Paxil and headaches

All i can say is WOW-
i am so relieved- i have mild to moderate OCD/anxiety which has not been diagnosed "officially", but i have done a lot of research on this and i definitely am-
my Dr tried me on wellbutrin first, which i had a lot of freaky side-effects- twitching, Bruising and Crazy Itching- i would become itchy, and then scratch- and i would welt up like crazy- of course my doctor determined that i was allergic-
next she tried me on celexa, and wow- that was a mess- besides SEVERE mid-day exhaustion, i had headaches, terrible twitching (so weird!) and SEVERE bruising- i read in the warnings that bruising is very rare, but can happen- my palms of my hands would bruise, weird spots that you couldn't even hit hard enough to, bruised, it really looked as if i was beat-up at times on my arms- so of course i went off- i had terrible dizziness and major withdrawal from celexa.
now i am on paxil, i really don't like it- it did not do anything for my OCD and anxiety, and i actually felt depressed on it- i have decided to ween myself off, and now have awful nausea(all day and night) severe dizziness,depression, and i almost feel as if i've been drinking (all DAY!), can't sleep, because when i close my eyes i feel the bed spinning, but i'm tired, a bunch of crying, (that i wasn't doing before!) and crazy rage that i can barely control, the rage thing totally scared me, but thankfully it is a lot better today than it was yesterday, and hopefully it will keep getting better! -

i am so thankful for this site because i just thought i was going crazy, and that this was all in my head- someone in a previous post said that people just want to complain on here because she/he thinks paxil is amazing- good for you! it's not for everyone, and i appreciate everyones "complaining" because i now know that, this too shall pass, and i am not losing my mind! i am in search of natural meds, so if anyone has any suggestions, i'd love the post, because i now know that i am not meant to take SSRI's

i wish you all luch in your journey off this "non-addictive" drug-

I am a 21 year old female and just started taking paxil for anxiety & depression. My mother is on the same thing (heart problems run in the family), and I have only been on it for 2 weeks so far, but have experienced many side effects. They have included: Dry mouth, headaches (only a couple slight ones and this wasn't bad since I do get migraines now and then), urinating more frequently--especially the first few days but this has already gotten better-- strange, vivid, night-marish dreams, flu-like symptoms (I missed 2 days of work last week due to this, and it is hard to know if it was the meds or not since the flu is actually going around!), a very itchy rash on my left inner wrist that came and went the same day, mood swings--which I also had before-hand, however-- More hungry but also get full fast, so I eat more often but have smaller portions.

The plus-side so far is that my boyfriend and I both notice I am happier. I feel more like I use to and it's nice. I just don't know yet if it is worth the side effects now and when I need to get off of it.. I am concerned also about getting pregnant and what will happen then if I am still on the paxil. I have read about a lot of health problems with pregnancies and birth with women who are on paxil even during the first trimester, yet you are not suppose to abruptly stop taking it. Has anyone else gone through this I can talk to or who can post about it?? I'm nervous that I am just too young still to be on it and I do want a family.. also has anyone heard of paxil causing infertility? I have been looking for more info but not found what I'd like...

Thank you, C.

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

When i was 13 i was put on paxil for major depression. I stayed on it till i was about 17 after a downward spiral of depression that lead to a suicide attempt. After that the doctors decided that Paxil wasn't benefiting me anymore and decided to take me off of it, cold turkey. At that time i was on 40mg.
I started getting zapping headaches, muscle spasms, i was sensitive to light, my body ached, i had hot flashes, pretty much anything over stimulated me... i was irritated with just hearing anyone talk, i was completely out of touch with anything around me and i didn't feel like i was real.. I basically shut myself in my room for over a month getting over paxil. My family was afraid i was planning suicide.
After that, it's made me afraid to take any of my prescribed antidepressants, but i just cannot go through that again. At the time they put me on it, there was nothing that said that it was addictive, i was even told that there was no proof that it was addictive.
Also, I still experience the headache zaps to this day, and im 22 now, and i never had those type of headaches before paxil. I really think my mental illness is a lot worse from paxil. I have depersonalization disorder now, my short-term memory's crap, im more uncoordinated, im a lot more depressed and social phobic.. i know part of it could be from not taking any meds at all.. but i know that paxils really screwed me up, and i would have been a lot better not taking it at all. I just wish they would have warned me before putting me on it, or warning me before taking me off.

My mom, 72, has been sick for a year and a half now with drenching night sweats, chills, fatigue as well as some other symptoms. She has undergone every test imaginable and has been to tons of doctors. Every test is normal and the drs. don't know what is wrong. We recently came to the conclusion that she switched to a generic heart medicine at about the time she became ill as well as recently started to take generic paxil because she thought she was having a nervous breakdown. We have just switched her meds to all name brands to see if this will stop the sweats and her general ill feeling. Has anyone heard that taking generic drugs could do this? Specifically Verapamil and the generic paxil. Thanks.

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 feel like I am loosing my mind. I feel dizzy, wishy washy, cry a lot, irritated. like I am on a 3 sec delay in my brain. My boyfriend is tired of dealing with me. I don't know what zapped is but if this is the feeling drug addicts feel. I don't want to be apart of it. I may try a herbal cleanse to see if that helps. I have bipolar and that is why they gave it to me. I don't have the headaches yet.

Im a 20 year old male and about 6 months ago got injured and was forced to stop playing golf. This was very difficult and it gave me pretty bad anxiety, and i also had 2 panic attacks. All this occured all in about 2 weeks. I was put on 20mg paxil and about a day or two into it I started to see wonderful effects. I thought it was amazing. After about a month i was back to normal with minimal if any anxiety, had very minimal side-effects; drymouth,headaches. I just recently bumped it up to 40mg due to stress, worked good, but i did get a few new side-effects like trouble ejaculating, weakness, slight trembling, very vivid dreams(which is kinda neat just due to the fact that i would never remember my dreams and now i remember 2-4 a night) and a headache every once and a while. I think this drug is good and can be bad. Ive been reading a lot of troubling stories about other peoples experiences with getting off the drug, and quite frankly, its got me a little worried. But I plan to eventually got off this drug and get through the withdrawals and continue my life accordingly. I think if anyone is going through these problems and does get over it, it would be very helpful to all the people who are struggling, if you would write about your struggles and explain that this does happen and it does end. Show how everyone eventually gets over the hard times and gos on with the rest our their lives. Good luck to all, your not alone, and it will get better

I recently was changed from Paxil CR 12.5 MG to regular paxil 20 MG, after taking the regular paxil for the past ten days, I have felt horrible. I am back to the sleepy feeling all day, headaches and feelings of uneasiness. I was doing so well on Paxil CR. I even started cutting the pill in half and I still feel horrible. The Paxil CR was working so well for me, I wish I could go back to it.

Hi:) I have been on Paxil for about a year now and have decided to go off of it. I slowly went down in dosage from 60 mg to 10 mg which is what I am on now. My question is, How do I totally get off this drug? I tried getting off of it totally, but the side effects are way too bad... they are bad enough with 10 mg. I'm lost and don't know where to go from here. My eyes are blurry, I'm extremely nausiated, my moods are everywhere, I get zapping headaches that refuse to leave, etc. PLUS, over the past year I gained 20 lbs from it, which frustrates me because I had worked so hard and lost 30 lbs and had been keeping it off until I was put on this drug! It's horrible. Although, Paxil did help me for a while, I'm not sure if it was worth it. I wish my Dr. would have told me how severe the withdrawl is because to be honest, I knew nothing about antidepressants, and I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

I am taking Paxil for approx. 5 years-20mg. as prescribed my my doctor. I am currently being weaned off this medication at my request for approx. 5 months now (Slow) taking 20m.g. every 4 days. Well, I am experiencing all kinds of side effects e.g. shakiness, tremor, dizziness, headaches, big time insomnia, coming down my stairs, I have to hold on the rail, pains in my back, legs, neck, lack of judement, concentration and the list goes on. But my goal is to fight this and move on without any drugs. But I am struggling at the moment.

In my opinion Paxil was only a coverup for me, it did more harm than good. It seems like you have to use it for the rest of your life.

headaches , dry mouth, vivid dreams ending in sweats. sweat so much i need a towel to dry off, i dont get it. im taking 37.5mg each day. i dont feel good at all(( not suicidal no way) after a year and a half on the paxil cr. at first it helped to postpone anxiety attacks so that i could function and get groceries. whats happening now i have no idea but im told i will be on this long term even tho i have expressed that i want to get down to a minimum dosage of like 10 or 12 mg.

I have been taking Paxil CR 25 mg. now for about 3 months. I don't really see any change and still have the anxiety, night sweats, no sex drive, dizziness, headaches, insomnia and a lot of other things. I am not sure what to do at this point. I was on Prozac before and felt kind of the same, maybe not as anxious. Zoloft did not work for me at all. I know for sure, you have to wean off of these drugs you cannot just stop taking it or the side effects get worse. I am going to talk to my doctor about something else. I know they do not like to give out Xanax unless it is on a short term basis.

WOW! Am I the only one who thinks Paxil is great? I am 61 years old and I emotionally hit a wall about four months ago. I had taken Zoloft several years ago and had bad headaches from it, so the Dr. tried me on Paxil. I feel great and my sex drive is still strong. Sleep well, but have weird dreams. Not bad dreams, just weird. The only real side effect I have encountered is aching joints, leg cramps and brusing. From what I have read, other people are experiencing the same side effects. I take two 10 mg. tablets a day. Don't plan to stay on them for ever, but they sure are helping me now!