YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

So I got prescribed Paxil and Xanax. Xanax to calm me down in a hurry when I start feeling an attack, and Paxil as a longer-termed solution and presumably will supplant the Xanax need. I've had the Xanax for about two weeks now, and have managed to only take five pills when I'm allowed three a day, pretty good I'd say. Mostly I've taken them at night to help me sleep. The Paxil I just started taking yesterday, and I noticed some nausea, anxiety, dry mouth and yawning. I was wondering if anyone else is on Paxil? I've gone googling and have seen nothing but horror stories, much to my chagrin...

Hi, I've been on Paxil for about 8 years for depression and anxiety. I'm down to 10ml/day and I wonder if it's doing anything. Not ready to step up and not sure going off is prudent. Anyway, to answer your question, I didn't experience those particular side effects. I've heard of the yawning though. I just had dizziness and will feel dizzy if I forget to take it even for one day.

I see your original post is from 3 months ago. Are you having any luck with it now?

I have been on paxil before.. if your experiencing side effects already id run as far as you can from it. I was on it for about a year and a half. Id get so shakey some days you would think i had parkinsons. It made me do stupid things. I would forget to put the lid down on the washing machine. I was in school at the time. Nothing was more embarrassing than reading out loud and then lose where you are. I could do that and lose everything i just read and lose the whole concept of sentences. Oh man if i forgot what word i wanted to use i lost the whole sentence, and usualy the whole conversation. It was fucked up. I could not follow simple intructions. I loss control of my hands. We soon replaced glass cups with plastic because id be holding it one second the next it was on the floor. I would run red lights and stop signs because it did not register i was supposed to stop. I found that to be wildly amusing it would send me into a fit of giggles. Never was a holy shit i just ran that red light. It was just wildly hilarious to me. If i almost got hit, Omg that made it all the more funnier. It also sucks the sex drive out of you. Once you go off of it, you will be sooo horny. At that time i didnt even know i could feel that way nor even want to be sexual like that made me. When i got off it the side effects were way way worse. They claim they are like withdrawing from crack. Ive never been on crack so i dont know. But you will feel like hammered shit for a long time. I think the vertigo the shakiness and headaches were the worse. I believe that shit will stay in your system forever like l.s.d. from to time i will still have issues like im still on it and its been nearly ten years since ive been off of it. I do not reccommend paxil if you really take to it quickly.

I took paxil for three years and like these guys, i had the same side effects. I would get dizzy and fall into lockers in the hallway at school. I finally decided to get off of it because I was sick of feeling drowsy and dizzy all the time and I thought I was going to fucking die. I laid on the couch for a week throwing up everything feeling hot then cold not being able to even hold my head up because i was so dizzy with vertigo and walking? yeah not happening either. i would rather suffer from untreated depression than be on that shit again. I am taking Prozac now, though
but i would strongly suggest NOT taking it.