Panic Attack Treatment Now

To anyone on Paxil, how does it effect you and your life?

I’m 15 and have been on Paxil for 5 years. I want to know how long withdrawal symptoms last after taking paxil. And what are your side effects while taking paxil, and after getting off paxil how long does it take for the side effects to go away? If you stop taking Paxil does the anxiety, depression, and panic attacks worsen or stay away? And if I decide to have children later on will the paxil effect them? Any other information about paxil would be nice.

I was on Paxil for depression/anxiety for most of last summer at 30mg/day. It really helped my moods at first, and gave me no side effects, but after about a month I felt as bad as before mood-wise and repeated dose increases weren’t bringing any benefits. Frustrated, I quit it cold turkey at the beginning of September. It was a pretty stupid move – you should never quit ANY psych med suddenly, especially without telling your doctor – but fortunately I ended up being fine.

Most of my withdrawal symptoms were physical. I felt quite dizzy, and my skin felt staticky, a little like pins and needles. My consciousness in general felt out of tune, like when the radio dial is slightly off and the station isn’t coming through very clearly. So reality wasn’t coming through very well, but I was able to recognize that fact and compensate for it, so I don’t think I was acting particularly weird. Occasionally I would get “jolts” which would zap me simultaneously in every sense – vision, hearing, balance, sense of touch. At their peak (which was about 4-6 days after quitting) I was getting “jolts” every minute or so, especially when I was alert and active. The withdrawal symptoms started on day 2 of no meds, and were at their peak on day 4-6, diminishing after that until I was symptom free about 2 weeks after quitting. I was somewhat depressed during this period, but mostly I was just out of it.

For you, your doctor will probably recommend a “tapering” schedule where you take slightly less paxil each week until you are off of it. With a slow taper, you probably won’t even notice any withdrawal effects. It is possible that your depression/anxiety could worsen, so you should keep in touch with your doctor and monitor yourself. Your doctor may want to switch you to a different medication if your symptoms come back. However, it is equally possible that you will have no increase in depression or anxiety, and you will be able to live med-free.

For a really good guide on how to stop taking psych meds, check out:
http://crazymeds.us/discontinue.htm
(P.S. Crazymeds is a good site in general for learning about your medications. It’s run by fellow crazy people (no offense of course lol) rather than by doctors or by pharmaceutical companies, so it gives you straight talk and lots of details.)

Anyway, Paxil can only affect an unborn child if you are actually taking it during your pregnancy. Since you are planning to stop taking paxil now and you will probably not be having children for several more years, you have nothing to worry about in that department. If it turns out that you are still on antidepressants when you want to have children, just talk to your doctor. Some antidepressants are better for pregnant women than others, and studies have shown that children are better off having a mother who is on antidepressants during pregnancy than a mother who is depressed during pregnancy.

Best of luck!

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