1st Night on Paxil was Horrible... - Anxiety Message Board

xMzS13x · 11-21-2007, 10:44 AM

I dont know if it was me or the meds, but it was just awful. I took my pill at 8pm lastnight and at about 10 anxiety started. It wa the worst attack Ive had since March.. It lasted off and on until about 1am. Finally I fell asleep and then woke up with the sweats and I was wide awake like I got 8 hrs sleep or something. I just laid in bed trying to fall back to sleep and finally at about 5:30 i fell back to sleep til 8:30 and woke up the same way. sweating and wide awake.. I called my therapist and she said that I probably just scared myself into it. Its only 10mg!! I want to feel better but I dont want to go through that again.. Has anyone had this experience?

Moonrize · 11-21-2007, 10:50 AM

The first time on a drug can be scary,and also cause more anxiety,which I could never figure out!
I'd say give it one more try,and if its still that bad,call the doc again.

crabbyroad · 11-21-2007, 10:56 AM

My first time on Paxil was like yours, it brought on a panic attack like no other. They decreased my dosage, inital was 20mg and brought down to 10mg, he upped my other anxiety benzo in the meantime, was uncomfortable at first, but it passed in about 4 days, altogether, however the attack didn't stay, was more anxiety and agitation during that period.

xMzS13x · 11-21-2007, 11:10 AM

yea I was freaking out about it.. I thought i was having an allergic reaction and this and that.. But Im sure it was just my mind. I let psychosomatics get to me. Im going to give it atleast 1 more night hopefully tonight is better. I think Ill try taking the pill and follow it with progressive relaxation and then fall asleep. maybe that will keep me out of panic.

nixie1 · 11-21-2007, 11:25 AM

Well, Paxil takes a couple of weeks before it actually becomes effective. The anxiety issues that you were having were probably due to your existing condition. After a week, if you still have trouble it could be an allergic reaction to Paxil. Prior to Paxil CR, the regular paxil continuously made my tongue very sore, for months, to the point I could only eat soft foods. The CR stopped that, however, I discovered that Paxil tends to dehydrate me badly at night --- once I figured this out, I started drinking lots of fluids prior to taking Paxil CR at night time. After a couple weeks of the hydration regime, my tongue problem cleared up. The night sweats etc, could be the result of any previous drug that you have been taken off of causing withdrawal.