Paxil now at 50mg

[n3r0x1k]

Hey everyone,

I'm new here but I'm not new to panic attacks (including extreme panic attacks and acute anxiety), but anyways, I've been taking Paxil for the last 8 years (I'm 25) and last week I had this major panic attack, worst one of my life, went to the Emergency and the psychiatrist prescribed me to augment my Paxil from 30mg to 50mg. I've been doing 7 days at 40 not to jump too fast (as specified by the psychiatrist), and tonight was my first 50mg dose of Paxil. I'm just scared like shit of what it might do to me, cuz I heard that 50 is kinda high so I just wanted to know if anyone else takes or has taken 50mg's of Paxil and is it bad? What's worse is I've taken it 20 minutes ago so it might not be digested yet but in half an hour for sure it'll be and I'm scared, although I didn't observe any bad effects from jumping from 30 to 40. Anyways, can somebody re-assure me, please!

[Jimbo]

Hi, welcome to the site.

I was on 60mgs of Paxil (Paroxetine / Seroxat over here) at one point, 50 is not the maximum dose but is fairly high. I'm sure you will be fine.

You might get a few of the normal side effects listed on the leaflet in the packet from increasing the dose; increased anxiety, dizzyness and nausea, etc. The side effects can affect each person in a different way but usually pass within a couple of weeks. You may well find that you don't get any side effects at all since you have been on it for quite a while as your body will be fairly used to it by now.

Have a search of the forum using the search option I'm sure you will find lots more information.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

Jim

[n3r0x1k]

Thanks alot for the quick response! It's 1:03am here so I've digested it for sure now, and I'm not dead! Hehe. Anyway, about the side-effects you talked about, I can't handle to get more anxiety than I have now, that's why they augmented it to 50 in the first place, but is that side-effect ( of having more anxiety ) temporary ? :S

Thanks again!

[Jimbo]

Yes, any side effects usually go away within a week or 2.

I only had a few side effects from it, mainly while starting and each time the dose was increased. Headaches, insomnia, palpatations, mood swings but nothing too bad really. You've done the sensible thing by increasing the dose slowly as that should avoid too many.

If you find you are struggling you could go and visit your doctor and ask for advice, they might well give you something to help you through this time, like diazepam.

How you feeling now?

Jim

[n3r0x1k]

Thanks again for the feedback and advice. For the diazepam, well I already have another type of Benzo called Rivotril (Brand name for Clonazepam). I've been taking only .5mg per day and an extra one when needed, but now she's (psych) prescribed me to 3 per day on need. So yeh, I have a crutch in case I get panicky, although sometimes it does not suffice (wierdly).

How am I feeling now? Thanks for asking, well, I'm less panicky than I was the last hour, although I have what this site calls "Health Anxiety" (I browsed a bit) about my heart, mainly heart fluttering beats, successive rapid beats then back to normal, sometimes these can last for minutes, so I started to panic that maybe I had arrhythmia (which could be, but at the same time, not all arrhythmia's are fatal). Anyhow, I browsed this forum and found similar cases (like this one (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=8489&highlight=arrhythmia)) so it reassured me quite a bit.

All in all, I'll try to convince my doctor to pass another Holter, cuz last time I had no symptoms during those 24 hours (it's an ECG-like device strapped to you for 24 hours), although my doctor is really reluctant about it and he keeps insisting that my heart is healthy. But I guess that's never enough for people like us who suffer from anxiety.

Anyways, thanks alot, you helped calm me, that's great!

[Jimbo]

I'm sure your heart is healthy, fears about heart problems are so very comon with anxiety. Have you had a read of the symptoms section on the main website:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/NMPcms.php?nmppage=symptoms

It explains a lot about heart palpatations etc.

If you really need to put your mind at rest with a heart monitor you can, but I'm certain you will be fine. Sometimes it is good to do that just to put your mind at rest tho.

Jim

[sarah1984]

Hi there,
I took seroxat from the age of 14 to 21, and I was on 50mg for nearly five years, every day, so there's proof that it can't be dangerous. I was very lucky as I had no side effects whatsoever and it really helped reduce my anxiety and enable me to get on with my life. I hope the increased dose helps you too.

[n3r0x1k]

Thanks alot! Yeh, it reassures me to here that Sarah1984 :D
It's now been 2-3 days (can't quite remember) but so far I haven't noticed anything wrong, so so far so good, thankfully.

By the way, you say you took 50mg till you were 21, does that mean now you're cured or you've changed med?

[sarah1984]

I switched to Cymbalta (duloxetine) back in June. Seroxat worked for me for a long time but I was seriously ill with GAD last year and my psych suggested the switch. I'm now 100% back to my old self but I still stay here to support and receive support from the other members.