I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and said I was feeling very run down - had been feeling that way for quite a while (close to a year). I’m exhausted all of the time. I wake up tired, I’m tired at work, and when I get home, I wanna go to bed.
So he says I’m depressed and prescribes Paxil.
Ok, I think. He’s the doctor. Maybe this will help. Maybe I’m in denial, although I don’t feel depressed. I’m doing pretty well, actually. Much better than a year or so ago.
So I pick it up, and I see the side effects. Drowsiness. Nervousness. Sexual problems.
Good grief! I went to him because I was tired! And so he prescribes something that makes me tired!
Now, it’s only been a couple of weeks, and I know that one must allow one’s body to adapt to the new medicine. So I realize the tiredness might fade. But on the other hand, it’s one of the listed side effects.
If anything, I’m more tired than ever.
The worst part is that I’ll be physically tired but mentally awake, which means it takes a while for me to fall asleep at night.
Anyone else out there have experience with this medication? Not looking for medical advice, just related experiences.
Doesn’t sound right to me. I’ve not used Paxil, but someone close to me has. In his case, it made a world of difference, but his original problem wasn’t just being tired.
My initial reaction is that you might want to see another doctor. Sometimes fatigue is just fatigue, not depression - in my non-professional non-medical opinion.
Aw, that ain’t nothin’, Juanita. I got me those Crest Whitestrips, too.
My plan is this: I’m giving the doctor the benefit of the doubt for the time being. If things don’t get better in the next two weeks (which would be a full month after I started taking the stuff), then I’ll see him again. It’s not right to give up on it so soon, of course, but I don’t want to keep taking it if it’s not doing anything positive for me.
I took paxil for a little while and my doctor told me that it would take about a month before I noticed any real change. IANADoctor but from what I understand about the drug and from what my sister has told me (she has her Doctorate in Pharmacy), two weeks may be too soon to expect to see the drug’s full effect. If you can see through another 2 weeks, I’d do that.
Someone suggested a new doctor. I don’t think that is necessarily the right choice. Most doctors would probably reach for Paxil. If the next two weeks go by and you are still unhappy with the drug, let your doctor know. He is probably just as interested in finding a drug that works for you as any new doctor would be.
Last, my experience on Paxil was very short lived. I took it for about 2 months. I quit taking the drug and for about 5 days afterwards, in the mid afternoon, I would feel completely sick to my stomach, like I was going to throw up any moment. It would last a few hours and go away.
If Paxil turns out to not be the drug for you, I hope you find one that helps you feel tip top once more.
I found that sleep problems with Paxil (tired all the time, but buzzy head at night) lasted about a week. Side effects vary between different people, obviously. Personally, even though the feeling sick and feeling tired wasn’t what I’d call feeling well, it was like a bloody holiday compared to screaming myself hoarse for hours and planning suicide.
I’ve just come off Paxil, and have had no problems, because I’ve tapered my dose down gradually - first to half a tablet every day for a few months, then to half a tablet every other day for about a month or so. I might go back to half a tab a day when the winter starts really drawing in - my doctor and I agree that the light summer days have a positive effect on me.
I wasn’t on Paxil, but I was on Zloft for a while and when I told my doctor I wasn’t sleeping because of it, she added Trazadone to the mix. You may want to call and let your doc knw what you’re experiencing. There may be a solution.
I would do that, but it says right on the bottle that it causes drowsiness, and I’m sure he’d just say to give it at least a couple more weeks. I’m not worried about it, exactly.
I was on Paxil for depression and found that it worked for me for a few months. After that it not only stopped working but seemed to increase my feelings of depression–probably because it started making me tired and screwed with my sex life (which was depressing in and of itself!)
I really think that doctors are overprescribing anti-depressants–my cousin’t gynecologist put her on Prozac when she mentioned similar concerns mentioned in the OP. She never even said she was feeling depressed! She’s a nurse and knows what the side effects for Prozac are so she never even filled the scrip.
It does take at least three weeks to start feeling the effects of any anti-depressants (IANAD, but I’ve done the full course of happy cocktails that the psychiatrists like to prescribe.) That also means you have to talk to your doctor about tapering it off if you decide not to continue with it or you’ll go through some nasty stuff if you stop abruptly. Goodluck, dantheman, hope this helped!
Thanks, lauramarlane… yeah, when you’re talking about it screwing with your sex life (ha ha, such a pun), and you’re the only one in your sex life… well damn, what a bummer! Now my hand falls asleep.
The thing about Paxil (like other psych drugs) is that its effects vary from user to user. Paxil works great for me, but when I took Luvox (briefly) it made me have dizziness/fainting spells.
And just to second what’s been already said: Do NOT go off this stuff suddenly; you’ll feel like crap.
Paxil seemed to have a real calming effect on me for the first two weeks or so, but that’s wearing off after only 4 or 5 weeks of use.
You’re not suppossed to drink because it negates the drug’s effect and maybe that’s my problem as I still enjoy a couple of glasses of wine nightly.
I have noticed being pretty darn tired, especially on weekends. I get up at 8:00 on a Saturday and am ready for a nap at 10:30. That’s just not like me. Also, I don’t give a big poop about a lot of stuff that used to matter more. I think I’ll get off, under supervision, as soon as possible.
I’ve been on meds for about seven years, with a brief period off them.
I was on Paxil for a little under a year. It worked well, but man, those sexual side-effects…! To counteract them, the doc added Wellbutrin to the mix (I also take clonazepam for anxiety/panic disorder). I finally tapered off Paxil, which was a bitch, and my dose of Wellbutrin was increased.
I stupidly went off Wellbutrin and on Celexa. Even though Celexa has been touted as the most specific of the SSRIs, it’s the only one in that class that never caused any sexual side-effects. YMMV. However, I think it’s “pooped out,” and I want to investigate something like Effexor. My doctor has left the city, so I have the name of another gay doctor, and I have to make an appointment soon. I only have three months’ worth of refills left.
If the Paxil makes you tired, why not take it an hour or two before bed? Call the doctor and/or pharmacist first, though.
Research depression and anxiety on the internet or at the library. Then, if you honestly feel that you are not and were not depressed, you should have a frank conversation with your doctor. Although tiredness/listlessness can be a sign of depression, it can be the sign of countless other things as well (including poor eating or excercise habits, hypoglycemia and anemia.) If you have a strong feeling that your doc has made a mistake, don’t ignore it – speak with her/him and get the Straight Dope!
Research depression and anxiety on the internet or at the library. Then, if you honestly feel that you are not and were not depressed, you should have a frank conversation with your doctor. Although tiredness/listlessness can be a sign of depression, it can be the sign of countless other things as well (including poor eating or excercise habits, hypoglycemia and anemia.) If you have a strong feeling that your doc has made a mistake, don’t ignore it – speak with her/him and get the Straight Dope!
I take it shortly before bedtime as it is, because otherwise I don’t think I could function. I think I have a susceptibility to drowse-inducing medication. Still, I could do it a couple of hours earlier.
Thanks, booklover, lieu, and scott. This is the kind of feedback I was looking for.
seriously dan, don’t take lightly the warnings about getting off the med without supervision. I’ve read some scary stuff about unsupervised withdrawls. Take care.
Paxil has saved my life. I’ve had depression and anxiety disorder as long as I could remember, literally. It wasn’t until I was in my mid-30s and losing job after job because I just couldn’t cope anymore that I finally saw a doctor about it and he put me on Paxil. I can’t say my life’s been a piece of cake since, but I’d never give up my Paxil. I haven’t had any sexual side effects, but then I’ve always had a really high libido.
Some people feel tired and sleep a lot when they’re depressed–my sister does–but depression actually keeps me from being able to sleep, so I’m also on Ambien. I don’t like Trazadone: it made me groggier than hell. Ambien’s great. I also take Valium for anxiety.
BTW, one doctor messed around, putting me on Wellbutrin, then Zoloft. Wellbutrin made me curl up in dark corners and cry; Zoloft made me feel as if I were literally flying apart.
While I certainly can’t diagnose if you’re depressed or not, I will warn you that some people start to feeling better on SSRIs like Paxil, quit taking them and wind up at the local PHF (psychiatric health facility). Don’t ever stop your meds without consulting with your doctor!
Anti-depressants are very much a YMMV kind of thing. Paxil has worked absolute WONDERS for a friend of mine with OCD, while another friend had a horrible, almost psychotic reaction to it. You might consider doing an informal survey of those close to you – ask them if they’ve noticed a change in you since you started on the meds. I picked up on my friend’s reaction to Paxil long before she did - she’s now on Zoloft and coping beautifully.
