Hi, I'm hoping I might be able to get some advice. I was taking paroxetine for general anxiety, panic attacks and to a lesser degree depression for 9 years. I started on 20mg when I was 19, up to 30mg at about 23 years old, then 40mg a year or two ago. They made me feel tired and spacey, and they didn't cure me by any means as I had a pretty bad anxious period on them about 5 years ago. The rest of the time I was able to go to work and carry on doing some social things, though to be fair I didn't always give CBT / relaxation etc much of my time. (I know now that I need to)
The problem i'm having now is in mid February I tried to switch to Venlafaxine - started them and then stopped taking the paroxetine on a reduced dose within a few days. I became worried about what I read about Venlafaxine however, and how tired they made me feel, so under doctors advice stopped taking those over a few days.
I went & am still going through withdrawal for both, but I guess mostly for the paroxetine having been on it for so long. At first it was bodily symptoms - dizziness, shakes, being a bit out of it - but now, (after a month of not taking anything) my anxiety is the highest its been in years, I've had panic attacks and am struggling to do my normal things like to go to work, to the shops etc. and i'm also struggling to sleep for very long which is a new thing for me - last night I got no sleep at all which worries me a lot. I'm considering going back on to paroxetine & the GP is calling me today to discuss it. Does anyone have any advice for me? Paroxetine was not perfect, but i'm thinking perhaps now isn't the right time for me to quit & in order to get myself back on an even keel perhaps I should go back on? At least with paroxetine I was always able to sleep, even if it did make me feel tired. I'm torn and worried about what to do.
Thank you for reading x
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