| Key to ratings for paxil: 5-Very Satisfied: this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal. 4-Satisfied: this medicine helped. 3-Somewhat Satisfied: this medicine helped somewhat. 2-Not Satisfied: this medicine did not work to my satisfaction. 1-Dissatisfied: I would not recommend taking this medicine. |
| Rating | Reason | Side Effects | Comments | Sex | Age | Time Taken and Dosage | Date Added | |
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| 1 | social anxiety disorder, depression | Do not take this medication! If your doctor suggests it tell them you would rather suffer with depression and/or anxiety! I have been on this medication for around 7 years. I was on 30mg, then reduced to 20 mg 3 months ago. I have gained over 80 pounds, I have horrific nightmares, and if I miss a dose I have the "brain zaps," shakes, disorientation, fatigue, dizziness, etc. that others have described. My tongue goes numb and I know I am in for hell for the 3-4 hours after I take the missed dose. I can't function if I miss a dose. | F | 34 | 7 years 20mg 1X D | 8/30/2010 | 1 | depression and anxiety | Rage, paranoia, black outs, hallucinations, severe anxiety, suicidal thoughts | I hate Paxil! I was on it for a very short length of time and developed such nightmarish symptoms that I could not function properly. The worst was the hallucinations. I kept seeing demons all around me and I became very paranoid. I have no history of paranoia or hallucinations before or after taking Paxil. I developed suicidal thoughts which scared me to death. I couldn't take the hallucinations and I wanted to die. I scared my mom so much that she called the doctor immediately at midnight because of one of my episodes! I immediately went off of it after seeing the doctor and he put me on Zoloft. I felt much better after getting off the horrible poison known as Paxil. I DO NOT RECOMMEND! | F | 27 | 1 months 20mg 1X D | 8/24/2010 | 1 | depression | insomnia, anxiety, panic, weight gain, increased depression, increased suicidal ideation, delayed ejaculation | Paxil ruined my life and I firmly believe it caused permanent neurological damage. I started taking it for depression (a single depressive bout!) when I was 17. If I had known then what I know now I would have shunned it like death. I took twenty milligrams a day for nine years. It caused horrible panic and anxiety. And it only worsened the depression it was supposed to help in the first place. These days if I get depressed, it feels organic, like a natural sort of depression. When I got depressed on Paxil, it was a crazy, pitch-black, suicidal depression. But the worst part of Paxil is still happening. After I quit, the panic and anxiety, which it caused, blossomed and rebounded in the meanest way possible. Understand, I never had panic or anxiety before Paxil. Now, four years later, I?m still dealing with the ?mean reds? and I think Paxil permanently re-wired something upstairs. Some days I?m so ?off? and so panicked and anxious that I don?t know who I am, what I?ve become. I?m a quivering shell of my old self all those many, many years ago. I had no idea those little pink pills could be so damning. Paxil is poison. Please do not take this drug. It will ruin you. | M | 29 | 9 years 20 1X D | 8/14/2010 | 5 | depresion with severe anxiety | increased hunger, although this could be due to lessening of anxiety. For the first year, inability to have orgasm, however in the second year on Paxil this side effect went away. | I tried 3 other medications and Paxil is the only one that was able to help me. The others either didn't work at all (Prozac) or had debilitating side effects such as severe panic attacks and nausea/vomitting (Celexa). With the Paxil, although I have gained some weight (20 lbs), I am now able to handle stress and finally feel truly happy for the first time in 25 years. | F | 41 | 2 years 20mg 1X D | 8/5/2010 | 1 | Syncope | While on the drug, I felt numb. No motivation, no energy, no life. I am normally a high energy, lively person. The worst part about this toxic drug is when you try to stop taking it, you want to die. | I was taking Paxil for fainting due to neurocardiogenic syncope. When coming off of the drug, which I tapered off of as prescribed, I began to experience a hell I would not wish on anyone. Symptoms included suicidal and intrusive thoughts, insomnia, fear, agitation, rage, extreme sensitivity to light, sound, touch, paranoia, zero tolerance to stress, heart palpitations, nausea, loss of appetite. I would go to sleep, and wake up pulling out my own hair, my fingers completely entangled in my hair at the scalp, pulling it out. 4 months after complete Paxil withdrawal I had a miscarriage(only one I have ever experienced). 1 year after Paxil withdrawal I began to feel like my old self again. Be warned, stay away from this drug at all costs. | F | 37 | 11 months 12.5 mg 1X D | 8/2/2010 | 4 | anxiety | jaw clenching for the first month | No weight gain | F | 51 | 3 years 10 1X D | 7/18/2010 | 2 | PD and severe anxiety | anxious, nervous , more than normal | After only 6 days, I've just decided to STOP after reading all these posts!!! I'm not going to continue another day. I can't gain anymore weight, I'm 220 and trying to get weight off to be healthier, I cant risk that for one thing, BUT man, all the stuff written, forget it. My anxiety is pretty terrible, but it doesnt seem worth it in the long run. My Dr. doesnt want to give me Xanax even though I've never took too many unless I have severe panic attacks, and i still only took the 3 a day at the most, so without knowing what to do next, I DO KNOW that thanks to this site, Im not going to take the Paxil. I hope withdrawls dont happen after only six days. Thanks guys :) I'm going to try exercise, and talk to my doctor. (She could have warned me about this drug) | F | 33 | 6 days 10 mg 1X D | 7/18/2010 | 2 | Anxiety, depression | lower sex drive, then complete loss of libido! | This drug made me immune and unable to have proper reasoning. Sexual side effects are terrible. First lower sex drive, inability to have an orgasm during sex, then complete impotence! even 4 weeks after stopping the drug completely...I really hope it will all return to normal. | M | 29 | 4 months 5mg 1X D | 7/14/2010 | 3 | Depression, GAD | Extreme weight gain, Horrible withdrawal symptoms including: brain zaps, crying, nausea, cold sweats, increased anxiety, insomnia, disorientated, felt like a zombie. | I started taking paxil when I was 14 because of anxiety issues and depression. At first it worked, I felt like I came out of my shell and dealt with people better, but i could never miss a dose because of the withdrawals. It wasn't until I was in college that I noticed that I can't depend on this drug forever. When I was 22, I decided to quit cold turkey because my psychiatrist closed his practice and I hated that I depended on this drug. Not wanting to find another docter, I stopped using. The withdrawal didnt last too long and I immediatly started losing weight. I now realize that this drug probably did more harm than good. I don't recommend this drug at all. I wish I had explored other ways to cope with depression and anxiety. | F | 24 | 9 years 35mg 1X D | 7/5/2010 | 1 | depression and anxiety | head tingles, loss of sex drive for the first few months after starting | I want to get off Paxil so bad but I am scared of what the withdrawal will be like. It seems that about ever 6-8 months my dose needs to be increased because it stops working. I asked to get put on something different but my dr at the time didn't want to try anything different and just upped my dose to the max. Paxil has affected my life so negatively. I always feel like i need to feel some sort of "high" on it, whether its from spending money i don't have on something or smoking something. I hate it and I want off it so bad. | M | 26 | 2.5 years 60 MB 1X D | 7/5/2010 | 4 | Generalized anxity disorder | Weight gain, not much else HOWEVER:Withdrawing from paxil can have some serious consequences like extreme rage in my case, along with heightened anxiety | The paxil worked great while I was using (no emotional numbing, could still orgasm fine, overall just more relaxed) it but the weight gain troubled my doctor so we decided to make a switch to wellbutrin which so far seems to be working, but I am still in the withdrawal process from paxil. What your doctor does not mention is that wellbutrin and paxil both have similar side effects when beginning and ending the drug, respectively. As a result I have had a short temper over the last few weeks to the point where I have classified it as rage. If you think you can withstand the food cravings I think paxil is a great drug, I am an engineer so I work at a desk all day and in the end it was not a good drug for me. | M | 22 | 4 years 20 1X D | 6/26/2010 | 1 | Anxiety | Bad withdrawals. Withdrawals included: nausea, "the zaps", severe fatigue, depersonalization, constricted pupil causing "tunnel-vision", chills and anxiety. While weaning off I had suicidal thoughts. I have been on this for 14 years and I am 28 so who knows what sexual dysfunctions I consider "normal". | This medication caused me more distress than my anxiety did. I experienced withdrawals if I was a few hours late taking my daily pill. Wean off SLOWLY and work with your Doctor during the process. I went from 40mg to 2.5mg (cut up 5mg pills). I constantly see commercials from law offices asking, Did you take Paxil while pregnant and your baby was born with a heart defect, lung defect or other serious medical condition..if so call so and so because you may be entitled to financial compensation. If it does horrible things to fetuses what has it been doing to me for the past 14 years??? | F | 28 | 14 times 40 1X D | 6/24/2010 History | 1 | depression | emotional numbing | addictive: I had to keep increasing the dose to get the same effect and experienced severe withdrawal systems whenever I tried to stop the drug. | F | 41 | 5 years 20 MG 1X D | 6/10/2010 | 3 | Anxiety | Upon starting, extreme headaches Upon starting the taper, headaches are common. Found that I had leaky gut or IBS. It took a year on a healing program to really notice a difference. I think healing the gut first and then attempting the taper is important for the success I am having so far. Went from 20mg down to 11.25. Hard to break 10mg tabs into 8 pieces but not letting that stop me. | Although Paxil did curb the high anxiety, it held me captive as a zombie w/no expression. And now the taper is far from comfortable. It takes me seven weeks to go from on dosage amount down to the next level. I have headaches for days with no relief, vertigo, blood pressure and blood sugar variances, aches and pains, brain zaps, and anxiety. All these usually go away by the seventh week with residual effects for another three to six weeks or more. | F | 55 | 1 years 11.25 1X D | 6/2/2010 | 1 | depression | weight gain, hypersexuality, gambling, lieing. | suks big coc | M | 28 | 5 years 40 1X D | 5/21/2010 | 1 | panic attacks, obsessive thoughts | Lethargy, huge weight gain. Weight loss made impossible due to food cravings. Lack of motivation for physical exercise. No sex drive. | Thank God I am Paxil free for the past four months after being on it for 13 years! Last month, I started feeling anger more intense than I have ever felt. I have also had days of crying and sobbing. This has lessened a bit in the past two weeks; I have no illusions that I am not in for more severe reactions. After stopping this horrible, horrible poison, I had terrible brain zaps and panic that I had never dreamed possible. I demanded my psychiatrist help me continue my efforts to get this poison out of my system. He prescribed Prozac which I took instead of Paxil for about two months, tapering down from 40mgs per day to zero. When I had attempted to stop ingesting this legal poison several times during the last 13 years and experienced the intense brain zaps, crying, panic, overwhelming anxiety which I now know are withdrawal symptoms, my psychiatrist dismissed my symptoms as my "illness" returning. He said I should be on Paxil for the rest of my life and to see it the same way as a diabetic needing insulin. Perhaps I was so scared and my brain was so fogged I did not ask a logical question. If my panic attacks, depression and obsessive thoughts for which the medicine was prescribed are to be compared to diabetes, which is determined by measuring blood sugar, why were my seratonin levels never tested? The reason, of course, is that this whole idea of treating people's reactions to the world around them as a disease are wrong and, ultimately cruel and hear | F | 58 | 13 years 30mb 1X D | 5/18/2010 | 2 | anxiety | I started taking PAXIL to relieve symptoms of anxiety. After three weeks decided to stop as it just amplified the anxiety feelings. I felt extremely nervous, started having strange thoughts such as admitting myself to an institution or just ending it all. I felt much more anxious on PAXIL than without it. | I am not saying this is a bad drug, for me it just wasn't the right match. It was a scary experience taking it, as I was so consumed by anxiety that I didn't trust my own feelings anymore. I would recommend you inform the people who care about you that you are taking it so they can keep an eye on you and take action if your behaviour goes haywire. | M | 38 | 3 weeks 10 mg 1X D | 5/15/2010 | 1 | Mild anxiety and mild depression | I would not wish Paxil withdrawal on anybody. Symptoms included horrible obsessive, intrusive thoughts, severe insomnia, free floating fear, my body feeling horribly agitated and 'on edge' (totally unrelated to any normal anxiety), damaged immune system, brain feeling physically raw as though a layer had been peeled away, extreme black depression never experienced before on this level, paranoia, very limited tolerance to stress, rapid heart beat unrelated to any normal anxiety, weird leg sensations and pain, feelings of agression, panic attacks, etc, etc, etc. I cannot find the words to accurately describe this hell. | F | 33 | 45 months 20mg 1X D | 5/14/2010 | 1 | menopause | Inability to have an orgasm, emotional blunting, demotivation, sluggishness, passivity | Tapered off over a few weeks in October 2004 and have had severe withdrawal syndrome ever since, including 6 months of head zaps, 2 years of tingling pain in shoulders and arms, 3 years of depersonalization and complete anorgasmia, inability to concentrate, sleep problems, exhaustion. After 3.5 years of withdrawal syndrome, I suffered severe anxiety attacks and sleep panic, then completely lost the ability to sleep. I have been mostly disabled by this for the last 2.5 years. Prior to taking Paxil, I never had had an anxiety attack and my sleep and sexual response were normal. I survived because of the support I received on paxilprogress.org, a patient support site for withdrawal from all psychiatric drugs, not just Paxil. | F | 60 | 2 years 10 mg 1X D | 5/13/2010 | 5 | PTSD, GAD, SAD, slight depression | complete loss of appetite, lockjaw, nausea, dissiness, fainting | I began taking Paxil in 2006 and loved it. I, originally, had no side effects from it and my anxiety was almost completely gone. I had to stop taking it after becoming pregnant with my 2nd child. I began taking it again about 2 1/2 months ago. This time I immediately had lockjaw intensely and within three weeks had lost approx. 10 lbs from lack of appetite. Not good when you are underweight to begin with. So, I adjusted my doses. First to 10 mgs/day then 5 mgs/day. My anxiety is still present but not to the degree it was w/out Paxil, my appetite has returned and the lockjaw has gone away. I do still have an upset stomach most of the time but overall it's an improvement from where I started. It may not be the perfect drug for me, but it's doing ok in the meantime. | F | 28 | 15 months 20 1X D | 5/11/2010 | 3 | Anxiety | Not able to have an orgasm even though I am in the mood. | F | 21 | 6 weeks 20mg 1X D | 5/10/2010 | 1 | PTSD/Depression | Helped for about 6 years. Then hit the "poop out" stage. (It DOES NOT WORK ANYMORE!!!!) Had to withdrawel over 1 in a half years. WORST pain, hell, horror, panic attacts/anxiety ever!! Wanted to kill myself. 11 months off, now BETTER!! Live life again! Keep the faith and God will get you through anything!! | M | 35 | 8 years 40mg 1X D | 5/3/2010 | 3 | Anxiety | No side effects. Worked like a charm while I was taking it. | Needed something to ease a bout of anxiety I was going through. Took this med for 3 months until I felt ok enough to wean myself off. Worked great while I was on it, but beware of withdrawal symptoms. Never in my life have I had withdrawals from any meds, but this one is a doozy. Headaches/nausea/vertigo/"out of it" feeling. Do your homework before you quit taking it. I almost want to start taking it again just to get rid of these withdrawal symptoms. | F | 28 | 3 months 30 MG 1X D | 4/26/2010 | 1 | Anxiety | I blacked out and passed out after taking the second dose. Fell to the floor in a friends living room. Scared everyone and never touched it again. | F | 45 | 2 days 15mg 1X D | 4/26/2010 | 4 | Panic Attacks | Significant weight gain, insomnia | Paxil was amazing in helping my panic attacks. I went from living in and out of an attack all day to none in about 2 weeks. It leveled out my mood and helped me to think clearly again. The downfall was the weight gain and sleepless nights. I gained over 50lbs and was awake every morning at 3am for at least an hour. It made no difference what time of day I took the paxil, I was still awake. I tried 3 different medications to help me sleep and those had no effect whatsoever. I tried numerous ways to lose weight and nothing helped. When I decided to stop taking it,I had horrible withdrawls and ended up back on it a year later. After stopping and restarting twice, it never had the same effect as it did initially and I had to switch to something different. | F | 33 | 7 years 20mg 1X D | 4/20/2010 | 1 | Depression | Lethargic, wanted to lay in bed at all times. Always tired, but never able to sleep. WORST WITHDRAWALS!!!. After discontinuing.. Brain zaps, blurred vision, insomnia, CRAZY LUCID DREAMS, Felt like I was on acid randomly throughout the day, Suicidal thought,. Tingling, nausea, weight gain. | The worst Drug I've ever taken in my life. I wish the doctor never prescribed this to me. I would have rather been depressed then go through what I did with this drug. I was so lethargic all the time. I couldn't get out of bed. After stopping the drug I started to get brain zaps which felt like an electrical current going through my head. I had dreams of people around me dying gruesome deaths. I had dreams I was dying painful deaths. I grew extremely suicidal which I have never encountered I even started to write suicidal letters , Keep in mind this was after the drug. I went completely crazy. I was not myself. I would never recommend anyone to take this. I stopped taking this and now I feel normal again. I have energy and I can enjoy life. | F | 23 | 3 months 30mg 1X D | 4/19/2010 | 1 | GRIEF | anxiety, panic attacks, agoraphobia, shaky jitteryness, inner trembling, feelings of doom, intense crying jags, nervousness with no cause, low motivation, | This drug and its manufacturers should be abolished!!! Looking back, i should have realised that no pill was going to make the grief go away, and time was the only healer. I have had to endure horrific symptoms from tapering this drug, and have lost the best part of the last 15 yrs of my life. THANKS GSK!!!!! for not revealing the truth about this drug, we have all been stitched up tidy, when u complain to a doctor, they have no idea that its the drug thats causing this, and we are being misdiagnosed and poly drugged with other poisonss. Not me!!!! i now know thqat a lot o mental illness today is caused by the drugs we take,which are meant to cure the very symptoms we all complain about in w/d. What a complete travesty, we had it with the thalidomide drug in the 60,S, the benzos in the 8O'S how long is it going to take before the public wise up. Obviously gsk's only concern is raking in billions and billions $$$$ from there super poisons thaT ARE WRECKIONG PEOPLE'S LIVES. cheers, what a trade off eh, I FOR ONE HAVE BEEN CONNED AND MADE VERY ILL, AND god ONLY KNOWS HOW LONG ITS GOING TO LAST. | F | 51 | 14 years 30MG 1X D | 4/16/2010 History | 1 | depression | M | 48 | 6 weeks 1X D | 4/15/2010 | 1 | for GAD | Flu-like symptoms, increased anxiety, restlessness, skin rashes and itching, tremors, "electrical" brain zap sensations, tingling, morbid thoughts, abnormal taste and smell, confused thinking and a generalized feeling of either "heavy" or "mushy" brain. | I experienced terrible withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing Paxil, I did not know it could produce "discontinuation syndrome". | M | 64 | 11 months 20mg 1X D | 4/15/2010 | 1 | Depression, anxiety | Initially, vomiting the first night, sexual problems, weight gain. Eventually, after several years of SSRI treatment (not just this one) I developed Serotonin Syndrome which included incontinence symptoms. This stopped once I went off them, and restarted when I restarted on them, so it was definitely them causing it. | It was across all the SSRIs, not just Paxil. I wouldn't recommend these drugs to anyone, but if you are going to take them, only take them for a short time, no more than a year or two, and only if you absolutely, totally need them. I'd advise people to try other things first eg hypnosis (haven't tried it yet), fish oil, Vitamin D, joining social clubs, St John's Wort (haven't tried it, might be just as bad), social skills training, therapy etc. I don't think these pills should even be on the market. | F | 33 | 3 months 60 MG 1X D | 4/14/2010 | 1 | General Anxiety Disorder | Going on to the drug was hellish, but once I stabilised on 20mg it was only the 'mild' side-effects of emotional numbness, general apathy and sexual disfunction. However, the real fun started when I started to come off the drug.... nausea, chronic anxiety, diaorrhea, ear-ringing, vertigo, nightmares, weight-loss, emotional instability etc... | If you are prescribed this drug, please please please only take it for a short period of time whilst you get some CBT. It has ruined my life. | M | 29 | 9 years 20 1X D | 4/14/2010 | 1 | Protracted benzo withdrawal & pain | Huge weight gain (diet and exercise didn't help) and increasing hypersomnia, sleeping up to 18 hours a day! Then HORRIBLE protracted withdrawal. NOT worth any initial benefits! | Doctors' "slow" taper schedules aren't nearly slow enough for most people. I learned too late that tapering by no more than 10% of previous (MOST RECENT) dose, dropping no more than every 3-6 weeks when stabilized at dose, is the most effective way to successfully taper off for most people. Best is not to take it! Terrible med. | F | 60 | 13 years 15 1X D | 4/13/2010 | 1 | anxiety | Suicidal thoughts, anger, aggression, insomnia,impulsivity. | This drug almost cost my son his life to suicide. The withdrawal was totally debilitating and extended. He now has permanent adrenal damage due to Paxil. | M | 52 | 14 months 50 1X D | 4/13/2010 | 1 | anxiety caused by thyroid med | brutal insomnia, depersonalization, twitches, tremors, shocks | Neurotoxic in my opinion. Strongly recommend users stay away from this drug. Has taken over a year to get over the side effects caused by this med. | M | 41 | 3 months 20mg 1X D | 4/13/2010 | 2 | Anxiety | Extreme tiredness and lethargy, weight gain, increased hunger, reduced energy. | Paxil made me far to sleepy to really be of any use to me, although it did reduce my anxiety somewhat. I often sleep ten hours a night and then slept an additional three during the day. I put on 9 kilos on this medication and I was very often lacking the energy to do things, despite having the desire to get moving. | F | 24 | 3 years 20 1X D | 4/12/2010 | 4 | depression | diarrhea, trouble sleeping the first two nights, but last night was fine | Day 4: seems to be affecting my mood positively. | M | 27 | 4 days 20mg 1X D | 3/23/2010 | 1 | Anxiety/Depression | dry mouth, low libedo, low energy/tiredness. | This is the worst of all the SSRI drugs, it should not be prescribed to any new patients. I was on this crap for 10 years and I did not realize how miserable my life was because of it. After 3 years I was finally able to get off of it. Just do a web search and you can see that a lot of people have a very hard time getting off of it. Trying to stop this crap takes a long time and a lot of suffering. It took me 6 months of slowly tapering my dose to finally get off of it. I still suffered the brain zaps, nausea, irritability, dizziness, vivid nightmares, cold sweats, and the worst panic attacks of my life. | M | 28 | 10 years 40MG 1X D | 3/20/2010 | 3 | depression | It definitely lifted my mood but it caused bronchialspasms/asthma attacks so I had to go off of it! I also put on weight--about 10 extra pounds. I sometimes had trouble gathering my thoughts to complete a senstence! | I am afraid to try any other kind of anti-depressant for fear of an asthma attack. Haven't had one since being off of Paxil three years ago! | F | 59 | 2 years 10 mg 1X D | 3/8/2010 | 1 | social anxiety | HOrrible. Laziness, forgetfullness, weight gain, zombie feeling, other weird symtoms | Horrible horrible drug do not take. Taking paxil for 8 months literally cost years off my life recovering from the after effects. I do not believe that my mind or my body has ever returned to the same since taking this medication. I immediately gained 25 pounds when taking this which has given me a struggle with my weight ever since. My memory is horrible now. Constructing sentences is difficult. I just have never felt the same. The worst of it I would say was the first two years after discontinuing, memory was horrilbe, word recall was horrible, felt very out of it our of sync. This is a horrible drug and these doctors will not help you when you have problems with it. They will blame the problems on you becase you came in with depression or anxiety so they discount your concerns and blame you as imaginging the side effects or already having them when you came in which you know is not true. If you have a choice always take care of depression or other anxiety related issues through therapy rather than meds first. | F | 29 | 8 months 1X D | 3/8/2010 | 5 | Depression, Anxiety | Pink Floyd-like dreams first 2 nights. Lack of sex drive first 4 weeks. | Afore I wuz more nervous n a kat in a room fulla rokkin charez n I wuz alwayz fussin n fitein. Since I bin takin Paksil I been all calm n peesubl like. For a while I had trubl gittin enuf wood to keep the wifes fire a-burnin ( If ya no wot I meen) but now I can cut diamonds with it again. Thanks Dr. Fizer, yor the she-it. | M | 45 | 5 weeks 20mg 1X D | 3/1/2010 | 5 | PMDD/Social Anxiety | Nausea (1 week, then gone), Weird taste (1 day, then gone), mild insomnia coupled with drowsiness at other times, decreased libido (increases after a few weeks), mild spaciness, decreased ability to sense cold (but no sweating) | It's important to remember that everyone's brain chemistry is different, and all drugs carries the risk of side effects. For me, this drug has been a miracle. I was trapped in panic attacks, paranoia, depression, wild mood swings, uncontrollable crying, everything under the sun for several weeks each month. It evened out my emotions, and as an added benefit helps me deal with my social anxiety. I would put up with far worse side effects to be able to live normally again. I'm off Paxil for a few weeks every month, and other than a whammy when my normal, non-PMDD emotions hit me, I haven't noticed significant side effects. It's up to you to decide whether it helps or not, and how to manage the side effects. In the past, I was prescribed Wellbutrin, and that for me was a nightmare because it made the PTSD I was suffering far, far worse, as well as giving me temporary (if by temporary you mean a few years) mania, rapid heartbeat, and chest pains. So if the side effects are horrible for you, it may be due to your personal brain chemistry, and not because the drug shouldn't be given to anyone. Seek a doctor's advice, and wean yourself off. | F | 36 | 3 months 10mg 1X D | 2/25/2010 | 4 | anxiety | none aware of | F | 4 | 9 months 1X D | 2/16/2010 | 4 | Strange dreams, jitters, involuntary muscle movements, cramps, spacieness, difficult but not impossible orgasms. | I was alarmed at during the first two weeks at my inablity to orgasm, even solo. Generally, Paxil has helped my anxiety problem greatly. I was having a lot of difficulty in public situtions, to the point where I would hardly leave home. This is my first experience with a SSRI, and honestly I would have found this useful much earlier in my life. The sexual problems caused by this drug were temporary, thank God. Actually, orgasms seem to be more intense now than ever. I am only on 10mg, so I suspect this make be more difficult to overcome at higher doses. | M | 38 | 1 months 10 MG 1X D | 2/15/2010 | 1 | depression | THIS IS AN AWFUL DRUG! I had dilated pupils,inabilty to concentrate, feelings of dread, dizziness, racing heart rate,irritability,insomnia, trembling, and hot and cold flashes | This was the most awful experience I have ever had with a drug. My doctor switched me to it after my Prozac seemed to stop working. I literally thought I was going to die within 30 minutes of taking this medication. On top of that I had no sex drive for over 2 week after stopping this medication. I ended up stopping prescription antidepressants and switching to st. johns wart and Valerian and have never felt better. | F | 21 | 2 days 40 mg 1X D | 2/11/2010 | 1 | Forced to | No sex drive, tremor, horrible thoughts, dizzy, SEIZURE, and other. | This is the drug that started all my problems, I'm 30 years old and when I was 16, I was hospitalized for depression, forced to take this drug in the hospital, the doctor increased the dosage I had a Seizure, it was bad! It started a cycle of Anxiety and everything else, I was mean as hell on this drug! | M | 30 | 3 weeks 1X D | 2/6/2010 | 3 | temporary depression | weight gain from 115 to 130 in 6mo. | It is hard to say but my co workers and friends say that I am better off of it and can tell a difference in my personality. Like I am all here now. To me I can not tell a difference in how I act. I never had any major problems while on it such as the brain zaps that some experienced. I actually took myself off of it because of the weight gain, I was at 20mg when I started to come off. I started to cut the pill in half and went from there, some days i had to take the other half to not feel confused but all in all I got of it in a mo or so. IF you want OFF of PAXIL wean yourself off of it by cutting back the doses you take. It is possible. | F | 33 | 6 months 10 then 20 1X D | 2/3/2010 | 5 | ocd and anxiety | sexual (harder to orgasm) headaches and constipation (at beginning, then went away) | Paxil is the reason I'm alive. When I was young I had severe OCD and realted mental illness. I was miserable and a total wreck, thought about suicide. After beginning Paxil at age 12, my life was COMPLETELY turned around and I led a normal life. 3 years ago, I stopped taking the drug and again relapsed into intense mental illness, I was so deluded I didnt even realize what was happening. I developed an eating disorder and got down to 65 pounds. I began taking Paxil again a couple of months ago. My anxiety which was utterly debilitating is nearly gone, the OCD is much, much better, and I now weigh 115 pounds and feel stronger than in a long, long time. When I was off Paxil my life was a living hell. This drug saved me. I want to share this with all those who read the many horror stories on this website and will be turned off from it. Obviously it is not for everyone, but please, if your life now is hell, dont dismiss this as a real possibility that could save you. | F | 28 | 16 years | 1/31/2010 | 2 | anxiety depression | apathy, sexual indifference, but who cares? | Because depression put my life in the crapper, I made the mistake of having concerns about my unaddressed life and the Drug Doc keyed in on "anxiety" rather than depression. Paxil took my apathy/depression and put it on steroids, so I had the virtue of not giving a rat's ass while I indifferently watched my life going further down in flames. It did nothing to spark my interests, motivation or desires. | M | 43 | 6 weeks | 1/20/2010 | 5 | anxiety | 20 mg prevents anxiety attacks. The side effect of prolonging orgasms is the most wonderful side effect I can imagine. I am 70 yrs old and my girl friend loves what Paxil does for me. More than 20 mg I cannot have an orgasm, so I stick with 20 mg. | M | 70 | 2 years | 1/16/2010 | 3 | Anxiety/OCD/Depression | Outrageous weight gain, lack of libido, lack of emotions, HORRENDOUS withdrawl side effects, to the point that I was seeing a neurologist and having brain MRI's to try to find out what was wrong. Later realized it was Paxil withdrawl... | I have 'quit' paxil 4 times now. Each time was HORRIBLE. The only good thing I can say is that this last time I quit, I actually knew why the things that were happening (brain zaps, dizziness, tingling in body, blurry vision, anger/rage, 'out of body' type experiences/irrational thoughts that made NO sense, suicidal thoughts, ect) because I had gone through it three other times. Paxil did change my life, in the begining and each time I got back on it. But all in all, I hate the emotionless feeling when on it. I feel like I am living in someone elses body and cant connect with my thoughts (sometimes good for someone with OCD - ha ha!). Unfourtunately I am scared to try anything else but feel like I need something to get my thougths and actions under control as well as "turning down the noise" in my head so I can focus. I have colonzapam on me at all times just incase the anxiety kicks out of control, but it still doesnt help me be where I need to. I am afraid my marriage will suffer because of these things. My husband is currently on paxil... his sex drive has suffered a bit and he can sleep for DAYS!!! If he misses a dose he instantly gets a migrain. You need to weigh the negatives with the positives with this drug. I personally find it terrifying, and Ihope I never have to go on it again. But, in its defense, I was able to leave my house and function in the world, which I couldnt do before. I HIGHLY suggest if you get on it, DO NOT GO OFF. It is PURE hell for you a | F | 31 | 14 years | 1/16/2010 | 4 | Social Anxiety/Panic | It would take me, if I was able at all, like 45 minutes+ to come. At the time, I was a 17 year old, easily aroused (and clinically legitimately depressed); the LAST THING I NEEDED. Whether with female or doing what adolescent guys do often on their free time. However, I would say after giving the med about 5 months, the sexual side effects abated and I noticed significant reduction in angst and sadness. | Overall, a tough bargain for me. I don't any longer take as high a dose but the Paxil truly did help my genuine psychiatric issues. The sexual thing was OBNOXIOUS...and for some reason, my doc was nervous about prescribing me Wellbutrin! It's not like I smoke cigarettes. I just wanted to pleasure myself like every other guy does around that age...but after the 6 months...I was a less inhibited (anxious)...raging virile teen again. Nothing I couldn't have, in hindsight, dealt with TEMPORARILY. | M | 20 | 18 months | 1/14/2010 | 3 | ANXIETY | TINGLY, WIERD NUMB FEELING AFTER STOPPING ONLY ONE DAY DUE TO MISSED DOSE | F | 25 | 6 months | 1/14/2010 | 3 | panic attacks | on paxil-decreased sex drive, frequent inability to orgasm, extreme lethargy and feeling of emptiness at onset of treatment, migraines. in the process of getting off paxil-hallucinations, nightmares, erratic behaviour, brain zaps, feeling of emptiness, lack of emotion, fatigue. | I started taking it when I was 15 due to panic attacks. I started at 10 mg, but by the time I was 24 I was up to 40 mg. I tried many times to get off of it, thinking I was doing better handling my anxiety, but the withdrawal symptoms would hit me harder than any panic related symptoms had. I made another attempt to get off paxil when I was 24, suffered severe withdrawal and subsequently went to my dr. to see about starting a low dose of a different SSRI that works in a methadone-like manner to help patients get off paxil. She insisted that my withdrawal symptoms were an indication that I needed paxil, and that they weren't withdrawal symptoms at all, but simply my behaviour without paxil (even though I certainly never hallucinated before treatment). Finally, about 7 months into it, I had enough. I had the rx filled as a liquid instead of a pill and slowly started decreasing my dose, 1 mg per week. I'm now 4 weeks into being "clean". Paxil helped initially, and may have saved my life at the beginning, but it is so hard to get off of. I spent far too long curled up in a ball crying, terrified I was losing my mind as I saw hallucinations of Kurt Cobian shooting himself, dark figures standing over my bed with swords, and various other incarnations due to this drug. If you plan on staying on it for the rest of your life, great. If you plan on getting pregnant, (not advisable to do on paxil), or need it short term, be prepared for what could be a long, ugly journey to get | F | 25 | 10 years | 1/6/2010 | 5 | bipolar depression | lost a stone in the first month, slightly upset stomach. | my absolute favourite drug in the world ever. it worked wonders for the depression. i felt good i could sleep i could get up i didnt self harm i didnt feel suicidal. i had no anxiety problems no ocd problems best thing i ever took. although now i've been downgraded to fluoxetine because they were worried that paroxetine would spark another manic episode like the last one. | F | 24 | 6 months | 1/5/2010 | 1 | depression and OCD. | any possible, in particular brain zaps. | it was a poison for my brain. | M | 23 | 4 weeks | 12/28/2009 | 2 | Severe depression | None to begin with. Then a feeling like I had the flu all the time, headache and my stomach felt like it was knotted up in a ball | I took Paxil because I could no longer tolerate the side effects of Effexor. It worked ok for the first month or so, then I began to develop flu-like symptoms, headache and a knot at the top of my stomach that seemed to press on my vagal nerve. After a bout of severe nausea and a fainting spell complete with paramedics et al, I took myself off the Paxil and felt better within a day. | M | 69 | 2 months | 12/15/2009 | 3 | panic attacks,anxiety | I felt numb, no feelings about anything,nauseated, hot flashs,weight gain | I switched from Paxil to celexa with some withdawl symptoms. | F | 40 | 5 months | 12/10/2009 | 4 | Severe Anxiety Disorder | Side effect I notice the most is sometimes not being able to reach orgasm. This occurs maybe 20% of the time. But when reaching orgasm they are greatly intense. Other side effects are a slight decrease in strength and slight tiredness. | Paxil honestly helped me big time. I was having severe anxiety and could not stand it any longer. I started feeling better in just a few days after starting on 20 mg and have adjusted it up to 30 mg. | M | 51 | 5 years | 12/8/2009 | 4 | Panic Disorder, GAD, PMDD | Fatigue, sleepiness, somnolence, weight-gain, low libido (Caused horrible withdrawal symptoms such as the infamous brain zaps) | Paxil works. If you are suffering from debilatating panic attacks, it will save your life. Just don't plan on getting off the drug because it's tough... | F | 25 | 6 months | 12/8/2009 | 1 | Depression | Severe headache | Seemed to work fine for the depression. Then a stabbing pain, as though someone had just driven a spike through my head, woke me up in the middle of the night. The doctor said it probably happens all the time and I just never noticed it before. Right. | F | 33 | 10 days | 12/8/2009 | 5 | social anxiety, dysthymia | difficulty with orgasm (difficult but still possible). Decreased libido (once again, decreased but still present). Initially I had some impulsivity, but that dissipated after about a month. I've gained weight, but I don't think I can blame the Paxil for that. My weight was consistent for many years, but I've put on a few pounds as I get closer to 30. | Paxil changed my life. I was an anxiety ridden wreck; every single family member on my mother's side (both men and women) experienced severe anxiety, so I'm certain my anxiety has a strong genetic component. My father is an alcoholic and an extreme introvert, so no favors on that side either. My childhood was extremely isolated due to poverty and my mother's own persistent agoraphobia, which lasted most of my childhood. Paxil solved my anxiety problems. I take 40mg every day, and xanax as needed (usually for important presentations, exams, etc). It's amazing how confident I am now that I don't have to worry about anxiety. Or worry about anything for that matter. I am currently earning a PhD, which is an incredibly stressful endeavor - but the Paxil helps me manage the stress. There was a time gap in my use, and while I still did well, I do much better with Paxil (without all the stress!). I am a more confident, self-assured, and assertive person on Paxil. | F | 29 | 5 years | 12/3/2009 | 1 | Panic Disorder | Irrational behavior, no sex drive, difficulty focusing, loss of patience,severe apathy, unmotivated, tired, increased urge to drink alcohol (WHICH DOES NOT MIX WELL...) | I can't deal with this any longer. I don't know who I've become, but I don't like her. My family and friends are slowly beginning to look into Psych wards for me, I think. I feel so much worse than I did before I started taking Paxil; I'd rather have panic attacks and deal with them on my own than take this drug and lose my poise and good natured spirit. I am so happy for all of you who are doing well on this drug. For those of you just starting out on Paxil--DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOL--And for those of you like me, I'm with ya, take care, and good luck! | F | 27 | 10 months | 11/5/2009 | 1 | Depression | After one 20mg dose: Vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, fainting, difficulty breathing, tingling sensations, loud ringing in ears, muscle weakness, pounding/racing heart, tremors, severe dizziness, severe-anxiety and suffered my first panic attack. | The worst day of my life, this has honestly convinced me to never take a SSRI again. | F | 20 | 1 days | 11/4/2009 | 5 | suicidal thoughts, depression | Initially a lack of libido but it came back. | This drug saved my life. After decades of living in the hell of extreme depression, feelings of worthlessness, lack of any hope whatsoever, suicidal thoughts, etc., my doctor put me on this. Life is good! Depression runs in my family and I lost a dear one to suicide last year. It would have been me if Paxil weren't around. | F | 47 | 15 years | 11/3/2009 | 4 | Anxiety/Panic Disorder | Insomnia and slight diarrhea (but only at beginning of treatment). SIDE EFFECTS OF PAXIL WITHDRAWAL: Extreme dizziness, nausea, diarrhea, muddled thinking, depersonalization, violent mood swings. These symptoms begin with ONE missed dosage. BEWARE. | Although the withdrawal side effects are pretty horrible, Paxil saved my life. I would either be dead or in a mental hospital without it. My life had become completely unlivable because of intense anxiety and panic attacks, and Paxil changed all that... within the first month of treatment. I know there's a lot of negativity out there about SSRIs right now, but if you are in a terrible place, the benefits definitely exceed the drawbacks. | M | 38 | 5 years | 11/3/2009 | 5 | Acute Anxiety | Repressed ejaculation (which can be a good thing); clenching teeth night and day; in the first few months massive sweating and lots of yawning. | Very wierd drug in that it seems no one person has the same reaction to it. I've been taking it for over two years and love what it's done for me. My quality of sleep is the best of my post-pubescent life. I still have plenty of libido, erections are no problem at all, but I can last longer for my wife's sake! Little shit in life doesn't scare me or make me angry. I take 5-10 mg/day depending on the weather -- seriously -- if it's low pressure, stormy/rainy/snowy I don't need as much because my serotonin is naturally elevated. I would take more, but the one problematic side effect -- clenching teeth gets to be painful. | M | 50 | 2 years | 10/30/2009 | 3 | GAD, OCD | made me tired and depressed for about a week each time I increased my dose, but that went away completely after that first week. Weight gain that would not budge despite a strict diet and exercise routine. Complete loss of sex drive and ability to have orgasm. Towards the end felt very flat and uninterested in anything. | For anxiety Paxil is the bomb -- it helped me at work, relationships, validated my belief that my mood issues are chemical and not due to being a rotten person. Unfortunately, the side effects got to be too much for me and I decided to try other meds. If you are debilitated by anxiety Paxil could be the drug to improve your quality of life. But there are no free rides, and you'll need to figure out how to deal with the side effects with your doc. | F | 45 | 18 months | 10/30/2009 | 1 | Severe Depression | Spaciness. HORRIFYING withdrawal! | Does not make you feel happier or healthier, instead just numbs your brain so you can trail through your life without any interest. All creativity leaves your mind. The withdrawal was severe hell with vomiting, brain zaps, sweats, dizziness.... | F | 38 | 4 months | 10/30/2009 | 2 | It made it IMPOSSIBLE to orgasm! No thanks. | M | 30 | 1 months | 10/15/2009 | 1 | Depression and anxiety | Suffered serotonin syndrome after dr doubled my dose from 10mg to 20. Hallucinaions, fever, rapid heart beat, restless. I felt like is was having a bad trip on LSD for hours. I would wake up in the the middle of the night with ponding heart rates. | F | 26 | 2 weeks | 10/12/2009 | 4 | Panic attacks, anxiety | Nausea, fatigue, tremors (all subsided in 2-3 weeks). Inability to orgasm persistent. | I have noticed a big difference in my anxiety level, and believe Paxil is genuinely helping more than therapy alone did. However, the sexual side effects are extreme (I am female). No sex drive, no orgasm. Enough to make me discontinue the drug. | F | 21 | 2 months | 9/30/2009 | 5 | Treatment Resistant Depression | Very tired the first two weeks or so which faded away. This tired feeling may be confused with a depressive episode, so give Paxil from 3-6 weeks to see full results. Most side effects dissapear in aproximately 2 weeks or less. Delayed ejaculation but I love it like that. No weight gain. | Paxil 40mg ombined with Wellbutrin 450mg has been my lifesaver. Nothing obsesses me anymore and my compulsive behavior is under control. I am in love with this med but be careful if you want to quit from it. Withdrawal could become a nightmare although I have no interest in quitting from it. | M | 40 | 1 years | 9/17/2009 | 4 | depression | weight gain, loss of libido and inability to reach orgasm (this existed before), took 10mg/20mg alternating daily for many years, just moved to 20mg daily to keep more consistent, immediate withdrawal symptoms if skipped even for 1/2 day | I have tried several times to stop but have been unable due to significant life stressors which cause recurrent severe depressive episodes. The episodes still occur while on medication but are much less severe. I tried a few other medications but experienced negative side effects immediately. This sexual dysfunction seems to be the price to be paid for the relative calm from the depressive storms. Exercise (running and strength training) and yoga help greatly. I was interested to read about the tendancy to drink more, I am currently struggling with this. Would like to give up alcohol entirely. Perhaps it would be easier on different medication? | F | 50 | 13 years | 9/12/2009 | 1 | Depression, Anxiety, Panic Disorder | Increased depression. Insomnia. Difficulty waking up. Sexual dysfunction; erection fine, orgasm elusive. Terrible withdrawal symptoms: heightened anxiety, racing thoughts, extreme mood swings. | I took Paxil for nine years, from August 1997 to June 2006. In retrospect I see that Paxil increased the severity of my depressive episodes and directly contributed to sleeplessness, sexual dysfunction and poor decision-making. Regarding panic attacks and anxiety, it is impossible to know the truth. The fact, however, is that before Paxil, I did not suffer from panic attacks or severe anxiety. Sometime during my third year on the drug, I had my first major panic attack (white-faced, shaky, sweaty, watery eyes; closer, perhaps, to a nervous breakdown). Since then anxiety has become the more overwhelming half of my illness, though often the anxiety and depression intermingle so well that it's hard to tell what is what. I quit taking Paxil three years ago. The weening and withdrawal took three months; it was a long, terrible ordeal. But I have not once regretted the decision to stop Paxil. I do not currently take an SSRI. I use Klonopin (a benzo) sporadically, for social occassions, and ten days ago decided to risk taking another daily drug, Buspar, which is for anxiety, in a class by itself. Feel free to contact me with questions. Best of luck, all of you. | M | 29 | 9 years | 8/24/2009 | 1 | Extreme tiredness... | Crying and not wanting to get out of bed by the 3rd day... by the 5th day, I just wanted to die... | My doctor lied to me and insisted that this drug would help to 'rearrange/reorganize' my sleep stages as I was suffering from excessive tiredness....couldn't stay awake for anything. I called the drug manufacturer who agreed that my reaction was an adverse reaction and they listed it in their database. They also told me that I was wise to have gone off it after 5 days despite my doctor's insistance to stay on it... | F | 46 | 5 days | 8/22/2009 | 3 | general anxiety | Really I think Paxil did me a lot of good; however, I have had a lot of gastroenterological issues over the time that I used it and I wonder if those were related to the drug. I feel that I have to quit just to see if my intestines start to function more properly. I hated when I ran out or missed a dose. The vivid dreams and "crunching" in my head was unbearable. | I stepped down from 20 to 10 mg, then just said "screw it" and quit cold turkey. I quit one other time about 10 years ago and my anxiety issues returned after a couple of months. I hope that does not occur this time. | M | 43 | 17 years | 8/20/2009 | 2 | depression | did what is was suppossed to in the beginning. But I stayed on it for nearly 20 years and it seemed to be attacking my body and I was back to where I began....feeling worthless, crying, angry at the world and everyone. I have cervical dystonia and had read that SSRI's could aggravate the condition so decided to wean myself off with doc's instructions. Started out great. Felt great emotionally and energetic for about 2 weeks off. Then the withdrawal set in and I thought I was dying. Had nausea,dizziness, crying, scared, insecure, felt like I had fever and did not. Developed lower right side pain. I thought it was my ovary. Doc decided to take both ovaries and appendix out. I did not need that surgery. I had developed IBS from getting off the paxil. Three different doctors did not bother to mention the withdrawal and just kept trying to get me back on it. I wanted to dye (not suicide) I was so sick and had surgery for nothing. It has taken me about 2 to 3 months but I feel | I would not reccommend Paxil to anyone. It was hell to get off of and no one bothered to tell me about the withdrawal. In fact, my 3 different doctors just kept trying to get me back on it because I was so emotional and in pain with my dystoniaThis stuff really messed with your brain. My thoughs are good, I am calm, I can remember my nice dreams and I have lost weight. My appetite has changed so much. I love being off of it. Don;t give up....it is tough but it will pass and you will be glad you did it. | F | 53 | 19 years | 8/19/2009 | 4 | Social Phobia, mild depression | I drink alcohol once a week. On Seroxat / Paxil I tend to get drunk quicker, want to drink more and for longer, and my behaviour seems more unpredictable and a litte dangerous. No other unwanted side-effects experienced. | If you are anything like me, I strongly suggest you avoid alcohol (or reduce intake) as much as possible on this med. It has worked extremely well for me in terms of my social phobia, and has allowed me to get on with life again. At one time standing in line at a post office was sometimes an ordeal for me. Now I can't imagine being like this. Stick to a low dose if you are only mildly/moderately socially phobic, perhaps 10mg or 15mg per day. I get the impression doctors often prescripe people a needlessly high dose. Taking 15mg (as I do) may involve halfing a tablet. Good luck! | M | 2 years | 8/16/2009 | 2 | Depression | Loss of sex drive, suicidal thoughts, fatigue, weight gain, | I started to take Paxil after comming off of Effexor. What a mistake. I had to stop the Effexor due to the cost. I never felt more depressed, tired, and fat. I was only on it for a month and it was awful. I ended up in the hospital for suicidal thoughts. | F | 28 | 30 days | 8/8/2009 | 5 | anxiety | First 2 weeks had a dull headache that I easily fought with ordinary aspirin. Lack of real sex drive for about a month and a concurrent difficulty in reaching orgasm. All of these symptoms resolved 100 % within 30 days. The biggest effect has been the HUGE IMPROVEMENT in my quality of life and overall emotional outlook. I used to obsess over all kinds of things. I lived in a "glass half empty" world most of the time. Even if something great happened, I'd start the "what if" game in my head. None of this was particularly unbearable. Kind of like a bad case of intestinal gas. It makes you not too fun to be around, and you are always expecting an unpleasant surprise accompanying any little fart. | I have been on Paxil for over a year now and I plan to continue to take it for the rest of my life. Because of this little pill, my relationships are better, my career is better and my outlook on life is really one of excited anticipation rather than my old gloom and doom. I have read of people being unable to get off of this drug. But this begs the question "Why would you want to?" I think the bottom line with a lot of the SSRI drugs is that they don't work the same way for everyone. Some users probably have serious emotional issues that are experiential rather than organic/chemical/somatic in cause. And lets not forget that you're monkeying around with your thinker when you take these kinds of drugs. I think of Paxil as being rather like Gum-Out for your brain. It can smooth out your emotions and your emotional responses to everyday external stimuli. However, if you've got something REALLY broken in your belfry, Paxil may not do you much good. Paxil will absolutely not make your problems go away. What it CAN do however is to quiet that mental chatter that makes it so hard for people like myself to actually take a step back and DEAL with a situation. For me, it was like a software upgrade for my personality. | M | 50 | 15 months | 8/4/2009 | 4 | Anxiety | Tingling feeling. Headaches. Warmness. Hazy. Sluggish. Extremely difficult to orgasm. Side effects of tingling,headaches and warmness were gone after 1 week. Sluggish diminished after about a month. Only lasting side effect for me was No Orgasm. | I really like Paxil. Anxiety was completely gone! and i noticed other effects that i liked. I didn't get so quickly frustrated, was more tolerant of situations, able to handle stressful situations. I stopped taking it a few years back, and my anxiety returned recently. Well, i was planning on going back to Paxil, but the only thing i hated about paxil was the extreme difficulty in having orgasms. So, with the suggestion of a Dr. I am now trying Wellbutrin. I've only been taking it for 4 days, but I am not sure if I'm liking where this is heading.. Hopefully the wellbutrin will work, but if not, im going back to my tried and true Paxil. | M | 37 | 2 years | 8/1/2009 | 5 | Depression | night sweats the first two weeks but no other side effects since. | Looking back I've probably had long term depression. Over the past 2 years I had marriage problems, my wife had health problems, mid-life issues, job stress, and I recently broke my hip. I could no longer function. I began 20 mg. 7 weeks ago and increased to 30 mg. 3 weeks ago. Paxil saved my life. I no longer obsess about negative events and my stress level has fallen dramatically. I no longer cry two to three time a week and I can focus much better at work. If I continue to feel like this, I have no problem staying on Paxil for the rest of my life. | M | 52 | 7 weeks | 7/30/2009 | 2 | Depression - Anxiety | The main side effect was nausea. I would get waves of extreme nausea throughout the day. typically the peak would be 5 hours after taking the medication. Eating while injesting did little to nothing. I stopped taking with little withdrawls. Smoking Marijuana was the best insulator for my nausea. | M | 24 | 1 years | 7/1/2009 | 1 | anxiety | Extreme weight gain, 80 lbs., absolutely NO sex drive, and had little or no emotions. | Please do not ever take this drug. It makes your life pure hell. Try something else besides an SSRI. It ruined my life. Horrible to try to get off of. I tried to withdrawal for 6 to 9 months. I went through many medical test because I didn't know that PAXIL withdrawal was why I was so sick. It was like having a never ending terrible flu. Finally, I got back on it because of even worse depression and that's when I realized that it was Paxil withdrawal that was making me so ill. I gained even more weight, 25 lbs. very rapidly. I HATE IT. And no one can tell you how to get off this stuff. | F | 60 | 13 years | 6/29/2009 | 3 | anxiety, migraines | Extreme fatigue. Sleeping 10-12 hours and taking naps. | Paxil seemed to work well for me as far as making me feel very calm. It also reduced my migraines. But I could not stand feeling exhausted all the time. | F | 40 | 2 months | 6/25/2009 | 3 | depression/anxiety | weight gain, loss of sex drive | I would never suggest anyone take this drug given the year it took to wean from it. My doctor suggested I would have a hard time losing any weight while on Paxil and agreed on the weaning process. I started at 40 mgs a day and thought I could stop at 5 mgs a day and did but had withdrawal symptoms - shaking/tremors, nausea, and psych issues. I was afraid to sleep with my back to the closet because the door was open! Took a large butcher knife into the back yard to walk my dog before bed because I thought someone might be "out there." Really freaky stuff, so much so that my husband wanted to take my to the hospital. I just went back on the stuff for another 6 months, taking the wean slower and with the support of adrenal pills (homeopathic). Finally off - YAY. Appears I might need another "mood stabilizer" given some crying jags. Lexapro has been suggested, but the blogs on that drug read as bad as for Paxil. Will try another homeopathic supplement first. | F | 56 | 15 years | 6/24/2009 | 4 | anxiety, stress, panic attack | Emotionally blank, dry mouth, fatigue, insomnia, lack of libido, cannot ejaculate. | Overall, Paxil has really helped me. It has 100% improved my previous symptons of anxiety, stress and panic attacks. However, the first week I took Paxil, I felt very much "out of it". Also it has caused me to be emotionally blank. The sexual side affects are horrible. And recently, upon a dosage increase, I cannot sleep at night. I haven't slept for 4 days. I am hoping this side affect goes away soon. I have also dry mouth side affects too. | M | 34 | 3 months | 6/22/2009 | 4 | Panic Attacks | Difficult to get off | got rid of the symptosm | M | 41 | 2 years | 6/17/2009 | 1 | anxiety and rage, ocd | obliterated sex drive, weight gain, nausea, atrocious constant gas, brain shocks, dizziness, depression, moodiness, suicidal ideation, fatigue, heart racing for no reason, short of breath feeling for no reason, easily winded, stuttering, forgetting how to do basic things.... YOU NAME IT, I GOT IT AS A SIDE EFFECT. | After suffering with anxiety for all of my 26 years, I finally got some insurance and saw a doctor. The psychopharmacologist tried me on buspar and klonopin in Nov 2008, but the buspar made me feel like i was drinking liquor and smoking pot all day, so in Jan 2009 she replaced it with Paxil. It was February or so when I noticed that my blind rages, mood swings and intrusive thoughts had significantly declined, and my panic attacks were completely gone. Unfortunately, so was my libido. I also started noticing around this time that I was getting a racing heart and weakness around the same time every night, which the doc attributed to withdrawal (even though I was taking my 20mg dose every morning like clockwork) and prescribed me to take another 10mg at night. Guess what? Not only did the side effects continue and in fact worsen, but the benefits I had briefly experienced from the medication vanished. In April I decided enough was enough, as the lack of sex was ruining my relationship with my depressed partner, and all the Paxil was doing was making me physically ill while all the while my anxiety and rage was as it ever was prior to medication. Unfortunately, my doc had neglected to tell me about how dangerous the drug was before putting me on it, and also neglected to instruct me correctly on how to taper off. I told her I had 7 doses left, and she said to take one a day until I was out. Guess what happened a week later? The worst damn case of discontinuation syndrome the doc | F | 27 | 5 months | 6/15/2009 | 5 | Depression, anxiety, suicidal | Some weight gain and mild emotional flatness. | For me Paxil is great. After suffering years of anxiety, I started taking Zoloft, which gradually became ineffective. After switching to Paxil I feel just about plum perfect. Been taking it for about 5 years and expect to take it-- or another antidepressant-- pretty much forever. Decided to very gradually wean off at one point and my symptoms returned. I had apparently forgotten what it was like to be very anxious and depressed. The fact is, Paxil just works for some people. SSRIs can be life savers and they are for me. I only wish I had started taking them earlier. | M | 43 | 5 years | 6/10/2009 | 4 | Stress-related anxiety | None to speak of... NOW. (My earlier post is a few down, which mentions EXTREME EXHAUSTION; 47-yr-old female). | I began to wonder if anyone ever reported BACK after posting on this blog to update how things had progressed, or deteriorated, whichever the case. So, since I personally was desperate to find out what to expect, "should I continue this", "when is this going to help", and any other number of questions and anxieties about this treatment, I thought I would report back. I'll give it to you totally straight - the first 2.5 weeks, I truly, truly felt like I was going to die. I didn't WANT to die... no suicidal tendencies or anything like that, but I just felt so freakin' HORRIBLE that this treatment just didn't seem WORTH ALL THIS ~ horrible nausea, debilitating fatigue and sluggishness, my skin was burnng, sweating, muscle aches and very "flu-ish" like symptoms. BY the end of 2 weeks, I really began to try to remember what feeling "okay" felt like. The 13th day, I had to call in sick and take a long weekend, and for 3 days, I just laid there. Not sleeping, reading, nothing. Just laid there feeling achy, nauseaus, completely sluggish (as if I was carrying a 50 lb. sack of wet sand everywhere), pee'd every 10 minutes, and couldn't even must the energy to wash some underwear. The dishes in my sink were attracting FLIES! Luckily, I at least mustered enough to feed my dogs. But that was IT! How I managed to get to work and back, I will NEVER know, but the question was beginning to be asked "what is she on" and I had to confe | F | 47 | 26 days | 6/2/2009 | 4 | Obsesive dissorder, extrem anxiety | Maybe some weight, maybe less libido | Paxil is a medicine for sick people. It is a life saver. Now i practise sport five more times, enjoy more with sex (im not always looking at myself), and ejoy more life. Im afraid to stop, so i quit 1 mg per month. We are nor in a hurry. ( i take 20 mg, well 18 mg now) | M | 37 | 3 years | 5/28/2009 | 1 | Panic attacks, social phobia | After 19 years of few or no side effects, I feel that paxil attacked my body. Caused severe diarrhea, sudden weight loss of 22 lbs over 6 weeks from 114 lbs to 92 lbs. Extreme fatigue, flu like sytptoms and nausea. Had sores in my mouth for months and skin turned an ashed hue. I was undiagnosed for 7 months until I went to the Mayo Clinic. By this time I could not walk, had severe head and limb tremors and could not hold silverware to feed myself. The parkinson like symptoms were caused by a rare side effect of Paxil blocking out dopamine needed for a functioning body. This is called seratonin toxicity and is sometimes called seratonin syndrome. | My Doctor said if his theory were true, these symptoms would abate within 1-2 days since Paxil has a short half life. I reluctantly quit Paxil cold turkey and within 2 days was walking, my normal skin coloring returned and the tremors have abated for the most part. I am now dealing with paxil withdrawls but it is getting better every day. I was put on Ativan to help with the withdrawls from paxil and 5 weeks later I am doing much better. Paxil worked wonderfully for years but it is not meant to be a lifetime drug. I was taking 10 mg and increased to 20 mg a few months ago. Please e-mail me if any one has had similar paxil side effects. | F | 49 | 19 years | 5/27/2009 | 1 | Depression, anxiety | AWFUL, HORRIBLE withdrawals, I tried several times in the first five years to get off Paxil. I took 40 mg a day and tried tapering down 10 mg a week, then 10 mg less every two weeks, and once even tried liquid Paxil, tapering 5 mg every two weeks. Never could get off of it, had shock-like zaps in my head, severe nausea, drop in blood pressure, extreme dizziness not only when trying to taper off but also if I forgot one dose or towards the end if I didn't take it at the same time every day. Tried tapering with Prozac, then got pregnant and couldn't handle the withdrawal effects along with pregnancy. Withdrawal was so bad my OB wouldn't let me get off of it when I was pregnant even though it's now not recommended that you take Paxil when pregnant. If I had known how physically addictive a drug it was, I never would have started. | I was able to wean myself off Paxil after being diagnosed with Adult Attention Deficit Disorder and was put on Adderall. This changed my life, I slowly weaned off the Paxil by cutting the pills with a pill cutter, taking 5 mg less every 2-3 weeks. I truly believe I was misdiagnosed in the beginning, that my doctor just wanted to throw pills at me to 'cure' my symptoms and not use therapy or actually get to the heart of what was wrong. Be VERY careful when taking this drug, start with a small dose and give yourself PLENTY of time to get used to it before upping your dose, it can take up to 3 months to really tell a difference in how you feel (at least that's what I have heard). Today I'm a different person than when I was on Paxil, I actually have emotions and ups and downs instead of being emotionless all the time. It has been almost five months since I have had any Paxil but even now, especially late at night, I still get the electric shock or zap feeling in my head a few times a week. | F | 29 | 10 years | 5/18/2009 | 3 | Stress-related Anxiety/Depression | EXTREME fatigue - I can't wait to rush home and lie down! I was a bit nauseas the 2nd and 3rd day, but today I still have no appetite. I had trouble sleeping before, so I'm not sure if Paxil is affecting that or if that's perimenopause. ? Ditto for sweating - could be pre-existing perimenopause symptoms, so I don't know that Paxil is responsible for that, either. No overwhelming cravings. I've never had a brain "zap" that I know of, although I do remember one night, I bolted upright in bed because I had the sensation my brain had just switched OFF for a second. And yet, I was aware of it. Hard to describe, but very frightening. But just the once, and truly nothing else. | I'd taken Paxil previously for about 4-6 months very successfully (I was having shouting matches with neighbors, fighting with EVERYONE and I didn't know why), but just quit one day. I don't even remember why, actually. I had no withdrawal symptoms at all that I recall. However, when NOT on Paxil, I have rage issues, anxiety, argumentative, and am currently trying to juggle a number of already-stressful issues. I asked to be prescribed this again, but only for a limited time period. I was also given Xanax for sleep, if necessary. Reading thru these posts, the satisfaction level seems to go way up AFTER 6 months or longer! I wonder how significant that might be. I'd prefer to not stay on this longer than 6 mos. My sister is bipolar and swears by Paxil; she said she was lethargic for 2 weeks, but then woke up one morning feeling great. I should have a similar experience, if genetics plays any part. Good luck to all! Please email me if you have any advice or suggestions for the fatigue. I can't afford to get laid off! | F | 47 | 5 days | 5/14/2009 | 1 | major depression, anxiety,panic | jittery, migraine headaches, nausea | This medication did not help at all. | F | 37 | 30 days | 5/9/2009 | 4 | Panic Attacks Anxiety | First 3 weeks were not nice. I was very tired, couldn't stop yawning and felt 'out of it'. Since then my libido is not was it used to be, and I do feel somewhat emotionally numb. | The drug has given me relief from Panic attacks and I have noticed that my anxiety levels are really quite low. I am functioning like a "normal" person if there is such a thing and can do things and go places that i was not able to before Paxil. I certainly don't intend to stay on this forever (30mg) but it is nice to feel normal for a few years. After reading the withdrawal symptoms on this blog i am a little nervous | M | 44 | 3 years | 5/7/2009 | 5 | anxiety/panic disorder, depression | dry mouth at first, some feelings of apathy | I LOVE Paxil. This is the third time I've been on it and it works wonders for me. This time around a new doctor didn't want to put me on Paxil so over the course of 9 months we tried Effexor and Lexapro. I've never been suicidal before but was getting to the point where I didn't think I could take it much longer. Within four weeks I feel almost completely better. I haven't used any Klonopin in 3 weeks (was using a very small does almost daily) and am actually feeling happy and excited about things. Life's stressors haven't gone away but I feel like I have a much more appropriate reaction to them and am able to think through things much better. Different drugs work differently for everyone, but for me, this one is by far the best. Good luck! | F | 39 | 28 days | 5/6/2009 | 1 | Depression, panic disorder. | All together I think this drug has robbed me of my life. Nothing good has ever come from this drug. Please try to stay away from it. It's so hard to get off of. Everytime I lower my dose I get awful electric brain shocks in my head that throw me off balance. | This drug is shit. | M | 18 | 4 years | 4/19/2009 | 3 | anxiety attacks | some sexual side effects | M | 41 | 3 years | 4/16/2009 |
| Key to
ratings: 5-Very Satisfied: this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal. 4-Satisfied: this medicine helped. 3-Somewhat Satisfied: this medicine helped somewhat. 2-Not Satisfied: this medicine did not work to my satisfaction. 1-Dissatisfied: I would not recommend taking this medicine. |