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Jimbo
05-02-07, 15:47
I saw the Panorama program on TV last week about Seroxat and having been on this medication for a couple of months now, it kinda worried me a bit.

I'm on 30mg currently, I haven't had too many side effects off it, except for headaches, insomnia and shakyness and stragely, cold / numb feet. All of these could be due to my condition I guess, but it doesn't really seem to be doing much to help me mentally. I think it might be helping a bit, but nothing dramatic. I'm tempted to ask my doctor if I can try increasing to 40mg next time i see her.

Wondered what other people's experiences of Paroxetine are?

Jim

honeybee3939
05-02-07, 15:57
Hi Jim

If you put the word "Paroxetine" in the search section at the top of the screen, im sure you will find lots of useful information about the drug.

Love

Andrea
xxxx

"If you have a worry turn it into a problem, you cant solve worrys but you can solve problems"

mooks
05-02-07, 21:52
hi jimbo
ive been on and off this for about 10 years...it has had a lot of bad press and my gp wanted me to switch...hoever i went and saw 2 pyschaitrists and they both said the same...prozac/seroxat are the oldest ssri's ... they make you feel worse before you feel better and high publicity is mainly down to the USA which has had the most users..and the withdrawel is tough....BUT ..now a few other SSRi's are now reporting same problems etc...
Basically they both told me that Seroxat is still one of the best meds on the market for panic & anxiety and to remain taking it until I felt well....
I hope this helps...I avoid all seroxat publicty...you'll only ever hear about the basd things in all meds...as its good television....Prozac & seroxat still remain the most common ssri hence the fact the minority that experiences problems will be larger than other users...

Jimbo
05-02-07, 22:43
Thanks mooks, makes me feel a little better about it. I tried Prozac and had a terrible time with that personally. I guess it is different for every person.

When I first started taking it, after changing from Citalopram, it seemed to have no effect whatsoever at 20mg. I felt that I may as well have been taking nothing at all, no difference, no side effects, nothing. It's only now I have increased to 30mg it seems to at least be doing something. But yes, I did definately feel worse during the first 2-3 weeks at 30mg.

I think what is bothering me is that now it seems to be having a positive effect, it's not massive. So I think maybe a higher dose might work better, but everyone always talks about the withdrawal being nasty. So it kinda puts me off being on a higher dose considering I will probably have to come off it one day possibly.

I'll talk to my GP about it on wednesday so I'll update what happens.

Jim

squirrel
06-02-07, 01:57
I have taken this drug for 8 years and stopped taking it 21 months ago. It worked for me for a while but then stopped I was not prepared to increase the dose as I had educated myself on ssri's so stopped with my docs help.I am still trying to cope with the withdrawl problems.Everyone is different but all I would say is do some research then make your own mind up based on the facts.

mooks
06-02-07, 10:51
squirrel are you now med free?? I have withdrawn a few times hard but only took a few months...I think main prob is that they all have this issue but mainly we get confused between withdrawel and anxiety..i know mine was the fact anxiety came back...it always does

squirrel
06-02-07, 18:23
yes mooks I am still drug free, bad anxiety is a withdrawl symptom.many people mistake it for their old symptoms. However all these medications do is mask symptoms you have to deal with the original cause.

Jimbo
07-02-07, 13:49
I saw my GP and she said that she thought it was best to wait another couple of weeks before increasing the doseage again as it can take up to 6 weeks before any increase takes full effect.

I'm not so worried about taking them cause I think they are helping me to think more clearly at least. They are definately helping with the depression, it's just the anxiety and panic attacks I have to get control of now. I'm hoping when I get an appointment for therapy that will help a lot too.

Hopefully the withdrawal when I do eventually have to stop won't be so bad, I didn't have any problems when I changed from taking Citalopram. My GP says some people get withdrawal effects and some don't at all.

Jim

Jimbo
20-02-07, 17:56
Well, I saw my psych today and because it's not helping with the anxiety and panic, I'm going to be coming off it and going onto Venlafaxine.:wacko:

Hopefully because I've only been taking it for a few months any withdrawal effects won't be as bad as some people say.

...still waiting for my therapy apt... :shrug:

Ross
20-02-07, 18:14
Hi Jimbo. I was on Paroxatine for about 10-12 weeks, and due to several things I stopped taking them.

Against the advice of my Doc, I just stopped immediately, and had no adverse affects. To be honest, the reason I stopped was because they were making me much much worse. (I was arrested twice whilst on them for my own protection).

I obviouslt wouldn't advise you to just immediately stop, but obviously follow the Docs advice on withdrawing from them.

Just wanted you to know that it was fine for me.

Hope the same applies to you.

Best Wishes,

Ross

Jimbo
20-02-07, 18:36
I was kinda thinking about just stopping them without reducing them down too. I think I'd kinda prefer to get it over and done with rather than spreading it out over ages.

I've forgotten to take them before for a day and nothing much happened then. I'll probably just do what my doc says tho, otherwise I'll be worrying about it anyway, lol.

Sounds like you had a bad time with them, I don't really think they were doing a huge amount to me tho. My depression and some of my negative thinking and behaviour seems to have improved, but my anxiety and panic just seems to keep plumbing the depths when I don't think it can get any worse. One of my friends who I told I was taking ad's asked me "how are they making you feel?" and I couldn't really explain it, it wasn't making me feel dramatically different, certainly not "happy".

Ross
20-02-07, 18:42
I'm pleased to hear they aren't making you worse.

I quit them immediately because I was having adverse effects, and just wanted that chemical out of my body.

I guess its entirely your decision on how you come off of them, but I didn't have any problems.

Good luck fella.

Longie
20-02-07, 22:19
wow, been a long time since i posted here do check in from time to time tho,

feel i have to reply to this post, as paroxetene has saved me again!

two yrs ago now i had a complete breakdown, and ended up with severe depression, after trying citalopram i went back onto paroxetene, and have gone onto make a complete recovery, been back at work 18 mths am an early yrs teacher, and my life is fantastic, i can honestly say i love life again and am living it to the full.
All i hear and read is negative about this drug, yes withdrawal is AWFUL but ive done it thrice and will do it again
Citalopram now seems to be the drug of cvhoice at the moment but that again can have withdrawal effects, as a friend has found out, but because it is newer there is no data on it yet.
what i would say to anyone concerning ssri do your research but be open minded, i know because ot the negative publicity paroxetene has had i didnt wnt to go on it again, but the real truth of the matter is if i had not of done, my 3 beautiful children would of grown up motherless!

Jimbo
21-02-07, 18:39
I saw my GP today and the recomendation was to reduce by 10mg per week I'm on 30 now) and gave me some Valium in case things get too bad. I'm gonna see how I feel on 20 for the first few days and then decide what to do. Wish me luck... :unsure:

Longie
21-02-07, 22:37
Jimbo

the shortest time i was on seroxat was 12 wks and looking back i did have withdrawal symptons then, but because i was pregnant i put it down to that.
the best way to withdraw is to do it really slowly, it took me 9 mts last time coming down from 20mg, personally i think you coming down 10mg straight away is too much, i wld do less either by cutting a tablet in half or by using the seroxat liquid.
in which you can do it in mls using an oral syringe. gps dont like prescribing the liquid as its really expensive, so dont tell you its availiable.
good luck

Jimbo
22-02-07, 22:06
Well my first day on 20mg is nearly over. I think this is gonna be tougher than I first thought. :(

My anxiety levels have definately increased and today feels like the longest day ever, like it should be really late by now. I guess I haven't felt too much worse than normal, will see what happens tomorrow. :unsure:

Jimbo
23-02-07, 23:19
Urgh, today has been pretty awful. Been feeling agitated, shaky, like there is nothing I can do to relax or take my mind off everything and very tearful. I had to phone up the benefits people as they sent me a letter asking me to go for an interview about my "work prospects", after various amounts of unanswered ringing lines and being transfered to different people as the person who sent the letter forgot to put their name or any reference on it:doh:, I had to tell them I didn't think I could go and instead they are going to do it over the phone.... yet another thing to look forward too.:(

I've spent most of the day in bed not wanting to get up, feeling like my negative depressive thoughts are starting to get out of control again. Went down to get a drink earlier and my housemates have some friends round playing trivial pursuit on the tv. I appeared in my dressing gown and everyone kinda looked at me like "what are you doing being ready for bed at 9 on a friday night?" I'm absolutely petrified to go down there again. I feel so embarrassed and angry with myself for not being able to cope.

bearcrazy
24-02-07, 01:36
I have been on paroxetine for a few years now with no real problems, except that after a coupla months I seemed to need more and am currently on 60 mg. reducing them is going to be hard I think!

Jimbo
24-02-07, 07:55
I eventually slept pretty well last night, apart from waking up really early this morning. I don't feel quite so bad about yesterday now. I normally feel worse in the evenings, so I guess it's all to be expected.

I just want this to be over so I can get on with taking the new meds, I've read mainly positive comments about Venlafaxine so I'm hoping this will finally be the one that helps me. My psyche sounded like this was the last try with ad's and was talking about a low dose of anti-psychotics if they don't help. :S

I've got my next doctors apt in a week and a half. I was told I will have to be off Paroxetine for 4-5 days before starting Venlafaxine. So my plan is to reduce down to 10mg in the next few days then stop altogether 5 days before my appointment so I can start straight away.

Jimbo
25-02-07, 13:55
I guess this is turning into another one of those Paroxetine withdrawal threads there's already so many of. :p Hopefully it will help other people who are going through the same thing. It is at least helping me get out how I'm feeling instead of constantly questioning myself and worrying about it.

So far I'm doing ok, I've had my bad moments and I think the depression is creeping back a bit slowly. I haven't had too many physical symptoms so far, except for a few weird muscle spasms, I've woken up a few times in the night with a kind of odd 'jump'. I guess that's the electric shock type things that other people describe. It's nothing anywhere near as bad as I was expecting tho.

I'm going to reduce to 10mg tomorrow and see how I go with that.

jo61
25-02-07, 15:14
Good luck Jimbo. I came off it years ago with no problem. I know when I try to wean off meds, I'm thinking about it all the time and listening to my body for every single suggestion that it's hard. I'm coming off Effexor at the moment and last week while on holiday in Ireland, forgot to take it for a couple of days without any problem so maybe I'm just being over-sensitive. (Oh, and Ireland winning the rugby lifted my mood too!!!!!!!!!)

mooks
28-02-07, 13:30
HI jIM

Hope its going well...Ive been on off seroxat for years...been ok...withdraw is bad..and yes your in danger of a 'Seroxat made my life hell' thread ha ha...goes with the territory stories of seroxat...I just go with whats best for me...its an old drug hence the publicity...but if you look at others threads the 'newer' SSRi's are now coming in with withdrawel problems...

Hopefully Panorama will shift its focus and stop scaring us all half to death.xxx

Jimbo
28-02-07, 13:58
Well, its not going well. Had a complete mare over the last 2 days when I stopped taking it totally. I think I reduced down way to quickly. (See my other posts in the depression forum).

All the classic stuff like crying, weird electric shock type spasms in my nerves, palps, etc, etc.

Appart from the depression which was there before, it's not unbearable and I kinda feel reducing over a longer period of time would have just drawn it out even longer.

I start my new meds tomorrow, so hopefully I should start feeling better soon.

jo61
28-02-07, 14:57
Well done, it all sounds really positive.

Jimbo
04-03-07, 10:29
I'm pretty much over it now, was the most unpleasant time in my life and had a pretty disasterous time cause I came off it so quickly.

I would seriously recomend not doing what I did and stopping within a week. As much as you think the meds aren't helping and however much you think you'll be fine. Don't just stop taking them suddenly, I imagine if I'd done it over a long period of time allthough it would have drragged it out longer I wouldn't have had such a bad time.

I've started on the lowest dose of my new tablets now (Venlafaxine / Effexor) which seem to have stopped a lot of the withdrawal I was having, it's still early days and nothing dramatic is happening, but I reckon they are going to help. I've finaly managed to accept the idea that I do need to be on meds to help me after this experience.

GL to all those ppl coming off Paroxetine, it was very unpleasant for me, but might not be for everyone... My advice, take your time and come off them very slowly. :shades:

Jim

Imzadi_chester
30-08-07, 13:31
Hi

I'm new to this, so may have missed somewhere where the answer's already posted.

I'm a primary teacher and basically about a year ago my life went to hell. I found out I'm exceedingly unlikely to be able to have children in February. My partner at the time was fine about it, very much "it's you I want, I'll stick by you, we'll do whatever it takes" - that was very much a way into the future option anyway. Six months later when everything was just fine with us he suddenly ended it, completely out of the blue. Eight and a half years thrown away with REALLY no warning! He wanted to find who he was without being in a relationship. Two weeks later he tells me he's starting a relationship with someone else. Who happens to be the exact opposite of me and has proof that she can have kids.

There's a whole heap of mess in with that, but basically it wound up with me very close to suicide, and cutting myself.

On top of that, stress from work was unbearable and I ended up with months off work. Went back, lasted about three weeks and then got told by the head that I wasn't coping and she was going to put me on disciplinary action. (So much for being part of the Well-being programme!) Funnily enough, this led to more time off work and a suicide attempt which fortunately a friend interrupted.

Anyway, that's the background. Been to counselling, which has helped with some aspects of my depression but not others, and have been on paroxetene for about 7 or 8 months. Just changed dr surgery and have had meds changed to citalopram. Since then have reverted to not sleeping and lying awake with thoughts I can't shift running through my head, uncontrollable shaking and crying at these times, dreams (when I do eventually doze off) filled with things that contributed to stress and depression in the first place, and seem to be plagued with headaches bordering on migraines.

Don't really understand why meds were changed other than a couple of different doctors I've seen have commented that they don't like paroxetene. Does anyone have any idea why they might not like it? Is citalopram any better, is it effective? Read the side effects leaflet, but that's just scary and as they always give worst case scenarios I tend to ignore those anyway! And do you reckon these problems I've been having are caused by changing meds and will go away with time, or are a sign that Citalopram isn't working for me?

Probably sounding a complete idiot here, but seems like this is my best chance of finding out from people who actually know. Internet research is all very well, but don't want to know the chemical composition of these damn tablets, which seems to be all I can track down!

Thanks for reading. Please help!

Jimbo
01-09-07, 12:29
Hi, :hugs:

Welcome to the site. I would have replied earlier but things have been a bit busy for me recently.

Sorry you're having a difficult time in your life at the moment. The important thing tto remember, that can be difficult to see when you're down is that life will get better for you.

There's a lot of posts about Citalopram and Paroxetine if you have a search through the forum.

It's a difficult question to answer as to how they will affect you as it varies dramatically between different people. Doctors do tend to have experiences of finding that particular AD's work better than others, but it is really trial and error to find one tthat works for you and the side effects are tolerable. In the polls on this site Citalopram comes out as one of the most effective drugs, which matches up with some of the research studies.

Perhaps if you found you were doing better on the Paroxetine you could ask to change back to it?

From my experience, changing meds is always a difficult time as your body and mind have to deal with both withdrawing from one and getting used to the new one. So I expect you will feel some unpleasant side effects until things settle down.

Try to keep up with the therapy / counselling as the events in your life sound like they need some resolution in your thoughts before you will start to get better. Hopefully the meds will help you to get through this difficult time.

Good luck,

Jim :hugs:

msrose
13-03-08, 06:56
I love paroxetene. It has saved me from worst feelings of anxiety. I only take 10mg and have been taking it for about 4 years now. I take it when i feel the most stressed, i don't have depression just very stressfull days and that's when it helps me to take it. I take it maybe 1 to 3 times a week.

I was worried when i first started taking it, i didn't want to rely on this little pill, but just having it in my purse is my safety net and somehow manages to leave the anxiety behind :)

I deeply suggest you stop thinking about it so much, that makes it worst...