My Paroxetine (Paxil) Diary

[eva82]

Hello Everyone!

I just started taking Paroxetine (Paxil) today and thought it would be a good idea to keep a diary on here for anyone else who is also starting or thinking about starting this medication. So far I have tried 2 other antidepressents with no success: citalopram and mirtazapine. I was just about to give up on meds altogether but as my anxiety and panic disorder continues to get worse, even with CBT therapy, I feel I want to give this med a try and hopefully third times a charm!!!

I just took my first pill about an hour ago, so I have nothing to report except for increased anxiety, which is not due to the medication, but to the thoughts, fears, and worries, I usually have when beginning a new med. I will post again tomorrow. Hugs to all who are also on this journey!

[nicola1980]

Good luck and fingers crossed these r your 'magic' pills x x

[eva82]

Day 1: I'm considering this the first official day since it has been 24 hours since my first dose. I am only taking 5 mg for the first week as prescribed by my doctor. I felt well enough to pick up my daughter from school, help her homework and make dinner. This is pretty big for me as my panic disoder has been very bad lately and I haven't been leaving the house (only to my CBT appointments).

Toward the evening started to feel some nausea and had trouble sleeping. Woke up every 2-3 hours with the beginning feeling of panic but they never amounted to a full blown attack. Woke up this morning still pretty nauseous (I'm usually like this in the morning, the meds seem to make it a bt worse) but managed to eat some toast and took my second dose. So far, trouble sleeping and mild nausea are all I'm feeling at the moment. These seem pretty typical when starting SSRIs so I'm trying not to let them get me down.

Thanks nicola for your reply... I too hope these work out for me.

[Belleblue]

Hi luv2teach - I remember when you were on the mirtazapine. I'm sorry to hear that it did not work out for you, it didn't for me either. I'm glad you're trying something else and hope you have success with it. Keep us informed

Take care.
Belle x

[eva82]

Day 2: So the last 24 hours haven't been pleasant. The nausea and sleep disturbances continue which is making my general anxiety levels higher than normal. I find myself having to do quite a bit of deep breathing to calm myself down. Been able to avoid having a full blown panic attack by deep breathing and taking lorazapam twice a day. Thank goodness my doctor started me on only 5 mg, because I can tell that 10 mg would be too much for me. Hopefully side effects calm down before I'm supposed to up my dosage next week.

For anyone else suffering from nausea because of starting a new medication, I have found that eating a bland diet and spearmint tea to help ease the feeling of being sick. Also, I know that when we are nauseous we don't even want to eat anything, but I am forcing myself several small meals because an empty stomach makes the nausea worse for me.

Belle, I am sorry the mirtazapine didn't work for you either. Are you trying a new med or taking a break from them? How are you feeling since being off the mirt? To be honest, I must mention that I started the paroxetine right after weaning myself off the mirt so who knows at this point which side effect is due to the withdrawal or start up of this new medication?? Hope you're doing well... Hugs!! Xx

[Belleblue]

Hi luv2teach, I was only on the mirt about 10 weeks and had no real problems with withdrawal from them. Currently I am not on any meds and have been up and down due to an ongoing stressful life situation at the moment. I am trying to decide whether to try Pregabalin or not and am doing as much research into it as I can.

Regarding nausea - ginger is a tried and trusted old remedy for this. Perhaps try some ginger tea or even ginger biscuits can do the trick.

I hope you'll be feeling less rough as the days wear on - do let us know how things are going for you.

Take care,
Belle x

[eva82]

Day 3: Today has been a little bit better then the first two days. The nausea is still with me, but not much as before and it seems to come and go throughout the day, as opposed to being with me constantly. This has been the first day I woke up without a churning stomach or the feeling that I needed to vomit. Just to be clear, I have not actually thrown up on this med, just felt like I might especially in the morning. Also, I slept better last night and did not wake up as much. Probably got 4 hours of solid sleep, woke up for a little bit but didn't feel as anxious as previous nights. Then was able to fall back to sleep for another 2 hours or so.

In terms of panic and anxiety, it's too early for me to tell if it's helping me yet. I don't really expect it to so early on as I know it can weeks before any therapeutic benefits are felt. Also, I haven't really left the house since starting paroxetine...was becoming agoraphobic before taking this med so the side effects made it a little hard for me to pluck up the courage to go anywhere. Today, I do plan on getting out of the house to visit my mom and sister so we will see how that goes! I'll update again tomorrow.

P.S. If anyone out there has also just started this med or is thinking of starting, and you have any questions feel free to reply or send me a PM.

[ellabell]

Hi luv2teach, thankyou for your posts they've been really helpful, now hopefully I can give you some positivity on taking paroxetine. I took paroxetine for about 5 yrs on and off and they really helped me with anx and panic, I came off them 18 months ago as found out I was pregnant and as I was feeling ok I stopped them straight away !! over the last 8 wks or so I've been suffering with bad anx again and panic, the docs gave me sertraline which certainly did'nt work for me, I upped the dose and they made me worse than ever so have now stopped them and gone straight on to paroxetine 20 mg since last monday, and I must say so far so good especially the last 2 days... I will also keep you posted over the next few days as to how they are working but at the moment I feel the best I've felt in weeks !! keeping everything crossed that this is the meds kicking in and not just me having a couple of good days ! ( does that make sense ?! ) as I know it's early for the meds to have taken affect yet !! will keep you posted too x

[eva82]

Hi Ella! Quick question for you... When you first started paroxetine 5 years ago, do you remember what side effects you got and how long they lasted? When did you start feeling better in terms of your anxiety and panic? I'm taking .5 lorazapam as needed because I tend to over-react and get more anxious when starting any new medication. Thanks for the positive post.. I needed to hear that!! Hugs xx

[ellabell]

Hi luvtoteach, to be honest I can't really remember how long they took to kick in but I do remember it was'nt very long ! as for side effects, I remember having quite a bad headache for a while and that seems to be the same this time, hoping it won't last to long.... apart from that there was only one long term side effect... ( bit embarrasing !! ) but heh I don't know you !! lol ! it seems to have a not so good effect on the sex life !! apparantly it is quite normal, just a bit of a bummer !! and I'd rather put up with that side effect than feeling the anxiety/panic... today I feel ok, probably not so good as yesterday and Friday but no where near as bad as what I have been ... no where near I also take propranolol 3 times a day which are supposed to help with the physical symptons ! not sure if they really do anything though to be honest, hope you've had a good day xx

---------- Post added at 19:39 ---------- Previous post was at 19:20 ----------

Hi, luv2teach, me again Iv'e just thought of something else after reading back through your posts, I have a feeling of restlesness, now I know that it's part of the anx and just another symptom but Iv'e a feeling it's a bit worse this week since starting the paroxetine. saying that I am sleeping which is a god send !! hope you're ok xx