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 |
| 2 | depression and panic attacks | blunted personality, no sexual drive,extreme withdrawal effects, | My doctor put me on this. I was reluctant, but figured she knew best. I had no personality on it and felt no emotions, which may have been a good thing at the time. I went off it after 1 year. I had extreme problems with the withdrawal and initally tried to take a dose (10 mg) every other day for 4 days. I had the same electrical zaps in my head that others describe and felt dizzy and off balance. Once at work I had difficulty walking and had to hold onto the walls because of the strange electrical zapping in my head and loss of balance. It was very disorientating. I decided to stop completely after about 2 weeks of weaning myself off it. | F | 48 | 1 years | 6/26/2005 | 5 | OCD, anxiety, intense worry | I felt better, literally, five hours after taking this drug. IT SAVED MY LIFE! Only side effects are jitteriness, sort of like my body is buzzing, if I take too much. Takes longer to have an orgasm, but it is still possible. | I take a very low dosage. Was originally prescribed 20mg daily but I now take 5 mg (a 10mp cut in half) every other day. It seems like practically nothing, I am pretty tiny, but it's the perfect dosage for me. I have not experienced anything weird with this drug, IT GAVE ME BACK MY LIFE from worry and OCD. I URGE OTHERS READING THIS POST to seriously think about the side effects that anxiety has and not attribute your symptoms to paxil necessarily, I take paxil but I also worked VERY VERY hard to overcome my problems. Paxil won't fix your life, but it will help YOU FIX YOUR LIFE and make it easier to think. Maybe it's not for everyone, but it worked for me. Peace! | F | 27 | 9 years | 6/9/2005 | 3 | depression | Complete loss of sex drive, rash (similar to hives) | Had same effect as Effexor on me. I felt better, but the side effects were too great to continue. I had such a hard time (as others have described here) getting off the Effexor that I did not take the Paxil for very long in fear it would be similar. I only took it two weeks and it only took a couple days to get it out of my system. | M | 39 | 2 weeks | 6/7/2005 | 3 | anxiety | sleepiness,all the time | Paxil worked.. I guess I have been on it for so long its hard to tell. I still get anxiety every now and then. It seems as though I have tried everything and nothing works. The side effects trying to get off it are horrible! I get extremely moody and fill sick to my stomach. I have horrible dreams and intrusive thoughts. All the Drs have to say is I am just very sensitive. I think there was not enough research done on this drug before it was introduced to the public. | F | 25 | 8 days | 5/10/2005 | 1 | dysthymia | Discontination syndrome is terrible. This drug should be taken off the market. Even after tapering off, my discontinuation symptoms included: initially, electric shock-like brain | I was fine on Paxil for a couple of years, except for lethargy and greatly reduced sexual response. Then, on the advice of an incompetent psychiatrist, I tried Lexapro. He overdosed me (milligram for milligram, Lexapro is approximately twice as strong as Paxil). Went back on Paxil. Paxil pooped out after about a year and was causing increased depression and despair. (Another thing the incompetent psychiatrist didn't know -- you can't go on and off Paxil; it is less effective the second time around.) I realized the cure for Paxil poop-out is NOT more Paxil! But much to my horror, this thing is a treadmill. I have long-term discontinuation syndrome -- otherwise known as brain damage -- and am looking at having to get back on some other awful antidepressant that will also cause dependency. WARNING -- YOU MAY BE NEVER BE ABLE TO GET OFF ANTIDEPRESSANTS ONCE YOU START TAKING PAXIL. | F | 54 | 3 years | 5/8/2005 | 4 | Anxiety/chronic headaches/IBS | Night sweats, no orgasms | I wake up most mornings sweaty, I feel cold because I am damp. I also noticed that I don't want sex as much ( and I LOVED it) and I haven't reached orgasm in a LONG TIME!!! Other than that I think it's great. I haven't had any other side effects and I am less anxious, don't snap at people as easily and am easier to get along with. Feeling kinda down though! | F | 25 | 3.5 months | 5/4/2005 | 3 | Anger Management Issues | My husband, 35 year old male, was taking Paxil for his anger problems. Before the drug, he was abusive, short tempered, and extremely violent. After he got on Paxil, he was a changed man. No anger, violence, or abuse anymore. He had no side effects while on it and all was going well. Until however, he decided about three weeks ago, that he would stop taking it. He took it for about 9 months and then when the last refill ran out, he just stopped. Now, he is right back to the way he used to be. He became very violent last night and was involuntarily committed today. He threatened suicide and completly lost it. I just hope the doctors can do something now to help him. | Please do NOT stop taking this medicine without speaking to your doctor about possible side effects. It could be dangerous to your health. | F | 28 | 9 months | 4/17/2005 | 1 | Depression/bi polar | Horrid weight gain etreme anger outbursts.Always sleepy | I had outragous anger outbursts, I felt like they should have strapped me down but then I wouldnt have been able to get to the fridge which is where I lived while on this drug. Cant wait to get back on Zoloft!!! | F | 26 | 24 days | 4/12/2005 | 5 | GAD and depression | First two weeks I had moments of | I stopped taking the med after 9 months ONLY because it decreased my sexual drive and even when I did have sex, I couldn't have an orgasm. It's unfortunate because Paxil was WONDERFUL for my anxiety disorder but intimacy is an important aspect of life too. BEWARE: Don't stop this drug cold turkey! | F | 29 | 9 months | 4/5/2005 | 5 | GAD and depression | First two weeks I had moments of | I stopped taking the med after 9 months ONLY because it decreased my sexual drive and even when I did have sex, I couldn't have an orgasm. It's unfortunate because Paxil was WONDERFUL for my anxiety disorder but intimacy is an important aspect of life too. BEWARE: Don't stop this drug cold turkey! | F | 29 | 9 months | 4/5/2005 | 5 | GAD and depression | First two weeks I had moments of zoning out, headaches, dry mouth, uncontrollable yawn, and a weird electric shock in my head. But after a few weeks on the med, I started to worry less, I was finally able to sleep through the night, I wasn't as irritable, I felt alive again! | I stopped taking the med after 9 months ONLY because it decreased my sexual drive and even when I did have sex, I couldn't have an orgasm. It's unfortunate because Paxil was WONDERFUL for my anxiety disorder but intimacy is an important aspect of life too. BEWARE: Don't stop this drug cold turkey! | F | 29 | 9 months | 4/5/2005 | 5 | GAD/Depression | Forgot to mention WEIGHT GAIN. 13 pounds in nine months! Sorry for all the repeated entries...For some reason it kept cutting off the rest of my comment... | F | 29 | 9 months | 4/5/2005 | 5 | Social anxiety disorder, depression | Lowered libido, inability to achieve orgasm, high body temperature, yawning, sleepiness. Side effects disappeared after a month. | Extremely impressed with this drug. I honestly, literally feel happier than I have in my life. Really. And I'm only taking 20 mg. It's also practically cured my SAD.
I got the depressed libido that everyone complains about, but it went away after a month. Interestingly, sex is much more intense now and I can hold on for longer.
I take the paxil first thing in the morning, and it works much more effectively if I skip breakfast. Don't know why. Eating healthily and avoiding fat-containing foods also seems to help it work. | M | 25 | 5 months | 4/4/2005 | 4 | Social Anxiety Disorder | Loss of libido and weight gain. I also take it with Thiothixene (Navane)and Tricor (for triglycerides). The mix might add to the side effects though. | Paxil has removed my shyness and I don't care what anyone thinks of me anymore. I am very comfortable in public. It seems to have dulled all feelings though. When my father passed away I only cried once. Not sure if it was the Paxil or just my way of mourning as everyone mourns differently. But overall I am happier with Paxil. Tried to get off quickly and got night sweats and insomnia. You have to wean yourself off SLOWLY!!! | M | 49 | 3 years | 4/1/2005 | 3 | IBS | Sleepless nights, insomnia, extreme boredom, short attention span, weight loss (15pounds), no labido, poor decision making skills, 3-4 weird dreams per night with no direction or meaning | When i started taking it i had left my job, got dumped by my girlfriend and was down in a lot of spirits, so the direct purpose of the drug did help. This drug apparently has helped in off label use for people who suffer from IBS, which helps the body from having spastic responses which causes diarrhea. I think in a lot of cases it has helped my cause, but ultimately the strange dreams and lack of labido makes it hard to see this as a benefit to my lifestyle. Other than that i am very worried as to what will happen i go off the drug and wonder how different i will see things. | M | 26 | 3 months | 4/1/2005 | 1 | | 3/30/2005 | 5 | Depression | Excessive sweating, weight gain, 40 pounds over several years | I was on Paxil 20mg for many years with great benefit. I was less shy and depression lifted. When the dose was increased to 40mg I started sweating and couldn't get it to go away again; even by going back to 20mg. Had to stop taking it. | F | 45 | 13 days | 3/22/2005 | 1 | Anxiety and minor depression. | 1. Colossal sweet tooth resulting in ten pound weight gain in six weeks. 2. Extreme apathy and loss of ambition. So while I was sitting there gaining weight, I'd just think, | The Paxil worked. That's why it's too bad. But obviously the negatives outweighed the positives. So far the withdrawl isn't too bad. Split the pill in half for a week, and am now a few days into quarters (2.5 mg). I have noticed some inexplicable outbursts of rage, but I can usually hold them in and chalk it up to withdrawl. After a week I'll start crushing it and licking up bits of pill dust, I mean it, after reading all the warnings about serious tapering. I've heard you can get it in liquid but I don't think my doctor will do that for me as she got in a huge snit when I told her about the side effects and that I was going to go off the pill. Apparently all these physiological problems are all | F | 34 | 8 weeks | 3/22/2005 | 1 | Anxiety and depression. | 1. Colossal sweet tooth resulting in ten pound weight gain in six weeks. 2. Extreme apathy and loss of ambition. So while I was sitting there gaining weight, I'd just think, | The Paxil worked. That's why it's too bad. But obviously the negatives outweighed the positives. So far the withdrawl isn't too bad. Split the pill in half for a week, and am now a few days into quarters (2.5 mg). I have noticed some inexplicable outbursts of rage, but I can usually hold them in and chalk it up to withdrawl. After a week I'll start crushing it and licking up bits of pill dust, I mean it, after reading all the warnings about serious tapering. I've heard you can get it in liquid but I don't think my doctor will do that for me as she got in a huge snit when I told her about the side effects and that I was going to go off the pill. Apparently all these physiological problems are all | F | 34 | 8 weeks | 3/22/2005 | 1 | anxiety/panic attacks | Racing heart/palpitations. Racing thoughts/no ability to concentrate.Hyperactivity. Severe insomnia.Worsening panic episodes. Electric shock-like sensations in head and neck. Very dilated pupils. Flushing/burning extemities. Followed by macular rash, then hives. Extremely elavated b/p. | Prescribed 10 mg. Doc said it would take up to 2 weeks for this to work, probably would not notice a thing till then. 4 hours after first dose I | F | 46 | 4 days | 3/9/2005 |