Scary Thoughts.........Help

 I have had anxiety for about 5 yrs. now, I was on paxil and out of the blue I started having adverse effects, I've been off of paxil 30 mgs for 2 weeks now, my dr. wanted me to see how I did w/o it. That was the worse mistake of my life, I started lexapro and am on my first week, I'm also on alprozam until the lexapro takes full effect, I'm going out of my mind, uncontrollable shaking, my head feels like it's going to explode, and many other things I can't explain. I have a lot of questions I hope some of u can answer,

1. Did anyone switch for paxil to lexapro and how long does it take to work correctly?
2. How did you handle the transiton.
3. I'm on Nexium and that is the only thing I can think would bring the sudden symptoms I'm having, has anybody w/ anxiety had problems while on nexium? I've been on for 2yrs. of Nexium.
I can't explain what happened, I was doing so well for so long. I really need help, I've been on an internship for 6 mths. and can't afford to miss work, they're about to hire me. I try to sleep as much as I can so I don't have to deal w/ it but believe it or not I think I have attacks in my sleep.Thanks to anyone that responds

1. No discussion of any illegal activity or threats of violence. (ie. illicit drug use, including medical marijuana use, threats of suicide or self-injury, or threatened or intended physical harm).  Discussions of suicide or self-harm that are deemed negative and therefore potentially injurious to others are also not permitted.

I am glad you have reached out for HELP

Please do call the Crisis Hotline Immediately..You Need Professional Help IMHO

I wish you all the best

The number is

 1800 784 2433

 

Any questions why I have edited some parts of your post please email me at addy under my name at side ........

LYN

Post Edited By Moderator (Howlyncat) : 7/25/2007 4:25:09 PM (GMT-6)

i felt that way on celexa, i'm taking lexapro now and i don't have those bad thougts anymore, it took a few weeks to totally kick in,

i'm here for ya, big hugs to you
machelle

Hi and welcome. I wish you a good stay here. I am Kitt.

I am so sorry you are having a rough time right now. I too feel that you may need to look at using the crisis phone number.

Please make an appointment to see your physician again ASAP and remember ER's are open 24/7 and you are always welcome to go to one for an Emergency Medical Screening Exam.

Lexapro may be your culprit. I have never used Paxil and Nexium doesn't seem likely although this is a question for your physician.

I know how it feels to have your med poop out on you. I am so glad you have joined our group. We Welcome you with open arms. Stay with us and keep posting.

Gentle Hugs.

When i stopped taking paxil it was horrible.. I was shaking constantly and felt like jumping out of my skin. I will never go back on anti depressants again..getting them started is hard and stoping them is even harder. I bet that alot of what you are going through is paxil withdrawl. I have been there it will get better.. I think i started to feel better after about 2 weeks or so.. Good luck to you...

Good Morning,
The Paxil withdrawl can be nasty, that has been posted by others on here. I am glad your going to see you physician.
I wish you the best on the med switch out. I know where your coming from and what your going through so don't give up. We are here for you. There is always hope thow it may not seem like it right now.
Take care.

OH, dang, I am so sorry that you had to cancel your appointment. Is there a chance you could call the physician and ask about the meds. I really think it is your switching meds causing a lot of your sx.
How about the job, are you truly glad you got the offer. Remember it is ok to give it a good try and if does not work out you can change your mind.
You are never locked into anything.
Keep posting and tell us a bit more, maybe we will see something else that may be triggering all of this right now.
(((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))
Kitt

BB,
I had to switch from zoloft to paxil, but it wasn't hard because my pdoc piggybacked the meds for me, that is, as I was lowering my zoloft dose, he added a small amount of paxil. I was told that if the day comes when I need to come off of paxil, they'll do the same thing with another AD. It seems cruel for pdocs to make their patients do it the hard way! Now I will say that it was hard waiting for the paxil to take effect as I have GAD and it gives me a fit when it hits! I cry, shake, feel like I'm in front of a firing squad the whole time and yes, I have those suicidal thoughts at those times. But I am here to tell you that it DOES get better! You just have to be patient which is soooooooooooo hard to do when you're feeling that bad!!!! I've known some friends that have done very well on Lexapro. Who knows, I may be on it one of these days!
Hang in there and take care!
HUGS!
janet

I recently read this article about Paxil while searching the web;

"Paxil has long been associated with difficult withdrawal side effects, leaving patients virtually addicted to the drug. Recently, The British drug agency required Glaxo to remove a statement on its patient label saying that the drug was not addictive. Often these withdrawal effects are experienced just hours after a missed dose".

It continued with a list of about 30 different possible symptoms of withdrawal.

I've experienced switching medications (depression/bipolar) and feeling like I was going crazy and horribly sick phsically. I had doctors (psychiatrists) that just nonchalantly said, "Okay, that one didn't work, let's try this one" They had no idea what effect that would have. It was a lot of unnessasary suffering.
Then I found a really good psychiatrist/neurologist. She took me off of everything extremely slowly and put me on something else. It took a few tries before finding the right mix, but it was bearable.

I'm glad you're doing much better. If you feel your doctor doesn't take your symptoms seriously, or understand what they might be from, find a better one (much easier said then done, I know).

One thing that's been helpful for me is doing some research before going to the doctor. I've been surprised to find that there is a lot they don't know (Ex: Rx X can have side effect Y).

I went to the dr today all he told me was to wait it will take time to work but I'm feeling a lot better than I was, I've been doing a lot of research, I learned a lot, I hope this works and the funny thing is there might be something better out there than a SSRI and I'll never know b/c I don't ever want to go through that again.