Need help with my paxil and anxiety please! can someone offer proper advice?

[DJTwitch]

I have anxiety and depression and tourettes. I was on paxil for about a year and then stopped for about a month and a half because of weight gain. I ended up having bad anxiety and a feeling of like dreaming during the day like things are not real. I was on 5 mgs and it was working when i went back on 5mgs didn't seem to work the I started taking 10mgs and worked for a week or so then back to the same problems. Should I just increase my dose again to 15 or 20mgs or any suggestions. please any adivice is appreciated as I hate feeling like this. Thank you.

[Paxiled]

You didn't quit the Paxil abruptly instead of tapering off slowly, did you?  Because it sounds like you did.  What you have is withdrawal.  Paxil and Effexor give almost everyone who takes them moderate to severe withdrawal symptoms when they stop taking them, and it's especially bad if you quit abruptly.  This drug needs to be stopped as slowly as necessary.  You were also not on a therapeutic dose, so the fact that 5mg worked could either indicate you are especially sensitive to medication or that you were having a placebo effect.  When you went back on it at 5mg, how much time had passed since you stopped?  If you wait too long, going back on it might not stop the withdrawal anymore.  But you need to give it some time to get back to working.  Another problem with Paxil is that very often people report that once they've stopped it, it never works again.  This is a very strong drug for unknown reasons, and an odd one, so you need to have patience and a very good psychiatrist when you take it and try to stop taking it.  

[Paxiled]

Also, if you are seeing a general doc, I'd really see a good psychopharmacologist.  Paxil causes obsessive thinking in a lot of people, which isn't necessarily all that much of a problem if the thoughts aren't bad ones, but you have tourette's.  Having been on Paxil for years and having suffered trying to quit taking it, I'm not sure I'd want to take it if I had tourette's, so I hope again you're seeing someone who really knows their stuff.  Good luck.

[specialmom]

Hello.  Honestly, adjusting dosing is something you should talk to your doctor.  Paxil and all of these types of medications take some time to get to a therapeutic level.  6 to 8 weeks.  You are doing this in a smart way by increasing the dose over time in small increments (which is how you should ALWAYS decrease it as well).  20 mg is probably the typical dose.  But, if you gained weight and felt you needed to discontinue it, maybe it isn't the best choice for you?  Some do very well on Paxil and others don't.  Maybe there is a better option for you?  Have you tried any of the other SSRI's?  It's good to recognize that the medication is something necessary but you do have options for which one to take.  If you want to see if Paxil fully works though, you'll probably have to increase the dose and give it some time to work.  Talk to your doctor about this.