title: Hallucination induced by paroxetine discontinuation in patients with major depressive disorders.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki, Japan. yasufuru@cc.hirosaki-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yasui-Furukori
authors.forename: Sunao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaneko
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004244:Dizziness / Q000139:chemically induced; D005260:Female; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000139:chemically induced*; D006261:Headache / Q000139:chemically induced; D006801:Humans; D009325:Nausea / Q000139:chemically induced; D017374:Paroxetine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; D017374:Paroxetine