Paxil and good luck

I have been on Paxil off and on now for about 5 years.... the current length of treatment for the past 1 1/2 years. I need to be on it ( or something for that matter ) for my panic disorder. I am a 36 year old nurse/ manager and some days was almost debilitated by panic attacks. Depression was part of it, but not nearly as much as panic. I must say, that I have been experiencing memory loss now for about a year.... I thought maybe it was due to overwork/ stress...which I do understand it COULD be. However, I find it interesting that I am seeing so many more people with memory loss than I imagined. Is it due to stress in this type of people's lives, or is it in fact, the drug Paxil?
Keep in mind this is an SSRI ( Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor ) ~~ even though there is no solid evidence (YET!) this is a side effect of the drug, I would bet my license on the fact that that it is!
I have tried time and time again to wean myself off of Paxil.. ( with and without my Dr's advice )--- I did succeed for a few years to be without the medicine, however being on a slew of other meds in the interim did not help as much for the panic as does the Paxil. Paxil, honestly, scares the hell out of me!
Besides the "numb emotions", memory loss, sexual appetite decrease, yawning, lack of sleep, etc... the side effects of coming off of it are worse! As I read earlier, it IS addictive, indeed! The brain gets used to the drug being there ( as with any addiction ), and the "surges" of dizziness, sweats, and out-of-body-like experiences I experience coming off of the drug are excruciatingly harder to bare than the depression itself. Those above symptoms of withdrawal are just that....withdrawal!
Once your body is "allowed" to reuptake serotonin (as it is supposed to), this is when those symptoms raise their head...sometimes for weeks or months until they subside.
I would welcome anyone with help on this matter---is there another Drug out there that can help with anxiety/depression symptoms, and not cause the plethora of side effects we have all discussed here?
Diane

I am on 10 mg. of paxil and have been on it for about 4-5 years. I would like to come off but am worried about all these crazy withdrawal symptoms everyone talks about. I have gone as many as 3 nights without takiing any and never experienced "jolts", maybe a little jittery and confused. I am thinking about doing 7.5 mg. for about a month, then go down to 5 for a month, then 2.5 for a month.

I hear all these stories and wonder if the people who have all these bad withdrawls were on high does and if they weaned themselves off.

PLEASE HELP.

Thanks.

I have night sweats also, and from reading above, i can now say its from Paxil! thanks. and i have gained a lot of weight, 28lbs. my sister takes it also, and has lost a lot of weight. when she tried to come off it, she started gaining weight again. I'm switching to Effexor because I'm sick of being fat and lazy and tired all the time. i call out sick way to much.

good luck to all of you!

I would like to stop taking paxil, I have been on it for 3 yrs. When I skip my medicine I get what feels like electrical shocks in my neck & head. I wasnt sure if I had a pinched nerve at 1st but began to associate this with the event that I had not taken my meds. I also have onset of panic attacks & rapid heart, & terrible terrible forgetfulness, as to even what cabinet I would like to open, I open the wrong one, go into the wrong doorway, wrong driveway. I am very concerned. I have told my Dr. that I would like to get off this Paxil but Ive been told that it would be best since I was suffering from anxiety attacks in past. I would like to be committed to be able to handle the withdrawls. If anyone has been successful in stopping Paxil and now feels pretty back to normal, please let me know. Thanks

I have been taking paxil cr 25mg for about a month now and it has really helped my anxiety. The first two weeks were hell but my body has gotten use to the drug and now I feel fine. My only side affects are yawning like crazy, no sex drive, and low appetite (this part I love I have lost 15 pounds) but will the yawning and no sex drive go away eventually? please if anyone has an answer please let me know

I have been reading a lot about some of the side-effects of coming off paxil. My girlfriend is attempting to do the same right now. Her withdrawal seems to be in line with some of the worse descriptions that I find on the net, and she is starting to question her ability to successfully come off the drug. I support her either way - on or off - but she really wants to come off for at least long enough to evaluate if she actually needs it any more (she has been on it for 7+ years).

She has had dizziness, nausea, and reported "shocks inside her brain" for the past 3 weeks while reducing her dose. Last weekend we went away, and she forgot her medication. In the past, we would have resolved the situation, but since she is in the process of reducing her dose (she went from 30->20->10) and was feeling OK, she decided to go from 10->0. At the end of 3 days, she is crashing hard!! Very distraught, emotional, slurred speach. Really having a rough time. She has gone back to 5 mg, which seems to have helped the physical symptoms a bit, but that is only 1 day after being off for 3. We will see... the emotional/self-questioning is the toughest part right now.

I think it would be good if I could pass along a "success" story... so many people have shared their problems online, which goes a long ways toward her feeling like she is not "going crazy". However, most people don't follow through when they get through it. I think she needs to hear that it is not all just trouble, and that there is an end to it (if, in fact, there is).

Just for the record... her doctor told her that she would be fine to reduce her dose to 0 over the course of 7 days... it was her own research that lead to her decision to try to do it over the course of 30 days instead. I can't imagine how she would have gotten through it if she had been so naive as to have followed his instructions!

Thanks for sharing...