I recently tried to take Celexa for my anxiety, and it was absolutely horrible. I’ve only taken it for five days now, tapering off for the last two, and I would like to switch to Paxil. I’ve had Paxil before, and had virtually no side effects with it. After my experience with Celexa, though, I’m terrified to take Paxil and have it do the same to me. Has anybody done this before? Should I wait for all the Celexa to get out of my body before starting the Paxil (I’ve got Xanax as well for immediate relief of anxiety). I’m reading about withdrawal from stopping SSRI’s, but I’ve only taken it for such a short time - how bad would the withdrawal be from only four days of taking Celexa? All the information I can find is about stopping SSRI’s after long-term use.
I have also been taking Wellbutrin for about 9 months too, with no side effects.
I’ve never taken either, but I did just run across this article. It’s far from complete (as it doesn’t say if these problems are still around) but thought I’d share:
Paxil (= Seroxat) is currently under massive scrutiny in the UK for the same reasons:
Changing SSRI’s is common for long term sufferers from depression, I have changed medication about 5 times now over 12 odd years. If you reduce the dose over time and don’t get bad side effects it has always been reasonable to start the new medication straight after the old med. In fact my current psych has me start the new one whilst on a very reduced dosage of the old med in order to avoid side effects of coming off the old med.
A quick question, what was the problem with Cellexia that has you stopping it in only 5 days of use? Unless it antagonises your condition or has other serious side effects that seems an unreasonably short time to test an SSRI. Did your doctor tell you to quit it so quickly, I would be worried if your doc told you to do so over any minor side effect, as such usually clear up after a few weeks of use, and the SSRI doesn’t really kick into effect until at least three weeks of continuous usage.
As for which SSRI to take, it seems that what works for some doesn’t work for others, and that side effects, problems coming off the SSRI and general effectiveness differs from person to person. So dispite the fact that Paxil was useless for me, and that I had a terrible time coming off of Paxil, that does absolutely not mean that you should not try it. Or that it may have similar effets on you.
The side effects I had with Celexa were all the side effects that you can have with a drug. I’m not talking a little nausea or shakiness here - I’m talking full-out toxic reaction. I’m having a hard time figuring out why it is so hard to get people to understand how bad this drug is making me feel. I can stand a little side effect - this isn’t a little.
There is such a range of possible side effects, that it is necessary to know what one is suffering from for the given drug before suggesting a change. The lesser side effects of SSRI’s often dissapate after a week or so, but serious side effects like you had, need rapid changing of the drug, even going cold turkey.
Did your doctor prescribe a large initial dosage for you, if so that was a mistake, since by ramping up, you would have got the bad side effects on a very low dose, and been able to stop immediately without withdrawl.
I strongly susspect (though have no cites or experience to back this up) that as you had been on the drug for a short while, too short for its positive effects to take place that withdrawl symptoms might be very unlikely.
Did the side effects include a worsening of your condition? I have heard of this being prevalent as a risk, and believe I may have got worse under high doses of one SSRI? This is something to be very aware of (and your Doctor/Phys should be checking for) and a reason to immediately stop a new SSRI.
Experience, and reading of other’s experience has shown that different SSRI’s have different effects on different people, so don’t give up on the idea of using SSRIs quite yet, but also look into psychiatric help of other kinds if you think that may help you.
I had a similar experience with Efexor, except it actually built up gradually over the course of two months. And then my doctor (not a specialist) tried to be pissed off that I’d quit them without his permission.
GorillaMan and Bippy, you have no idea how reassuring it is to hear from someone who has had to do the same thing (and fought with your doctor, too, apparently). Most of the people I’ve talked to about this seemed to think that the side effects were no big deal; they were a big deal to me, let me tell you. I feel like I lost my mind for the last five days, and I’m finally getting it back. I had no idea this experience could be so terrifying. It shocks me how easily I can go from “relatively normal” to “can barely function”.
My doctor prescribed what is probably a normal dosage to start with (but still higher than the second doctor recommended), but I am extremely reactive to medicine, and I should have started much lower than your average person. I believe I am going to start with Paxil tomorrow, and I will start with a nice, low dosage, and see how it goes. I am very tempted to just stop trying the SSRIs for awhile to get back on an even keel again, and try again in a month or so, when I am not so freaked out. I have Wellbutrin twice a day, and Xanax as needed, so it’s not like I’m withdrawing all my anti-depressants.