Let me begin by saying that the recipe works.

But also let me share my thoughts about it since I first read it, and started following it, on May 22, 2002. (Today is July 23.)

Paxil withdrawal recipe: four simple steps in an e-mail.

That's it????

I don't have to stay up all night reading information? I don't have to memorize anything, buy anything, go anywhere? There are no warnings or scary hypothetical scenarios?

Four steps: Quit this drug; Want exact the same I feel now; Breathe deeply; Tell me what happens.

And....Signed..."Believe, Tadas"

OOOOOOOO-K.

First Step. (Am I really going to do it? Am I really going to believe I can?) Quit the drug. Don't take it anymore. Not even one time. Throw it away.

I did!

I'm not sure why. I think just because I was so sick of feeling the way I did I had to do something else. When the pain of your experience becomes great enough, you become willing to try something different.

So I threw my Paxil away.

Second step: When withdrawal symptoms come, think "I want exact the same I feel now." and Third step: Breathe deeply.

(Those two went together for me.)

When withdrawal symptoms come...not IF they come, but WHEN...because they will!

The drug you are taking is a very real chemical and you will experience withdrawal from it. The symptoms may vary in number and strength, but the ones I had (not all at one time!) were:

• blurred vision
• dizziness
• the sensation of "bugs" crawling on me
• "zaps" like electric shocks
• insomnia
• loss of appetite, difficulty eating and swallowing
• stomach upset, diarrhea
• nervousness
• panic

And in the midst of one or several of those things, I'm suppposed to think "I want exact the same I feel now." And breathe deeply.

I was surprised, but truly, if you don't resist the feelings, when you relax and breathe deeply, they do either subside or go away completely.

There was a day that I was really so uncomfortable I couldn't go about my regular routein and had to practically stay in bed, but I used both heat and ice on my neck (at separate times...both worked about the same) and was intentional about relaxing and breathing deeply. I made it through ok.

Step Four - Tell Tadas....and Believe.

Knowing that Tadas was there, and most of all, that he cared, and that he would answer my e-mails and tell me what to do made me believe that the recipe would work.

It's pretty amazing that someone in Lithuania could be more understanding and helpful to me than my family, friends, doctors and therapists, but that's exactly what I experienced throughout the withdrawal process. I truly believe that if I had shared my symptoms and thoughts, especially my fears, with anyone on this side of the Atlantic, I would have been back on medication or in a hospital.

I was taking two 60 mg. tablets of Paxil a day, one in the morning and one at night. That is a very high dosage which can cause its own problems and side effects. I threw it away on May 22 and have not had even one mg. since. I am not at all worried about my brain chemistry or my energy level, because I feel better and accomplish more now than I ever have.

I know that when the withdrawal symptoms from this CHEMICAL begin, there is fear. Real fear. And the thought "maybe I ought to take Paxil again...

But for me it was best to make up my mind not to take it anymore, throw it away, and deal with each symptom (with your help) as it came.

Relaxing, breathing, and taking it easy during the first days really helped me.

If people can go back in their memories and think of that moment when their doctor wrote the PRESCRIPTION for Paxil, handed it to them, and gave them the HOPE that taking this drug would make them feel better, have more energy, etc. and then TRANSLATE that into an equal, exact BELIEF in Tadas' RECIPE and the benefits of being drug free... IT WILL WORK!

And they will save a lot of money, confusion and suffering by doing it!

My true opinion of the Taking Paxil Off Recipe?

It's a miracle!