Paxil cr vs lexapro
Common Questions and Answers about Paxil cr vs lexapro
paxil
I am 3 weeks back on Paxil after a failed attempt to switch medications to Lexapro. I have read a lot that Paxil loses its effectiveness after the first time. I (stupidly) have started, stopped & restarted Paxil on several different occasions and it always has seemed to work. I was on paxil 20mg originally then stopped cold turkey and went back on at Paxil CR 12.5. Upped dose over time to Paxil CR 25mg.
I am starting week #5 of paxil cr (week 1 = paxil cr 12.5, week 2 = paxil cr 25, week 3- current = paxil 37.5) Everywhere I read its just "keep waiting it out. It will get better." My doc wants me to raise to paxil cr 50mg on Monday if I don't start feeling any better. That is double the old dose I was at that worked for so long! It just scares me to keep going up. I recently tried Lexapro and it was a disaster. I just need some positive feedback.
had set in with Paxil CR. I was on Paxil CR 25mg and now it looks like once I get the last bit of Lexapro 5mg out of my system I will probably be bumped up to Paxil CR 37.5. My question is, what constitutes a "poop out"? I hear that term a lot and really don't know what it means. Does that mean that when trying to go up in a dose it still didn't help?
Im confused. I have been on SSRI's (Paxil & Paxil CR) in the past and they worked and I have come off on several occations, but currently I tried to swith to another SSRI which didn't work. Now I have been switched back to Paxil CR and I am currently on a new high of 37.5 milligrams for a week and a half and still don't feel that great. Is it usual to have a set back at every dose increase before it gets better?
The doctor thought I may not have enough Paxil in my system so he put me on 25mg Paxil CR twice daily and it made me feel even worse. I felt like I had the flu and very achy. Very bad withdrawal effects. I was then put on regular paxil 40 mg daily and I constantly had the eye zaps and strong depersonalization feelings like I was in a constant withdrawal.
I was then switched to Lexapro 20 mg.
I have been on Paxil for over 10 years, Paxil CR 25 mg and decided to try to get off of them. I am down to Paxil 10 mg (weaning due to horrible withdrawal), and after about 3 weeks on this dose feel symptoms of my depression/anxiety coming back - lack of motivation, feeling melancholy, focusing too much on the negative, anxiety, etc... I do not want to go back up on the Paxil as it has been so hard to come off of.
A month ago I was switched over from Paxil CR 25mg to Lexapro 10mg and felt better after 2 weeks. At that point I tried to wean down my Klonopin from 1mg to .5mg and up my Lexapro from 10mg to 15mg (doctors recommendations) after a week of doing that I felt terrible and went back up to Klonopin 1mg deciding to ween later. Well now I am a month into the start of Lexapro and even though my anxiety is better, its not great.
After the first soe of medication i have a panic attact right away, afre all week of suffering i came back to my old doctor who described teh paxil in the begging . He changed the Paxil to CR 12.5 and gave me Xanax, The hell just started, I was not able to function, between morning panic attacts and vomiting i was not able to work (almost lost my job). After two weeks of suffering i went to hospital they run all regular tests and confirmed that there is nothing wrong with me.
I assume I only take half because of the Lexapro still in my system? There were no instructions to wait taking the Paxil, so it should be alright to take the half a pill tomorrow? She also gave me Ambien CR instead, which is pricey. With my 10% copay it was 18.00 for 30..... 6 bucks a pill if the total is 180.00.
After a failed attempt to fix my anxiety and subsequent depression that has come from it over the last 14 weeks with Lexapro and Paxil, my psych is switching me too Remeron (Mirtazapine) 30mgs. I started my first dose last night and already started my taper down of Paxil CR 50mg to Paxil CR 37.5 and hold there for a week. I also take Clonazepam 1mg at night to help me sleep due to the paxil. And I take Clonazepam .25mg dissolvable tablets during the day as needed for anxiety.
I started out taking 20 mg of paxil and ended up on 40 mg of paxil CR. All together, I took paxil for 6 years. I decided to stop taking it because it kept me from concentrating and memorizing which is vital since I am in college to be a school teacher. In addition, I gained so much weight due to the medicine. My doctor helped me get off of the paxil which was a horrible experience that I never want to repeat again! Now my anxiety has come back and it is becoming worse.
I have discontinued Paxil 25 mg CR for 12 days now for family planning purposes. I was taking it for generalized anxiety disorder. I am under the care of my phychiatrist and OB Gyn. He suggested I taper off, but I chose the cold turkey route. I have done my research on the internet on withdrawl effects and I have just about experienced them all. From hot/ cold nightsweats, fatigue, diarrea, flu-like symptoms, nausea, dizziness, headaches, and shakiness.
I have been on and off Paxil for 5 years now. I started on CR low dose, now at 30mg no cr. My body is used to it... and it doesnt help me very much anymore-although it is better than being with out any medication at all. Soon I will be getting re-evaluated and I know they're going to ask me to wean off it. I am really scared, because I know the few times I have lapsed in dose, it has been absolutely horrible. Any advice? Any info? Everything I find online is abstract and not really helpful.
Look, folks, you can't just switch from Paxil to Prozac. That's what Nursegirl was trying to say. Paxil is one of the most difficult meds to stop taking, and yes, it does come with significant weight gain for many people. It can also make one very tired, just as it can make one very stimulated -- there's no way to tell beforehand how one will react. Personally, I'd stay away from Paxil and Effexor just as Nursegirl said unless they were the last thing left to try.
Over the past 5 months I have come off of paxil, switched to Lexapro, switched back to Paxil CR upping my dose (50mg) to see if that would work. Clonazepam was increased to 1mg at night and .25mg in the morning and afternoon. Still the anxiety came... About 2-3 months ago my psychiatrist started me on Remeron which almost helped immediately. After a month I started to come down on the medication I had went up in. Currently I am on Remeron (30mg), Paxil CR (12.5mg) and Clonazepam (.
I think I've had serotonin syndrome 2 x back to back with paxil withdrawls. I'm new at this site and not sure if I'm posting in the right place. I wanted to get your opinion because I am just a wreck. It all started 17 yrs ago was placed on paxil for panick attacks and it seemed to work well. I eventually around a yr ago weaned myself down from 60 to 12.5 mg it was all fine.
So I'm starting week 6 since I switched from Paxil CR 25mg to Lexapro 15mg. I still have anxiety which gets better throughout the day and some depressed feelings. I also take 1mg of Klonopin at night. My doc stated that I could switch over to Lexapro from Paxil so I took both for 2 weeks then dropped Paxil all together. Could I still be feeling the affects of Paxil withdrawal? I felt good after 2 weeks and even tried to come down on my Klonopin a couple of days after my paxil ended.
Just looking for somebody who has been in the same boat as me and could offer up some advice/support... Last January I had a rough anxiety bout and started back on a combination of Paxil CR 25mg and Clonazepam .5mg. Everything was going smooth, but after a couple of months I noticed my anxiety was getting worse so the doc upped the clonazepam to 1mg. Ok for a couple of months, but after a while anxiety still crept up on me.
Also, the only one SSRI who work in the past for my panic disorder is the Paxil... but hte Paxil do nothing for the social anxiety, like all the antidepressant meds I try... anyway, the main problem is that I try to be back on The Paxil at least 10 times in 2010 and wasn't able to tolerate more than 1 mg at the time... I had increase anxiety to the point that I had to go to the ER...
So I don't know what do to?
My advice is to give Paxil a pass unless everything else has failed for you. Have you tried celexa or lexapro? Paxil and effexor are the most difficult drugs out there and I wouldn't use them unless I'd exhausted everything else. Just my opinion. It can be very effective, but for some reason paxil is stronger than other meds and very hard to stop taking and can make it hard for anything else to work if you have to quit. So again, save this one for last is my opinion.
In an attempt to get healthy so that my husband and I can have a baby, I decided to quit taking Paxil CR. I had spoken with my Dr. about it and he suggested that I coordinate quitting with my OBGYN and him. When my prescription ran out, I decided not to fill it and just quit. DUMB! It has been almost two weeks and I have this strange sensation of electric shocks in my face and head and strange sounds in my ears. I am also very dizzy like I have vertigo.
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