I am currently a nursing student, and a mom. I went to my Dr about 5 months ago because I had not been feeling well and was suffering from severe fatigue. Well he immediately suggest Paxil and tells me the only down side is the possibility of weight gain (around 5 pounds). After 2 months I realized that it was not making a difference at all and deceided to stop taking it, the withdrawls were SO horrible I literally could not take it and was going out of my mind (both physical and mental). I started taking it again for fear of the withdrawls. I started to wean myself off which ment mild to moderate sickness for two months. Now that I have been on the lowest dose for a month, I deceided to go ahead and stop taking it before fall semester gets here. The experience so far (6 days) has been the worst thing I have ever experienced in my whole entire life. Nausea, vomiting, chills, sweating, insomnia, extreme rage, depression, crying spells, migraines, body pains, dizziness ETC. Oh and the weight gain was 25 pounds in less than 3 months no where near the "5" the DR suggested.
I just watched a ABC special about how Paxil makers sent memos to doctors telling them to not mention the "discontinuation syndrome". I am feeling so angry at my DR, and am honestly questioning my trust for any DR. How could a problem that is so horrible and so widespread not been pointed out to me when he suggested the prescription. Had I know that months of my life would be stolen and that the withdrawls would be so dibilatating, I would have never agreed to start taking it.
Has anyone else experienced this or something similar? Has anyone else felt betrayed or lied to by their DR?
Always do your research before starting a new medication. You can't blame your Doctor because he gave you a very common medication and most people don't have issues with and your body reacted differently to it.
Always do your research before starting a new medication. You can't blame your Doctor because he gave you a very common medication and most people don't have issues with and your body reacted differently to it.
If most people didnt have issues with it then their would not be multiple lawsuits against the makers of the drug and they would not have multiple hearings before congress to explain why they lied about the research and even encouraged DRs to lie about the side effects, and withdrawls. I think if your DR tells you something and then completly tells you the opposite later then you have a right to blame him. When I asked if the withdrawls were common and he said "not at all" then later tells me "Oh its very common". That is lying and I believe I have a right to be angry.
If most people didnt have issues with it then their would not be multiple lawsuits against the makers of the drug and they would not have multiple hearings before congress to explain why they lied about the research and even encouraged DRs to lie about the side effects, and withdrawls. I think if your DR tells you something and then completly tells you the opposite later then you have a right to blame him. When I asked if the withdrawls were common and he said "not at all" then later tells me "Oh its very common". That is lying and I believe I have a right to be angry.
Not medical advise, but my daughter has been on Paxil for several years and it has helped more with her depression than anything else that was tried. You learned a hard lesson and I'm sorry you had this experience. I ALWAYS research any new med me or my husband, who has metatastic prostate CA, are prescribed. Put that expensive drug book to use. My motto is always "better safe than sorry".
Check out crazymeds.us. It is a site about psychotropic drugs that is made by patients, not medical professionals. It has a lot of actual experiences and studies. I think it might be what you are looking for.
I used to take Paxil and had no problem stopping. Everyone is diff though. Did your doctor tell you how to wean off or did you do it on your own? That can be an issue too. You should know that stopping a mind altering drug should be planned with your doctor.
SSRIs are really great at treating depression, but withdrawals when attempting to wean off/stop are really apparent. Unfortunately such issues are not always addressed by the prescriber or even recognized by the medical community.... However, one has to remember the hideous side effects of old school anti depressants (MAOIs and tricylics) - even ECT - and weigh up the pros and cons. Lately, Wellbutrin is often prescribed with good therapeutic outcomes and seems relatively easy to discontinue.
I think it all depends upon the individual and their experience of depression...
Specializes in pediatrics, palliative, pain management.
Kim,
I really feel I can relate to your experience. I am not angry at my doctor though, (she is fabulous), and we did talk about withdrawl. Actually when I came off paxil it was a 4-6 week taper that we planned out together. The problem was this was too fast, and I am stubborn, so I wouldn't slow down the taper like I should have. Although I did "do research", such as talking to my doctor and reading my drug book, it wasn't until I went through it and started looking into others experiences (through the web) that I realized how much worse it was. I think some of it is that the sensations/ experience are hard to describe. I would say "dizzy", but it wasn't really dizziness, more odd sensations and loss of sense of space.
Regarding the SSRIs and coming off of them, Paxil is really a tough one. It is interesting that when looking at newborns of women who took Paxil, the infants become jittery and irritable. It has been found that while the infant gets paxil inutero, the drug does not pass into the breast milk, so the infant is suddenly cut off from his/her supply! Seems that prozac (does cross into breastmilk) is actually the one recommended for pregnancy/ breastfeeding.
Anyways, it is challenging. Is your tiredness related to depression or have you found out what the original problem was?
SSRIs are really great at treating depression, but withdrawals when attempting to wean off/stop are really apparent. Unfortunately such issues are not always addressed by the prescriber or even recognized by the medical community.... However, one has to remember the hideous side effects of old school anti depressants (MAOIs and tricylics) - even ECT - and weigh up the pros and cons. Lately, Wellbutrin is often prescribed with good therapeutic outcomes and seems relatively easy to discontinue.
I think it all depends upon the individual and their experience of depression...
Yup wellbutrin is a pretty damn good antidepressant and also helps with Adult ADD. I take this medicine but have stopped taking it a month ago when I was prescribed new meds but yeah I think that is one of the better antidepressants out there. Plus it would always remind me to be hydrated since it seems to dry your mouth, that's about the only side effect I had.
I have bee on Paxil for close to 15 years. I have weaned off it twice for pregnancy's. I first started by taking half a pill every other day and a full on the alternate days...then half every day, then every other day, then every third day until I was down to nothing. I never had withdrawal symptoms. I am suprised you didn't taper it more gradual.
I also never gained weight with it and I used to struggle with my weight. It cant ake 4-6 weeks on average to show therapuetic affects.
I am currently a nursing student, and a mom. I went to my Dr about 5 months ago because I had not been feeling well and was suffering from severe fatigue. Well he immediately suggest Paxil and tells me the only down side is the possibility of weight gain (around 5 pounds). After 2 months I realized that it was not making a difference at all and deceided to stop taking it, the withdrawls were SO horrible I literally could not take it and was going out of my mind (both physical and mental). I started taking it again for fear of the withdrawls. I started to wean myself off which ment mild to moderate sickness for two months. Now that I have been on the lowest dose for a month, I deceided to go ahead and stop taking it before fall semester gets here. The experience so far (6 days) has been the worst thing I have ever experienced in my whole entire life. Nausea, vomiting, chills, sweating, insomnia, extreme rage, depression, crying spells, migraines, body pains, dizziness ETC. Oh and the weight gain was 25 pounds in less than 3 months no where near the "5" the DR suggested.
I just watched a ABC special about how Paxil makers sent memos to doctors telling them to not mention the "discontinuation syndrome". I am feeling so angry at my DR, and am honestly questioning my trust for any DR. How could a problem that is so horrible and so widespread not been pointed out to me when he suggested the prescription. Had I know that months of my life would be stolen and that the withdrawls would be so dibilatating, I would have never agreed to start taking it.
Has anyone else experienced this or something similar? Has anyone else felt betrayed or lied to by their DR?
"Anyways, it is challenging. Is your tiredness related to depression or have you found out what the original problem was?" nopainnurse- Thanks for relating, you really hit the nail on the head. I did go to another DR that actually ran test and found that I was anemic, borderline diabetic, had a mysteriously low potassium, and was "a mom of a toddler". Since then I have adjusted my lifestyle, sleep habits, and started taking various supplements. This fixed the original problem, now its just getting off of the medication that I should have never been on. I tried to tell my DR I felt like I was ill and he just insisted it was probably depression and all I needed was Paxil this "majic pill". I just dislike how our society is so quick to give out these SSRI's without much cause, especially when the side effects and withdrawls are so horrendous.
"I am suprised you didn't taper it more gradual." Kentuckymom23- I did taper down from 20 mg to 5 over a 2.5 month time and I took only 5 mg a day for the last 30 days. I wouldnt have ever imagined going from 5mg to 0 would throw your body into such a tailspin.
Thank you all so much for your stories and thoughts. On a great note I am feeling much better today (so far :/)
I definately learned a lesson about not always just doing what your DR tells you, when I went to the original DR I was not yet in nursing school, and was very naive and timid. I assumed the DR always knows best. I definately understand the need to be your own advocate, and not to hesitate on getting a second opinion.
I used to work in a physician's clinic, and, in defense of your doctor (or maybe just in explanation of his behavior), I wanted to add a few comments.
Most people want a magic pill. I cannot tell you how often I spent discussing the importance of diet, exercise, regular sunlight exposure (in moderation of course), and adequate sleep to people who came in feeling tired, depressed, who were overweight, etc, only to have them ask at the end of the conversation, "Yeah, but, can't I just start an antidepressant?"
It definitely is up to patients to communicate with their physician's what their goals are. It is also important for us as providers to flesh out what our patients want/expect from us, and to help them make realistic, healthy goals for their health.
Continued communication is important as well. It was so disappointing to have someone come in for their yearly physical, ask them how they were doing on a med that we prescribed at the last one, only to have them say "Oh, I had some bad side effects, so I just stopped it." Well, that may be okay, or it might be a big issue. And did the original problem resolve, or is it still hanging out there, unaddressed for these last 12 months? Patients definitely have some responsibility in this, as well, not just physicians and nurses.
Not excusing the lack of communication or miscommunication that occurred with your original physician; just really commenting on a general trend that I experienced as an office nurse, to provide another perspective.
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casi, ASN, RN
2,063 Posts
Always do your research before starting a new medication. You can't blame your Doctor because he gave you a very common medication and most people don't have issues with and your body reacted differently to it.