# Paroxetine



## Rossco (Aug 25, 2009)

I've been a visitor here for ages, but this is my first post.

I've been prescribed Paroxetine as medication for my Social Anxiety, but having read the side effects, i'm very reluctant to start taking it. Has anyone here had any positive/negative experiences with Paroxetine?


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## arth67 (Aug 6, 2009)

welcome

although heavily promoted for SA its really just another prozac type med

dose range is 20 to 50 so start with 10 for a week or so then up dose to 20 then wait 2 to 6 weeks to see if it will help you, if it does it will be very helpful for your SA


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## wwefwjndrg3274 (Aug 25, 2009)

now that all the ssris went generic except lexapro, paxil is basically no different from prozac and it has withdrawal effects and drug-drug interactions so dont use it and also its half life is short so i suggest prozac for sa


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## RockiNToM (Jun 15, 2009)

The difference actually is, that Paroxetine/Paxil is FDA approved for SA and Prozac is not. Since Prozac of the two is more stimulating, and Paroxetine/Paxil is more sedating. I know because I have tried each of them. I find Paxil the far better of the two for social situations concerning anxiety.



> paxil is basically no different from prozac and it has withdrawal effects and drug-drug interactions so dont use it and also its half life is short so i suggest prozac for sa


Again prozac shouldn't be used for SA. Generalized anxiety disorder perhaps fine. SA and you're gonna find some people hiding under the bed as it can worsen their anxiety to new levels.

Plus an extremely long half-life does not always equal best solution.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

As Rockintom has pointed out, paxil overall is considered a better SA treatment than prozac, however in pediatric cases, there are some considerations;

From http://www.crazymeds.us/prozac.html

"Prozac is the only SSRI and modern antidepressant above for use for anyone under 18, and for good reason. Its long half-life makes compliance less of an issue. If your kid happens to miss a day's dose now and then, it's not that big a deal. Whereas with Paxil and Effexor missing doses for even one day can start the hell that is SSRI discontinuation syndrome, and they have the worst instances of it. The syndrome is bad enough for adults, but would be beyond a nightmare for kids.

Also by being the weakest of the SSRIs Prozac keeps kids from getting too much serotonin, which is also a huge problem. Serotonin syndrome is potentially fatal, and while giving kids a med like Paxil (paroxetine hydrochloride) is unlikely to be fatal in of itself, it will be suck-*** enough to cause the kids either start or ramp-up self-injurious or suicidal behavior because they are now feeling a hell of a lot worse from the meds they're taking that everyone tells them are supposed to be making them feel better."


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## Catlover4100 (Feb 10, 2009)

I think paroxetine is actually an SNRI...but I could be wrong. I was on 20mg on Paxil for a month and it did nothing for me. Then the dose was increased to 37.5mg - and it still had no effect. But the same drugs work very differently on different people, so you may have some luck. I really didn't experience any side effects, but I wasn't on it that long either.


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## GSH (Jul 16, 2009)

Catlover4100 said:


> I think paroxetine is actually an SNRI...but I could be wrong. I was on 20mg on Paxil for a month and it did nothing for me. Then the dose was increased to 37.5mg - and it still had no effect. But the same drugs work very differently on different people, so you may have some luck. I really didn't experience any side effects, but I wasn't on it that long either.


Uhh...you must be thinking of Effexor @ 37.5. Paxil comes in 5,10,20mg doses and it is definately not an SNRI. It you wanna sleep through life, take Paxil. It is one of the most sedating SSRI's available.


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## wwefwjndrg3274 (Aug 25, 2009)

again, the ssris help with anxiety and prozac and paxil work basically the same since they r generic now, you might feel more anxious on any of them but most of the time it helps with anxiety, prozac might not be fda approved for sa but it helps for most people, i have many friends who are psychiatrists and they all agree although on all the pill books you might be convinced only zoloft and paxil works but believe me they work basically the same, prozac is the golden standard for sa and depression


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## RockiNToM (Jun 15, 2009)

Well it sure wasn't the golden standard for me, and other people who suffer from SA have had similar experiences. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm merely saying that there are way too many mixed reponses for Prozac with SA for it to be considered the golden standard. If you want to talk non-FDA approved for SA, then a more golden standard would be Lexapro since this usually has more positive responses in terms of side-effects tolerance.


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## wwefwjndrg3274 (Aug 25, 2009)

different meds work differently on people and alot of people i know used prozac and it worked for their sa but you know, its arguable, many psychiatrists also argued that prozac is indeed supposed to be the golden standard for sa and it is the golden standard for depression, i believe it but some people claim it dosent since it can be psychosomatic


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## britisharrow (Jun 18, 2009)

I did not experience any side effects from Paroxetine at all, I was on it for about three months. There have been reports that it has increased thoughts of suicide in young people, these claims are highly debated and controversial.

I am not a doctor and so I cannot tell you that you will not experience side effects. What I do know is that thousands of people are on Paroxetine and are not experiencing even mild side effects.

If you are worried about the potential side effects you should maybe bring this up with your doctor, who will be able to reassure you of the drug's side affects and the likelihood that you will get them.


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

mcsboy8 said:


> again, the ssris help with anxiety and prozac and paxil work basically the same since they r generic now, you might feel more anxious on any of them but most of the time it helps with anxiety, prozac might not be fda approved for sa but it helps for most people, i have many friends who are psychiatrists and they all agree although on all the pill books you might be convinced only zoloft and paxil works but believe me they work basically the same, prozac is the golden standard for sa and depression


They (SSRIs) are not "basically the same" - some are more effective than others and have a better side effect profile:

http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/forum/f30/antidepressant-efficacies-the-first-top-10-list-65291/


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## wwefwjndrg3274 (Aug 25, 2009)

actually not exactly true, they all work on the same receptors in the brain and different people tolerated them differently, true some are more effective on more patients than not but each have its strengths and weaknesses like for depression prozac is the best ssri for most people, in the past paxil was best for social anxiety and some people still argue it still is but since they all went generic, all of them help for anxiety about the same, its just it dosent help for some people as well, for some of the people i know prozac works better for anxiety than paxil, all the generics of the 3 originals are basically the same for anxiety and depression


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

mcsboy8 said:


> actually not exactly true, they all work on the same receptors in the brain and different people tolerated them differently, true some are more effective on more patients than not but each have its strengths and weaknesses like for depression prozac is the best ssri for most people, in the past paxil was best for social anxiety and some people still argue it still is but since they all went generic, all of them help for anxiety about the same, its just it dosent help for some people as well, for some of the people i know prozac works better for anxiety than paxil, all the generics of the 3 originals are basically the same for anxiety and depression


All SSRIs inhibit the reuptake of serotonin, but 'they don't all work on the same receptors', read about the pharmacology of the different SSRIs and you will (hopefully) understand this. Zoloft and Lexapro are considered the 'best' SSRIs for major depression:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19185342


> INTERPRETATION: Clinically important differences exist between commonly prescribed antidepressants for both efficacy and acceptability in favour of escitalopram and sertraline. Sertraline might be the best choice when starting treatment for moderate to severe major depression in adults because it has the most favourable balance between benefits, acceptability, and acquisition cost.





> ...but since they all went generic, all of them help for anxiety about the same...


That makes no sense at all.

It's easy to say Prozac works best for depression, but much harder to back it up. For the the meta-analysis above 117 randomised controlled trials with 25 928 participants were reviewed by the way.


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## wwefwjndrg3274 (Aug 25, 2009)

Escitalopram is actually one of the worst SSRIs to use,citalopram is a much better choice possibly even the worst, zoloft is the 2nd best of the ssris for mdd, people can argue about it but zoloft is best to use for first time antidepressant users and prozac for mdd in general, prozac and zoloft are the best antidepressants for mdd and lexapro and paxil are the worst, paxil helps more with anxiety than depression making it useful for only dysthysmic disorder more times than not


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

mcsboy8 said:


> Escitalopram is actually one of the worst SSRIs to use,citalopram is a much better choice possibly even the worst,


That makes really much sense again. :roll



mcsboy8 said:


> zoloft is the 2nd best of the ssris for mdd, people can argue about it but zoloft is best to use for first time antidepressant users and prozac for mdd in general, prozac and zoloft are the best antidepressants for mdd and lexapro and paxil are the worst, paxil helps more with anxiety than depression making it useful for only dysthysmic disorder more times than not


As most of those statements are simply not true you can't back them up with data from big randomized, controlled double-blind studies, can you?


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## wwefwjndrg3274 (Aug 25, 2009)

ummm i said that citalopram is a better choice than escitalopram which is the worst antidepressant to use, i dont know why you keep arguing about this just becuase its based on you opinion and experience but its mostly not true. :sus 
i have researched on this based from studies books and psychiatrists and patients so..


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

mcsboy8 said:


> ummm i said that citalopram is a better choice than escitalopram which is the worst antidepressant to use


Sad that you can't interpret a simple abstract of a meta-analysis correctly, but interesting that you think the S-isomer of citalopram is one of the worst SSRIs to use and the R-isomer "is a much better choice".



mcsboy8 said:


> i dont know why you keep arguing about this just becuase its based on you opinion and experience but its mostly not true.


Your statements are based on your 'opinion' and mine are based on scientific facts. 



mcsboy8 said:


> i have researched on this based from studies books and psychiatrists and patients so..


Could you please name the studies and books that back up your statements? All the info should be up to date of course.


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## wwefwjndrg3274 (Aug 25, 2009)

Your "facts" must be based on opinion, no offence but it would be wonderful if you can show me the "scientific facts". People argue about this all the time believe me so research the antidepressants again and find out the best one to use.


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

I gave you the link to the meta-analysis, which proved many of your statements incorrect. I don't want to invest my time to show that your made-up 'facts' are wrong - instead I prefer to help other people on SAS like I have always done. Talking with trolls never fascinated me (which doesn't imply that you are a troll of course ).


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## RockiNToM (Jun 15, 2009)

mcsboy8, he just showed where he got his data from... If there's anyone here who is basing their evidence on their own opinion it's you... And by the way, Lexapo/Escitalopram is one of the most selective of all the SSRIs hence fewer side-effects, better tolerance over citalopram/celexa, as it is a cleaner SSRI.

To quote Burgy from the depressionforums.org:

_"Celexa (citalopram) came first. It's a racemic compound, which means it's made up of mirror image isomers, called R and S. The makers of Celexa found that the S isomer has most of the antidepressant effects, so they split the isomers, got rid of the less effective Rs, and made Lexapro, or escitalopram (get it, S?). That's why 10mg Lexapro is equivalent to 20mg Celexa."_

You can also see for youself people's reviews of the medication, which I would say is far more accurate, than just a bunch of opinions from a few people you know:

http://www.revolutionhealth.com/dru...pro-for-social-phobia-social-anxiety-disorder

Compare Lexapro to the other SSRIs if you will, and you will see regarding SA (also known as Social Phobia) it's one of the best, if not the best.


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## beaches09 (Feb 1, 2009)

mcsboy8 said:


> now that all the ssris went generic except lexapro, paxil is basically no different from prozac


Right from the get go these two statements clarify in bold letters your possession of inaccurate knowledge on these medications.

A.) Generic does not by any means take all of the ssris and make them "the same".

B.) If you genuinely knew what you were talking about you would know that Paroxetine and Fluoxetine are quite actually on opposite ends of the scale in terms of how they effect most people and why, they are NOT the same by any means.



mcsboy8 said:


> again, the ssris help with anxiety and prozac and paxil work basically the same since they r generic now, i have many friends who are psychiatrists and they all agree


The problem with psychiatrists is that many don't have user experience. And 2nd if they actually did their homework in school like they were supposed to, then they would very well know that these meds are not the same and why. In which case they would most likely be just summing everything up and not getting into complete detail with you in conversation.



mcsboy8 said:


> actually not exactly true, they all work on the same receptors in the brain and different people tolerated them differently.


As Medline stated these SSRI's all inhibit the reuptake of serotonin but they do not "all work on the same receptors". Each of them has uniquely higher and lower affinities than one another for other neurotransmitters in the brain however minute in comparison to their selectivity for serotonin they are still present and VERY noticeable if you had participated in taking any of these drugs you would realize that. So this statement again very much shows your absence of correct knowledge.



mcsboy8 said:


> i dont know why you keep arguing about this just becuase its based on you opinion and experience but its mostly not true. :sus
> i have researched on this based from studies books and psychiatrists and patients so..


These guys are arguing with you because you are wrong. Any random person that didn't know anything about meds could come into this thread and clearly see that you are posting information based on opinions and random data you "collected and heard".

It is clear you have little or no personal experience with these meds and the info you have acquired is incomplete.

To be noted; I've been on all of these meds you are talking about with the exception of escitaprolam and I can tell you from experience that each of them has distinctively very noticeable and different effects.



mcsboy8 said:


> Your "facts" must be based on opinion, no offence but it would be wonderful if you can show me the "scientific facts".


http://www.preskorn.com/books/ssri_s3.html

...............

This is not meant as an attack, but for the sake of ALL the random people coming into and reading these threads looking for solid facts and/or opinions based on personal experience, it would be best to double/triple confirm your info and only post accurate data in medication threads and if basing something on an opinion or incomplete random knowledge collected please state so. Many people do this on the internet and this is why so much false information is out there.


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

Great argumentation and very interesting link, but we shouldn't invest too much time in persons like mcsboy8 - always ask yourself the question: Is this guy just a troll? (following to board rules my statement doesn't imply that he is a "troll").


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## beaches09 (Feb 1, 2009)

sometimes I get a little hyperfocused :yes


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

As it's been pointed out by medline and beches already, no two SSRI's are the same. They all differ in potency for the SERT pump, duration of action, pharmacokinetics, potency for secondary receptor sites, etc.


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## jonny1 (May 10, 2012)

Hi there, I was taking paxil 20mg for around 2 years, When it started working it did really help my SA/blushing. I felt alot better in myself and I became more outgoing and confident, however this is not a permanent fix as eventually the positives went away. after around a year and a half my doctor suggested up the dose to 30mg, this did not really help, so then my doctor suggested we try something else.
I was put on citalopram, tapered up to 40mg over 3 months, this was a complete waste of time, the citalopram did nothing for me. 
Now i am taking sertraline, went up to 100mg from 50mg today, after a month of being on 50mg. within the first week of taking 50mg i felt posotive effects and think 100mg will help me further. Also through my experience drinking alchahol has a very negative effect, it seems every time the meds are starting to work, drinking seems to wipe the good feeling away the day after, then it seems i will have to build it back up again, Therefore drinking whilst on SSRI's kind of makes taking the meds a waste of time.


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## AxlSlash (May 10, 2012)

Paxil is the ONLY SSRI that has "helped" my social, anxiety/panic disorder. I say helped, cause the only thing it really does is stop me from having panic attacks, i still fear going out and have constant anxiety, but everytime i tried to switch to something else or lowered my dose of paxil my panic attacks would come back. Only high doses work for me. I've been as high as 60 mg, but right now i am at 40 mg. Anything lower and my panic attacks come right back.


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