Paxil success
Question:
THANK-YOU JACKIE, YOU ARE A BIG HELP. I WON’T GIVE UP.
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi! My name is Annie. I have been diagnosed with PD. My doctor perscribed to me Xanax to start off with, then I was suppossed to start taking Paxil 20mg. My first experience with Paxil was terrifying. So I didn’t take it again. The panic attacks started taking over me. Some days I didn’t even want to walk to the mail box. I can only go to the mall on a good day, but not for very long. Driving too is very terrifying. I will be attending Purdue University in the Fall, I’m afraid if I don’t get better I will not even be able to walk across campus, let alone sit in a class with 600 people. Last night I cut a Paxil in quarters & took one. Do you think it will be effective to start this way or should I take a half? I have about 6 weeks until school starts. Also – I’m on the lowest dose of xanax, I usually only take them in halves, but I don’t know since I’m taking the Paxil now too. I know you’re not a doctor, but you are an inspiration. I have no insurance until school starts & need all the help i can get. I hope I can get through this as sucessfully as you have. Thank-you for your time. Very Sincerly, Annie
Hi Annie and welcome to ASAP! Your doctor started you on a much too high dose of Paxil. Here’s the best way to do it, as you sort of discovered yourself: – start at 5 mgs and stay there for a week – raise the dose with 5 mgs every week until therapeutic dosage is reached (which is very personal and may be anywhere between 20-60 mgs) – have Xanax on the side (not *the lowest dose* but the *dose that is right for you* which may take some experimenting to find out) This way you by and large will avoid or at least mimimize initial Paxil side effects such as worsening of symptoms and other goodies. You should give Paxil eight weeks although beneficial effect may come much sooner. If after this time you still have *situational phobias* like anxiety while driving or while being in a crowd (which may very well disappear when the meds have kicked in) you might want to consider doing CBT – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy – a here-and-now therapy which has a good track record with these phobias. As I am not in the US I am not familiar with the insurance system.
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi! My name is Annie. I have been diagnosed with PD. My doctor perscribed to me Xanax to start off with, then I was suppossed to start taking Paxil 20mg. My first experience with Paxil was terrifying. So I didn’t take it again. The panic attacks started taking over me. Some days I didn’t even want to walk to the mail box. I can only go to the mall on a good day, but not for very long. Driving too is very terrifying. I will be attending Purdue University in the Fall, I’m afraid if I don’t get better I will not even be able to walk across campus, let alone sit in a class with 600 people. Last night I cut a Paxil in quarters & took one. Do you think it will be effective to start this way or should I take a half? I have about 6 weeks until school starts. Also – I’m on the lowest dose of xanax, I usually only take them in halves, but I don’t know since I’m taking the Paxil now too. I know you’re not a doctor, but you are an inspiration. I have no insurance until school starts & need all the help i can get. I hope I can get through this as sucessfully as you have. Thank-you for your time. Very Sincerly,
Annie, Your dr. obviously has not dealt with man PD cases! You must start PD people with very small doses of Paxil. 5mg at first and then increasing very slowing. Even increasing only 2.5mg each time if necessary. It will take longer to be effective…but you won’t be thrown by it. Do take the Xanax or some other calming drug before you take the Paxil…they work together to keep you from feeling the anxiety effects. You may get flushing sensations…feeling very lightheaded and your chest will get very hot. It will only last a few minutes. It’s not pleasant, but if you know that it can occur…it won’t be as scary.
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi! My name is Annie. I have been diagnosed with PD. My doctor perscribed to me Xanax to start off with, then I was suppossed to start taking Paxil 20mg. My first experience with Paxil was terrifying. So I didn’t take it again. The panic attacks started taking over me. Some days I didn’t even want to walk to the mail box. I can only go to the mall on a good day, but not for very long. Driving too is very terrifying. I will be attending Purdue University in the Fall, I’m afraid if I don’t get better I will not even be able to walk across campus, let alone sit in a class with 600 people. Last night I cut a Paxil in quarters & took one. Do you think it will be effective to start this way or should I take a half? I have about 6 weeks until school starts. Also – I’m on the lowest dose of xanax, I usually only take them in halves, but I don’t know since I’m taking the Paxil now too. I know you’re not a doctor, but you are an inspiration. I have no insurance until school starts & need all the help i can get. I hope I can get through this as sucessfully as you have. Thank-you for your time. Very Sincerly, Annie
Hi Annie, I am so glad that you are willing to give the Paxil another try in spite of your terrifying experience with it the first time. It upsets me that there are still so many doctors that don`t know or don`t care to start anti-depressants at a low dose. I have seen too many people to frightened to take AD`s after having a experience like yours. And the shame of that is it could have been the med to turn that persons life around. Annie, I have been where you are, some days I had a hard time getting to the mailbox, I had stopped driving for a few weeks, basically I stopped living. The Paxil really helped me, but I also had to work hard at getting better. I don`t know if you are seeing a psych doctor, but getting some Cognitive CBT and meds are a very good combo for PD. means you took 5mgs. Stay at the 5mgs for one week, longer if need be. If at the end of the first week you feel good, then increase to 10mgs and stay at that dose for one week. Do all your increases in 5mgs increments, and stay at each increase for one week. This is not a race, weaning on a anti-depressant this way, minimizes the side-effects. Please use you Xanax as needed while weaning on the Paxil, it is perfectly safe to take both, even at the same time if need be. Don`t be discouraged if you have some minor side-effects, the Xanax will help that, and they should diminish over time. After two weeks on Paxil, my side-effects started to diminish, that is when the Paxil kicked in too. Hopefully in 6 weeks there will be some improvement in you. I was markedly better by week six, that was my experience and might not be yours. Give the Paxil 6 to 8 weeks to become effective. Good luck with the Paxil and school!!!!! Jackie
Response:
Hi! My name is Annie. I have been diagnosed with PD. My doctor perscribed to me Xanax to start off with, then I was suppossed to start taking Paxil 20mg. My first experience with Paxil was terrifying. So I didn’t take it again. The panic attacks started taking over me. Some days I didn’t even want to walk to the mail box. I can only go to the mall on a good day, but not for very long. Driving too is very terrifying. I will be attending Purdue University in the Fall, I’m afraid if I don’t get better I will not even be able to walk across campus, let alone sit in a class with 600 people. Last night I cut a Paxil in quarters & took one. Do you think it will be effective to start this way or should I take a half? I have about 6 weeks until school starts. Also – I’m on the lowest dose of xanax, I usually only take them in halves, but I don’t know since I’m taking the Paxil now too. I know you’re not a doctor, but you are an inspiration. I have no insurance until school starts & need all the help i can get. I hope I can get through this as sucessfully as you have. Thank-you for your time. Very Sincerly, Annie
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello, everyone, I have posted from time to time on this board and some of you may remember that I was terrified of taking Paxil a few months ago. I received encouragement especially from Jackie and she was absolutely right. I was a nervous wreck. All the anxiety stuff and agoraphobia. I couldn’t drive 2 miles by myself. I didn’t want to be alone etc. etc. Well, I began Paxil in February and by May I was well enough to go on a long car trip 4 hours with my family. Now my husband has been out of the country for 3 weeks and I feel ok AND yesterday I drove my kids to a tennis tournament 30 miles away!!!! All I took on the way over was 1/2 of a .25 mg Xanax. I made 3 round trips yesterday and one today with no anxiety. Life is good again. I almost stopped taking the Paxil after a few weeks because I didn’t feel better but by the 8th week things were looking markedly different. I don’t take Xanax anymore unless I have something like the trips , otherwise it’s 10mg Paxil every evening and that’s all. I feel normal and I am begginning to do things I hadn’t done in ages. Like that 30 mile trip. I have more successes coming up I know I do and so do all of you. Cheers, Diana
Hi Diana, I am so happy that Paxil has made a big difference in your life. I am glad you posted your story here. It has to be very fustrating for people that are now weaning on anti-depressants knowing it may be a few weeks before they feel any positive effects. Posts like yours gives them hope, and shows that being patient with anti-depressants can pay off. You are doing remarkable, and I hope it continues for you. Take care!!!! Jackie "Hope is the thing with feathers- That perches in the soul- And sings the tunes without the words- And never stops- at all."
Response:
I am so happy to hear this Diana, you are an inspiration. You certainly will have many more successes to come, and hope you enjoy each and every one. Wishing you all the best and much continued success. Ray – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello, everyone, I have posted from time to time on this board and some of you may remember that I was terrified of taking Paxil a few months ago. I received encouragement especially from Jackie and she was absolutely right. I was a nervous wreck. All the anxiety stuff and agoraphobia. I couldn’t drive 2 miles by myself. I didn’t want to be alone etc. etc. Well, I began Paxil in February and by May I was well enough to go on a long car trip 4 hours with my family. Now my husband has been out of the country for 3 weeks and I feel ok AND yesterday I drove my kids to a tennis tournament 30 miles away!!!! All I took on the way over was 1/2 of a .25 mg Xanax. I made 3 round trips yesterday and one today with no anxiety. Life is good again. I almost stopped taking the Paxil after a few weeks because I didn’t feel better but by the 8th week things were looking markedly different. I don’t take Xanax anymore unless I have something like the trips , otherwise it’s 10mg Paxil every evening and that’s all. I feel normal and I am begginning to do things I hadn’t done in ages. Like that 30 mile trip. I have more successes coming up I know I do and so do all of you. Cheers, Diana
Response:
Congratulations Diana, Paxil may be in my very near future and it’s reassuring to hear that it has worked for you. I’m very nervous about starting meds but I have to give them a try. Your story is indeed an inspiration. Take Care, Debby
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello, everyone, I have posted from time to time on this board and some of you may remember that I was terrified of taking Paxil a few months ago. I received encouragement especially from Jackie and she was absolutely right. I was a nervous wreck. All the anxiety stuff and agoraphobia. I couldn’t drive 2 miles by myself. I didn’t want to be alone etc. etc. Well, I began Paxil in February and by May I was well enough to go on a long car trip 4 hours with my family. Now my husband has been out of the country for 3 weeks and I feel ok AND yesterday I drove my kids to a tennis tournament 30 miles away!!!! All I took on the way over was 1/2 of a .25 mg Xanax. I made 3 round trips yesterday and one today with no anxiety. Life is good again. I almost stopped taking the Paxil after a few weeks because I didn’t feel better but by the 8th week things were looking markedly different. I don’t take Xanax anymore unless I have something like the trips , otherwise it’s 10mg Paxil every evening and that’s all. I feel normal and I am begginning to do things I hadn’t done in ages. Like that 30 mile trip. I have more successes coming up I know I do and so do all of you. Cheers, Diana
Response:
Hello, everyone, I have posted from time to time on this board and some of you may remember that I was terrified of taking Paxil a few months ago. I received encouragement especially from Jackie and she was absolutely right. I was a nervous wreck. All the anxiety stuff and agoraphobia. I couldn’t drive 2 miles by myself. I didn’t want to be alone etc. etc. Well, I began Paxil in February and by May I was well enough to go on a long car trip 4 hours with my family. Now my husband has been out of the country for 3 weeks and I feel ok AND yesterday I drove my kids to a tennis tournament 30 miles away!!!! All I took on the way over was 1/2 of a .25 mg Xanax. I made 3 round trips yesterday and one today with no anxiety. Life is good again. I almost stopped taking the Paxil after a few weeks because I didn’t feel better but by the 8th week things were looking markedly different. I don’t take Xanax anymore unless I have something like the trips , otherwise it’s 10mg Paxil every evening and that’s all. I feel normal and I am begginning to do things I hadn’t done in ages. Like that 30 mile trip. I have more successes coming up I know I do and so do all of you. Cheers, Diana
Response:
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