PAXIL Reviews (PAROXETINE HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 2.9 (1018 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare PAXIL with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Date added. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 |
More on PAXIL: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR PAXIL | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 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 | 2 | bipolar | tremor, nightmares, massive weight gain | addictive and impossible to get off | F | 45 | 12 years | 4/15/2009 | 1 | anxiety | having no conscience, mega weight gain, swollen ankles | F | 34 | 1.5 years | 4/9/2009 | 1 | Anxiety and Depression | Horrible fatigue, worsened depression, lost almost all libido. | It made my anxiety better for a few weeks but then once I upped my dose to 20-30 mg I just hit rock bottom. I'm in college and now am failing almost all my classes. Can't get out of bed from either horrible fatigue or am too depressed to move. I'm getting weened off of it now and it's making me borderline suicidal and is making me have huge mood swings. | F | 19 | 3 months | 3/28/2009 | 5 | Severe depression; moderate OCD | None to speak of. I had been on a number of other ADs in the past, most of which really didn't help my depression much, or the side effects made me stop taking the med. One warning though... I cannot take GENERIC paxil. I was on it for about six months and had several seizures. The only problem I ever had was when this med went GENERIC and I was put on the "make-believe" paxil. I had several seizures while on the GENERIC. I'd wake up in the middle of the night, very confused and scared and also noticed that I had "wet" myself. When I lost control of my bladder during the day, I mentioned it to my doctor & he sent me for a brain scan. Sure enough, there was signs of previous seizure activity. Since going back to the brand Paxil I've not had a single episode. Generics ARE NOT always equal. | Looking at the range of comments and side effects listed here is amazing. Paxil must be one of those drugs that is either very very good or very very bad for a patient. Thankfully, I fall into the 1st category. I hope I never have to go off this drug. I've suffered from depression for most of my life, as did my father before me. As my life went on and my children grew into their teen years (ack!) and my beloved parents grew ill and died, husband lost his job... My depression grew darker. I've been in deep depressions before, so when my doctor prescribed Paxil I took it, not expecting much of anything. Miracle of miracles!! It works for me! I've been on this medication for 13 plus years and I am finally person that can cope with life's many ups and downs without hitting rock-bottom and staying buried there for months at a time. What a wonderful feeling! I don't feel at all 'drugged' with Paxil, as I did with some of the other ADs I've taken in the past. I just feel able to function as I suppose people are meant to. I started out with a 20mg dose and titred up to a 60mg dosage which I have been taking now for quite some time. I still have some rough spots in my life - but that's normal too, right? Meds weren't designed to make your life a Utopia. Paxil does it job, which is to even out my brain chemistry so that I can function without severe depression and suicidal ideations. | F | 60 | 13 years | 3/25/2009 | 5 | Anxiety | I had a little weight gain, but nothing that wasn't manageable. The sexual side effects were offset by Levitra, and I actually became a better lover, because I had no premature ejaculation. | I've been on this drug for 11 years, and it really did save my life. I don't mind taking it for the rest of my life, for I am a stable, happy person. I know a lot of people have had problems with it, but Paxil hits my sweet spot. I was on other SSRIs before Paxil, but nothing "did it" quite as well for me. | M | 62 | 11 years | 3/15/2009 | 2 | depression | HORRIBLE WEIGHT GAIN!! i seriously gained 30 pounds in a month. diet and exercise did nothing. I kept gaining until I stopped taking it. | only alleviated my depression a little | F | 21 | 3 months | 3/12/2009 | 3 | Anxiety | My husband has been on this drug for 6months now and says it has helped with his frustration and anxiety. I only just discovered today the probem with this medication. It has made him (in the last 6months) COMPLETELY apathetic. He started taking this medication right before we found out we're having a baby. My entire pregnancy has been a disaster. I have zero support from him, he is emotionally unavailable. It's not his fault, its the meds. He takes 20mg/night and it does help him to sleep, but I could be screaming in the middle of the night and he is stil passed out. Overall he has no feeling emotionally, he says he doesnt have any kind of feelings towards me that he used to have and he is confused because he doesn't know why. This medication almost cost him his marriage and family. I literally moved into the other room (i didn't know why he was acting that way, neither did he) and I packed all of my things and threatened to leave and STILL no emotion. He was like a zombie. We agre | His other symptoms were no sex drive, no orgasm, night sweats, weight gain (like 30 pounds in 4months which he has worked off thanks to a gym membership), emotional avoidance, the zombie affect, zero feelings about anything, no motivation! | M | 28 | 6 months | 3/10/2009 | 4 | anxiety | craving for alcohol | I rarely drank alcohol on seroxat I was drinking three bottles of brandy a week with no hangover, now I have practically withdrawn from seroxat cant stand alcohol | F | 56 | 10 years | 3/8/2009 |