle. I have some of the depth of experience, and before this forum, found myself awash in research with no one to listen. My oath was also through Dr. Horowitz and Outro. I live in Southern California and have no medical support for this struggle. I’m a life long advocate for others, and finally have found, on this forum, both a way to help others- but more importantly a way to validate my knowledge. Keep coming back. I would live to learn more from you.

60 mg — 2 yr — holding | without clinician

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