Paxil for Depression User Reviews (Page 3)

• Anonymous
• January 7, 2012

"When my doctor asked me how I felt my Paxil 20 mg was working (after being on Wellbutrin unsuccessfully for two years), I could only explain it as 'someone finally washed both sides of the windows.' Other medicines (Zoloft) helped with some anxiety but left me still depressed. Still others (Celexa) helped with the depression, but the anxiety was left uncontrolled. I finally feel like I am back on track to take control of my life. I am pretty sure some dosage adjustments still need to be done, but I am amazed at the past four months on Paxil and what a difference it has made. The minor OCD I was experiencing is gone, the anxiety is at a minimum, and the depression no longer rules every day. I wish I would have done this for myself and my family years ago."

• Sta...
• December 8, 2009

"I've been on Paxil for approximately 15 years now, and I absolutely believe it has saved my life. After only about 2 weeks, I had the first 'good day' I could ever remember having. Until taking Paxil, I never realized that people could actually be genuinely happy. There have been a few times during the first 5 years or so when I tried to stop cold turkey. The side effects were really awful, and I almost immediately went back into severe depression. I've since just accepted that I'll be on medicine the rest of my life. Small price to pay for the benefits. However, I think I am in the minority in that I didn't experience any particular side effects while on Paxil; only when trying to stop."

• Str...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• April 11, 2014

"I experienced severe postpartum depression after my twins were born, actually, it started after I stopped breastfeeding them. My hormones were all over the place. I was sleep-deprived and suicidal. Paxil worked great on my depression, but I had negative side effects. First of all, it really flattened my emotional response. Nothing much upset me, but nothing made me excited either. I had zero sex drive and could not achieve orgasm at all. I also gained a lot of weight in a very short amount of time. Also, I had trouble falling asleep. I switched to Wellbutrin and actually lost weight. I would still have difficulty coping some days, but it was manageable, and no negative side effects."

• Twi...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 9, 2020

"I suffer from anxiety, depression, and OCD. I was on the lowest dose of Paxil for a month and almost immediately developed twitching and a vocal tic that comes with the twitch. I had withdrawals after tapering off for about a week (per my doctor's instructions), so I had to redo the taper over a month period of time. I’ve been off Paxil for 6 months and continue to have the twitches and vocal tics. I worry this is now a lifelong issue. It’s embarrassing when I’m in public and keep twitching or making involuntary sounds. I wish I never went on Paxil."

• Lau...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 17, 2021

"I was on Paxil from the age of 16-32. I was afraid to be on this med while pregnant, so I came off of it. I tried antidepressant after antidepressant, including Effexor, Pristiq, Prozac, Lexapro, and Cymbalta, and nothing seemed to work. I also have GAD and PTSD. I fell into a severely depressed and anxious state for over 2 years. I just convinced my Dr. to put me back on Paxil as I am no longer family planning (divorce). It has been 2 weeks on Paxil CR, and I can already feel it working. This drug saved my life for 16 years, and it's saving my life again now. I can't wait until next week when I am moved up to 37.5 mg of the CR version. This is the only medication that works for me."

• Lyn...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 24, 2022

"I am doing another review. I'm on two doses a day, 10 mg split in half, and I know this seems impossible and doesn't make sense, but this is my body. I'm returning them to the pharmacy. My head feels packed with cotton and like somebody tried to drown me. I lost all sense of direction and can't sit still. I suddenly had a massive full-blown screaming/panic attack and wanted to throw myself out of a moving car. My poor mother. We almost crashed. She pulled over as I continued to lose my shit. I do not understand, this med is supposed to STOP this. My doctor is going to be right pissed right off, but I'm not going through this. I already have anxiety, and this spiked an already worsening problem. Be careful on this. If it helps you, that's great, everyone is different. Horrible experience for me. I'm very sensitive to meds and was hesitant for years to even go on this trash. I just want to be well."

• JJa...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 7, 2019

"I was prescribed Paxil for depression. The drug made me feel severely disoriented and like I wasn't in control; it gave me severe anxiety and made my dark feelings worse. I ended up attempting suicide after taking it. I have since learned that there are thousands of people who had the same experience with this drug. I warn people against taking it, due to the side effects - it nearly cost me my life and was the source of pain and humiliation for many years."

• Kar...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 17, 2018

"I had been on Paxil years ago for a very long time until it kind of “pooped out” and stopped working. After several attempts at trying to find another antidepressant that worked, I asked my psychiatrist to once again put me back on Paxil. Just a little over 4 weeks of being back on Paxil, the dark cloud that followed me lifted, and I was able to see the sun once again. I didn’t give Paxil a 10 only because I experienced many sleepless nights when I first started it, but all in all, it has given me my life back."

• pax...
• August 25, 2011

"I took Paxil 20 mg for 8 years. It is excellent for depression, anxiety, and social anxiety. I completely lost all anxiety, shyness, and experienced relaxed euphoria. I excelled at work and dealing with people. However, it is very sedating, I would drink coffee all day while on it. I look back on those 8 years, and it all seems like a blur. Sleep very deeply and a lot, but at least I was happy. I'm now in my mid-thirties and was recently switched to Celexa because I started finding it difficult to achieve orgasm on Paxil. Bad decision... I now experience anxiety from the moment I wake up, shortness of breath, agoraphobia, terrible and obsessive thoughts, racing thoughts, and a feeling that I am going crazy. I'm going back on Paxil."

• Pan...
• June 22, 2016

"I've been on Paxil for 16 years, and overall, it's been a positive in my life. There have been days through the years when anxiety has still arisen. This spring, depression returned, and my doctor increased my dosage from 20 to 30 mg. After a month, my mood stabilized, depression lifted, and I've been able to resume enjoying life again. However, last night I drank 3 beers, and today I have walked around like a zombie. Not worth the aftereffects!!"

• KTM...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 6, 2019

"I have an eye disease, and I am losing my central vision. I was laid off 2 years ago and ended up on disability. I was feeling depressed, and my doctor prescribed Paxil. When I started taking it, I became very lethargic and could sleep 10-12 hours and still be unable to get motivated. I yawned all the time. I started gaining weight (6 lbs in 4 weeks), and I could tell my sex drive was fading. I thought that my body would eventually adapt. A few weeks into it, I was trying to make love to my wife, and I could not have an orgasm. That was the last straw. If you want to be a fat zombie that can’t have an orgasm, well, the big pharma chemists at GlaxoSmithKline have got a pill for you! BTW, after some research, I learned that GSK was fined $3,000,000,000.00 (yes, that’s $3 billion) in 2012 by the US Department of Justice for withholding data regarding Paxil. Please don’t ingest this chemical."

• Det...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 15, 2020

"Paxil 37.5 mg CR suddenly disabled my sexual functions... completely. No one warned me, I wasn’t aware it could be permanent. There are a growing number of men and women who are destroyed by Paxil. There are better options with side effects that aren’t in the hundreds. I had nearly all of them in a 4-month span. This is day 3 of abruptly stopping. Being alive and in control isn’t easy. It sucks a lot for everyone, make your choice sooner than later. SSRIs can permanently damage your ability to love. Is there a worse side effect than that? I would rather be dead."

• Fou...
• July 14, 2016

"I strongly recommend Paxil 20 mg for depression. This drug has uplifted my mood and truly suppressed my appetite. I have been on it for two weeks and lost four pounds already. The one side effect that I have experienced is excessive yawning. Once the dose was adjusted, the symptoms have stopped."

• Chr...
• January 29, 2010

"Paxil saved my life. I was depressed and could not climb out. Tried Effexor, but it made my heart beat rapidly and made me really nervous. Paxil has been amazing. I feel like a regular person. I have highs and lows, but the lows aren't as low as they used to be... and they only occur when there is a real reason to be sad. The bad: the withdrawal symptoms are horrible! I didn't try to get off Paxil, but I forgot it once on a vacation trip. Got very lightheaded, dizzy, and I had the 'zaps.' It was like being shocked at random moments. I'll probably never get off Paxil... but it is worth it. My quality of life improved in the last 3 years, and it is worth any long-term effect this drug has on me."

• Ano...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 26, 2019

"When I was a lot younger, under 18 (like 16), I was put on 15 mg of Paxil. I stopped after a couple of months cold turkey because it made me even more suicidal. A couple of days after I stopped using it, I started getting heart palpitations, and I went to the ER and had to stay overnight because getting off Paxil after barely taking it for 2 months made me almost have a stroke and a heart attack at once. Just posting this for those under 18 who were thinking about Paxil. Be careful<3."

• Anonymous
• June 24, 2010

"I have been really surprised by Paxil. I've been disabled by panic disorder (and follow-on depression) for years. Benzodiazepines provided relief from panic attacks but increased depression. I tried other SSRIs with horrible experiences. My MD really wanted me on an antidepressant, I wanted away from benzodiazepines, so I took a chance with Paxil. The first month was a bit of nausea/cramps - the worst were feelings and thoughts that were really jumbled. Somewhere in the second month, it all sort of stabilized, I felt a lot better, panic attacks dropped a lot. Now in the fifth month - before Paxil, I was housebound and hopeless, slowly starting to live again."

• Anonymous
• May 30, 2008

"It worked great for 12 years. Then I decided to stop taking it and deal with some emotional issues. Bad idea. Incredibly difficult to get off of. Nausea for a month, and after that I was dizzy for another month. Fell into a horrible depression, saw and felt the gates of hell. Ironically, I'm now taking 3 drugs to deal with my depression: Lexapro, Lamictal, and Seroquel. Dealing with my emotional issues, but I definitely would do things differently if I had to do it over."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 15, 2018

"While on the medication, everything seemed fine. I can see why people like to take it. It helps with anxiety and depression both. What the doctor didn’t tell me was that there’s a chance of gaining 20-50 pounds in the first 6 months. I gained a total of 18 pounds in the first 4 months. I had taken other SSRIs before and never experienced weight gain, so I thought, “Why take Paxil if I can take something else that doesn’t cause extreme weight gain?” I began tapering off like I always have when I wanted to stop a medication, and what I experienced was pretty awful. Let me just give you the breakdown: brain zaps (constantly), electric shocks going through my head (constantly), dizziness when standing, vertigo, diarrhea every single day, chills, insomnia (I didn’t sleep once for 4 days straight), outbursts of uncontrollable crying, mood swings (I literally had lost control of all my emotions)."

• Joh...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• January 28, 2014

"I took Paxil for about 4 years. It was truly a lifesaver from the horrible depression I suffer from. However, after about 4 years, it quit working, and my doc moved me to Bupropion. Paxil was terrible about causing me to randomly fall asleep. I had to pull off the road and nap many times. Also, almost no sex life while taking it."

• Anonymous
• May 26, 2008

"I am on Paxil for depression for the second time in my life. This last week, I have had a lot of things going on and have missed taking all of my medicines, even Paxil, for several days. I have experienced a lot of side effects from these missed doses and did not put it together until today. Works great for the depression when I take it right."

• Can...
• May 1, 2017

"I have been on Paxil for 19 years, the side effects are becoming too much to bear, so recently I attempted to wean from it. I became so physically ill and mentally disturbed that I had to be hospitalized and put back up a dose to stop the withdrawals. Now I have to take the liquid to slowly wean off, it is worse than heroin withdrawal and methadone withdrawal, both of which I have overcome cold turkey. I cannot get off this medication, and it is sad because I want to have children, but pregnancy is a no-no while on Paxil. I'm 34, I've been on it since I was 15. I was put on it and never told anything about the addictiveness and withdrawals or any of the problems associated with it. It was a band-aid solution that has become a lifelong addiction."

• The...
• May 24, 2008

"Paxil CR has been the most effective treatment of both my anxiety disorder and depression. Lexapro just made me much, much worse - suicidal, in fact, with chest pain and edema. I have found I am alert and well-balanced on Paxil CR without the side effects some encounter. 100% happy to be back on it."

• Anonymous
• January 5, 2011

"I've been on Paxil for two months now and have seen significant improvement in my mood (no longer crying for no reason) and decreased feelings of anxiety. No side effects. The medication has also helped me deal with my PTSD. I'm able to breathe and make good decisions in situations that would otherwise be triggering. After years of attempting to fix myself and deal with my problems on my own, I finally asked my doctor (with analysis by a counselor) for help. Paxil is just the right thing for me. I still don't like the idea of being on medication, but the benefits are too great."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 10 years or more
• May 26, 2024

"I was prescribed Paxil over 20 years ago (10mg) for GAD. I've tried over the years during the good times to try to quit. I'm sure everyone knows about the horrors of withdrawal. It lost its efficacy so now on 20mgs. Other than the withdrawals, it works for me. Along with nighttime RX for RLS and sleep."

• Joh...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• May 26, 2014

"I wonder if anyone can relate to my experience with Paxil. During about 17 years of severe depression and anxiety, no medication (I've tried them all) seemed to help, and the ones that did brought along unbearable side effects. ECT didn't help either. Paxil is the only pill that really works for me, but it makes me slightly manic. Combining it with a mood stabilizer works perfectly - but only for 6 months. After that, it's depression all over again. After waiting for another 6 months, I can start using Paxil in combination with a mood stabilizer again, with good results that always only last for 6 months. This 6 months on/6 months off has become a very predictable pattern over the years."