SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are antidepressants that affect serotonin levels in the brain. It’s not fully understood how they work but it is thought they provide higher levels of serotonin at the brain receptor site. SSRI discontinuation syndrome can occur during or following interruption or the lowering of dosage or the discontinuation of an SSRI or SNRI (serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor) antidepressant.

Side effects can occur between 24 hours to one week after reduction or stoppage of dosage and they can be overwhelming. Side effects may include dizziness, electric shock-like sensations or “zaps,” sweating, nausea, insomnia, tremor, confusion, and vertigo.

If you are considering coming off your antidepressant, Summer Beretsky on PsychCentral.com offers some tips on how to make the process in a blog that details her challenges when she came off Paxil. Her weaning process was a months long ordeal that involved tapering down her dosage by splitting or shaving pills over the course of seven months. During that time of weaning off she says she suffered from side effects headaches, lethargy, depression, dizziness, the “zaps,” and nausea, to name a few. Read her personal story and tips on gradually weaning off SSRIs on the site’s blog.

SOURCE: Paxil and Pregnancy › Coming off antidepressants can take months of effort

The families contend that the mothers’ use of Paxil during pregnancy resulted in severe heart defects in their infants and have sued GlaxoSmithKline for failure to warn the public about the dangers of the drug for pregnant women.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recently recommended that pregnant women not use Paxil, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Karen Barth Menzies of Los Angeles.

Two of the plaintiffs are from West Virginia, two from Ohio and one from Nebraska.

Source: Lawyers USA

SOURCE: Paxil and Pregnancy › Parents sue Paxil maker for heart defects

The lawsuit, filed in Pennsylvania state court, is seeking unspecified damages for failing to warn pregnant women about the risks of taking Paxil.

During the last month of her pregnancy, Vasquez learned, while receiving an ultrasound to determine the sex of her baby, that there was something wrong with his heart.

Since then, Adrian has undergone three open-heart surgeries and now has a pacemaker.

The seriousness of these birth defects is such that, at the very first sign of danger, GSK should have issued a strong warning, said attorney Karen Barth Menzies, who is representing the family.

Adrian will need repeated heart surgeries as he continues to grow and may need artificial replacement valves, and perhaps eventually a heart transplant. His prognosis is unclear, she said.

Menzies added that with 40,000 pregnant women nationwide taking antidepressants, thousands of babies are at risk.

Source: Lawyers USA

SOURCE: Paxil and Pregnancy › Paxil Maker Sued Over Child Born with Severe Birth Defects