Paxil or lexapro
Common Questions and Answers about Paxil or lexapro
paxil
Lexapro first. Paxil is a more aggressive SSRI than Lexapro. It's hard to come off Paxil so I would start with Lexapro.
Then Christmas comes I get the flu and boom goes my anxiety so with the New Years thought it might be best to try this switch since everytime I was getting sick I was having to increase paxil dosage. So my schedule to get off paxil and onto lexapro is as follows. I am also taking a 1/2 pill of .5mg Ativan nightly to help me sleep.
Week 1 Paxil 30mg.
Week 2 Paxil 20mg. Lexapro 5mg.
Week 3 Paxil 10mg. Lexapro 10mg.
Week 4 Lexapro 10mg.
d probably lose weight over the longhaul with that . . .) So you may want to consider lexapro or celexa. However, paxil is generally considered to be extremely effective and more so than lexapro/celexa in terms of clinical data. Another possiblity for the paxil is that this side effect you speak of generally is what they call a transient side effect in that it is in the begining of therapy and will go away after a short period.
And let me add, there was no reason to take the Lexapro twice a day. The reason this is done is when the side effects, especially sedation, is strong, and you can minimize it by splitting your daily dose into two. You an also do this with Paxil if you find it necessary, but most people take antidepressants once a day. You also still don't say if you tapered off the Lexapro or quit abruptly to switch, but don't try this with 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 was on Paxil for 15 plus years..when hospitalised for psyc reasons..Dr weaned me off it in 3 days by having paxil dose cut in half and giving me Wellbutrin...NEVER stop any psyc med wo drs help//
anyways it may be your bodys too accustomed to the Paxil..ask your dr if he thinks another anti depressant may be better abd if he could switch while weaning you off other.
just a thought!
Recently I had surgery and this doctor changed the lexapro to a paxil and buspar. At first I felt fine but now three weeks of the new meds and I am tired all of the time and very down. I have a medical condition that I have to take several meds for ex: fentora, oxyliquid, fentanel patch. perscribed through a pain management doctor. There is not much follow up with the new medicine and I wonder if all of this is good.
First of all, is he in therapy? The meds won't cure him, they just treat symptoms. Second, you say he is suffering depression. Does he also suffer anxiety? I ask because some pure antidepressants are stimulating and can cause anxiety. And did he wean off Lexapro, or quit cold turkey and to immediately to Paxil? He could be suffering Lexapro withdrawal if he did, and Paxil won't necessarily do anything about that.
Hi, I don't know the answer to your question but I understand because I just went from Paxil to Lexapro and am feeling miserable. I think it's due to Paxil withdrawel and the Lexapro doesn't seem to be working for me. Have you ever gone from one antidepressant to another?
t, neither is Paxil, as both were approved as antidepressants. Nor is it true that Celexa and Lexapro are the same or that Lexapro is a better version of Celexa. They can have very different outcomes, and both can have side effects. Lexapro was originally advertised as having fewer side effects, but in use that is debatable.
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.
I can't seem to break out of my funk. I'm going on 11 years of GAD that have been relatively taken care of until the past few months. I have taken paxil and paxil cr over the years and it has worked great, even when I cut cold turkey and went through nasty withdrawals. I could always count on it working when I went back on. Fastforward to today.... I am starting week #5 of paxil cr (week 1 = paxil cr 12.5, week 2 = paxil cr 25, week 3- current = paxil 37.
I'm not Alidora, but I took Paxil for years before it gave me insomnia. So there you go. These drugs can change over time, they're weird, nobody can tell you how you're going to feel. I would recommend you try Lexapro rather than Paxil; Paxil can be a very difficult drug to take and stop taking. Lexapro can, too, but few are as problematic as Paxil. Given you won't know how either will affect you, I'd go with the Lexapro first, and Paxil as a last resort only.
I really felt as though I do have the tools to handle the anxiety on my own without the help from Lexapro or so I thought. When he took me down from 10mg to 5mg, I noticed a change in myself that I was a little more emotional and irritable, however I thought that I was under a little stress and this feeling shall pass. March 7th was my last dose of 5mg. and since than I am not sure if I am having withdrawal symptoms or my anxiety is back full swing. I am crying all the time.
All these meds are quite different from one another, so nobody can predict what will happen. You will probably have more side effects from Paxil, or at least that's Lexapro's claim to fame. I certainly had fewer on Lexapro than Paxil. But since you're on a sub-therapeutic dose of each you shouldn't notice anything one way or the other.
Hi Lori,
I just wanted to say I am on this journey with you. I've been on Lexapro for five years (with the ocassional break). I have acute chronic anxiety and panic attacks. I've been weaning off 20 mg of Lexapro.
I too am beginning to experience some of the symptoms that reveal my anxiety disorder.
I cannot do SSRI's anymore - I've been on Paxil and Lexapro, both left me with weight gain (which dropped off quickly), and a complete loss of creativity.
It does depend on the person, but statistically, the most severe withdrawals for the most people by far are with Paxil and Effexor. Whether Lexapro has fewer side effects or just different ones is again dependent on you, not anyone else. It might be, it might not be. You have to try it to find out. You might want to wait some period of time after stopping the Paxil successfully before you try something else just to give your brain some time to try to adapt to normal first.
Are you seeing a family doctor or psychiatrist? My suggestion would be to see a psychiatrist if you're not bc they can find something that works for you. You may need an add on medication like Abilify, Lamictal, Wellbutrin, etc.
Wishing you healing!
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