Paxil · Active · Sep 14, 2026

Tapering: Paxil

active

6 posts

Europe France

Paroxetine taper — very sensitive to small reductions

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Paxil (Paroxetine)Support Tapering

September 14, 2026

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

49 Replies

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CatinaSep 15

Community AnchorEffexor

"Are you on trazadone for sleep? Does it help you?" — @Masha

I was put on Trazodone many years ago when Cymbalta gave me horrific insomnia. Yes, it did help me to sleep but looking back I don't like the fact I was polydrugged. I guess it still helps me to sleep, but I've been on it for so long and am not sure if the effects have worn off a bit. I was on 150 at one point but managed to get down to just 50 mg, which I've been taking for quite a while now.

Venlafaxine (tapering) - Current dose 16.64 mg
Trazodone - 50 mg
Synthroid - 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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CatinaSep 15

Community AnchorEffexor

"Thank you to whoever started this site" — @Masha

@Based and his friend @Domagoj Jureta started Taper Community. Both their grandmothers suffered from the effects of benzos. Also, Dom himself went through benzo withdrawal and didn't even know what was happening to him. @Based is a clinician and saw the need to created this site to help people safely taper off these drugs. I'm grateful as well that this community exists! 💜

MashaSep 15

LighthousePaxil · holding

I was put on Trazodone many years ago when Cymbalta gave me horrific insomnia. Yes, it did help me to sleep but looking back I don't like the fact I was polydrugged"

— @Catina

I also had insomnia from Paxil reinstatement. And yes I don’t like feeling polydrugged either!

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 25 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day
Ativan .25 at night

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CatinaSep 15

Community AnchorEffexor

"I also had insomnia from Paxil reinstatement" — @Masha

It's hard because when you can't sleep you're desperate for relief! It's just that adding another drug can sometimes complicate matters.

MashaSep 15

LighthousePaxil · holding

Yes of course! But you can’t recover if you don’t sleep! It’s a vicious cycle!

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 25 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day
Ativan .25 at night

⭐

CatinaSep 15

Community AnchorEffexor

"you can’t recover if you don’t sleep" — @Masha

Yes, sleep definitely helps with recovery and healing. The safest thing is to implement non-drug coping skills to help with insomnia. It can take some time for sleep to return to its natural state, but it eventually does.

MashaSep 15

LighthousePaxil · holding

Yes I’m hoping we both can do that!

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 25 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day
Ativan .25 at night

⭐

CatinaSep 15

Community AnchorEffexor

"Yes I’m hoping we both can do that!" — @Masha

Of course we will! I can't wait until I'm off Effexor so I can start getting rid of Trazodone. I want my body to work naturally without these drugs. Have you tried to implement any coping skills to help with your sleep? We have lots of tips and advice here.

MashaSep 15

LighthousePaxil · holding

Can you direct me there? How far along are you in your tapering? How has it gone?

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 25 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day
Ativan .25 at night

⭐

CatinaSep 15

Community AnchorEffexor

"Can you direct me there?" — @Masha

Scroll through the Symptoms and Self-Care section. You can also use the search bar at the top. https://taper.community/forums/symptoms-self-care

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CatinaSep 15

Community AnchorEffexor

"How far along are you in your tapering? How has it gone?" — @Masha

I started at 75 mg and am down to about 17.92 mg. It's been a very long and difficult journey. I'm doing better now though and am reducing extremely slowly. I'm in no rush and will take as long as I need to. I tapered too fast before and refuse to go through that again.

MashaSep 15

LighthousePaxil · holding

I hear you! The fast taper is brutal. And I had no idea it was the withdrawal. I was trying a taper and switch and everyone told me it was the new med that I just had to take time adjusting to. So now I’m recovering from that! When you did the “too fast taper” how long was that and did you reinstate fully or just slow down?

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 25 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day
Ativan .25 at night

MLfreeSep 15

WelcomerPaxil · active

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences. To clarify, I am currently taking 16.8 mg of paroxetine, and even a 0.2 mg reduction — about 1.2% — caused significant symptoms: painful tightness around my diaphragm and upper abdomen, intense tension and pain in my head and upper neck, worsening migraines, dizziness, fatigue & brain fog ! I would especially like to hear from people tapering paroxetine who need reductions smaller than 1%. Have you used a lower-concentration compounded liquid, diluted liquid, or tapering strips to make these very small reductions? Thank you.

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

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CatinaSep 15

Community AnchorEffexor

"When you did the “too fast taper” how long was that and did you reinstate fully or just slow down?" — @Masha

I started tapering in March of 2020. In September of 2021 I had gotten down to 12 mg and had a horrific crash that landed me in the psych ward for a week. I won't go into all the details but it was very traumatic. I updosed back up to 37.5 mg and held for two years. I began tapering again after that, but I've been doing it very slowly this time. As I said, I'm doing much better now (thank goodness!).

MashaSep 15

LighthousePaxil · holding

Wow I am so sorry to hear that! During Covid too!

Paxil — 20 mg — 20 years. Went off now back on — holding
Trazadone 25 mg
Buspar 5 mg two times a day
Ativan .25 at night

XlimageSep 23

WelcomerPaxil · active

I am very interested in your headache/upper neck tension and dizziness. Does ipper neck cause sleep issues and has anyone investigated your neck? Hope your good soon.

Paxil — 4.5 — 30 years — actively tapering | without clinician

JasonOct 17

WelcomerPaxil · holding

@Masha. Sorry I didn’t see your question until now. I was on 15 mg for 19 years and then in June 2025, I started to cut my pill by 3 mg. This was not a good choice since I could not accurately measure the cut. The result was nervousness along with my blood pressure spiking and other weird symptoms. I also was not sleeping well. This went on for 3 months until I found the correct tapering plan from Horowitz. I switched to liquid Paxil at 10mg which is 7.5 ml in September and started 10% reductions every month. This was working with some minor withdrawal symptoms. When I got to 1 ml (2mg) is where the withdrawals really kicked in and I had to hold for over 2 months.

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

JohnOct 20

WelcomerPaxil · active

Bonjour, MLFree. It might help to start by making a distinction. “Normal” withdrawal can obviously be unpleasant and uncomfortable, and you should taper at a pace that keeps it to a minimum. If the withdrawal symptoms become excessive, you can hold the taper or even updose a small amount. The symptoms will usually resolve within a few weeks, and you can restart your taper at a slower pace. Unfortunately, if a taper is much too fast, you can trigger an “injury”, which is essentially a dysregulation of your nervous system. At this point, you’re not really dealing with withdrawal any more; you’re managing an injury. The symptoms can be similar, but symptoms from a nervous system dysregulation are more severe and can sometimes last for months and even years (“protracted withdrawal injury”). Once you’ve been injured this way, your nervous system becomes hypersensitive and can react to even tiny dose reductions. Have you had an injury of this sort during your present taper or some point in the past?

Paxil — 3.525 mgs — 26 years — actively tapering | without clinician

MiliOct 23

How Can we tapper Paxil when in my country there is not liquid form and the lowest doze is 20mg?

JohnOct 23

WelcomerPaxil · active

Hi, Mili. Which country are you in? I live in Canada, and we don’t have a liquid form of Paxil here either. However, I live near a city that has two “compounding” pharmacies. These pharmacies will mix Paxil in a liquid suspension that you can then take orally using oral syringes. It has to be kept refrigerated, and it only has a shelf life of 30 days, so you have to refill it every 30 days.

Paxil — 3.525 mgs — 26 years — actively tapering | without clinician

XlimageOct 23

WelcomerPaxil · active

I am in scotland and i will need a micro taper and am at present asking gp for compounding prescription. For me its essential.

Paxil — 4.5 — 30 years — actively tapering | without clinician

MiliOct 23

@John I am from Croatia, Europa. We even dont have the compaund farmacy. Only tablets of 20mg and 30mg 🙁

MLfreeOct 24

WelcomerPaxil · active

Bonjour John😉Thank you for your reply and for taking the time to explain this. I suspect that the many switches between psychiatric medications over the years, as well as ECT, may have left me with lasting effects, an injury... I have also been through benzodiazepine withdrawal, so it is difficult to separate all of this from my current paroxetine withdrawal. For now, my plan is to reduce by 0.05 mL each month, or leave longer between reductions if needed, depending on my symptoms. In the meantime, I am waiting for specialist medical advice on whether switching to an antidepressant that may be easier to taper would be appropriate for me....?

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

MLfreeOct 24

WelcomerPaxil · active

Hi Mili, Here in France, commercially available liquid paroxetine is no longer available either. But, as John described in Canada, our pharmacies can arrange for a supplier to prepare it. It might be worth asking pharmacies near you whether they can arrange something similar. Another possibility is tapering strips from the Netherlands, depending on whether they can be supplied to your country.

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

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