Aa
Scared--Upped Paxil Dose today
I have been taking 10 mg of Paxil for 4 weeks now and have felt no relief from my constant anxiety and Panic. My doctor advised me to start taking 20 mg daily starting today. I took 20mg this morning and am scared since I had horrible side effects to Prozac in the past (it caused me to stop taking it). Do you think I am going to have side effects since I am going to a larger dose and what should I prepare for?
Hey Sweetie,
The only thing you should "prepare" for is the relief you are desperately seeking. If you start to anticipate adverse reactions, as Goldmoon so wisely put it, you are just setting yourself up to feel those adverse reactions because you are going to be super hyper-vigilant about every little tweak and twitter in your body! And, like Goldmoon said, if you feel the higher dose was too large a jump, you can work with your doc to adjust the dose.
And not to ignore what Jenn has written, you can see that all of us on this forum have very strong opinions about various drugs. We all have different reactions and experiences with the exact same meds. Ultimately, it is up to YOU and YOU alone to make the choice.
Good luck tonight. Keep that fear in check and let us know how your night went.
Peace
Greenlydia
The only thing you should "prepare" for is the relief you are desperately seeking. If you start to anticipate adverse reactions, as Goldmoon so wisely put it, you are just setting yourself up to feel those adverse reactions because you are going to be super hyper-vigilant about every little tweak and twitter in your body! And, like Goldmoon said, if you feel the higher dose was too large a jump, you can work with your doc to adjust the dose.
And not to ignore what Jenn has written, you can see that all of us on this forum have very strong opinions about various drugs. We all have different reactions and experiences with the exact same meds. Ultimately, it is up to YOU and YOU alone to make the choice.
Good luck tonight. Keep that fear in check and let us know how your night went.
Peace
Greenlydia
Please know that just because you may have had an adverse reaction to one drug, it does not mean that the same will occur with another drug.
In my own experience, I had a very bad experience with Paxil. A doctor had started me on 20 mg right away and I had a rather abnormal reaction to the drug (panic attack which I had never had before) and I was switched to Effexor the next day. I had a MUCH better experience with that one and ended up being on it for a year and a half.
It sounds like your doctor had started you with a conservative dose, which is great because you will get an idea of how your body will react to the medication. If you haven't had much in the way I side effects yet, I suspect that you will likely not be much different with your increased dose. Just keep monitoring yourself, and try not to anticipate the symptoms you think you might have, because that can very well cause those symptoms to occur!
Hang in there! If you have any concerns about your dose or medication, make sure you talk to your doctor.
In my own experience, I had a very bad experience with Paxil. A doctor had started me on 20 mg right away and I had a rather abnormal reaction to the drug (panic attack which I had never had before) and I was switched to Effexor the next day. I had a MUCH better experience with that one and ended up being on it for a year and a half.
It sounds like your doctor had started you with a conservative dose, which is great because you will get an idea of how your body will react to the medication. If you haven't had much in the way I side effects yet, I suspect that you will likely not be much different with your increased dose. Just keep monitoring yourself, and try not to anticipate the symptoms you think you might have, because that can very well cause those symptoms to occur!
Hang in there! If you have any concerns about your dose or medication, make sure you talk to your doctor.
Id suggest you get a new doctor asap... after 4 weeks the meds should be starting to work,, by upping your dose he is taking a big risk with YOUR wellbeing mentally and physically. It concerns me even more that you already had a bad reaction to one SSRI and he puts you on paxil of all things. Please find anouther doctor as soon as possible because it sounds like a bad reaction,,, and that doesnt get better, it only gets worse.
*Bows with respect and appriciation*
*Bows with respect and appriciation*
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