# Concerns about Paxil



## Liza (Jul 30, 2002)

I just started taking Paxil for my IBS about a week and a half ago, and am still at 10 mg a day. I have noticed some help for my IBS symptoms, but at the same time, have felt rather run down and easily exhausted while taking it. I also have had some panic attacks in the past, and it seems like I am having moments of panic now MORE than before I started on this medication, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I was wondering if anyone had similar issues, and if you think it may just be something that will last the first few weeks as I adjust to it, or if this is a sign that I really am not reacting well to the medication and should talk to my doctor about getting off of it. I had taken Bentyl for about four years and it stopped helping me, I've been having a bad flare up for the past two months or so, and my doctor decided to switch meds.Thanks for your help!


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## terrig (Jul 20, 2000)

Liza:This month is my one year anniversary on Paxil and it has given me back my life.I remember the first week or two I was very tired, anxious, could not sleep and jumpy, constantly. Then, as my system adjusted to the medicine, all of the bad things went away, along with my IBS.All things do not work the same on everyone, but I feel if your dr prescribed the Paxil then he/she must think there is a possibility it can help you. Please try to stick out the first couple of weeks and then re-evaluate how you feel and if you are still concerned, speak with your doctor.A lot of people don't think that anti-depressants are the answer, but after years of trying everything from laxatives, immodium, lotronex, calcium, (the list goes on & on), the Paxil is the only thing that has proved successful to me.Good luck and best wishes to you from a fellow Western Pennsylvanian!Terri


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## Liza (Jul 30, 2002)

Terri,Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions. I spoke to the nurse at my doctor's office yesterday, and this morning, I tried taking only 5 mg of the Paxil as opposed to 10, and I seem to be feeling a bit better today than I did the past few days. Although 10 mg isn't a lot, maybe it was too much for my system. We'll see. Thanks again.Liza


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## bellyknot (Jul 24, 2000)

Liza,SSRI's are not for everyone. I also suffer from anxiety disorder and take Serzone which is in a different category of antidepressant. If you are worried about the liver damage warnings there are a couple of others in the same category to chose from. I have hep C and my docs 9 all 3 of them say there is no real risk of increased liver damage with Serzone. There is something out there for you, so keep looking and good luck to you.I know how you feel and with the proper meds I've finally got a normal outlook.


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## JDA (Feb 6, 2002)

Liza, I was on Paxil for awhile...it helped a bit but I was always tired, and it made me gain weight. Stick it out awhile longer though as you've heard it works well for some. If you do go off wean off slow by decreasing your dose. good luck.


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## GailSusan (Dec 23, 2000)

My 89 y.o. mom just switched from Paxil to Celexa and it has given her a lot more energy. Everyone's system reacts differently to these drugs. Give the Paxil a try, but if your body can't adjust to it, there are others.


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## Liza (Jul 30, 2002)

I just saw my doctor today, and he said to stay at the lower dosage for another two weeks, and then to try to increase to the 10 mg that was giving me side effects before, (he said they should go away over time). He also recommended taking the Paxil at night and maybe the side effects wouldn't bother me as much. Now I am supposed to take the Bentyl (which I went off when I started Paxil two weeks ago) as needed.Does anyone know if there is a difference in effectiveness if you take the Paxil at night instead of in the morning?


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## JDA (Feb 6, 2002)

Liza, I took the paxil at night because it made me tired. I figured if I took it before bed and I felt dizzy/tired etc. then I could sleep it off and be fresher to start the day. I was always worried about driving. I think it makes no difference for your stomach what time as long as its fairly regular. Before Bed worked better for me.


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## Munchkin (Jan 23, 2000)

Liza,I have been on Paxil for a year after about 8 years of Zoloft. Zoloft did nothing for my IBS-D, but Paxil has been better than even the Lotronex. My 22 year old daughter has found this to be true for her also.I also take Klonopin for anxiety, so I never had the trouble with Paxil at the beginning. However an interesting thing happened to me during the last month. My doc gave me 4 weeks worth of the new CR Paxil (constant release). I was so nervous during the time I was taking it. It caused me to have a middle of the night panic attack which is something that I hadn't had for several years. I finally discovered that it was the Paxil CR samples and as soon as I went back on the regular Paxil, everything was fine. I have read that some docs give their patients an anti-anxiety to help adjust to the paxil. Maybe you could ask your doc about this. But if you can stick it out, I think you might find the Paxil a great help for IBS-D. I wish you the best!


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## georgiagirl (Aug 18, 2002)

this is in response to LIZA. my doctor also told me to take my Paxil at bedtime. I tried taking it in the morning and could hardly stay awake. I have noticed that my very painful ibs attacks are more infrequent now....Hope it works for you!!!


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## bubbles (Apr 7, 2000)

For me, Paxil was a GODSEND...I was desparate and starting to get thoughts of wanting to die. I never seriously thought about suicide, but those thoughts were scary. Thank GOD I was put on that med.


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## sophiekimmel (May 12, 2002)

hmmmmm, I was just reading in the diarrhea forum about it causing worse D. maybe it can swing both ways. That's good to hear. I'm starting Paxil tomorrow and I'm a bit nervous. There seems to be lots of side effects...







I had a really bad time last year for about 2 months from panic attacks, I hope they don't come back. I'm really just trying to kill the remaining anxiety from them that never went away. plus I've got some depression now. Hopefully that will go away too. I just got my IBS-D sort of under control so I REALLY hope it doesn't fudge it up....


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## kamie (Sep 14, 2002)

Paxil...............................................................................................................................................................................I didn't like it.Actually, it made me nuts with teenie weenie very worrisome explosions in my head.I do much much better on either prozac or zoloft and then only at the lowest dose.Everyone's different.You will know in the first few weeks if it's the right medication for you or not.If you feel better then you feel better.If you don't feel better, talk to your doctor about a change in either dose or substance.That's the best way to know.Kamie


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## Cindy3535 (Jun 28, 2002)

I took paxil the first year I had IBS and for that year I didn't have sex. It totally killed the sex drive.I'm on Elavil right now. I'm waiting for Lotronex to come out I am suffering so bad with this IBS its not related to my thyroid disorder because my levels are normal but oh the gut wretching feeling for 3 days after a bought of this. I take Bentyl for pain it doesn't do much but thats all I have I bought some Skullcap tea last night at a healthfood store to relieve pain.What do you all do?


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## kamie (Sep 14, 2002)

I get Elavil with Prozac which handles some areas of pain. For the hard spasms I get hyoscyamine which I can take up to 3x a day if needed. I take it as needed.However, sometimes things get really bad and then I use the Emergency Room where I get put on an I.V. drip of Demerol and Phenegrin and after that the spaz gut straightens out for a while and I do fine on maintenance.I'm getting an ultrasound on Monday to check the pelvis to see what's going on since the dcotor feels a suspicious area where my colon used to be attached to the now extinct ovary.It's a work in progress.Kamie


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## kamie (Sep 14, 2002)

Real Bad is defined by vital signs and for me. It's when I go into tachycardia then it's time to head for the ER.I was there last week and I started out at 109 at the house and I was up to 119 by the time we got to the ER 2 minutes away.


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## sophiekimmel (May 12, 2002)

welll, I've had 2 doses of it and so far so good. I had diarrhea yesterday with nasty cramps, and I'm sure it's from the paxil because I hadn't had any like that for so long... but today no diarrhea!







Of course I had a bit of nausea and I felt faint for a while. I hope things keep going like this!!! I hope I haven't jinxed myself by posting here.....


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## Luv2float (Sep 11, 2002)

I've been on Paxil for two years, up to 40mg a day. Dropped the dosage due to low sex drive. Tried to quit and couldn't, had to bad of side effects such as dizziness, nausea, and shaking. I'm only doing 10 to 20mg now a day and I'm fine. Like any drug we try we're all different on the scale of what works and what doesn't. You have nothing to lose if you try, you never know what can really help. Good luck!


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## NewBreedGirl (Aug 22, 2000)

http://homwtown.aol.com/andforonesecond That is my on-line journal of when 'I started taking Paxil.I feel AWSOME now.I do suffer from 2 side effects ... gag reflex ... and really LIFE LIKE Dreams that are off the wall.My sex drive is good ... my IBS-D is in check ...no panic ... just a good life.I take mine at night.20mg daily


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## sophiekimmel (May 12, 2002)

I've noticed a bit of gag relfex since I've started. Plus I need to yawn a lot, and when I do I gag. Kind of weird. LOLI think my doctor wants me to go on 20 mg a day. I'm a 10 right now. I don't think the anti-depressant, anti-anxiety part has kicked in yet tho, still waiting on it. But I've only taken it for 5 days now.


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## 3fans8 (May 3, 2002)

On my 14th day the Paxil kicked it. It was great! Still have a little D from it but I think after time that will go away thats what I've heard anyway. Good Luck!


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## sophiekimmel (May 12, 2002)

hmmm, I guess I need to give it some times still!! That's good to hear tho. I hope it keeps working well for you!


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## MARKA (Apr 10, 1999)

Paxil, I was on it last year. Did not really like it because of the side effects; mainly the sexual side effects. Off meds for about 8 months and then my older doctor (now that I live back in PA) has put me back on Serzone and Xanax. Not many side effects that I have noticed from Serzone but do suffer from anxiety attacks. The Xanax is a low dose and I really told the doctor I did not want to be on it but he insisted. I do get my moments. I have been on Serzone for about 6 weeks now and do feel a bit better. I went off it for about 3 days and really felt a difference - down real fast! back on it faster than I went off it. No medical insurance made it hard to pay for 30 day prescript for $140 plus the xanax - yikes, but I do need to be on it at this point in my life with all that has happened to me over the past 5 months or so since my bad experience in Colorado and now loosing all my personal belongings out there. I get some panic attacks but not to bad. I do sweat at night and my worst time is in the morning. Sometimes I can sleep really well for about 7 hours and then like last night only about 4 hours and woke up really tired and sat up in bed fro about 10 minutes thinking out horrible my life is at this point. I get lonely easily. I am now living with my godson and his wife and little boy in a one bedroom apartment, no job, my car just repode'd and now maybe filing bankcruptcy to just settle everything and start from scratch. Driving myself so crazy trying to find a job that pays all the high bills is just adding more stress and anxiety to my life making everything just worse than it should be.so far Serzone is okay with me and the xanax is a low dose so it does not knockme out.Mark


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