Hi everyone,

I am on prescription medication Paxil (paroxetine) and am slowly weaning myself off of it. I have been using Paxil for anxiety for about 10 years now because of my emetophobia. Before the Paxil, I barely ate anything, wouldn't go to any restaurants, etc. I had all of the classic emet symptoms. With the Paxil, I am still anxious when I feel nauseous, but I don't feel nauseous nearly as often and it's not as bad as it used to be.

I want to get off the Paxil because I hope to have children one day (I'm getting married in May, but don't want children for a couple years) and Paxil is harmful to fetuses. The doctor says I probably don't need it anymore anyway, and anything I feel when I'm coming off of it is just withdrawal.

Last year, November 2009, my doctor and I lowered my dosage from 30mg to 20mg. I felt nothing for a month, and then everything hit me one day in December. My fiance and I were driving and he was talking about a "chicken roll" and how this one restaurant made it the best. I started thinking about it and felt n*. My legs started to shake, my head started spinning, and I opened the window even though it was freezing outside. I closed my eyes to keep from seeing the restaurants, but that also made me feel s*. We got to our destination and I was so worked up at that point that I didn't even want to go shopping as planned, I just wanted to go home. The whole ride home, I was so n*- I kept telling my fiance to talk to me, get my mind off it, but I was hunched in the seat, shaking like a leaf, praying to myself and trying hard not to think of food.

After this instance, for about 3 months more, I was n* all the time. I had to keep stepping outside at work, especially at lunchtime. Trying to compose myself was not easy.

Needless to say, I'm gearing up to do this all over again after the wedding. I want to lower myself again, maybe to 15mg this time so the drop is not so significant. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to combat this?

Please and thank you.
- Carly