withdrawal from paxil

[reenie67]

i have been on paxil 10mg once a day for over 5 years. in the last 6 months i feel sad i want to stop taking this i asked the dr. for something else he gave me effexor i took it once and hated it . i really just want to stop taking everything. i don't have any paxil i took it 2 nights ago. what should i do.

[Paxiled]

My own advice is to taper down very slowly on the Paxil if you want to stop taking it before taking another med.  Effexor will not necessarily substitute for Paxil, so you could find yourself suffering Paxil withdrawal and thinking it's a side effect of Effexor, nor should you be taking both at the same time since that could lead to an overload of serotonin.  Do you have a psychiatrist or a regular doc?  You should always do this with a psychiatrist you've grilled first on whether or not they understand how to safely and most comfortably take a person off a drug.  Remember, Effexor and Paxil aren't even the same class of medication, one being an ssri and the other an snri, but even another ssri wouldn't be equivalent to Paxil -- it's a pretty unique drug.  

[mammo]

It sounds like the Paxil stopped working for you, which happens.  You should never stop these types of drugs abruptly due to withdrawal.  Did you give the Effexor enough time to help you, 4-6 weeks?  Call your doctor and ask what he suggests.  I know you would like to not take anything, but for now it sounds like you need medication, and sometimes when one quits working, we may need to try several before finding the one that's going to do the job. Just be honest with your doctor and he will know what you should do.  Take care......