Has anyone (depression, Zoloft, psychiatric, pill)

[rlrl]

ever been on Paxil for awhile and tapered off it? I was on it 25 mg since 8/07 and decided to stop because my internist told me it may be interfering with weight loss(I now work out 5-6 days a week burning 500-600 cals per day)

if so, any particular symptoms or side effects tapering off?? I am on an 8 week taper off and at the end of next week i will be halfway thru

I've noticed some hypersensitivity in social situations (the 25 mgs didn't help me particularly with social phobias but i notice I am more phobic than i was on the meds) and oddly, I've fallen for a girl i work with who is younger than me because i have never fallen for anyone so young before and i have not fallen for anyone in quite a long time (something i wonder if the Paxil submerged). this happened when i started the tapering off

or maybe i'm falling because i'm exercising now, who knows

Hope you don't think I'm nuts!!

[LadyRobyn]

Originally Posted by rlrl

Hope you don't think I'm nuts!!

Nope...you sound just like someone who is tapering off Paxil. Were you on regular Paxil or PaxilCR?? The side effects will be somewhat different depending on which formula you were on.

I was on Paxil for one year and it took me close to 2 years to get completely off of the Med and feel *normal* again. (Normal being a subjective term ) BUT I was one of those people who had a HORRID time on the med and it took me a VERY long time to break free of it.

Yes, I had the classic "Paxil Paunch" and I lost 25lbs after quitting the med.

[rlrl]

it was CR. I liked it but felt it wasn't really doing enough in the way of the social phobias. Just when i wanted to increase it and i found i weighed 249, despite 5-6 days of weekly exercise, my internist told me Paxil is not for someone who wants to lose weight. There's no reason why i should weigh 249 after almost daily exercise. Not along ago ago at all i was 220. makes no sense. Could very well be the Paxil as you mention

[pitt_transplant]

Sexual impulses. Talk to your doctor. Suicidal ones can happen too.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Social phobias are best treated by a psychologist who practices cognitive behavior therapy. You start off small, like going to the convenience store and saying something to the clerk, even if just a 'Hi, it's sure hot today" then when you are comfortable w/that, you work your way up. It's not as simple as this but it's not hard at all. Cognitive behavior therapy really weorks.

[Laura707]

If I am not mistaken most people gain the average of 50 pounds while on Paxil. Back in the day I was taking it, I think it was on the package insert..

I was on it for a very temporary situation I was in at work and at the time, had I known how hard it was to get off of, I never would have taken it. I had been on it less that 6 months when the situation resolved itself and I wanted off of it... took me 2 years to get off of it. I kept getting the brain zaps and back then the doctors didn't understand that. I had to figure out how to get off of it all by myself and that was by cutting the pills down and down and down to something like 1/8 th the dosage I was on and then skipping days, 1 day, then 2 days and on up to a week in between and then only to get rid of the brain zaps until they finally stopped.. It took me 2 years doing it like that. They will NEVER get me on that stuff again! That was a long term solution to a temporary problem.

[suzie02]

Originally Posted by rlrl

ever been on Paxil for awhile and tapered off it? I was on it 25 mg since 8/07 and decided to stop because my internist told me it may be interfering with weight loss(I now work out 5-6 days a week burning 500-600 cals per day)

Have you ever seen a psychiatrist? They are the specialist and the only one who should get you on or off an antidepressant.

Originally Posted by Laura707

That was a long term solution to a temporary problem.

Yeah some doctors prescribe psychiatric drugs like it is candy. Not everyone needs them but for those that truly need them they are a life saver.

[beachmel]

Ugh...... side effects when quitting?......brain shivers! I took some over 10 years ago....weaned myself off over 2 months, but got decreasingly frequent "brain shivers" that felt like little electrical jolts in my head for about a year. Not debilitating, but definitely noticeable and annoying. I'd never take antidepressants again.

[rlrl]

of a psyhchiatrist for this prescription since 07 as well as this taper off. My MD is pretty neutral about it but it was my family doctor who advised me to stop paxil and try either effexor or wellbutrin both for antidepressant and weight loss effect

right now i am on metformin 1000 mg's per day and eventually the going off paxil combined with burning 500-600 mgs 5-6 times per week will bring about the desired weight loss

am thinking about either effexor, wellbutrin or st john's wort my psychiatris recommends zoloft or prozac but i don't want those

i don't need an antidep to survive i don't have clinical depression right now wt loss is most important to me

[rlrl]

reports on side effects varied. i don't remember what my psychiatrist told me but he minimized the electro shock syndrome when i told him i read about it

my family doctor told me stopping cold could result in a seizure but my psychiatrist said it wasn't so

seems my family doctor is more up on side effects than my psychiatrist is

i liked paxil but it didn't really work on the social phobias as i expected but i notice it did help with obsessive thoughts about falling in love

as i mentioned there is a girl who i cannot stop thinking about and it bothers me i noticed it started after i started tapering not sure if it's just a coincidence because the girl is EXTREMELY PRETTY AND PERSONABLE which is something i have not encountered in a long long time or if paxil muted these feelings for me


UGH UGH UGH UGH !!!!!!