opinions on paxil please.

  • Thread starter Thread starter 813roxy
  • Start date Start date
8

813roxy

Guest
Hi Jamie, I tried paxil for a couple months and had to stop taking it because it made all of my anxiety symptoms worse!!! I was constantly feeling anxious/irritable, couldn't sleep or eat much, etc. I actually lost weight. Just goes to show you, everyone reacts differently to meRAB. If it works for you, great! Good luck and I hope you start feeling better soon.
Roxy
 
Hi there, I am 53 year old female and around may sometime i started having these awful panic attacks and at night adrenaline surges. my blood pressure was shooting through the roof too.

i've struggled with hypothyroid since sept of 2000. been off and on celexa since then for varioius bouts of depression and some anxiety but nothing compares to this anxiety i had in may...

i went on to develop agoraphobia and am still dealing with it. i've spent so many days feeling so surreal that i wondered if i even existed. every little change in my environment would trigger surreal and or anxiety. i just dont know what happened to me at that time, possibly thyroid related and we upped my dose and i was low on vitamin D and both are being addressed right now with new thyroid dose and 2000 iu's of D but still i have agoraphobia anxiety and still when i go outside i feel in a fog.

i tried zoloft and celexa this summer and hated them both! i'm now trying a low dose of paxil about 5 mgs and maybe 10 mgs if necessary but i refuse to take anymore then 10 mgs of paxil cause i've read of how nurab people get and how hard it is to get off it.

so i've been on only 2.5 mgs of paxil for about 4 nights now and i have to admit that i feel a wee bit better, placebo i am sure but my mind seems quieter for now...but still of course anxiety and fear knots up in my tummy when i think of going out side unless with my husband who has become my "safe person" poor guy...

so can anyone give me some good feedback on paxil please cause i really need some hope here...i've lost my job already and i've not been able to pick up my granRABon from school all school year and go places and do things i use to do..i would like to enjoy some shopping at the mall again or just going down the road to kmart or target without having to make sure i am having a good day first...any suggestions.
 
forgot to ask the age old typical question about paxil> did yougain weight with it and if so how bad was it and were you able to lose any of it? thanks again.
 
thanks roxy and all the other repliers as well. I decided not to stay on it any longer. i had such a long rough night with no sleep and am so tired and hung over feeling today (i dont drink) and my head is a big ole mess and my whole body is so tense that i cant even make it relax with a valium. i am low on vitamin d so i am going to up that with dr. approval of course and see if that helps..if only i could sleep i could feel like anew person i am sure of that! thanks so much!
 
I've been taking 30 mg of Paxil now for 6 years. It saved my life! Yes, I've read all of the stories online about how bad it is. But plain and simple, it was the only thing that worked for me. Now, I do have the occasional break-through panic attack on occasion (last one was 5 weeks ago). I have a prescription for Ativan 1mg and use just one to stop it. Otherwise, I'm very satisfied with Paxil. I take a generic version made by TEVA and found it worked better than the brand name.

I recommend you work with your doctor to titrate you up slowly (5mg increments) to find the minimum dose that works for you.

I've tried Zoloft as well. It made me extremely angry, so it was out. Celexa did nothing. Wellbutrin did nothing. Amitriptyline made me drowsy and a mild sinus headache, but did nothing for the anxiety.
 
Ive taken Paxil twice (Paxil and Paxil CR). It has worked great both times. The first time I went off it because of the sexual side effects, I was in a new relationship and didnt want to deal with that. The second time I went off it because I gained 25lbs in 7 months and I was only on 12.5 mgs and became obsessive and depressed about the weight, so I traded in my anxiety to becoming crazy about calorie counting and exercise and was unable to lose a pound. I have been off the paxil for 4 months now and have only been able to lose 3 lbs! crazy! It did work wonders for my Social anxiety though! It was not hard to come off of but i tapered off very slowly...I even cut my lowest dose pills in half and had to take it every other day.

I would give it a try, if you don't gain weight or are able to live with the extra pounRAB as a trade off then good for you!

I m on the hunt for my next drug...
 
10mg a day is a pacebo dose - you need 20mg at a minimum to get any theraputic benifit.
 
Yes it was because of the weight gain! I was only 135 so 25 lbs was alot of weight and it caused me to be obsessed about my weight, watching every calorie, exercising like a maniac and after a few months I realized my weight wasnt going down it kept going up! I also became self conscious about it and it effected my relationship and social life just like social anxiety. I also wasnt yet at the dose I was suppose to be at so I knew there was more weight gain to come and just wasnt willing to do it.

I am going to try Buspar and Klonopin mixed with Welllbutrin (to aid in weight loss) next well I try to lose this weight. If I have to try another SSRI I will try one of the SNRI's next - Cyrabalata and hope I only gain 10lbs vs. 25 lbs!
 
Jamie,
What made you suspect you might be having thyroid problems? I ask that because I have an appointment this week to see my doctor and get some testing done. I have had major fatigue, loss of appetite, lost more than 20 lbs in a couple of months (without trying), and I feel cold most of the time. Would this fit an over or under active thyroid? I'll also check a couple of the other boarRAB here as well.
 
Jamie:

I've had virtually no weight gain from the Paxil. Again, I've been on it for almost 6 years now. At the zenith of my anxiety in 2005, I too became agoraphobic with constant anxiety.

We all have to make choices on how to deal with our anxiety. Doing nothing in itself is also a choice. For me if I'd done nothing, I don't know if I would be alive today. I became so anxious about everything including: my health, the world around me, my job, what I was eating, would I forget to breath, etc. Most likely, I would have chosen to end it all. I couldn't see myself living boxed up inside four walls, surviving off disability and having food delivered.
 
socialanxiety12,

did you stop taking it cause of the weight gain? if not then why woud you quit taking it if it was helping you?
 
I was on paxel for a short time. I had terrible dreams and asked to be swithed to wellbutrin.
 
Jamie, it just goes to show how we "all" are made up differently. I can only tell you my experience, but as you know you have to decide for you. I'm a 60 year young grandma, and I've been taking 10 mg Paxil for over 12 years. At first I was taking 20 mgs to start out with and later adjusted down to 10. I remeraber the first 2 weeks I started it, I felt like I was living in a different world. I didn't like it at all. Gradually my body got used to it. I started taking it for Social Anxiety, and it helped me so much that I was able to get a job and work with other people. I worked at that job for 10 years, but had to retire because of a disability with my back. Yes, I have heard all the bad stuff about going off the drug, but the way I look at it, is that my body must need what's in the drug to function properly or i wouldn't have been taking it all these years. Just like a diabetic has to take medicine, sometimes we have to take medications for our body and mind to function. As far as sleep is concerned, I take some over the counter sleep aiRAB. I think the higher dosage you take the harder it may be to sleep, but again that all adjusted for me in time.:)
 
Precious55,

thank you for your time to reply i really appreciate it!
i had decided not to stick it out and isstead with my thyroid
and vitamin D meRAB as i was low on vitamin D as well. I am
doing somewhat better these days with the anxiety and agoraphobia
i have developed from the anxiety but some days are just harder then others to get out
side and do what i want to do. I have the liberty to stay home all day if i choose but i choose not to do so because that is not a life lived.
i have not totally dropped the idea of taking the paxil and i too think like you do about it that if it makes you feel better and helps you get on with your life then YE INDEED that your body may be needing that chemical in it cause afterall its not like you are using it to get high as a drug, but to feel normal.
thanks so much for your input...i've got a lot of useful advise here from it and most of it in favor of taking it....i see my dr. on the the 27 for thyroid tests again and i will see where my level is at and if it is all good and i am still feel teeter tottering then i may go back and give it another try and just muddle through the surrealism, lol. again thank you!
 
Back
Top