Is my girlfriend pregnant or suffering from withdrawel symptoms from Paroxetine HCL?

Question

My girlfriend and i had sex about 6-8 weeks ago. Everything was fine, we used protection and nothing broke and I was very careful. Now she gets nausea about every for the past few days, headaches, she vomited one of the few days. She gets a little dizzy sometimes. But she had her period twice already and it was normal for her. She also says she may of lost wieght. Also she said she just stop taking her Paroxetine HCL. Its almost the same symptoms. The doc said its bc she stop taking her meds instead of stop taking it gradually. I am worried she may be pregnant. Also she stop taking her iron pills and went back on it. Has anyone ever gone through this or maybe can help me out?
Thanks.

Maybe it was a coincidence and I thought she was pregnant but its really the pills she stop taking.

Answer 1

While it is unlikely your girlfriend is pregnant, it is still possible. Some women continue to have periods throught pregnancy. If you are concerned, perhaps she should take a pregancy test.

The more likely answer is that she is having withdrawl symptoms from her medicine or a reaction to her iron pills.

There are several different types of iron supplements.
ferrous fumarate, Ferrous gluconate and ferrous sulfate, all of which have different concentrations of iron.

Iron should be taken on an empty stomach in order to work best but sometimes this upsets the stomach and can cause nausea. Take it 1-2 hours after a meal to prevent the nausea and still get it on an 'empty stomach'. She may also be taking too high a dose.

Or perhaps there is another underlying problem. Dizziness is a symtom of many illnesses, including allergies and the common cold. If she's not eating regularly, it's likely to be a sudden drop in blood sugar. Try adding more protien rich foods to her diet if this is the case and avoid sugary, starchy and caffineated beverages.

I suggest making a list of her symptoms, waiting a few more weeks and then making a return trip to the doctor if they haven't gone away. If these are serious and the symptoms can't be ignored, seek immediate medical attention for her.

Answer 2

If you stop taking Paxil (paroxetine) or any other SSRI, you can get a serious withdrawal syndrome that includes severe vertigo and dizziness, fatigue, and vomiting. She should talk to her doctor about tapering back on and how to get off safely, or she could fall down some stairs or something.

No joke, getting off SSRI antidepressants needs to be done very gradually -- they work with the same system that cocaine does, and suddenly getting off of them releases the neurotransmitter suddenly into the system in a similar manner that cocaine or ecstasy might.

At the very least, she should call her doctor to assess how severe the symptoms are. Response could vary from "oh, okay, keep me up to date on how you're doing" to, "oh, jeez, sounds pretty bad, why don't you come right in?"

Good luck,
Julie
PS, I don't think she's pregnant, in case you hadn't guessed.

PPS, I'm a recent medical grad tromping off into residency.

PPPS, I myself have been on Paxil -- I'm not now, I'm on Buspirone, but if I miss 2 or 3 days of either one, I get wicked bed spins, and with the Paxil, the dizziness was terrible terrible, and sometimes I got electric shock feelings down my fingers. She needs to call for a taper down to nothing on her meds.

Answer 3

I wanted sophie to win so was very pleased at that but after the way that siavash behaved so pathetically last night saying he wanted to leave which was a game plan I was so shocked that he came second he should have come 5th. sorry dont know of any fan sites

Answer 4

That medicine is very hard on the body to come off of to fast. I start and stop that medicine each year. When I go off it I make sure that go even more gradually than the doctor recommends.