Am I Experiencing PAWS Again?

I am here looking/hoping for some answers, support, help of any kind. Here is my story:

I was on Paxil for 30+ years. I was started on a 20mg dose by my PCP originally. For nearly 30 years I felt like I was doing great. Late in 2023 I was feeling a little off so I decided to see a psychiatrist because I thought maybe my med wasn’t working like it should. The psychiatrist said right off the bat that I need to get off the Paxil as I’ve been on it way too long. She thought cutting my Paxil in half to 10mg and starting me on 20mg of Prozac was the correct starting point. After 5 weeks on those doses she stopped the Paxil and upped my Prozac to 40mg.

After a bout a month of not feeling very bad, I soon started to feel bad. The symptoms I was experiencing were fatigue, shakiness, muscle tremors, severe brain fog, and the list goes on. She decided I needed to up my dose of Prozac to 60mg and wanted to add two other meds. I decided on my own I’m not adding anything else so I just went up to the 60mg dose of Prozac.

My symptoms continued to spiral to the point I could barely drag myself into work and I could handle zero stress. Derealization was now starting to g to creep into the picture. I was having sweats for no reason and I was basically wasting away as I could do absolutely nothing. Where once I was an active person who worked out 5 days a week, now I was just laying there thinking I was dying. I also lost about 30 pounds on this journey.

After 6 months of this switch my wife came with me to my next appointment. At this point I couldn’t even drive as these feelings along with daily severe panic attacks were my new norm. At this point my psychiatrist decided the Prozac wasn’t working and decided I needed to reinstate.

I was started back on 10mg of the Paxil and 40mg of the Prozac. In less than I week I could feel a reprieve from my situation. After 2 weeks I was upped to my original dose of 20mg of the Paxil and 20mg of the Prozac. After 2 more weeks I completely was taken completely off the Prozac and to this day I am just on my original 20mg dose of Paxil.

After about a month I honestly thought that I was feeling back to my old self once again. I was driving again, working out again, fishing, and just enjoying life like I used to. This lasted for 2-3 months, then things started to feel off again. I felt like I was going back on the PAWS road again.

So that’s my journey and that’s where I am now. Although I am still able to function snd do the things I want, I am still suffering from severe fatigue, my balance feels off, my words sometimes feel like I’m stuttering, and my memory seems to be be nothing g like it was before all this started.

What I’m trying to figure out is am I now experiencing, or is it possible, that I am experiencing actual PAWS after being off the Prozac after 6 months of use even though I am back to my original 20mg dose of Paxil, or have I really screwed myself up cognitively by following what my psychiatrist told me to do? Should I stay where I’m at with the 20mg dose or go up or down, I’m at a loss. I just don’t trust my psychiatrist at all after all of this.