Worried about brother

[joe2090]

Hi I'm new here. My brother takes 20mg Paroxetine per day. Our mother passed away two weeks ago, and today was her funeral. Last night my brother took 20mg paroxetine at 10pm, then 40mg paroxetine this morning at 10am. This takes him up to the max dose of 60mg.

I'm worried about him taking such a jump in the dosage from 20mg to 60mg. Tomorrow he says he's going back to his normal dose of 20mg per day. I'm worried he's going to have a great big bump by lowering his dosage, so abruptly he may become very depressed even suicidal.

I’m probably making molehills into mountains again.

[NE21 worrier]

Hey Joe,

I don't know about that medication as I take Sertraline but I can understand perhaps why he has wanted to take a higher dosage. I think it's a natural response to an unwelcome situation.

If it is possible, it would probably be pertinent if you stick around your brother to make sure he does not do anything dramatic. Btw, are you aware of your brother's dosage because he keeps you up to date, or just because you have found out yourself? Also, is he receiving any therapy?

[joe2090]

Hey Joe,

I don't know about that medication as I take Sertraline but I can understand perhaps why he has wanted to take a higher dosage. I think it's a natural response to an unwelcome situation.

If it is possible, it would probably be pertinent if you stick around your brother to make sure he does not do anything dramatic. Btw, are you aware of your brother's dosage because he keeps you up to date, or just because you have found out yourself? Also, is he receiving any therapy?

I found out what my brother did, at the reception after the funeral. It came has a shock and got me worrying. He's got a MH support worker which was at our mom's funeral.

I know what he's going through, has I feel absolutely terrible, even though I take 150mg Venlafaxine for my depression and anxiety. Also, I have therapy once a week.

It's a terrible feeling of great loss. I know it'll lessen with time, but so painful at the mo.

Hopefully my brother won't do anything dramatic, there's enough pain and hurt in our family already. My other brother and I are very supportive of him.

[Gotagetthroughthis]

Hello Joe,

Very sorry to hear about your loss.

About the meds your bother is taking; He shouldnt be suddenly jumping up and taking 60mg, its not like a drug you take and then it works the same day like a valium or diazapam. It is an anti depressant SSRI that takes weeks to fully get into your system so taking more of it suddenly is just going to probably cause him more side effects and make him feel worse while he gets used to the drug. He needs to stick at the 20mg dosage and see how he goes on that and then he can maybe increase it very slowly over a period of months if he needs to. He should just be taking the 20mg dosage once per day at a similar time. If he wants to increase his dose or feel he needs to please consult your doctor.

I thought you may know this as you take similar medication yourself?

I hope everything works out for you and your brother.

[SeroxVet]

Hi Joe. I wouldn't worry. It was a one off and as mentioned above, these drugs do not have any short term effect. It may be an idea for the doc to give him something that does have an immediate calming effect, like diazapam, to help him through this difficult time.