# Should I take Paxil?



## abitrandom82 (Nov 17, 2011)

Hello,

I haven't had dp/dr in years but lately I have been feeling a lot of anxiety and I can almost feel a DP/DR attack.. I have been through a history of meds, but my doctor 2 days ago told me to try Ativan (benzo) with Paxil (which he claims to be Derpsonalization Protection Pill) is this true?

I did some research on Paxil after I took it for the last 2 nites, and I hear that one of the withdrawal sympotms is DP/DR i also read some cases that it can cause DP/DR. Then why take it??

What do you people suggest?


----------



## kate_edwin (Aug 9, 2009)

Most anti depressants have the listed side effect of depression, so a side effects of dp, could, maybe, mean t could increase or decrease it, that's my theory anyhow,I'd look up studies on paxil but I'm not on a computer , and it's actually not on the list of 45 psych meds ivbeen on


----------



## forestx5 (Aug 29, 2008)

abitrandom82 said:


> Hello,
> 
> I haven't had dp/dr in years but lately I have been feeling a lot of anxiety and I can almost feel a DP/DR attack.. I have been through a history of meds, but my doctor 2 days ago told me to try Ativan (benzo) with Paxil (which he claims to be Derpsonalization Protection Pill) is this true?
> 
> ...


I took paxil for 10 years. It stopped the panic attacks I had experienced for a long time, and also reduced the frequency of ocular migraines. Now I take effexor, and it works as well. Still, I don't believe Paxil has the mildest side effect profile of the SSRIs. Escitalopram (luvox) is said to have the best combo of effectiveness and side effect profile.
PS I'm Just a patient.


----------



## abitrandom82 (Nov 17, 2011)

forestx5 said:


> I took paxil for 10 years. It stopped the panic attacks I had experienced for a long time, and also reduced the frequency of ocular migraines. Now I take effexor, and it works as well. Still, I don't believe Paxil has the mildest side effect profile of the SSRIs. Escitalopram (luvox) is said to have the best combo of effectiveness and side effect profile.
> PS I'm Just a patient.


So Forestx5.. do you suggest effexor is better than paxil. Because I was actually thinking of taking that as well.. Are there withdrawal symptoms as bad as Paxil where DP/DR can result from tapering off or cold turkey-ing?

Thank you for your responses people!


----------



## kate_edwin (Aug 9, 2009)

Keep in mind that combo may b have been found effective for anxiety, might nor do anything for dp. Effexor actually can have withdrawl effects if you miss one or two doses, cymbalta and pristiq are the newer metabolites of effexor. I wouldn't go back on effexor een if it did help, personally, the withdrawl is bad. If you've come this far without meds, mindfulness could be another option


----------



## abitrandom82 (Nov 17, 2011)

I went years without taking meda thinking mind over matter but i had a recent death in my immediate family and it has affected me pretty harshly when it comes to anxiety and border line panic attacks.. I need some sort of dp protection pill as my doc puts it but knowing the stigma attached to paxil it seems like i will be discontinuing that tomorrow and staying on Ativan and possibily zoloft


----------



## kate_edwin (Aug 9, 2009)

I hope it not just stigma, actual stigma is define as miss information and stereotypes


----------



## forestx5 (Aug 29, 2008)

abitrandom82 said:


> So Forestx5.. do you suggest effexor is better than paxil. Because I was actually thinking of taking that as well.. Are there withdrawal symptoms as bad as Paxil where DP/DR can result from tapering off or cold turkey-ing?
> 
> Thank you for your responses people!


The withdrawel from Paxil, as I remember, wasn't very pleasant. I think it has been recommended that you switch to prozac and you can step down the prozac to get away from Paxil. Kate is correct that effexor is also a med that you will know when you have forgotten a dose. Within 24 hours, you will feel the withdrawel symptoms. It is fast acting, and therefore makes a quick exit from you system. When it leaves, you know it.
I did try a short trial on Pristiq. I was having some symptoms at the time, and It was unpleasant for me to try to get over the hump. So, I just went back to Effexor. But, my thinking is that they just tinkered with a molecule to make Pristiq, because Effexor came off patent and became generic.
They pharm companies are great for doing that. I'm not sure there would be much clinical difference between the two. (effexor/pristiq).
The symptoms of withdrawel from SSRIs for me, are head zaps and such. They are rough for a while, but they do not induce DP/DR in me.
Problem is, I go back into depression fairly quickly if I quit the SSRI/SNRIs. I guess I am hooked.
And, I recently had to add another drug to my cocktail. I am titrating up on lamictal. I do a lot of neuro and psych reading. I believe there is an epileptic factor in psych issues related to the temporal lobe. My cannabis experience started out with the epigastric aura of focal temporal lobe seizure. I had the ascending flushing, the fear, the tachycardia, the visual disturbances, the numbness and tingling, and finally the epileptic discharges and visual distortions. So, my experience was that of a partial/complex seizure during which I remained conscious and was capable of remembering the experience. And, my experience afterward was the text book twilight zone of postictal syndrome. I may be one of the few people who had a seizure on something that epileptics swear reduces their seizures. And, I am not epileptic. I have never suffered another similar seizure on cannabis, though I did smoke it a half dozen or more times. (always careful not to smoke too much). I did always get the fear and anxiety, and went trancy and panicy. Nothing ever pleasant happened for me on cannabis. I believe I get temporary ocular nystagmus from cannabis, where your eye muscles lose control and your visual system is out of whack, because my vision always goes slide show framy and bouncy. Cannabis was never fun for me.
Funny how peer pressure can make you absolutely stupid.


----------



## Olivia (Aug 8, 2010)

Try it out. Personally, it didn't make things better for me and most peopler have said it doesn't. If it's not working or making it worse just tell your doctor, no use in wsting time.


----------



## kate_edwin (Aug 9, 2009)

I don't think it has anyhting to do with epilepsy. If it were they would have seen at least ateeny tiny variation at all in the two eeg's I've has. And my neuro. Is pretty damn smart. And one of the meds would have done something other then make me sick.


----------



## abitrandom82 (Nov 17, 2011)

Thanks Forestx5 for sharing your personal experiences with the fore-mentioned meds. I suggest you continue with your research and I hope you find the right combo that works best for you. I wish you the best.


----------



## forestx5 (Aug 29, 2008)

kate_edwin said:


> I don't think it has anyhting to do with epilepsy. If it were they would have seen at least ateeny tiny variation at all in the two eeg's I've has. And my neuro. Is pretty damn smart. And one of the meds would have done something other then make me sick.


Epilepsy is abnormal electrical activity. An EEG shows the electrical activity of the brain. My brain could start talking to me in French, and I wouldn't understand a word of it. And, an EEG wouldn't notice the difference.


----------



## kate_edwin (Aug 9, 2009)

I can't explain how that doesn't make sense. I don't think there's a form of epilesy that doesn't involve EEG changes.

Lots of things make "electrical" activity, but I don't think it's related to epilesy.


----------

