Any Paxil users? (1 Viewer)

I used to take Paxil. My personal take on it? Don't use it! I'd rather be depressed than feeling lethargic and thirsty 24/7.

My cure?

I went nuts and bought St. John's Worts capsules from Costco and took TRIPLE dosage for the first week, tapered it DOWN to DOUBLE dosage the second week, and again down to recommended dosage. (as per recommended by my physician)

I'm on my 5th week.

Although the feeling of depression does not dissipated as well as Paxil, it reaches the level that I can extremely easy handle the depression but without the tired and thirsty feeling whatsoever.

YMMV, though.

I haven't used Paxil, but have tried other anti-depression medications. The important thing to realise is that YOU are in control. Side effects will happen with pretty much all medication. Its up to you to decide if they are worth tolerating and continuing the medication. Keep in mind that side effects are generally there for the initial 2-4 week period of use and tend to taper off.

Also, I would recommend keeping a daily log of your meals, activities, times of medication, etc. It helps in deciding whether something may be a side effect vs. a bad piece of fish you ate. I've noticed that some medications can have 'burps' in side effects if there are wide time differences in the time you take a dose from day to day. And keep your doctor informed of what you have felt/experienced. They are there to help you and can do a much better job if you tell them.

Also remember that antidepressants actually take after at least 4 weeks of use, though most if not all of the side effects do disappear before such time. Deciding on a medication after only a few days intake is not good. Patients have to be in contact with their doctors to inform them of such things but most of the time, they should have been informed beforehand.
Trust ur physician and please do keep him/her in the loop.

I have the Rain combo of anxiety/depression and have been on Paxil for a while. My Dr. started me out on 10mg for a week and I didn't notice any real change. Then 1 or 2 weeks at 20mg, then up to 30mg where I am now. I must say the first week or 2 I was at 30mg I felt so tired during the day, I could have dozed off at my desk a work. But after those 1 or 2 weeks that tiredness went away. I can't say how much I owe to the Paxil, but I started having good nights sleep, not lying awake at night thinking about things like I used to. So once the good rest started, the better I felt during the day. The only other real side effect I had was sexual: For a couple weeks I found it very hard (pun not intended) to ejaculate. Had no problem "performing" but couldn't orgasm
Luckily that went away. PHEW

Those are all the side effects I had after being on it for 18 months or so.

Chris

The qeight gain is actually due to the thirst. Sometimes our brains are fooled into thinking that we're hungry although in fact we're thirsty. That what causes the weight gain.

I also experienced what Christopher P put in spoiler tag.

Eve, Paxil is the most common drug to go on when you start out with depression meds. As Eric states, it'll probably take a while for the meds to actually enter your blood stream so you'll have to give them a while before you can definitely say that they are "bad" for you.

The other things with depression meds is that all of them are pretty much the same, it's just that people react differently to each one, so make sure you are very patient with the Dr. in trying to find out which medication is best for you.

Again, since everyone reacts differently to each of the drugs, it may seem like your Dr. is just guessing at which drugs to put you on (and in fact, sometimes they have to because of what I just described). After a few weeks, if the symptoms don't disapear, tell the Dr. and he/she will probably switch you to something different. You may have to go through many different pills to find the one that works best with you.

I know I went through 6 or 7 different ones to find the one that worked for me. And they'll even try combinations of different ones at different strengths. It's amazing how they are all basically the same, yet they all worked differently for me. It may take a long time to find out the right combination for you, but you gotta stay persistant.

Don't give up so quickly. Too many people start the pills, experience the side effects and immediately think the drugs are bad for them. persistence and not giving up will be your best defense to ridding depression.

Again, there will be plenty of times when you think that the pills aren't doing anything and are making you "worse" and it'll be very frustrating to try differnt ones, but remember - that's the depression/anxiety talking. Learn all you can about the meds - Go to their web sites and read as much as you can about them. Knowing exactly what they do (medically speaking) can sometimes make you feel better.

I wish nothing but the best for you and hope your recovery makes you a stronger person and that you learn to love life and yourself.

Try Lexapro. Worked for me after a few weeks and ZERO, I mean ZERO side effects. Things that used to upset me (women, work, a Friday or Saturday when I can't find anything to do or whatever ) I can roll my eyes at and not even be remotely bothered by them.

I was on Paxil for awhile for symptoms just like Rain, but finally had the doctor switch me to something else (Celexa). Paxil made me have very weird and VIVID dreams and whenever I'd forget to refill my prescription, the withdrawal was horrible. I felt like I was going to pass out every now and then. But Paxil did help my problems.

I took Paxil for 18 months to treat anxiety/panic. Also, the paxil worked quite well for the depression. There were some side effects: facial twitches and umm ... the sexual side effect. But, I weaned off of the med without any problems. About a month after I stopped, the panic and anxiety came back with a vengeance. My doctor put me back on Paxil, but it didn't work.

I was switched over to Celexa and after a year, I was converted to Lexapro. In my experience, the Lexapro is not as effective with the depression as Paxil was. But, the Lexapro is awesome for anxiety and panic. But, I still feel very lethargic. It's great how the med calms me ... but, I'd like some energy and enthusiasm, too.

Also, I've heard Paxil CR is not too bad. Since it's a controlled release, maybe some of the side effects won't be as pronounced.

I can add a "me, too" to the experiences above.

I've been on and off Paxil for the last five years. Starting on it gives me nausea, fatigue, and the dreaded "spoiler" side effect above. (Haven't had a problem with weight gain. Of course, my most recent anxiety episode prevented me from eating, so I lost 15 pounds in a couple weeks. That makes it tough to really be sure.) Those went away after a few weeks (though I'm still somewhat more lethargic than I was before). Around the same time, the benefits started to kick in. Don't give up until at least the 4-6 week mark.

I'm taking it for anxiety/panic, and it helps quite a bit. The best way I can describe it is that it reduces the "size" of the anxiety enough that you can keep it under control, instead of it being huge and overwhelming. Ideally, you can "train your brain" while on Paxil so that you can control your anxieties without it. I'm still on it, so I haven't made it quite that far yet, but I'm getting there.

By the way, getting off Paxil can be no fun. I weaned off of it, going from 20mg daily to 10mg daily to 10mg every other day, which helped. But after finally going cold turkey, I felt twitchy and light-headed for several days. Not debilitating, but not pleasant, either. It did go away after a couple weeks, and I felt pretty much as I did before the Paxil (unfortunately, with the anxiety included, which I controlled by myself pretty well until this past April.)

There was a thread titled "Nervous Breakdown" not too long ago that discussed a lot of this stuff, too.

Good luck with everything. I know this can be a really frustrating experience, but it *will* get better. Feel free to PM me if you want to talk more.

Ryan

Eve, there are definitely generic versions of most of the others (I definitely know there is a generic for Prozac). If the money is an issue, I'm sure the Dr. will have no problems switching to a generic version of one of the others.

Definitely let the Dr. know about everything you just described. I mean, it can't hurt so why hold back info from him.

p.s. Paroxetine is the generic name for Paxil.

Eve, I don't think that you are on Paxil.

When their patent was going to run out, they 'invented' something better, and got a new patent on it. I think it just has a few letters after Paxil, like Paxil CP.

Some of the uncomfortable feelings that you may be having may be 'side effects' that will not go away, but in any event your doctor should be told about them, just so he/she will know.

Glenn

All drugs have a generic name, but not all drugs are sold in the generic form. New drugs are given patent protection to recoup research, development and marketing costs. Once the patent is up, companies can apply to the FDA to sell generic versions. According to the PDR, Paxil is not out in generic form yet.

Drug companies have programs to help those who need the drug, but cannot afford it. Here is the link to the program for free Paxil. You can also go to RxAssist for more info.