Comments for You Don’t Have to Suffer from Anxiety http://www.myanxietyblog.com If you torture yourself with worry, then this blog is for you. It is not normal to worry all the time. If you have debilitating anxiety, then please read this blog. If years of therapy have not helped you face the world without anxiety, it is time to consider anti-anxiety medications. They changed my life! Tue, 13 May 2008 14:03:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.1 Comment on Done with Paxil, finally by Kathy http://www.myanxietyblog.com/done-with-paxil-finally/#comment-26970 Mon, 12 May 2008 01:59:17 +0000 http://www.myanxietyblog.com/done-with-paxil-finally/#comment-26970 Clint, I agree with you. I had been on Paxil for ten years. I am completely off it for nine days.....and the withdrawal symptoms have been a living hell. I didn't go cold turkey. I weaned myself off of the drug for over two months. The withdrawal is still hell. Don't let anyone tell you that you have to be on it. Once you get over all the withdrawal symptoms, I hope that both of us will be our old selves again. I don't want to be on this drug for the rest of my life. Clint,
I agree with you. I had been on Paxil for ten years. I am completely off it for nine days…..and the withdrawal symptoms have been a living hell. I didn’t go cold turkey. I weaned myself off of the drug for over two months. The withdrawal is still hell. Don’t let anyone tell you that you have to be on it. Once you get over all the withdrawal symptoms, I hope that both of us will be our old selves again. I don’t want to be on this drug for the rest of my life.

]]> Comment on Paxil Withdrawal by candace day http://www.myanxietyblog.com/paxil-withdrawal/#comment-26288 Tue, 06 May 2008 13:25:40 +0000 http://www.myanxietyblog.com/paxil-withdrawal/#comment-26288 Janice-i dont know what celexa is so i cant say anything about that but you need to stay on the Paxil.Believe me when i say you are not alone in what you are going through.when my son had his accident on 7/15/06 i literally crumbled to the floor and checked out of life.i dont even remember the next couple months after that.i couldnt eat,would not come out of my bed.i was down to 95 pounds.,and i cried constantly knowing my firstborn son was going to prison.now here we are almost two years later and i am living my life,taking care of the family.he still has 2 years in prison but with the help of paxil i am able to get up,work,and function.please dont feel like you are alone.i have tried to quit the paxil but its very difficult to do.god bless! Janice-i dont know what celexa is so i cant say anything about that but you need to stay on the Paxil.Believe me when i say you are not alone in what you are going through.when my son had his accident on 7/15/06 i literally crumbled to the floor and checked out of life.i dont even remember the next couple months after that.i couldnt eat,would not come out of my bed.i was down to 95 pounds.,and i cried constantly knowing my firstborn son was going to prison.now here we are almost two years later and i am living my life,taking care of the family.he still has 2 years in prison but with the help of paxil i am able to get up,work,and function.please dont feel like you are alone.i have tried to quit the paxil but its very difficult to do.god bless!

]]> Comment on Paxil Withdrawal by candace day http://www.myanxietyblog.com/paxil-withdrawal/#comment-26223 Tue, 06 May 2008 00:24:31 +0000 http://www.myanxietyblog.com/paxil-withdrawal/#comment-26223 yeah-my doctor has told me to do half a day instead of whole one every day,and it seems to work at first but then its like my body needs more of it,i start feeling really moody and depressed and not easy to live with,plus the shock feelings i get.i think i will have to just go off cold turkey when my son comes home and hopefully by then i am able to quit it. yeah-my doctor has told me to do half a day instead of whole one every day,and it seems to work at first but then its like my body needs more of it,i start feeling really moody and depressed and not easy to live with,plus the shock feelings i get.i think i will have to just go off cold turkey when my son comes home and hopefully by then i am able to quit it.

]]> Comment on Paxil Withdrawal by freebird http://www.myanxietyblog.com/paxil-withdrawal/#comment-26202 Mon, 05 May 2008 19:51:16 +0000 http://www.myanxietyblog.com/paxil-withdrawal/#comment-26202 Candace, you can get off the paxil but it must be done very very very gradually, going down like a half a pill every few weeks. Can't u get help doing this from the prescribing doctor????? Good luck. Candace, you can get off the paxil but it must be done very very very gradually, going down like a half a pill every few weeks. Can’t u get help doing this from the prescribing doctor????? Good luck.

]]> Comment on Paxil Withdrawal by candace day http://www.myanxietyblog.com/paxil-withdrawal/#comment-26193 Mon, 05 May 2008 18:25:02 +0000 http://www.myanxietyblog.com/paxil-withdrawal/#comment-26193 I have been taking Paxil since July of 2006.my son was in a car accident where someone died,and he was sent to prison.the paxil worked for me at first.it got me out of bed,kept me from crying all day long,and did help me eat some.now 2 years later,i am trying to get off of it but everytime i do i get tiny shocks throughout different parts of my body.very weird feeling!it does make your sex life non existent but i am 47 yrs. old so that could also be menopause.i am determined that i will go off if by the time my son comes home from prison.,and just suffer through the sideeffects,but right now,i need to get up and function and go through life as i have two other kids also.hang in there.try cutting your dosage down some,and little by little you will find you wont need it.good luck,Candace I have been taking Paxil since July of 2006.my son was in a car accident where someone died,and he was sent to prison.the paxil worked for me at first.it got me out of bed,kept me from crying all day long,and did help me eat some.now 2 years later,i am trying to get off of it but everytime i do i get tiny shocks throughout different parts of my body.very weird feeling!it does make your sex life non existent but i am 47 yrs. old so that could also be menopause.i am determined that i will go off if by the time my son comes home from prison.,and just suffer through the sideeffects,but right now,i need to get up and function and go through life as i have two other kids also.hang in there.try cutting your dosage down some,and little by little you will find you wont need it.good luck,Candace

]]> Comment on Generalized Anxiety Disorder makes me think too much. by zebra http://www.myanxietyblog.com/generalized-anxiety-disorder-makes-me-think-too-much/#comment-26170 Mon, 05 May 2008 14:07:12 +0000 http://www.myanxietyblog.com/generalized-anxiety-disorder-makes-me-think-too-much/#comment-26170 Holland, I think you are onto something when you mentioned high level of glutamine. I had extensive testing done, and that was one of some other glaring things going on with me. I am going to a doctor that I buy a toxic cleaning protein powder through the company named Metametrix. They also conducted the lab work. GAD and bipolar both are name tags that have been attached to me. Through 6 yrs of trying every medication with only toxic side effects for me, I knew I had to attack this from another direction rather than the psy conventional doctors. Get on Metametrix lab website and find a doctor who will work with/through them. I also found out a hypothyroid condition exists and it also messes you up. Holland, I think you are onto something when you mentioned high level of glutamine. I had extensive testing done, and that was one of some other glaring things going on with me. I am going to a doctor that I buy a toxic cleaning protein powder through the company named Metametrix. They also conducted the lab work. GAD and bipolar both are name tags that have been attached to me. Through 6 yrs of trying every medication with only toxic side effects for me, I knew I had to attack this from another direction rather than the psy conventional doctors. Get on Metametrix lab website and find a doctor who will work with/through them. I also found out a hypothyroid condition exists and it also messes you up.

]]> Comment on Had to Tweak My Celexa and Neurontin Again by Jomomma http://www.myanxietyblog.com/had-to-tweak-my-celexa-and-neurontin-again/#comment-23173 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:54:32 +0000 http://www.myanxietyblog.com/had-to-tweak-my-celexa-and-neurontin-again/#comment-23173 Flowerpaw, Thanks for the quick response. My husband will not admit to a problem, and, he will not see any doctor, esp. a psychatrist. He found out that I was looking for help for him, and, he blew a gasket. Thanks anyway. This is tearing all of us apart. I covet your prayers. Jomomma Flowerpaw,
Thanks for the quick response. My husband will not admit to a problem, and, he will not see any doctor, esp. a psychatrist. He found out that I was looking for help for him, and, he blew a gasket. Thanks anyway. This is tearing all of us apart. I covet your prayers.
Jomomma

]]> Comment on Paxil Withdrawal by jake http://www.myanxietyblog.com/paxil-withdrawal/#comment-20869 Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:14:11 +0000 http://www.myanxietyblog.com/paxil-withdrawal/#comment-20869 I was thinking of getting off of paxil ,but with all those symtoms ,it might be easier to stasy on it. I was thinking of getting off of paxil ,but with all those symtoms ,it might be easier to stasy on it.

]]> Comment on Done with Paxil, finally by freebird http://www.myanxietyblog.com/done-with-paxil-finally/#comment-19890 Tue, 19 Feb 2008 13:27:03 +0000 http://www.myanxietyblog.com/done-with-paxil-finally/#comment-19890 Clint, I wish you could realize what you are saying. You have so many issues which prevent you from enjoying yourlife, yet you discount the improvement on paxil saying it is making you a different person. THIS IS THE PERSON YOU ARE MEANT TO BE. Anxiety and depression are medical conditions. There is a chemical imbalance of some sort in our brains. Just as you would discover you feel better after taking insulin, you have discovered you feel better on the Paxil. Why in the world would you prefer to feel miserable and have the social anxiety about going to the supermarket (i used tohave the same thing. i had to go to the bathroom the second i got there). There are other medicaitons instead of the paxil that work w/o the weight gain and sexual side effects. I am taking celexa now along with neurontin and I feel great. Please find yourself a good psychiatrist to work out a plan for you to feel better. And be smart enuf to remember you dont just stop taking medication w/o a plan from your doctor. The fact that you are reading the blog and are so aware of how good you felt on the medication is a great sign that you really want to feel better. Misery is NOT THE NATURAL STATE OF a person. You have discovered the REAL YOU which is the happy one. Clint,
I wish you could realize what you are saying. You have so many issues which prevent you from enjoying yourlife, yet you discount the improvement on paxil saying it is making you a different person. THIS IS THE PERSON YOU ARE MEANT TO BE. Anxiety and depression are medical conditions. There is a chemical imbalance of some sort in our brains. Just as you would discover you feel better after taking insulin, you have discovered you feel better on the Paxil. Why in the world would you prefer to feel miserable and have the social anxiety about going to the supermarket (i used tohave the same thing. i had to go to the bathroom the second i got there). There are other medicaitons instead of the paxil that work w/o the weight gain and sexual side effects. I am taking celexa now along with neurontin and I feel great.
Please find yourself a good psychiatrist to work out a plan for you to feel better. And be smart enuf to remember you dont just stop taking medication w/o a plan from your doctor.
The fact that you are reading the blog and are so aware of how good you felt on the medication is a great sign that you really want to feel better. Misery is NOT THE NATURAL STATE OF a person. You have discovered the REAL YOU which is the happy one.

]]> Comment on Done with Paxil, finally by Clint http://www.myanxietyblog.com/done-with-paxil-finally/#comment-19804 Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:06:41 +0000 http://www.myanxietyblog.com/done-with-paxil-finally/#comment-19804 I have been taking a fairly small (30mg daily) dose of Paxil CR for about nine months to help me through a major depressive episode initiating at my father's diagnosis with cancer. I stopped taking it about two weeks ago thinking that I have had enough time to emotionally and mentally acclimate to the idea of loss (though he has been fighting a losing battle since summer, Dad is still living right now). I had noticed some side-effects taking Paxil, but it's the ones I failed to notice that have me concerned. I have not been myself for months. In many ways, I was a happier, calmer, more easy-going person on the drug. Despite the depression I had fallen into, Paxil made me feel happy – not just un-depressed and functional, but actually happy. I don’t think I have ever before been that for an extended period of time. That is the affect of the drug that concerns me – Paxil did not just treat my depression, it changed my core personality. I usually describe myself as a perky pessimist. I accept that the world sucks, that there are things about my life that I hate and people who drive me insane. I accept that I can’t go to the grocery store during daylight hours without having a panic attack so severe it is like a heart attack due to the noise and crowds. I accept that I am not a happy-go-lucky kind of person. I accept that I am an perfectionist for whom nothing is ever good enough. I accept getting out of bed at 3:00 AM to obsessively wash the kitchen walls or reorganize the closets or tweak a document. I accept all the negativity and still manage to smile and basically enjoy being alive. Taking Paxil forced me to be happy, removed my obsessive drives, sheltered me from panic-attacks when faced with hordes of people, and allowed me to graciously and generously deal with situations that would ordinarily have driven me to distraction. I realize that all sounds good, but that is not me. I don’t know who the heck I’ve been for the past several months, but it wasn’t me. Paxil stripped me of my own basic nature and personality, my identity. As much as I am hating these realizations, they are not why I stopped taking the drug. I didn’t even notice that I’d become a different person, a happier version of myself living an easier life. I stopped because of two distinct side effects: weight gain and loss of sexual function. For a while, I accepted those knowing that I could not function without the anti-depressant, but after six months of no sex at all and gaining twenty pounds, I’d had enough. I stopped taking Paxil: no gradual weaning off, just stopped. That was stupid of me because the past two weeks have been a lesson in hell. There were times that I thought I might be having a schizophrenic or psychotic break. Electrical physical discomfort, auditory and visual hallucinations, strange obsessions (strange for me is really quite saying something), vivid nightmares and insomnia like I’ve never had before, memory loss and fugue episodes… this is only the beginning of the list. There is no accounting how near death I’ve been recently as I do things like forget I am driving – not forget where I am going, but remove my seat belt and turn around backwards to find a Chapstick in my jacket in the backseat while driving down the highway and run off into the embankment. I wish I had gradually weaned off, but it seems too late now that (hopefully) the worst is over. As I return to myself, I just can’t accept going back on the drug at a lower dose and taking months to get this twisted mind-control out of my system. Paxil is a fantastic drug that effectively manages depression as well as anxiety and obsessive tendencies. For anyone who can accept the risks and side effects and doesn’t mind becoming a whole new human, I really do recommend it as a “vacation away from oneself,” but I will never take the stuff again. I have been taking a fairly small (30mg daily) dose of Paxil CR for about nine months to help me through a major depressive episode initiating at my father’s diagnosis with cancer. I stopped taking it about two weeks ago thinking that I have had enough time to emotionally and mentally acclimate to the idea of loss (though he has been fighting a losing battle since summer, Dad is still living right now).

I had noticed some side-effects taking Paxil, but it’s the ones I failed to notice that have me concerned. I have not been myself for months. In many ways, I was a happier, calmer, more easy-going person on the drug. Despite the depression I had fallen into, Paxil made me feel happy – not just un-depressed and functional, but actually happy. I don’t think I have ever before been that for an extended period of time. That is the affect of the drug that concerns me – Paxil did not just treat my depression, it changed my core personality.

I usually describe myself as a perky pessimist. I accept that the world sucks, that there are things about my life that I hate and people who drive me insane. I accept that I can’t go to the grocery store during daylight hours without having a panic attack so severe it is like a heart attack due to the noise and crowds. I accept that I am not a happy-go-lucky kind of person. I accept that I am an perfectionist for whom nothing is ever good enough. I accept getting out of bed at 3:00 AM to obsessively wash the kitchen walls or reorganize the closets or tweak a document. I accept all the negativity and still manage to smile and basically enjoy being alive.

Taking Paxil forced me to be happy, removed my obsessive drives, sheltered me from panic-attacks when faced with hordes of people, and allowed me to graciously and generously deal with situations that would ordinarily have driven me to distraction. I realize that all sounds good, but that is not me. I don’t know who the heck I’ve been for the past several months, but it wasn’t me. Paxil stripped me of my own basic nature and personality, my identity.

As much as I am hating these realizations, they are not why I stopped taking the drug. I didn’t even notice that I’d become a different person, a happier version of myself living an easier life. I stopped because of two distinct side effects: weight gain and loss of sexual function. For a while, I accepted those knowing that I could not function without the anti-depressant, but after six months of no sex at all and gaining twenty pounds, I’d had enough.

I stopped taking Paxil: no gradual weaning off, just stopped. That was stupid of me because the past two weeks have been a lesson in hell. There were times that I thought I might be having a schizophrenic or psychotic break. Electrical physical discomfort, auditory and visual hallucinations, strange obsessions (strange for me is really quite saying something), vivid nightmares and insomnia like I’ve never had before, memory loss and fugue episodes… this is only the beginning of the list. There is no accounting how near death I’ve been recently as I do things like forget I am driving – not forget where I am going, but remove my seat belt and turn around backwards to find a Chapstick in my jacket in the backseat while driving down the highway and run off into the embankment.

I wish I had gradually weaned off, but it seems too late now that (hopefully) the worst is over. As I return to myself, I just can’t accept going back on the drug at a lower dose and taking months to get this twisted mind-control out of my system. Paxil is a fantastic drug that effectively manages depression as well as anxiety and obsessive tendencies. For anyone who can accept the risks and side effects and doesn’t mind becoming a whole new human, I really do recommend it as a “vacation away from oneself,” but I will never take the stuff again.

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