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Hallucination induced by paroxetine discontinuation in patients with major depressive disorders
Norio Yasui-Furukori1, Sunao Kaneko
1Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki, Japan. yasufuru@cc.hirosaki-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
Discontinuation symptoms can follow the stoppage of almost all classes of antidepressants, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. We report two cases suffering from visual and auditory hallucinations: Case 1 abruptly stopped taking paroxetine (20 mg/day), and Case 2 discontinued paroxetine after reducing the dose from 20 mg/day to 10 mg/day for 5 months. Both cases experienced visual and auditory hallucinations in addition to dizziness, headache, insomnia, and nausea a couple of days after paroxetine discontinuation. These observations suggest that hallucinations are a part of the discontinuation syndrome that results from paroxetine discontinuation. Physicians should be aware of this symptom.
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