I was wondering if any dopers have tried Paxil. I’ve been on it for almost a month to help panic attack disorder. It has been helpful, but not without many side-effects. I’m wondering if anyone cares to share their experience with this drug.
I have said a few times about my experience with Paxil. THough it worked a little, it did not help me too much, so I had to change to another medication.
Coming off Paxil for me was a bitch, I had to reduce the dose by no more than 25% each week to avoid becoming extremely jittery, and even then I had brain zaps (feels like little lightning strikes going through you brain, not painfull but annoying) every 5 mins or so.
Now different meds cause different people different effects, so what I got is no indication that you should expect difficulty coming off Paxil.
One thing, are the side effects weakening? I’ve always found side effects are strong in the first week or so, but then reduce quite quickly over time.
As Bippy mentioned, be careful if/when you come off of it. The withdrawl symptoms are awful if you cut if off suddenly.
I had limited success with SSRIs such as Paxil for treating anxiety. After being on them for about 6 weeks, they did seem to “take the edge off,” but they hardly seemed like a cure, even if you do all the good-for-you things you’re supposed to - like exercise, relaxation exercises ,etc. That being said, give it more time than a month, and be prepared to have your doctor suggest an increase in dosage if that doesn’t work. Other than the withdrawl symptoms, it probably won’t do you any harm to take it, but IANAD.
You might also want to ask your doctor about BuSpar, which works for some people… I found it mainly just made me feel… “oogy,” I don’t know how else to describe it. Or one of the atypical antipsychotics such as Zyprexa or Seroquel, which can sometimes help in small doses.
But I haven’t had much luck in really beating the chronic anxiety problem 100%, the only things that REALLY worked work benzodiazapenes, like Xanax or Ativan. But doctors just won’t hand out prescriptions for those very easily.
Good luck.
- sorry I was called away before really completing my post. I should have said that I have been taking various (paxil, prozac, seroxat, and now effexor) for about 5 years with varying levels of success. Most doctors are now aware of being careful when coming off of such drugs and so decrease the dose slowly over time. They are also now mostly aware that different drugs will work for different people in different ways. So if the side effects are more unpleasent than you would be happy to live with. Go back to your doctor and ask to try a different Med. Each Med you try will need at least a month for its positive effects to show, if the side effects aren’t to bad and it shows some positive effect you will likely be given an increase in dose until your doctor and you believe you have got to the desired effect, or else believe you need try a different Med.
I don’t believe you can take one persons advice on what worked for them as any sort of indication of what might work for you, just know that your Doctor has a lot of possible Medications for you to try, so if one doesn’t work or gives you bad side effects you can always try another.
Been taking Paxil for about a year and a half now and it has worked wonders for me. Ditto what Bippy says about variations from person to person and consulting the MD. Many people go through several meds, varying doses and combinations before finding what works for them. I was lucky at the first try.
Mala although I’ve never tried Paxil, my SO has. So I’ll put her on to tell you about her experiences… hope it helps…
It’s great, it saved my life a couple of years ago. It took about 5 wks to kick in properly and then I was pretty much back to the old me.
No more Panic attacks, reduced anxiety, I could work again and socialise.
On the down side I gained 12kgs! and I stopped the med after two yrs thinking I was cured, realised I wasn’t and resumed it.
I never got the same great results with it 2nd time round
So, good luck with it and be patient…remember when the meds are working well you should just feel ‘normal’ and your panic attacks should go.
If Paxil doesn’t work after a few more weeks, tell your doc and he may switch you too something else.
I’ve been on it for about a year and a half for depression. Prior to that I’d been on Zoloft for two years but they were worried that I might “flip” to mania. (My mother was bipolar, making this a special concern.)
Works great for me – but I realize that depression and panic attacks aren’t really the same thing.
As the others have said, it takes 6-8 weeks to adjust to the dosage – what are the side effects you’re experiencing? If they’re minor, you may fell okay with living with them – if they’re a problem, you and your doctor may want to try a different SSRI or another type of drug.
Bippy, how is the Effexor working for you?
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I was on paxil twice. The first time, it was good. I mean, it didn’t magically make me feel like a million bucks, but it “took the edge off” and made me feel balanced emotionally. I didn’t really have any side effects besides being consistently tired for about a month and some constipation. (TMI alert:) Orgasming took forever.
Second time around, it worked but not as well as the first time. It took the edge off. (TMI I absolutely could not orgasm at all and that was highly frustrating. The effects seem to wear off, however, and after probably four months on paxil, it just wasn’t helping at all anymore… which was too bad.
plain_jane: My doctor started me on Effexor 4 days ago, but I stopped it when I read the adverse sexual and other side effects it has. He only had me on 37.5 mg a day, but I was already noticing stuff that was unpleasant, so it’s back to St. John’s Wort for me.
There’s a support site for those of us who need a little mood boost and it is here: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/
It’s called “Psycho-Babble”. Maybe it will help answer some questions. If nothing else, it’s a place to share experiences.
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Effexor seems to be working reasonably, though at 300mg I’m still only at 70% to 90% right. Quasimodem the side effects for St John’s Wort are precisely the same (though the dosage you’ll get from the St John’s Wort will be very low, and there’s a lot of other drugs going to be in the St Johns Wort). The side effects of any anti-depressant that effects serotonin levels can include sexual effects, sleep pattern changes, food consumption changes, plus all the placebo side effects. If St John Wort keeps you at 100% then stick with it, otherwise check out other more precisely understood anti-depressants. But if you really only need a little mood boost, then anti depressants may not be the best idea. I’d suggest Ginseng tea, and treating yourself to a professional theriputic massage every couple of weeks.
My personal finding with Effexor is very little side effects now, (been on it about a year) and only some sleepyness when I started (which lasted maybe three weeks).
You might have better luck with Celexa, which is supposed to have a more attractive side-effect profile in terms of sexual side effects.
I’ve never taken it myself, but one of my good friends have, and she said there was a definite improvement over zoloft. YMMV.
Bippy: I’ve been on the Wort for two years now and have noticed no adverse side effects. (That doesn’t mean I didn’t have them, it just means that they might have happened without me noticing them. I was pretty down at the time).
The reason I went to the doc for something else is because I thought I might need a little chemical help with a relationship problem I’m dealing with, but I’d rather go through the pain of possibly ending the relationship than to go through the Effexor side effects. Great that it works for you, though, and thanks for the answer!
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This thread might be helpful to you.
Well for relationship problems, sexual side effects could be a problem. But then again the antidepressants I have had have never reduced my libido, there sexual effect has been just to increase the ‘work’ necessary to reach orgasm, no problem to stay erect, and not a cause for concern. Another side effect (possibly direct effect) with Paxil especially but also noticeable with other meds is a reduction of inhibitions which makes socializing that much easier.
Cheers, Bippy
P.S. I’m not sure if writing excessively long run-on sentences is a side effect of antidepressants