Posted 1/14/2016 9:33 PM (GMT 0)
I've used this forum in the past when I was really struggling with horrible anxiety, panic attacks, and health anxiety. This is a great and supportive community that will hopefully be able to help me out again.
2014 was a really bad year for me, I had very bad anxiety, particularly health anxiety. I took Zoloft 100mg, for a little over 6 months, and was off it by the end of 2014. I was feeling great and like myself again. In Oct - Dec of 2015 my stress level at work really spiked. I was on a stressful project, I was unhappy, and starting to feel little depressed. I was having relationship troubles as a result of working all the time and anxiety. The anxiety had a negative impact on my sex life.
I had my yearly physical in December and talked to my doctor about it. She said she could prescribe Paroxetine to address the anxiety and sex life (PE), kind of two birds with one stone. I was hesitant because I remembered the harsh side effects I experienced with Zoloft. I got my test results back from my yearly physical and everything looked good except my cholesterol has spiked quite a bit since the previous year. I've had low HDL for a few years with borderline high LDL. Now my HDL is 30, and LDL 183, so I'm freaking out that I have already starting building plaque in my arteries and now its a ticking time bomb. Basically back to the health anxiety. I am 28 years old, no family history of heart disease.
I've been rambling so thanks for sticking with this so far. In a nut shell I broke down and called my doctor back and said go ahead and prescribe the Paroxetine. I've been on it a little less than 10 days but so far the side effects are much milder than I experienced with Zoloft. The biggest thing is the headaches, difficulty concentrating, and sometime I just zone out, brain fog, or having trouble remembering. In general my mind doesn't feel sharp. I'm really worried about the hunger / weight gain I experienced with Zoloft. I had dropped from 270 to 230 prior to taking Zoloft in 2014, and ended up to 270. Since my cholesterol is high that would probably not be good for me.
Anyone here have any advice or similar experiences?
Any experience with Paroxetine?
I know there is a lot of information on the internet, and much is contradicting, but at 28, should I be panicking about my cholesterol? I've started exercising everyday, trying vegetarian diet, and lost 10 lbs.