Paxil to Prozac

[rubenv2530]

I been on paxil for 5 years, 30mg. Evertime I see the doctor he tells me to lose weight. I put on 60 pounds the first year. I am tired of being fat and lethargic? I cut back to 25mg. and the zaps are starting. I am going to tell my doctor I want to try prozac , my ocd is very bad. how do i switch.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

You switch by substituting over a period of three weeks. Start lowest dose of prozac, the start decreasing Paxil.  Also, you can do something re emotional eating by going to masteringfood.com.

[SleeplessDonna]

Absolutely DO NOT change or go off your meds without a really good psychiatrist. Don't try to do it through your regular m.d. and don't do it alone. I did try to get off of Paxil and could tolerate the zaps and brain fog but once I got down to 10mg from 40mg life became utter hell. I did this on my own and really wasted 3.5 months. It's dangerous to do it alone. I'm on Lexapro right now but will probably change to Prozac. I had no side effects from taking either one except for lack of libido and a general emotional flatness. When I say utter hell: zaps, brain fog, major anxiety attacks, extreme fear of being alone, insomnia (not just staying up all night). I've never had this type of insomnia. Everytime I woke up if I was sleeping my entire chest wall, neck, upperback would tighten -- I thought I was having a heart attack. It was worse in the day if I tried to nap. If you want more info. see my posting: Paxil Withdrawal Insomnia Chest Tightening

[texassweetie66]

Well I am going to be weaning off Paxil with Prozac and here is the schedule my doctor put my on in order to do that.

Week 1 Paxil 20mg + Prozac 10mg
Week 2 Paxil 15mg + Prozac 20mg
Week 3 Paxil 10mg + Prozac 20mg
Week 4 Paxil 5mg + Prozac 20mg
Week 5 Stop Paxil stay on 20mg Prozac


I have not started yet, but plan on starting it once I have vaction in 2 weeks, just in case I have any bad side effects from the prozac.

Hope this helps