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Beware
Paroxetine & Various
by Biz
Citation:   Biz. "Beware: An Experience with Paroxetine & Various (exp37208)". Erowid.org. Nov 3, 2007. erowid.org/exp/37208

 
DOSE:
25 mg oral Pharms - Paroxetine (daily)
  40 mg oral Pharms - Methylphenidate (daily)
    smoked Cannabis (plant material)
    oral Alcohol (liquid)
BODY WEIGHT: 135 lb
I've been taking paxil for about 2 years now for anxiety disorders (panic attacks & OCD). I noticed a lot of submissions in the paxil experience vault here & thought I'd offer up my own experiences of paxil, well, fucking with me, as a little warning to anyone taking it either medicinally or recreationally.

My worst paxil experience occurred a little over a year ago, when I had just upped my dose from 12.5mg to 25mg (per day). I had been drinking all night with my friends, as much as I normally would, & late into the evening I sparked up a bowl of mj, which I also often do. We smoked a bowl between the three of us that were there at the time, & I was feeling good & high-drunk for maybe a half hour after smoking. At the time I was also continuing to drink beer. But then I started feeling not-so-well. I tried to tough it out, but eventually decided I needed to lie down for a while. One of my friends, whose apartment we were in, asked if I was going to be sick & I said I was fine, fully believing it. So I lay down on the couch & closed my eyes & sort of continued to participate in conversation, but I started to experience the closest thing I'd ever had to a trip at this point in my life.

Eyes closed, I saw my body outlined in stars against the sky, sort of like a sparkly chalk outline. It made me really happy & I think I was telling my friends about it. Then I felt like I was in an attic - I knew where I *actually* was at the time, but in my mind I could see me & my friends in an attic & it fit for some reason. I remembered one of my friends but forgot who the other girl was, & I was racking my brain trying to remember who she was - both her name & her appearance. Then I started feeling nauseous & said I thought I was going to puke soon, but before anyone could do anything about it, I barfed. All over myself & the couch I was on. It was embarrassing & gross.

My (wonderful!!) friend washed my shirt for me & got me a trash can, & I continued to barf into that & then spent the rest of the night clutching it & feeling crappy until I passed out. I don't know for sure, but I attribute this to the paxil, since I have never been that helplessly sick from just alcohol & weed. The 'trip' was also something that had never happened to me. I should note also that I do take ritalin as well (40mg these days) & have done so for 13 years, so that's in the mix too, but I have found that it doesn't interact badly with weed or booze, as far as I can tell. I never had another incident like this.

My other notable paxil problem occurred a couple months ago. Like I said, I've been taking meds for most of my life, & I don't know if I've ever screwed it up - except for this time of course. I was at work & it was time for the afternoon ritalin; I was also on antibiotics then & it was time for that pill too. I took two pills, & only after the fact did I realize I'd taken a paxil instead of a ritalin. And of course I'd already taken my paxil that morning. So I took the ritalin & hoped nothing bad would happen. I noticed a couple hours later that I was more talkative than normal, hyper almost, & I talk a lot normally so I might have been annoying. I felt kind of bouncy & 'up'. It wasn't unpleasant really, but not particularly pleasant either.

I went over to my friend's after work & smoked a couple bowls, but avoided alcohol of any kind due to aforementioned puking incident. The high didn't feel very different, & it chilled out my hyperness a little. Later I went home, smoked another bowl & watched some TV as I fell asleep. At this point my jaw started feeling weird & I was clenching it a LOT. I had to concentrate REALLY hard on not biting down & even then I eventually gave up on it. My mouth would just not be like it normally is at resting state. It was bizarre, but gone in the morning.

So in conclusion, kids, respect the paxil & be careful with it. Do as I say & not as I do, & try not to mix it with alcohol. My doc told me that paxil & alcohol are metabolized by the same liver enzyme, so if you're liver's dealing with the paxil & then you throw a bunch of alcohol in it, things can get messy & even dangerous. I've cut down on my liquor intake since finding that out, & I should probably cut down even more. Haven't noticed any other problematic drug interactions with it, but as I am with the ritalin, I assume it makes my tolerance lower for certain things. (I don't know if this is actually true but it sounds good, no?)

If you're taking it recreationally... personally I don't quite get how paxil would be fun, but who am I to judge, so be careful & again, WATCH THE ALCOHOL!! Also avoid MAOI's if you're going to be on paxil because MAOIs don't mix well with most Rx drugs. I started smoking passionflower a while ago & it made me feel slightly weird, & then I found out it was an MAOI so no more of that.

Exp Year: 2004ExpID: 37208
Gender: Female 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Nov 3, 2007Views: 16,499
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Pharms - Paroxetine (148), Cannabis (1), Alcohol (61) : Combinations (3), Not Applicable (38)

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