Any One Taking a Anti Anxiety Med?

I know someone who did take paxil while she was pregnant and when she tried to get off it she had a hard time. Paxil is very addictive and the worst anti-depressant to get off of. But I hope the specialist is a psychiatrist,because he/she can help you get off it. Good luck!!

Amy,
There are tons of herbal remedies that you will not you will not have the side effects. Ask your doctor about non prescription alternatives and a way to reduce the withdrawl symptoms. Things like Rescue Remedy can help with the withdrawl... there is hope.
-Dr. Heather

I am a registered nurse and know some about the prescribing of antidepressants/antianxiety meds as well as my own personal experience of taking them. I was on serafem (prozac with a new name) for a while which was ok, went off that because it stopped working for me, tried paxil which was a nightmare, now I take Effexor XR which works wonderfully. While I was on paxil, it actually worked oppositely with me...I felt like I never slept and all I wanted was to sleep, but couldn't. I got to the point where it screwed with my brain so much I remember wanting to step on the gas one night on my way to work and go so fast until I wrecked and finally would sleep...in other words, I experienced being suicidal. I was freaked out. I had to keep talking to myself until I got to work so that I could get over that feeling. My doctor, who is a personal friend, switched me to Effexor. I also take xanax for breakthrough anxiety which is habit forming. You have to be very careful with any of these drugs, because you can have a false sense of wellbeing and then when you cold turkey stop taking them, you realize that you are a "wreck" and you can feel sick, psychotic or suicidal...and you can panic. These meds are not so much "addictive" but they alter your chemistry tremendously and you have to wean off of them so that your experience while "withdrawing" is not drastic and undesirable. Taking something that is an instant release drug to offset the effects of the drug you want to come off of can help. You really should have a specific tapering schedule and be monitored by your physician. Just a thought...after pregnancy/childbearing, your chemistry can change due to the hormonal influence and the depletion of some "chemicals" in your body. It may benefit you to stay on a low dose of some antidepressant/antianxiety medication for a while. It's up to you. I choose to stay on my meds because I find it easier to deal with the stress of being a single working mother in a demanding career. I have less mood swings around that time of the month and do not get so emotional. Good luck and take care.

Hi Amy,

I sure do understand your frustration! I am currently on a cocktail of meds, which includes Wellbutrin for depression. I take Xanax as an anti-anxiety but was able to wean off it for the pregnancy. I've never been on Paxil but I was on Zoloft before. With SSRI's it is very important to taper down. These meds aren't necessarily addictive; your body just gets used to them so there will be withdrawal. When I went off Zoloft, I did it cold turkey and it was one of the worst decisions I've ever made. I dropped so low, I was suicidal and ended up in the hospital. The physical symptoms lasted a few weeks.
Is there no other way the specialist can get you in before December? Are you seeing a Psychiatrist? Your family doctor should be able to help you with this. Good luck. I hope you gett his straightened out quickly! :)

Hi Amy,

There is a difference between SSRI drugs (Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft, etc) and antianxiety drugs, which are in a class called benzodiazepines (valium, Klonopin, Xanax, etc.) While it can be extremely uncomfortable to stop SSRIs abruptly, it's not dangerous. It is dangerous to stop benzodiazepines, though and they are very addictive. So, in a way your doctor is right when he says they're not addictive. Technically, they aren't because they don't result in a true withdrawal syndrome like alchohol, pain pills and benzodiazepines do. It doesn't feel good, though to stop them quickly, so I advise against it.
When I wanted to stop taking Paxil, I weaned it slowly (the second time.) I think I was at a dose of 30mg a day and stopped that over the course of three weeks, maybe a month, I forget. I had tried stopping it abruptly and got nausea, shaky, had ear ringing and buzzing in my head along with a dizzy feeling every time I turned my head. I don't think it's wise to stop any medication abruptly. I figure bodies get used to what they're consuming and react when whatever it is is withdrawn suddenly.
You may want to speak to a doctor about a slow wean schedule or if you do it yourself, cut the dose slowly and then move to an every other day schedule, then to every three days and so on until it's done. When I did it that way, I had no discomfort.
Good luck!

you sound like i once was. my ob had put me on lexapro (a ssri) for severe post partum depression and i was kind of just kept on it for 2 years. around january of this year i decided to go off it for good (i had tried once before but the withdrawals were too much and i had to go back on). i tried the second time to very slowly taper the dose but found that i needed something else. klonopin (a benzodiazepine) was my saviour. i took it once or twice a day and i felt normal, it was so wonderful. i made it through and have been off the ssri ever since. i still take the klonopin as needed because i too have ptsd. hope this helps. ask your dr. for a anti anxiety for the withdrawals. and btw i believe ptsd is an anxiety disorder so you probably have some dregree of anxiety and sometimes an ssri can increase that effect.
C.

These types of meds are extremely difficult to wean off. It has to be done very slowly. you need a doctor that is experienced in tapering this off so your body can adjust. In this particularly drug family Paxil is the worst one. You can successfully get off this med it just will take time.

Amy,

Your doctor is a jerk. He should have been honest and up front with you. I am weaning off Effexor. Yes, there are side effects. I started weaning at 150 mgs. I am now down to 37.5 per day. Each step down there were some w/d symptoms. However, they lasted only a couple of days each. The hardest so far was the dose I am on now. But, my doctor was completely honest with me from the start. I really needed the medication at the time and it served its purpose.

Good luck to you and get a new doctor.

hi amy! :)

i am on paxil, but i will be taking it long term. i tried to stop taking it once on my own, and it made me very jittery. it is addictive. i think i may have seen a commercial or ad somewhere. i have heard somewhere it is hard to stop taking...
maybe not everyone has the same problem trying to stop, so he didn't tell u. i have had postpartum depression twice too. i have mental health issues.

D. mom to 2dd (12 & 10 yrs. old)

hope this helps u. :)

I know exactly what you are going through. I was on Effexor for 2 1/2 years and it took me 3 tries to go off if, always under a doc's supervision. Weaning off by decreasing from 150 mg to 75 mg just wasn't slowly enough, and the first time the withdrawl symptoms were so bad, I had a minibreakdown and had to go back on. I did some research and it turns out it is a lot more difficult to wean certain people from SSRI's than the drug companies would like us to believe. I read about the possibility of switching to liquid Prozac and slowly decreasing your dose over a month or two. I had to go into my psychiatrist and tell her that's what we would do. She didn't like the idea, but it worked for me. I've been off SSRI's for nearly 2 years now. I actually feel better than I did when I was on them.

If you feel like it is time to stop taking the drugs, then it is time, no matter what your doc says. The worst thing that can happen is you find you can't handle it and start taking them again. I knew I would be fine without them and that I wanted to get pregnant so it was time to stop. After a year of trying, I finally did. Good luck!

AMY, I AM ON ZOLOFT ANOTHER SSRI IT DOENST NECCESSARILY MEAN IT IS ADDICTIVE IF YOU SIMPLY CAN NOT STOP TAKING ANY MEDICATION. IT MEANS THAT YOU NEED TO ADJUST YOUR BODY SLOWLY FOR IT TO ADJUST NOT HAVING THE MEDICAITON IN YOUR SYSTEM. AS FAR AS IT SEEMS TO BE ADDICTING, I THINK THAT GOES WITH THE FACT THAT THIS PARTICULAR MED IS WORKING ON A CHMEICAL IMBALANCE AND IF YOU COMPLETELY STOP GIVING YOUR BRAIN THE MED TO KEEP IT BALANCED IT WILL IN FACT GIVE YOU SIDE EFFECTS. PLEASE WEEN YOUR SELF. MAYBE PAXIL ISNT RIGHT FOR YOU. I WOULD HIGHLY SUGGEST SEEING A COUNSELOR WHO CAN PRESCRIBE THE CORRECT ME FOR YOU, IT MAY END UP BEING PAXIL BUT IT MAY NOT, MAYBE YOUR DOSE IS TOO HIGH OR TOO LOW. PCP'S AND GYNO'S ARE VERY RELIABLE FOR PRESCRIBING PRESCRIPTIONS AND DELIVERING BABIES BUT THEY ARE NOT EXPERTS IN THE MENTAL BEING, PLEASE SEEK ANOTHER OPINION AND PEACE OF MIND WITH A COUSELOR WHO CAN PRESCRIBE MEDS. BEST OF LUCK YOU ARE SO NOT ALONE,

Do NOT suddenly stop takeing this med. You have to wean yourself off of it. take 3/4 of the dose for 3-4 days then 1/2 for a week then, every other day for a couple days. you will be okay but PLEASE if you feel you need to be on something or that you don't feel right you will seek MD advice.

i was on effeorxr for a while and after i found out i was pregnant, i had to try and ween myself off... not fun. i felt like i was having a heart attack... my doc put me on welbutrin and effexorxr to get myself off of the effexor, i had to alternate days and so on til i was completely off the effexor and totally taking welbutrin. i have to say that the welbutrin was so much easier to stop taking, which i had to stop taking becuz of the nausea i'm having, and i didn't want to waste the pills becuz they're so expensive :) but i experienced no side effects from that, and even though i have to be monitored, becuz of my depression/anxiety issues, i feel good. so mention that to your doc... and i know that paxil has its own sets of problems, more so than effexor, but if he won't help, find someone who will, you don't have to take anything you dont want to, but these meds sometimes make you more sick than anything.... but if after you feel like you do need something, try just the welbutrin, i recommend it :) good luck

Amy,

I was on paxil before and it is a hard drug to come off, It's not addicting in the sense that once you get off of it you don't crave it again.

What drug do they want to put you on to get off paxil? The withdrawal is awful so do it slowly and listen to your dtr. I would also suggest having someone around when you start coming off of it.
Currently i'm taking effexor and trazodone, but in the spring will be coming off of it. As i do suffer SAD in the winter and this is not the best time for me to come off of it. I'm also switching from drugs to supplements and herbs to help me with SAD. So if you ever want help if you feel a tad depressed or off after coming off i'd be willing to help you out. But please take it slow and listen to your dtr. Don't come off to fast.

hugs

micki

I take Paxil for social anxiety disorder and I can't wait to start tapering off. But...

What you seem to be talking about is discontinuation syndrome, which seems to be common w/Paxil especially. Paxil itself is not addictive, meaning it won't send you to the street corner to "score" more Paxil, but your body does get used to the effects. When your blood levels get to low you start t experience the side effects you spoke of.

Don't quit taking the drug all at once, tapering off may help to calm down the side effects. The side effects may last though for a weeks though even if your tapering off your meds.

I wish I had better news for ya, but it looks as though you'll have to suffer through the side effects for a week or two if you want to stop the SSRI.
Hope that helps

I took paxil for the same reason as you, with my oldest daughter. They told me I only needed it for about 6 months so my hormones could go back. My daughter was 3 or 4 when I started it, so I had a few years of bad depression before I realized why. Anyways... I did only take it for a short time,(6 months) and I had no problem getting off of it. I don't know about you, but paxil made me gain 15 pounds, that is what I didn't like about it. Well good luck with your appointment....Tami

I've been taking Paxil for postpartum depression with a tendency towards depression anyway. I've also been taking Atavan (previously Xanax) for anxiety. My psychiatrist said that YES it can be addictive. If you were to simply stop taking it, you'd have stomach upset, diarrhea, nausea, headaches, body aches, lack of appetite, etc. All signs of withdrawal if you go off of it cold turkey. It's better to wean off of it. If you're at 30 mg, reduce to 20 for a couple of weeks, then to 10 mg, then to 5 mg. When you get to 5 mg, take it only every other day for a while until you just stop taking it.

For me, I went 5 days without it cold turkey because of a mixup between the office and the pharmacy. I was a wreck. So if I ever do go off of it, it'll be gradually. But honestly? It's working for me. It's controlling the anxiety and depression and doing what it's supposed to do. The fact that my body is addicted to it is secondary because I still need it for my depression and other symptoms of OCD, anxiety, etc.

It takes about 4-6 weeks for medications like these to get out of your system, which is part of the reason why weaning is the best route. If I were to go off of Paxil, I would consider switching to Wellbutrin, which is safe to take while pregnant and nursing.