Tapering: Paxil

active

4 posts

Europe France

Paroxetine taper — very sensitive to small reductions

September 14, 2026··

Posted in:Paxil (Paroxetine)Support Tapering

Hi, I’m from France and currently tapering paroxetine (Paxil/Seroxat). I use tablets plus liquid paroxetine (2 mg/mL) so I can make very small reductions. My last reduction was only 0.1 mL = 0.2 mg, about 1.2% of my total dose, but I still developed significant symptoms, particularly increased migraine/head and upper-neck tension, dizziness, fatigue and other withdrawal-type symptoms. I would be very interested to hear from people tapering paroxetine: what kind of tapering plan works for you? Do you use percentage reductions, a daily micro-taper, liquid medication, or another method? Has anyone who was very sensitive to reductions switched to another medication/formulation before continuing the taper, and if so, how did it go? I’m trying to find the slowest and most tolerable way forward. Thank you for sharing your experience.🙏🏼

Paxil — 16.8 — 1-3years — actively tapering | without clinician

40 Replies

⭐

Catina4d ago

Community AnchorEffexor

Hi @MLfree, I'm not tapering Paxil but my best friend is. She too is very sensitive to tiny reductions. She shaves and weighs her pills on a digital scale. She'll do a tiny reduction and then has to hold for long periods of time. It gets challenging the lower you get on these drugs unfortunately. The safest and simplest way to taper anything is to tailor your taper to whatever you can handle. Everyone is different. Some people try to bridge onto another drug, but many times it doesn't work and then you've introduced another drug into the mix that has to be tapered later. Those are just my thoughts. We have a lot of people tapering Paxil here, so I'm sure some other members will offer their input.

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.

⭐

BasedStaff4d ago

Community AnchorEffexor

@Paxil

Creator of Taper Community, here to help you.

Masha4d ago

LighthousePaxil · holding

I tapered wayyyyyy too quickly under very bad advice. Go as slow as you can and hold whenever you need to.

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 37.5 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day

Masha4d ago

LighthousePaxil · holding

@ Catina are you also tapering off trazadone?

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 37.5 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day

Jason4d ago

WelcomerPaxil · holding

I’m currently tapering from Paxil and I have discovered that I need to hold a lot longer when I reduce my dose. I have been reducing my dose by 10% monthly using liquid Paxil and I am now at 1 ml (2 mg) for the past 2 months. I will hold longer until the withdrawals subside.

Paxil — 2 mg — 20 years — holding | without clinician

Masha4d ago

LighthousePaxil · holding

Every time I read these slow tapers I realize what was done to me and I just can’t believe it. I’m so glad that most of you are doing this safely.

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 37.5 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day

Masha4d ago

LighthousePaxil · holding

@Jason what dose were you on and how long were you on it?

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 37.5 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day

⭐

Catina4d ago

Community AnchorEffexor

"Catina are you also tapering off trazadone?" — @Masha

Not at this time. I'm stuck on it until I get off Effexor. 😞

Masha4d ago

LighthousePaxil · holding

Makes sense. I’m on trazadone since I had horrible insomnia but now I found out it doesn’t metabolize well with my body with Paxil…..

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 37.5 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day

⭐

Catina4d ago

Community AnchorEffexor

"I found out it doesn’t metabolize well with my body with Paxil" — @Masha

How did you feel after starting the Trazodone? Did you have a worsening of symptoms?

Masha4d ago

LighthousePaxil · holding

No it actually served me well for about 3 weeks but now that I’m at week 5 of full saturation they are clashing with each other. Slow metabolizer according to Genesight test…

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 37.5 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day

Masha4d ago

LighthousePaxil · holding

So Paxil is actually blocking Trazadone from metabolizing well and that backlog is causing low mood and agitation. Lucky me….

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 37.5 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day

Jason4d ago

WelcomerPaxil · holding

I have tapered down from 15 mg, reducing 10% each month and I am now sitting at 1 ml (2mg) for almost 2 months

Paxil — 2 mg — 20 years — holding | without clinician

Maria A.4d ago

LighthouseZoloft · active

I was doing a liquid micro taper and crashed at 14.275 of Zoloft. I was doing .05 mL daily reductions from a 40 mL solution (1 mL liquid Zoloft so 20 mg/mL and 39 mL of water). I think my rate came out to close to 3.8% per month. Anyways I probably wouldn’t recommend this way because I’ve now reinstated at 15 mg and am really struggling to get out of acute withdrawal and now activation from the updose. The problem with microtapering every day is that if you crash, it’s hard to gauge what number was the point where you were last felt stable at since it was changing daily. In hindsight, I think very small cut and holds would have worked better for me so that if I got in trouble, I could easily go back to the last dose instead of whatever guessing game I’m now struggling through.

Zoloft —50 mg to 15 mg — 8 years with a cold turkey and reinstatement in between— was liquid micro tapering, crashed at 14.275 mg and now holding at 15 mg.

Masha4d ago

LighthousePaxil · holding

I’m sorry. It’s so hard

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 37.5 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day

⭐

Catina4d ago

Community AnchorEffexor

"So Paxil is actually blocking Trazadone from metabolizing well and that backlog is causing low mood and agitation. Lucky me…." — @Masha

What do you plan on doing about the Trazodone? Are you just going to stay on it?

Masha4d ago

LighthousePaxil · holding

I called my doctor. I think I have to come down off it but slowly of course.

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 37.5 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day

⭐

Catina4d ago

Community AnchorEffexor

"I called my doctor. I think I have to come down off it but slowly of course." — @Masha

Okay, got it. You haven't been on it that long, so hopefully it won't be that hard to come off. Keep us updated.

Masha4d ago

LighthousePaxil · holding

Yeah I’ve only been on it 3 weeks. Too bad because it was helping me sleep thru the reinstatement difficulties. I never wanted to be on it but I was barely sleeping. Now I know the Paxil doesn’t work well with it. And guess what? I figured that out on my own from reading my Genesight test and looking it up!

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 37.5 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day

Masha4d ago

LighthousePaxil · holding

I have a call in to the doctor to see what she suggests.

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 37.5 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day

⭐

Catina4d ago

Community AnchorEffexor

"And guess what? I figured that out on my own from reading my Genesight test and looking it up!" — @Masha

I do believe it!

Masha4d ago

LighthousePaxil · holding

Thank you to whoever started this site. I know I’m not a typical taper story but venting here is helpful because it’s people who understand ❤️

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 37.5 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day

Masha4d ago

LighthousePaxil · holding

@ Catina. Are you on trazadone for sleep? Does it help you?

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 37.5 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day

Faith4d ago

Pristiq · active

I'm also pretty darn sensitive to small reductions. Just recently, I took off .3mg of my last dose and spent all day in bed yesterday. I just felt awful. My biggest symptom is depressed mood; this one is the hardest. The rest of my symptoms are very low energy, fatigue and brain fog. Does anyone else have a depressed mood when they taper down?

Masha4d ago

LighthousePaxil · holding

@Carli I had terrible depression tapering but mine was also wayyyyyy too fast. Go slow as possible

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 37.5 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day

Join the conversation

Need a clinician who understands tapering?

Browse our map of deprescribing-informed providers worldwide.

Find a Deprescriber