Try to keep a journal of how you are feeling in relation to the meds. Keep track of the time of day you take them, your mood before and after and your anxiety levels before and after. This will help your doctor adjust the dosage accordingly.
Thanks that is helpful. I do sometimes feel this sort of warm fuzzy feeling which is quite nice. But it makes me feel really tired and groggy. Hopefully it will get better. I am not on paxil but rather a generic called Aropax. It is the same thing but I am uncertain if the doses are equivalent (still peroxitine hydrochloride). I started on 25mg and I think handled the first phase where I felt drunk and dizzy quite well. It didn't make me panic. But I don't understand why I would be getting more and more depressed. My anxiety I suppose is improving. Depression is normally treated with a lower dose than panic which for aropax can be treated with up to 75mg. So getting more depressed doesn't make sense. At least not pharmacologically. Perhaps my mind is overpowering the drugs...
I haven't discussed this with my doc yet. He just said that if I don't improve enough he will up the dose. I still have a few more tablets and then I will have been using the aropax for thirty days. So I am perhaps just being impatient.
I was on Paxil for 3 years, in the beginning, my doctor put me on 20 mgs, which the first day put me in panic attack, different different from the rest, I had the warm, tingling sensation throughout my chest. He decreased me down to 10 mgs for two weeks, I did find myself in a more drugged , well rather "foggy" state of thinking, I slept all the time, but it waned and my normal sleep patterns continued, throughout my course of treatment (which did put me in a remissive period for about 3 yrs), he would up my dosage about every 2 wks, and I would again follow with the sleeping all day, foggy thinking, until it would subside. So you will feel this way starting it, but not long, and expect it perhaps if they increase the dosage.
Thanks Cael. I am still sooooo depressed. I have again been in this sleepy mode. I just can't get up. Thanks for writing of your experiences with meds. It really helps.
just wanted to say to be patient. three weeks is still early, i think. the other thing i've noticed so far is that the changes are gradual...i can notice a difference some days, other days things feel worse, and that was especially true in the beginning.
funny what you said about the sleeping. in the first few weeks of taking them i was so tired. i would wake up after a longer sleep than usual and within an hour have to take a nap. and it wasn't that i wanted to take a nap - i literally could not keep my eyes open. hopefully this will fade as your body adjusts.
My doctor said it should begin to work round about now. I am looking forward to seeing some real improvements. I spent so long without any medication because of the stigma related to using them. However, I began to really feel that my happiness must come first. If little pink pills are going to help then why not use them?
Genejockey,
Perhaps you could make a quick trip to your local pharmacy and talk to the pharmacist about paxil. Pharmacists are generally extremely knowledgeable and they should be able to let you know when it will start kicking in and perhaps help you with the side effects.
Good luck!
Sarah, Health Educator
I am on paxil (peroxetine) for three weeks now. I haven't noticed any improvements either. I haven't had a PA for two weeks but I don't attribute this to the medication as the last week I have experienced the worst depression in a long while. So the meds can't be working yet?
The side-effect for me were also something to get used to. Don't know about a burning feeling. But I spent most of my day feeling quite drunk from the meds. My doc gave me some benzo's as well to hep me during this period. I really hope these meds start working like Cael describes them. I guess there have been certain improvements.
One thing that hit me this week has been in the sleeping department. It is nearly impossible for me to wake up. I cannot ever remember feeling this way. In some ways it is quite nice because I normally wake up anxious whereas now I don't feel quite as anxious but I am virtually narcoleptic! This morning after "snoozing" for 40 minutes I turned off my "snooze" alarm put my head down for 2 seconds and then woke up at 11:30am! Talk about being late for work! I arrived at work in time for lunch. Oh dear.
Anti-d side-effect really can be a bit weird. Keep us posted on how they are working for you.
