Aa
why does no one answer me
I feel weird all the time, I feel like im dying ready to explode. I fear everything. I am on paxil an have been for 8 years I thik it has finally stopped working for me, I have no feelings and dont care about nothing all I want to do is sleep,.my head hurts all the time an I hate it. I feel like I go through the motions of life cause I have to. But really just want to feel normal again I hate this so much.,
Yeah I understand!!! I'm with you on that!
The Ativan don't work very well for the panic... The Klonopin work better or the Xanax... maybe you can start there and ask to switch to one of this 2 meds???
For the Paxil what is your dosage??? Maybe increase it will help, cause with time it's stop working and you need to increase the dosage...
Well, 20 pounds, that's ok... all the SSRI's are not weight neutral, they will slow down the metabolism...
To be honnest, I never heard of someone who had success with the Celexa and anxiety especially panic disorder... but try it, you will see... if you have too much side-effects you can ask to try the Lexapro, who is the same but improved... less side-effects on some peoples and better for the anxiety... ( not for me)...
Well, take care of you ok ;-)
The Ativan don't work very well for the panic... The Klonopin work better or the Xanax... maybe you can start there and ask to switch to one of this 2 meds???
For the Paxil what is your dosage??? Maybe increase it will help, cause with time it's stop working and you need to increase the dosage...
Well, 20 pounds, that's ok... all the SSRI's are not weight neutral, they will slow down the metabolism...
To be honnest, I never heard of someone who had success with the Celexa and anxiety especially panic disorder... but try it, you will see... if you have too much side-effects you can ask to try the Lexapro, who is the same but improved... less side-effects on some peoples and better for the anxiety... ( not for me)...
Well, take care of you ok ;-)
thank you, thats alot to take in. and to be honest paxil is giving me bad headaches now as well as major anxiety, I have gained about 20lbs on paxil in the last 8 years an i cant loose it. i dont want to do nothing at all an now am vomiting everytime I eat. I hate all this an Im so tired of feeling like this, many people have told me that celexa was life changing for them an as far as right now I cant change anything cuz i can not keep anything down, I do have ativan for my anxiety attacks. also been on that for 8 years, not sure it does the trick any longer for me.
Hi Kelly!
I know what you live, i'm in the same situation than you... I now fear to get up in the morning cause my heart start racing all the time and my head hurt all the time also... have superventricular tachycardia because of my anxiety now, i'm homebound, it's very difficult to get out of the house without having to take extra dose of Xanax + Klonopin (Benzo meds) and add small dose of Beta-blocker meds to reduce the fast heart beat... even now stay in my bed is not more fun, I mean that I have panic attack in my bed also... i'm anxious all the time and have insomnia... can't be left alone at home also...
I have to start again the Paxil, who is the only one SSRI who is effective to stop the panic disorder on me, but I can't... my anxiety level is so high that just thinking about taking a small 1 mg piece of Paxil make my heart race as the speed of light!!! I wait for my anxiety level to return to a more normal level before starting it and work hard with my Therapist to cope with my anxiety right now... but it's not easy trust me... everyday I think it's my last day and I feel like I will have a heart attack...
For the meds, I also understand what you live...From the end of 2007 until the ened of 2009, I was put on so many meds for my anxiety that I developp a fear of meds... some of them, especially the older ones who are not used often now, or meds use off-labels for the parkinson disease like the Mirapex, lead to extreme anxiety and bad panic attacks, some meds also almost kill me and trigger the heart phobia I have now, especially the old Parnate antidepressant who is an MAOI...
The Paxil work great for me the first 2 years on was on it back in 1994-1996, it was a life saver for me but I had to stop it cause I gained more than 200 pounds on it and it was not very effective at the end to stop the panic attacks on me... I had done 2 years of Therapy at the same time and I think at the time I was ok with my anxiety level and able to live a normal life without the Paxil... so I just withdraw it slowly and stop it completly... I was mainly free of panic attack for almost 10 years, my social phobia was still there but I was ok with it... I had some panic attacks in that 10 years gaps...especially at the university when I had to do oral speech in front of the class OR sometimes I had panic attacks because of my social phobia in public transportation or when I had to walk alone in a street full of people OR whan I had to introduce myself to a new group at school... or when I was drunk... but nothing more... I was able to get out of the house, going out with friends and do a normal life BUT I always felt that I was special and different from the others... weird feeling...
For the Celexa, if you are already on the Paxil, it will not be very dangerous to try it since your brain is already used to the extra serotonin level, you can switch from the Paxil to the Celexa without a washout period of time... you can try the Celexa for one day and see what happen? The Celexa and the Lexapro are apparently the easier SSRI's to take, they don't give a lot of side-effects.... BUT again everyone is different... I had more side-effects from the Celexa and the Lexapro (improved Celexa version) than from all the other antidepressants meds I try including the olders TCA's meds like the Imipramine, Clomiparmine, Nortriptyline... of the not famous Prozac for example... who make me a lot agitated by the way!!!
I find the Celexa to be not effective at all for my anxiety, I gained a lot more weight on it than on the Paxil, around 5 pounds a week, I was extremely tired all the time, had bad headache, no motivation, had panic attacks all the time... more than before I was put on it, my social phobia was also worse cause of the weight gain... even after 3 months on it at 40 mg I was anxious all the time... so I just stop it.
Normally the recommended SSRI for very anxious peoples is the Paxil but since it's not effective anymore for you, maybe you can ask for the Zoloft?... The main advantage of the Zoloft is the fact that you can start it at a lower dose, like 25 mg but you can cut the pilll into 4 pieces... and increase slowly... but again, for me it was a very bad med... not bad like the Celexa but just not effective, even at 200 mg a day... I remember that I had also a lot more panic attacks on it and bad headache... but nothing else...
If you don't take a benzo med already, maybe you can ask to try the Klonopin at a low dose for no more than 4 weeks when you will start the Celexa? It can help to cope with the extra anxiety you can have when you will start the Celexa?
One thing is sure, don't lost your time on the Remeron or the Trazodone, they are not good for anxiety...
Well, I wish you good luck.... !!!
Take care of you!
Vincent
I know what you live, i'm in the same situation than you... I now fear to get up in the morning cause my heart start racing all the time and my head hurt all the time also... have superventricular tachycardia because of my anxiety now, i'm homebound, it's very difficult to get out of the house without having to take extra dose of Xanax + Klonopin (Benzo meds) and add small dose of Beta-blocker meds to reduce the fast heart beat... even now stay in my bed is not more fun, I mean that I have panic attack in my bed also... i'm anxious all the time and have insomnia... can't be left alone at home also...
I have to start again the Paxil, who is the only one SSRI who is effective to stop the panic disorder on me, but I can't... my anxiety level is so high that just thinking about taking a small 1 mg piece of Paxil make my heart race as the speed of light!!! I wait for my anxiety level to return to a more normal level before starting it and work hard with my Therapist to cope with my anxiety right now... but it's not easy trust me... everyday I think it's my last day and I feel like I will have a heart attack...
For the meds, I also understand what you live...From the end of 2007 until the ened of 2009, I was put on so many meds for my anxiety that I developp a fear of meds... some of them, especially the older ones who are not used often now, or meds use off-labels for the parkinson disease like the Mirapex, lead to extreme anxiety and bad panic attacks, some meds also almost kill me and trigger the heart phobia I have now, especially the old Parnate antidepressant who is an MAOI...
The Paxil work great for me the first 2 years on was on it back in 1994-1996, it was a life saver for me but I had to stop it cause I gained more than 200 pounds on it and it was not very effective at the end to stop the panic attacks on me... I had done 2 years of Therapy at the same time and I think at the time I was ok with my anxiety level and able to live a normal life without the Paxil... so I just withdraw it slowly and stop it completly... I was mainly free of panic attack for almost 10 years, my social phobia was still there but I was ok with it... I had some panic attacks in that 10 years gaps...especially at the university when I had to do oral speech in front of the class OR sometimes I had panic attacks because of my social phobia in public transportation or when I had to walk alone in a street full of people OR whan I had to introduce myself to a new group at school... or when I was drunk... but nothing more... I was able to get out of the house, going out with friends and do a normal life BUT I always felt that I was special and different from the others... weird feeling...
For the Celexa, if you are already on the Paxil, it will not be very dangerous to try it since your brain is already used to the extra serotonin level, you can switch from the Paxil to the Celexa without a washout period of time... you can try the Celexa for one day and see what happen? The Celexa and the Lexapro are apparently the easier SSRI's to take, they don't give a lot of side-effects.... BUT again everyone is different... I had more side-effects from the Celexa and the Lexapro (improved Celexa version) than from all the other antidepressants meds I try including the olders TCA's meds like the Imipramine, Clomiparmine, Nortriptyline... of the not famous Prozac for example... who make me a lot agitated by the way!!!
I find the Celexa to be not effective at all for my anxiety, I gained a lot more weight on it than on the Paxil, around 5 pounds a week, I was extremely tired all the time, had bad headache, no motivation, had panic attacks all the time... more than before I was put on it, my social phobia was also worse cause of the weight gain... even after 3 months on it at 40 mg I was anxious all the time... so I just stop it.
Normally the recommended SSRI for very anxious peoples is the Paxil but since it's not effective anymore for you, maybe you can ask for the Zoloft?... The main advantage of the Zoloft is the fact that you can start it at a lower dose, like 25 mg but you can cut the pilll into 4 pieces... and increase slowly... but again, for me it was a very bad med... not bad like the Celexa but just not effective, even at 200 mg a day... I remember that I had also a lot more panic attacks on it and bad headache... but nothing else...
If you don't take a benzo med already, maybe you can ask to try the Klonopin at a low dose for no more than 4 weeks when you will start the Celexa? It can help to cope with the extra anxiety you can have when you will start the Celexa?
One thing is sure, don't lost your time on the Remeron or the Trazodone, they are not good for anxiety...
Well, I wish you good luck.... !!!
Take care of you!
Vincent
Thank you to all!! Im so glad Im not alone cause frankly it scares me. New meds scare me too... My doctor has prescribed me celexa but yet again i am to scared to try it. But feeling this way is maybe worse... I dont even want to be awake half the time so I can avoid these crazy feelings I get. Has anyone else tried celexa?
I'm so sorry you're feeling so bad. I was reading that many people who are or have been on Paxil found that it stops working for them as well, even after 10 years of exposure to the medicine. You should probably see you doctor again to explain how you're feeling and ask for the medicine to be changed to something else. Again, I'm sorry to hear about your troubles and truly hope you get out of this slump and recover quickly. Best Wishes.
although i prefer to hear stories using natural therapies, sometimes finding the correct med andf dosage is required. You need to discuss changes with your doctor. Its trial and error to find the right med for you. good luck
do you get counseling? have you tried CBT therapy? there is much you can do to lessen your suffering on your own. Go to lifehut.com and listen to the time mindfulness. Sadly the meds only help some, the rest is up to us. You might see if you can switch meds with your Dr and if they help you feel better try gathering some tools so you have things that help. This is a tough worthwhile journey we are all on and it takes alot of mind retraining to not fall back into the mind traps.Feeling normal is a goal for us all so you are not alone and this forum can give you alot of support and great advice on things that can help
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