Should I have my doctor increase my paxil dose?

Hello and welcome!

Did your doctor mention upping your dosage at any point when he/she prescribed the Paxil?

Since SSRI's can typically take up to 8 weeks to fully build up and level off in the body, your doctor may have you waiting to see what the full effect at your current dose will bring. In this way, you may avoid unwanted side effects that can come from upping your intake too soon.

I would ask your doctor if you haven't already if this is a possibility...explaining your desire to not need the benzodiazapine at this point.

We have a great Resource Guide with some really good self-help tips to get your through this time while you wait for the results that you want.:)

Post here with us anytime...we are here to listen and support!:)

Scaredy Cat

Thank you so much for the reply's and welcomes. I think I'm just feeling desperate and scared that this won't get any better. I've started going to therepy and am hoping that will help as well. I haven't taken any xanax today yet and I've been taking them every day for the past couple of months. It seems I almost feel a little better without them at times. Still anxious as heck though=( I just want to feel glad or nice or happy about SOMETHING. I used to be one of the funniest people and now I just don't laugh anymore. I need help with being able to just relax....any advice or tips???? Thanks so much!

Thanks, cartman31069. It helps for someone to reassure me that it WILL get better. I have a really hard time believing it right now. I'm trying=)

Carika, paxil and zoloft have both worked gradually for me.  My anxiety is always around, it just becomes more tolerable every day.  Like I said, it has not miraculously vanished but I am better able to cope.  I also use CBT techniques to help the process.  As far as weird sensations, I can list probably a couple of dozen that I have experienced with anxiety.  I get a dry mouth and a weird taste in my mouth and my vision blurs.  My face and extremities will get tingly.  My throat tightens, I get a hollow feeling in my chest, the air that I breathe seems to be "not enough".  I get a floaty, dreadful feeling.  I could go on and on.  Anxiety and panic create a multitude of weird sensations.  I have been checked out and deemed physically healthy so I chalk all of it up to anxiety.  That knowledge is calming.  I even say out loud, "I am experiencing an anxiety sensation, nothing more, keep calm and carry on".  I used one of S.C's techniques last night as my anxiety was welling up (no stressors per se,  just my friendly female hormones wreaking some havoc) and it worked like magic.  I did the 3 lung compartment breathing technique that was discussed in another thread.  Try it, it works.  Also, keep in mind, I have been on zoloft for 7 1/2 weeks and anxiety is still there but I am managing better all the time.  Hang in there and practice CBT.  It will get you through, I promise. 

I sure did reach rock bottom last December.  It was horrible, de-personalization, physical tremors, obsessive thoughts through the roof and this time they decided to bring their ugly sister depression, which I did not have before.  I really thought that I could not live 40 more years like that at all.  One of the hallmarks of this ailment is such negative thinking patterns and everything gets blown so far out of proportion.  I was in a state.  The paxil, I was on 20 mg, helped and so did CBT but it took a long time.  When I decided in my infinite wisdom to come off paxil due to weight gain this summer, it only took me a month to slide right back down in to the black hole.  That is when I went on Zoloft and it is working, albeit slowly. There are great resources that have been mentioned by S.C. that you can read to learn CBT techniques. I use them all the time and they work.  I don't think I will ever be "cured" and I am finally coming to be OK with that.  For me that was half the battle.  Another thing I do is just ignore the anxiety. It is with me but I don't have to be with it, if that makes any sense.  If I want to do something, I do it, even if I am tingly and numb and feeling dread.  I choose what goes on in my life.  After a while I will say, wow, I didn't notice anxiety for the past few minutes or hours because I was engrossed in doing something else.  It does get better. 

Cartman, that's exactly how it happened for me. Just a long run of negative thinking and BOOM, I was in the hole as well. And very, very depressed. I, too, thought I could not live the rest of my life like that and I really thought I would. I have to say that today, FINALLY, has been a very OK day for the most part. I always have a rough start in the morning and I've read that that's common. And in the evening, right around this time actually. I've started taking a lower dose of the xanax as well. It's definately helped reading what you've replied. Thank you!

Carika, so glad to hear you are feeling better. Kitt just posted a great response to another thread about morning anxiety. I still get anxious in the morning but I remind myself its just cortisol, nothing more and I get on with life. Fighting anxiety just makes it worse. Another thing for me is realizing my anxiety ebbs and flows throughout the month with my hormones. Knowing that there is a physical/hormonal connection makes me feel better mentally and I know it won't last forever. Apparently estrogen levels effect the amount of serotonin produced. Hang in there, you will make it.