Topic Title: paxil and 5-htp question
| |  "paxil and 5-htp question"
, Thu 5 Dec 17:31
I am weaning off of paxil and am down to 2.5mg. I am starting to
experience withdraw from it. I was doing fine until today.
Headache, dizziness and diarhea. I have been reading about 5-htp
and went out tonight to buy a bottle. I took two 50mg capsules.
I think I am starting to feel better. Is it safe to take the two
together? I want to finish up this week on the paxil.
Any information is appreciated!
msk
Posts: 0 | | Registered: Thu 5 Dec 2002 17:23 |
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| | "Re(1):paxil and 5-htp question" , Tue 28 Jan 06:16
I am currently weaning off paxil and have heard that 5 HTP can be helpful with anxiety and panic - have you had any luck in taking the 5 htp.
Posts: 0 | | Registered: Tue 28 Jan 2003 6:14 |
| | "Re(1):paxil and 5-htp question" , Fri 6 Dec 03:01
Hi msk
The overriding advice is not to combine 5-htp with an SSRI such as Paxil since in rare circumstances it can lead to something called Serotonin Syndrome, which means an overload of Serotonin in your system. The two should only be combined under medical supervision. You are on a low dose of Paxil already, so I dont know if there's reason for concern - check with your doctor.
To be safe, and if you are not consulting with your doc on this, I would suggest that you completely stop the Paxil first before taking 5-htp. Paxil has a short half-life (21 hours) so the bulk of it clears out of the system in a matter of days. You may find the withdrawal systems quite severe in those first few days after quitting, but try to sit these out. I took 5-htp to help with sleep dysfunction and anxiety, and only started about 3 weeks after quitting paxil. If I knew about it at the time I would have started taking 5-htp much earlier though. I quit cold turkey and suffered severe withdrawal - hope you escape that!
The last jumps of weaning off Paxil can be the worst, so good luck with stopping.
It would be interesting to hear how 5-htp helps with your withdrawal if you continue on this route.
Good luck
Matt
Posts: 17 | | Registered: Tue 11 Jun 2002 7:43 |
| | |  "Re(2):paxil and 5-htp question"
, Sat 7 Dec 07:54:
In my opinion, because you are taking such a small dose of Paxil you would not experience Serotonin Syndrome, and the 5htp may even lessen your withdrawal symptoms. You would be keeping your serotonin levels relatively at the same level as taking the full dose of Paxil. You're not really increasing your serotonin levels to some lethal dose.
MJ DuPont
[this message was edited by DuPont on Sat 7 Dec 07:55]
Posts: 413 | | Registered: Wed 20 Jun 2001 6:19 |
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