My doctor prescribed Paxil CR to me nine months ago for some anxiety I was having over a medical problem assuming that stress and anxiety were causing the problem. I took the Paxil because I figured he knew best. He handed them to me with no warning about any side effects and I ended up calling him in the middle of the night because I woke up with my thumb violently twitching back and forth...that kind of thing. Anyway, the Paxil did help with the anxiety no question. I could have found out I was dying of a brain tumor and not really cared while on it. So I decided I had enough of the Paxil when one night I forgot to take my dose. The following day I had these "brain shocks" everyone talks about and it really scared me. The doctor began to taper me off at my request and I did everything correctly, tapering off slowly. Going from 25 mg's of Paxil CR to 12.5 mg's was hell and I could barely take care of my three young children in the evenings when the pill was wearing off. My body seemed to get used to it after a couple of weeks and then I started to go to 12.5 mg's every other night. I started this a couple days ago and once again, it is HELL. I felt like I could die tonight and had to lay down and not move (with my three kids supervising themselves) because I was so nauseated and had horrible head zaps and chills. I even felt the shocks in my mouth and hands. Sorry this is so long and boring but I don't want any one else to go through this. Unless you are on the verge of suicide DO NOT TAKE ANTIDEPRESSANTS! You don't even realize it is such a strong and serious drug until you try to come off of it and I am really frightened of what will happen when I try to come off of it completely. I just hope I can care for my kids and drive safely etc... I am so angry at my doctor for doing this to me without even one word of warning. GRR!

I was put on paxil for mild depression. My response was not as bad as yours but enough to put me off it. I was advised to take 10mg for a few days then go to 20mg. I became a zombie, couldnt sleep (insomnia) and felt very ill. Stayed in bed for a few days. Side effects weight gain, constipation and no interest in sex. When I weaned myself off I felt very tired and had weird swishy noises in my head and felt like I was drifting off to sleep. That was nearly 2 years ago and I will never go on it again.

I tend to agree with the both of you.

I think that medications like Paxil, Effexor and Zoloft are way over prescribed.

I dont think an otherwise normal/healthy person should be prescribed a strong SSRI antidepresant for the first line of treatment. But Doctors and the medical community at large seem to be so in love with these drugs that they give them away like candy. I have never met a doctor who was willing to tell me the side effects of an SSRI or the withdrawl symptoms. How can this be?

I was on Paxil for a year, I tried to stop, and it was horrible, my doc then switched me to Effexor XR, now, these are not cheap medications, even if you have a good prescription plan, my copay for paxil or Effexor XR is $40 a month! So, due to monetary reasons, and the simple fact that I do not want a drug to do my feeling for me, I decided to stop the Effexor XR about 3 months ago, again, what a nightmare; brain zaps, tremors, twitching, dizziness, nausea and headaches for 3 months as I weened myself. I finally took my last dose yesterday, and I feel as if I have Parkinson's disease or something with all the zapping, twitching and tremmors.

I WILL NEVER GO ON ANOTHER SSRI ANTIDEPRESSANT AS LONG AS I SHALL LIVE UNLESS THERE IS PROVEN, CONCLUSIVE, CONCRETE STUDIES SHOWING LITTLE TO NO WITHDRAWL SYMPTOMS.

It just makes my blood boil when I told my doctor that I was experiencing all these effects from withdrawl and he told me it was impossible as there are no scientific studies proving adverse reactions during withdrawl. Look, just because someone hasn't studied it and written a paper about it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Do you actually think that drug companies are going to do research and then publish the results of the research on Withdrawl symptoms of SSRI's? I dont think so!

Well, now that my rant is over, I think that this is a very good thread, and wished I could have read it before being a sucker and starting on Paxil and now Effexor XR.

Hi Pauline and everyone else,
I don't have experience with antidepressants but that't the reason I write this post.
First and the only time I saw my psych she told me that I have anxiety-depression and that it probably won't go away without pills. Since I'm very uncertain of everything due to all this depression thing her words made me very discouraged that I will ever get rid of this on my own.
I am somewhat feeling better. I live with this and try to find my way. It's just the fact that it all happened that's making me miserable. Anxiety is the main problem I think, and depression gave me it's "flatline" feeling of no motivation. I consider of maybe going again to see dr for some comfort. But, what's making me most anxious is that I'm uncertain of the fact that this feelings can go away without meds and, like you, I don't want to be on meds for the rest of my life.
So, should I try to solve this on my own or try some antidepressant? I see your experiences were very bad and I'm constantly trying to find the point of depression when one should start with meds. I do also have feelings of "wish I don't wake up in the morning" but I still have some hope left. But is it enough to be without medication?
Please, give me some advice. I'm really lost in all this.
Thank you and good luck,
Nina.

Pauline,

Doctors don't necessarily know how to take you off of a med. The book I have, written by a psychiatrist and a psychologist, has a chapter in it devoted to withdrawal from Paxil, zoloft, and many others. Their advice in tapering off is to initially cut your dose by 10%. Going from 25mg to 12.5mg sounds to me like too much of a reduction at one time. Each subsequent reduction is advised as 10%. I know that many people suffer from Paxil withdrawal and it is for real. But we can add to our misery by cutting back too much too quickly. And doctors don't necessarily know what they are doing in advising you how much to cut back at a time. You got to go with what your body tells you.

[This message has been edited by perseverer (edited 09-16-2003).]