Tapering Benzo and SSRI. Need Advice

So I have also been tapering Paxil with no issues about 3 weeks.  I was on 12.5mg.  Got down to 6.5mg. Doctor said to jump over to

Cymbalta 3 days ago. Today woke up sicker than a DOG.  I definitely believe it is the Paxil withdrawal plus Drugs.com says that Paxil

and Cymbalta have a MAJOR drug interaction and can cause Serotonin syndrome.  I reinstated the Paxil.  What are your thoughts please?

Hi nomorebenzos2,

I did a basically CT paxil WD over a year ago and was in a hell beyond description for 4 months. When I finally linked the sxs with the WD I went back on paxil and all sxs disappeared. BUT... I was by then on xanax. After 4 months on xanax I wanted off and stopped that CT. Sxs were horrible and after 4 days I found BB. I have been tapering xanax since early June and will be done tomorrow! It has not been easy and I am by far a long way from healed. But after getting off 15 years of methadone and 10 years of lyrica before the paxil WD I think my poor brain was taxed, making the xanax use and WD much harder.

Now I am at a place where I want to get off paxil after I heal a little more and was on this thread looking for info on the possibility of doing a liquid micro taper of paxil as I did xanax. Yours is the first post I've found so I have no idea what others are saying but I would definitely think going very slowly in getting off paxil would be best. If the liquid taper isn't possible I may try a scale. I didn't start having severe sxs until 2-3 weeks after stopping my paxil which was the main reason I didn't connect the sxs with the WD, and it went downhill from there. So it wasn't like methadone WD where it was a clear cut process but became more acute as time passed. I was in the ER twice, in the hospital for days, had heart rate and BP issues, nausea, weight loss, anorexia, depression, anxiety, horrible memories and racing thoughts, panic, I fainted... none of the sxs had been a problem before the paxil. It was started for mild pre-menopausal mood swings and I just passively continued to take it! Good luck in getting off your med! It is so disturbing how there can be a drug warning about 2 meds and Drs nor pharmacists have a clue! And reading that in the midst of having sxs is a stress that you don't need right now! Blessings!!!

Avoid Cymbalta like the plague.  There are multiple on-line support groups for people trying to get off of it and having a horrific time.  I've been tapering it for two years with about two more years to go and it's a nightmare....every bit as bad as a benzo taper and worse in many ways and taking way, way longer. 

ADs are every bit as habituating as benzos and just as bad to get off of.  Check out Surviving Antidepressants and read the stories for yourself.