Stress Center Peer Support

So, my panic attacks kept getting worse and worse and my obsession with dropping dead became so intense that my new psych put me on Paxil last week. I'm already on Trileptal an Seroquel for Bipolar.

Anyway, I felt like hell and had tons of side effects, so I stopped taking it after 5 days (2 days ago). Last night I started Zoloft.

I feel SO out of it... and it's making my intense fear of dropping dead even worse because I take the side effects as signs that I'm about to die. I feel nauseous, hot flashes, loss of appetite, and I'm so nervous and anxious. But, the feeling "out of it" is the worst for me... It makes me think I have some sort of brain disease and I'm losing my mind/dying. I feel like I'm dreaming, or in a bubble... and I have trouble concentrating. I woke up suicidal this morning, but I don't know if it's the Zoloft or from stopping the Paxil.

Did anybody experience this with Paxil or any other med? I'm going to give the Zoloft a chance even though I'm scared out of my mind because I need some sort of relief from the panic and anxiety and I'm hoping it will work. I'll be crushed if it does the same as the Paxil. I feel so terrible and depressed. I sit around all day rocking back and fourth. It's that bad.

I have been on Zoloft for several months. I am actually tapering off of it now. The symptoms of nausea, anxiety, lack of appetite are all normal. I had all those when starting the medication as well. Now that I am coming off of the medication I am starting to have the symptoms again. Just know that you are not going to "drop dead." Its just your body getting used to the medication. The Zoloft did help after about a week. In two to three weeks my anxiety was essentially gone. I am only stopping it due to side effects of decreased libido. Hoping this program will help me enough I don't have to take meds. Hope you feel better soon!

I've stopped all meds...I was on zoloft celexa recently, in total 5 meds in all. I became extremely tired all the time. I started drinking 4-5 cups of coffee to just get thru my shift at work. My anxiety seemed to come at me slower but when I experienced an anxiety attack it seemed to be worse and longer lasting. I didn't feel like myself which I didn't like but could of tolerated if I wasn't so damn tired taking the medicine! I believe after focusing on this program the we cause our panic attacks-the things we say to ourselves etc. Might not work for everyone but I believe it help cure a lot of us by focusing one this program and taking care of ourselves. Tell me what u think

I had also posted earlier about medication making my depression worse. I had taken a lot of different kinds, but at one time I had tried both paxil and zoloft. I don't remember the side effects of them now. But what I do remember is that with every type of medication I was on, my depression and anxiety got worse. I have been off of everything for 7 years now and I can say that while I'm not 100% better, I am MCUH better off of the meds than on them. It didn't happen right away, it took time, but I'm now at a level that I can cope and function.

Dixiesmom wrote:I had also posted earlier about medication making my depression worse. I had taken a lot of different kinds, but at one time I had tried both paxil and zoloft. I don't remember the side effects of them now. But what I do remember is that with every type of medication I was on, my depression and anxiety got worse. I have been off of everything for 7 years now and I can say that while I'm not 100% better, I am MCUH better off of the meds than on them. It didn't happen right away, it took time, but I'm now at a level that I can cope and function.

Thank you for giving me some hope. I have been on several medications for the past 5 years and I am sick of them.

I started lowering my doses in January, this is going to be a long process for me as I am loweriing the doses very

gradually. I have enough medications to last me 3-6 months right now. I have no health insurance ,

so I HAVE TO rid myself of the medications anyhow - - I cannot afford them because I am living off of the

unemployment payments. I have heard other people write about their success with being medication

free and I am hoping that this will be part of my future too. I just wish I knew how long it will take before I

start feeling better, but I guess that depends on how much work I put into helping myself to get better. I have not

been putting much effort into anything lately and I cannot go off of the medications without continuing to work

on the program and learning the skills to help me recover. I need to keep being interested in exploring new

experiences and friendships. I need to keep reading interesting and inspirational reading materials. I need to stay

off of the sugar and the caffeine. I need to somehow integrate exercise into my "lifestyle". I must not give up.

I don't expect miracles and I don't expect to be 100% "cured" after my medications are all used up. It just seems

like I have been on the medications for so long that I am so dependent on them. I hate being dependent on them.

I am hooked ? Too many drugs for too long a time. Some folks said that they had been on medications for many,

many years and it has only has been 5 years for me, but it has been a LONG five years. I am on a combination

of medications, six to be exact, relating to mood disorder and depression and anxiety and sleep disorder. I guess

I could say that I have been on medications longer than five years because I was on Paxil from 2003-2006. Then I

took nothing. Then I was prescribed a bunch of meds in 2007 after a breakdown. I just want to know what it feels

like to be totaly medication free - - what was it like before this all began. I want to be free on the drugs. Free to

be myself again without being "under the influence". Pray for me and give me hope.

PS: Once a person takes their last doses, how long does all of the medication still stay in their system ?

Lynda

AliButtons wrote:
Did anybody experience this with Paxil or any other med? I'm going to give the Zoloft a chance even though I'm scared out of my mind because I need some sort of relief from the panic and anxiety and I'm hoping it will work. I'll be crushed if it does the same as the Paxil. I feel so terrible and depressed. I sit around all day rocking back and fourth. It's that bad.

I was on Paxil from 2003-2006. My primary care physician prescribed it for me and since I did not know anything about
psychiatrists at the time, I went ahead and started taking the Paxil. I took it every day for three years. I was having a
hard time functioning at work and I THOUGHT it might have something to do with the Paxil, so I took myself off of the
Paxil. This was a bad idea. I headed into a downward spiral and my performance at work suffered even more. I
eventually had a breakdown in 2007. As far as I am concerned, Paxil is a bad drug. It did not help me while I was taking
it, as far as I remember, and it ruined my life after I quit taking it. I am sure not ALL of my problems around that
time were due to the drug Paxil, but it sure didn't help any. Beware of the Paxil.
PS: What dose of Paxil were you on, I believe that mine was a pretty low dose ( ? ).

Lynda

Lynda,
Everyone's experience coming off of medication is different. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers and hope that this works for you. Continue to work the program, this will be very important for you. Although every person is different, I believe there is hope and life after meds. Don't expect everything to be good all the time or easy. I still had (and have) down times, but they are not as severe. I am not sure how long it takes meds to completely leave your system. I would think that if your are gradually coming off of them, then they will already be at lower levels in your system when you do stop. I think they generally tell you it takes about two weeks to build up in your system when you first start them, so maybe about the same time to get out? I believe every medicine probably has different break down time frames, so that would just be a guess.

Dixiesmom wrote:Lynda,
Everyone's experience coming off of medication is different. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers and hope that this works for you. Continue to work the program, this will be very important for you. Although every person is different, I believe there is hope and life after meds. Don't expect everything to be good all the time or easy. I still had (and have) down times, but they are not as severe. I am not sure how long it takes meds to completely leave your system. I would think that if your are gradually coming off of them, then they will already be at lower levels in your system when you do stop. I think they generally tell you it takes about two weeks to build up in your system when you first start them, so maybe about the same time to get out? I believe every medicine probably has different break down time frames, so that would just be a guess.

Thanks for responding !
Last night I was exceptionally emotional and I had no idea WHY. I thought about the fact that I was weaning myself
off of the meds and maybe THAT was why I was having a crying jag right before I went to bed.
Well, today I realized that it was probably just HORMONES that were making me a bit crazy.
God Bless,
Lynda

AliButtons wrote:So, my panic attacks kept getting worse and worse and my obsession with dropping dead became so intense that my new psych put me on Paxil last week. I'm already on Trileptal an Seroquel for Bipolar.

Anyway, I felt like hell and had tons of side effects, so I stopped taking it after 5 days (2 days ago). Last night I started Zoloft.

I feel SO out of it... and it's making my intense fear of dropping dead even worse because I take the side effects as signs that I'm about to die. I feel nauseous, hot flashes, loss of appetite, and I'm so nervous and anxious. But, the feeling "out of it" is the worst for me... It makes me think I have some sort of brain disease and I'm losing my mind/dying. I feel like I'm dreaming, or in a bubble... and I have trouble concentrating. I woke up suicidal this morning, but I don't know if it's the Zoloft or from stopping the Paxil.

Did anybody experience this with Paxil or any other med? I'm going to give the Zoloft a chance even though I'm scared out of my mind because I need some sort of relief from the panic and anxiety and I'm hoping it will work. I'll be crushed if it does the same as the Paxil. I feel so terrible and depressed. I sit around all day rocking back and fourth. It's that bad.

Hey... well i been on paxil for 13years now and its doing good.well one you have to give the meds time to work it takes 3-4 weeks for the meds to work.you dont need to go to paxil and stop that and go to zoloft with all meds like that takes 3-4 weeks to start working good.look i was like you i had a hard time with this and my dad telling me that thers nuthing rong with me.look you need to take the meds but give them time to work it takes time.what it is its you mind telling you this and its not true at all.your not going todrop Dead just like that.god made you and hes is the only one that can take you.so your not going to just drop dead if you need to pray to god and god will Help you

right after I had my daughter I had started having depression and panic attacks so severe that I went to all the hospital and drs and was in complete denial that I was having them I was convinced that something was wrong with me and I was gonna die they put me on celexa , and some bipolar meds they didn't work I was like this for about a month I was admitted into a hospital to evaluate my meds and that's when I was put on paxil after a couple weeks on it it helped out so much plus with this program. i have recently had a car wreck and am having another child and my anxiety is bothering me a lot lately so when i have my child i will probably get back on paxil anyways i hope this helps and if u need to chat im on here