# What does paxil do?



## St.Paul (Dec 25, 2007)

I've been dealing with SA and depression for a long time and have gone untreated the whole time.My GP suggested paxil recently and I just don't know what to expect.What will it change?Did it make anything worse for you?If I lose my coverage and have to stop taking it due to cost am I going to sink into the darkest emotional hole I've ever been in?That's a scary prospect.


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## srschirm (Jun 25, 2006)

I can tell a difference right away. I am about to start taking it again. The only reason I stopped was because of side effects. 

If you can't take it anymore, just listen to your doctor's advice about tapering off. I never did, but you probably should to be safe . Coming off was no different than I felt before I started taking it. Good luck!


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## coolguy (Oct 16, 2007)

I think Paxil withdraw is supposed to be a little harsher than some other SSRIs, but I think it generally works as the others due. Nami explains how they work on their website, but from brain scan research it is known that seritonin levels are associated with obsessive thinking or not (Helen Fisher, Why we Love). For many people, taking an SSRI will reduce the obsessive worrying related to SA amongst other processes such as reducing maintaining causes like depression and complex relationships with other neurotransmittors that are still being studied.

I don't think even the experts have figured out exactly all the effects of SSRI's just yet, but there is some basic findings you can read about through peer related journals and your doctor will also be glad to explain for you in laymans terms. If you're in the United States, I saw a post saying Walmart had a paxil equivilent under their 4$ plan (and if not they have other SSRIs), so insurance is not required and would probably be more than 4$ at any rate.


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## InOttawa (Jan 14, 2008)

I started to take Paxil when I was 30. Dose started and remained at 20mg per day. It was brilliant. For the first two weeks I felt very weird and wanted to stop but family told me to try to stick it out. My experience was this:
At the time I was in Teachers College. Lots of work. So I was stressed about that and SA. I started to feel weird because my brain did not let me worry or obcess about tasks I had to do and I didnt have SA. So this actually bothered me. But one morning I woke up and basically I felt warm and had peace. Whe I woke up in the morning before starting Paxil I had about a 1 second grace then dread for the day and life jumped into my body, I felt small cramps in my stomach. But when the Paxil kicked in it was gone. I was very lucky. No side effects, not even loss of sex drive. But my brother and sister didnt like Paxil so changed to Effexor and Celexa.
Now, here are things to consider that the bottle and your doctor may not know: You may gain some weight ( I did but dont know if it can really be blamed on Paxil). Some people, like myself, start to enjoy alcohol more. Its just better. Youre not a drunk and can go without, but you may enjoy it and kind of 'crave' it. But some people dont. Also, many people, like myself, do not wake up with hangovers when taking Paxil. So, another reason you may like to tie one one. Another more serious thing is this: often if Paxil is working for you, if you stop taking it for a while as an experiment or whatever, when you start again it wont work. Yes, thats a drag and may be what happened to me. So, if it works really well for you think long and hard about stopping to take it. You may be on it for life. I probably will. Like a diabetic. Anyway the somedian Simpson, whats her name had incredible results on a small dosage of Zoloft. She felt great and was going to go off it. Her psych said 'dont'. So she didnt. Anyway, many people have different reactions to Paxil. Go on a low dosage, Id start at 5mg and work your way up to 20mg. Go up 5mg maybe every two weeks. Let your body get used to the drug. Dont freak out from side effects, they go away for lots of people. Good luck and let me know how it went.


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## Qolselanu (Feb 15, 2006)

Paxil didn't help me with my anxiety or depression. The only thing it did was annihilate my libido.


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## Sierra83 (Sep 24, 2007)

Qolselanu said:


> Paxil didn't help me with my anxiety or depression. The only thing it did was annihilate my libido.


 :ditto

also, your doctor probably won't tell you about the withdrawal symptoms... "brain zaps" for example. i have been off of paxil for about a week now and they still haven't stopped yet.


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## St.Paul (Dec 25, 2007)

Qolselanu said:


> Paxil didn't help me with my anxiety or depression. The only thing it did was annihilate my libido.


That might be a good thing,I can't get laid for the life of me. :sigh


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## Sierra83 (Sep 24, 2007)

It has different effects for everyone... to be more accurate, Paxil didn't get rid of my libido, just my ability to orgasm. Very frustrating!


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## Bandit6 (Oct 20, 2007)

St.Paul said:


> Qolselanu said:
> 
> 
> > Paxil didn't help me with my anxiety or depression. The only thing it did was annihilate my libido.
> ...


You bet. Being single, I used to climb on walls all the time on horny days. That's one obsession Paxil took off, I can be way more rationnal when I deal with the opposite sex...


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## ThirdEyeGrind (Feb 7, 2006)

I use to be on Paxil and, yes it did help with depression alot but I'm not sure if it helped SA at all. All I know is that Paxil made it almost impossible to reach orgasm and I just didn't feel my normal self. Also, the withdrawal was pretty harsh. I was on 40mg for a couple of years which is kind of a high dose so that might be why the withdrawl was bad but I would never take the med. again. Yea, it helped depression alot but while being on it I felt like a robot/zombie. I just couldn't feel normal feelings. I couldn't even cry if I wanted to (literally). Basically, if you haven't tried any SSRI's yet, give Paxil a try. As I said, it did help, but over time I turned into a zombie. That might just be a side effect that happened to me, not you. These meds effect everyone differently.


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

It helps with my depression by lifting mood and stopping me from going through major depressive episodes. It helps my anxiety by lowering it even when i haven't taken any Klonopin that day.

Im on 80mgs of Paxil


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