Are you on Paxil?

[Guaranteed]

Poll question: Are you on Paxil?

Pretty straightforward.

[JanMichael]

1. Nope. I know several who are though.

They seem OK I suppose.

Me? Other than beer and wine I'm more or less drug free:-)

[Indiana Democrat]

2. NO. Why would I be??

[Guaranteed]

13. Do you ever get nervous?

Maybe sad, or less than happy? Do you ever think someone doesn't like you?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, ask your doctor about Paxil!

[FDRrocks]

14. ... isn't that all normal behavior?

I know, I know :)

[Indiana Democrat]

28. No thanks...

...Too many zombies in this country already.

Exercise and proper diet works wonders but Americans have gotten to lazy.

[soleft]

3. It takes a long time to wean off it

side effects of stopping too quickly can be really unpleasant.

[Teddy_Salad]

4. I'm on Paxil

Have been on it for 5 months now. I have Social Anxiety Disorder and have tried numerous other drugs.....none of which worked, except in stacking about 25 pounds on to me.

Paxil has worked really well though and does not increase my weight.

So yeah, it works for me.

[whistle]

5. Who wants to know?

...Or are you suggesting that Paxil is dangerous for teenagers and could lead to suicide? Why such a poll on DU? :shrug:

Did you know that amphetamines were the most highly prescribed drug in U.S. history and are still being widely given out by doctors to their patients all across this country. I heard the estimate is that so much of this drug is prescribed that every man woman and child in the United States today consumes over 50 pills per person per month. I think that includes lot of republicans as well as independents and a few democrats, a lot of students, teenagers (Ritalin) and of course truck drivers, just to name a few. Oh, and the illegal trade in amphetamines is even larger. Steroids don't count in this as I understand, but then I'm not a doctor. :puffpiece:

[Guaranteed]

18. I'm suggesting that

an awful lot of people take Paxil.

[Bushknew]

6. Regulators Want Antidepressants to List Warning

Patients taking antidepressants can become suicidal in the first weeks of therapy, and physicians should watch patients closely when first giving the drugs or changing dosages, federal regulators said yesterday.


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/23/health/23DEPR.html?ex=1080622800&en=64c66a2852aac2be&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

[Guaranteed]

7. Alright, so far 28% of people who responded to this poll

either are taking or have taken Paxil.

Just food for thought.

On edit: Keep in mind that this is only ONE anti-depressant.

[mobuto]

8. Totally meaningless

Its a self-selecting poll. I seriously doubt that 28% of DU members have taken Paxil or any other prescription drug.

[Guaranteed]

9. No, it's not.

Give it time, keep kicking. DU only has so many users. You get enough votes, the numbers will be pretty accurate.

Again, this is only ONE anti-depressant, too.

[theoceansnerves]

10. it is only one antidepressant

but it's prescribed for a lot of things other than depression. not all ssris are also prescribed in this manner.

[Guaranteed]

11. I wasn't aware that Paxil had anything other than

a psychiatric purpose. What else do they use it for?

[theoceansnerves]

12. oh

i think they're all psychiatric. i know its prescribed for social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, ocd, panic disorder, etc. i'm just saying people here might be taking it for different reasons. i think its a horrible drug :shrug:

[One Taste]

15. why do you think it's a horrible drug?

just curious

[theoceansnerves]

21. 3 things i guess

side effects, withdrawal, cost

was prescribed for anxiety...could have achieved the same result with a $15 bottle of ativan

[ProdigalJunkMail]

29. ativan?

that is a new one on me...is that perscription? if it does such a good job for you, why is it not more frequently prescribed or maybe it is...

thanks!
theProdigal

[Guaranteed]

30. It's lorazepam

On edit: it's actually a tranquilizer

[ProdigalJunkMail]

33. yeah...found that out after

i got off my lazy keyboard and googled...thanks!

theProdigal

[theoceansnerves]

32. it's just a sedative

been around since the 70s? 60s? the generic is really cheap even without insurance. its not usually prescribed for long periods of time because you can become dependent/addicted. so instead they prescribe paxil for chronic anxiety. i took that for a year and to be honest paxil sedated me much more than regular sedatives ever did.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

34. thanks for the info

my wife has been off and on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds for several years now and just cannot seem to find the right combination...she is doing Paxil now and it seems to be going ok...but time will tell.

thanks!
theProdigal

[pfitz59]

49. Used to treat premature ejaculation!

(Not my reason for taking it!) Very pleasnt sexual side-effects. Most mind-blowing orgasm in my life was after 1 month on Paxcil. I stopped because of the unpleasnt side effects: dizziness, insomnia, sweating, visual distortions. For those with the need, a Paxcil/Viagara cocktail should produce a wonderful effect!

[Nikia]

16. I tried it

I had panic attacks and the doctor wanted to give me drugs right away. I tried it for two weeks. Paxil made me feel weird. I wasn't suicidal. I was apathetic. An hour after taking it, someone could have shot my husband and I wouldn't have cared. I had no desire to either have sex or eat either. My husband said that I was violent in my sleep. I think that it does really help some people, but I don't think that it is compatible with everyone's brain chemistry.

[Guaranteed]

20. Very similar thing with me.

It made me feel numb.

I should never have been on anti-depressants. It was ridiculous. There was nothing wrong with me.

Folks: Don't let anyone ever tell you that there's something wrong with you. Everybody is different- it's alright to have a PERSONALITY, and not be "happy" (as they call it) all the time.

[Nikia]

23. I think part of the problem is

that there is no way of knowing whether nervousness or sadness, even which would be diagnosed as an anxiety disorder or depression, in a particuliar person is caused by a serotonin imbalance. For those who get better, that may have been the cause. There may be other causes though as well. It might be unhealthy for people without a serotonin imbalance to take such drugs just like it is unhealthy for people who have a bile problem instead of a stomach acid problem to take acid reducers for "acid reflux".

[Guaranteed]

27. Yeah, but all those things are just part of who you are.

Some people get nervous a lot. Some people are just melancholy. Of course, all of these characteristics tend to be mutable in one way or another- winning the lottery might solve some people's problems entirely, for others exercise tends to relieve stress sufficiently.

But, I get the feeling that when people are sad for extended periods of time, they look at themselves as if they're defective as a person, and, therefore, they have to "fix" themselves. They don't see the way they feel as a product of their environment, or their situation- or even as a GOOD THING. They internalize it, as if how they feel is something to be ashamed of, thereby stripping themselves of their **dignity**, and, ultimately, especially when taking drugs, their integrity. They change themselves, artificially or otherwise, because they think that there is a certain way that humans are supposed to feel (maybe it's the "happy" but shallow attitude that people display on TV, and in front of strangers. It gives the impression that everybody around them is happy). Instead of embracing their humanity, and who they are, they reject themselves, and render themselves powerless and unimportant.

The truth is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with 95% of these people- clinically AND philosophically- and I believe the true key to their happiness, even IN their sadness, is to accept themselves for who they are, no matter what, and be proud. No one can be truly happy, no matter who one is, without self-respect and peace of mind.

[maggrwaggr]

25. me, too. Tried it, made me feel stoned, unemotional, detached

One time I drove to the grocery store, put them in the back of the truck, then forgot all about them.

Didn't like that stuff at all.

[Lauren2882]

17. Answered no, but...

Answered no but I've been taking another anti-depressant for over 10 years.

[burrowowl]

19. I'm shy but

not that shy.

[Avalon Sparks]

22. I took it in early 90's...

I took it when it first came out - I want to say around 1993. I had been just sad for about 2 years, after a major event had depressed me - I couldn't seem to shake it 100%.

I must have been on a low dosage, but it worked. I noticed a change 'back to myself' after a month. I stayed on it 9 more months and then I started getting a skin rash. I just stopped taking it then. I didn't experience any side effects at all when I quit. I thought I might get depressed again, but I didn't. I don't think it had anything to do with the skin rash which went away anyway...

About 4 years later I began working out (on weights and cardio) regularly. I noticed the exercise made me feel really happy and kinda high. I stopped working out after a year and a half though....

I had gottan depressed two years ago when I was laid off, and I started exercising again - guess what, I can now confirm that exercise had the same effect on my depression as Paxil.

Going forward, when I'm feeling down I make myself work out.

[JCMach1]

24. I was one of the percentage of people who had horrible side-effects

from this drug.

I took it for a few days only.

It gave me TERRIBLE flu-like symptoms and caused me to lose 20lbs.

I missed a full week of work while it left my system.

PAXIL is a terrible drug that should be removed from the market!

[Chicago Democrat]

26. Crappy drug, causes siezures

made me me sleep all the time

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Guaranteed]

35. Oh yeah?

In addition to both my mother AND me being "diagnosed" with depression, as well as having both parents working in the field of psychology, I worked for a long time in a residential mental health treatment center for people with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Yes, THOSE people were sick. People with severe delusions and hallucinations need to be treated with drugs. People that are so depressed that they can't even get out of bed to go to the bathroom need to be treated with drugs. But those cases are VERY, VERY rare.

But, here's my story (and I suspect that it's pretty similar to most people who have been prescribed Paxil- which is being fucking ADVERTISED on TV, if you haven't noticed):

At the age of 14- yes, those golden, happy pubescent teenage years- on the advice of my psychiatrist I started taking imipramine. He felt that I had a case of "mild depression." While taking the meds I felt no change in my mental "health," but when we decided to take me off of them, WHOA boy, THEN I felt something. I didn't eat for a goddamned MONTH. My appetite was non-existent. I lost 25 pounds, and I was constantly vomiting. I would get carsick on the FREEWAY.

Next it was Zoloft. After my experience with imipramine, though, I wasn't too enthusiastic about starting another medication, and I didn't stick to it, so I never felt anything. I have to say that that's the BEST experience I've personally had with psychiatric drugs.

About a year after that, when I was 16, we decided to take another shot at it. Yes, believe it or not, even though I was 16 years old, I wasn't happy! I know you don't believe me, because ALL teenagers are HAPPY! But, it's true! So, my psychiatrist decided on the good ole Prozac. Lemme tell ya folks: that is some POWERFUL stuff. After about three weeks of taking it, it worked. I was happy. Two days later, I wasn't just happy, I was FLYING. TOTALLY manic. I was sleeping 11 hours per day, but, boy, when I woke up, I was LOVIN' life, to the point of having no regard for other people's feelings, or anything at all, really. Yes, the epitome of mental health I was, as I went around the school asking every girl I came across on a date and telling my friends that I didn't give two shits what they thought about me and my behavior.

But, that wasn't the worst of the effects of Prozac. Next came the MASSIVE anxiety attacks, about two months into my "trip." And this wasn't just your typical floating anxiety or nervousness. This was full-blown PANIC, 20 times per day for more than a month straight. Sweaty palms, stomach in a knot, mind racing in circles, feeling like you're going to die. These lasted weeks even after I stopped taking that garbage.

But I wasn't finished yet! I must have been a masochist, or my shrink a sadist, because only months after my Prozac spree I started taking Paxil. The numbness and total lack of enthusiasm for any aspect of life that Paxil gave to me was only surpassed by the most severe depression I had ever experienced in coming off it. This drug destroyed my relationship with my girlfriend.

The only drug that I ever had any success with was Serzone- after taking it for a week I felt an extra bounce in my step, at which point I promptly stopped taking it, not wanting to push my luck. It felt like it was going straight back the Prozac spree.

Well, that's just MY story. I know LOTS of other people who either have or are currently taking psychiatric medications, including my mother, who has been taking Wellbutrin for at least five years, and is actually doing very well with it, and my step-mother, who's addicted to tranquilizers but is nevertheless constantly anxious and worrying. Yes, after knowing her for 24 years, I can safely say that that's just WHO SHE IS. There's nothing "wrong" with her.

I also have a buddy who I happen to KNOW had absolutely nothing wrong with him, but was convinced by his parents and shrink that he was schizophrenic. Oh, no...wait. He was bipolar first (and they put him on PAXIL- surprise surprise!) and THEN they put him on anti-psychotics and mood stabilizers. Seems like he's on a different combo every month. He's since gained a hundred pounds (no exaggeration), doesn't work, and moved in more or less permanently with his parents. This man just a year before had been an excellent student at a UC and had a great circle of friends and social life. Now that's all gone.

Just for the record, I didn't deride ANYBODY or call anybody any names. And thanks for repeating my WHOLE POINT at the end, which is that people with problems shouldn't be stigmatizing themselves, at ALL- that includes calling themselves "mentally ill." Maybe you actually took something away from what I wrote. They're PEOPLE, and you're trying to victimize them by playing along with corporate garbage like "social anxiety disorder" (SAD- oh, how cute) and telling them that there's something wrong with them. You strip them of their dignity by pushing those labels on them.

Don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. I've been through the bullshit of this system, and it's disgusting. Look at the poll numbers. This society is hell-bent on convincing every last one of its people that there's something wrong with them.

So you know what you can do with your SAD.

[Guaranteed]

36. I think you might have misunderstood my posts.

What I'm saying is that people shouldn't let others discount their feelings as just being the product of a "mentally ill" mind. I'm saying that these feelings are legitimate, and that people that feel like being sad should just be sad if they want to. No one should let other people infringe on their personality and feelings with their opinions.

I'm sorry that I wasn't clearer in my posts. I certainly wasn't saying anything about people being lazy, or it being "their fault," although re-reading I can understand how you thought that. I was using very similar phrasing to what would be used by someone who WAS saying that. But my point is in fact the opposite- that those who feel sad or nervous are, except in the more extreme cases, simply experiencing the normal feelings that we human beings go through, and that they should embrace those feelings- there is, truly, NOTHING wrong with them. I'm not saying they need to "buck up" or "get over it." I'm saying that they shouldn't feel the need to change at all. What they are feeling is real, and part of who they are, and they shouldn't be ashamed. Does that make more sense?

[zanana]

37. ANTIDEPRESSANTS DON'T WORK.

Period. I've had problems with depression most of my life and have tried many,many "breakthrough" antidepressants. The doctors talk them up, then they tell you to be patient and give them a chance, then they tell you alot of it is psychological, that you have to "listen" to Prozac, etc. In my humble opinion, it's a load of bull. Give me Ativan anytime.

[Mobius]

40. Ativan is a tranquilizer and causes depression

if not accompanied by a AD. I take it, so dont jump down my throat. I have anxiety and depression, quite a lovely mix. Paxil works for both, making it unique and the savior of my sanity.

[Name removed]

38. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Mobius]

39. The girl that had commited suicide

had only been taking Paxil for barely a week. It takes 4-6 weeks for Paxil to raise levels of seratonin (sp) to a noticible level. Most likely, what I would have been feeling after taking it a week and being depressed to start out with, is that "I dont feel like this is working, I want to kill myself, because Ill never get relief from this sadness that grips my soul". My cats kept me from doing that untill the Paxil kicked in. Who would care for them if I was gone? People that are as depressed as this young girl need to be monitored whther thay are medicating or not. Let us also remember that the % of Paxil takers that attempt suicide are scewed with people that are already depressed (hence seeking medication)and most of them havent been taking the medication long enough for it to take effect.

[phrenzy]

41. Finally

THANK YOU!! It has been very lonely in this thread trying to defend the acceptance of meds as a treatment option. Prepare to be called a 'zombie' because you take those 'happy pills'

ugh.

[Guaranteed]

42. No one's calling anyone a zombie.

No one's attacking you or anyone who takes meds. I only attack those who go around telling other people that there's something wrong with the person that they are simply because they're not always happy.

[phrenzy]

44. Well

The implication sounded like anybody who was depressed should just 'deal with it. regardless of the severity. You didn't leave any room for anything else. That's what concerns me. When I see posts like that I am worried what people who are truly on the brink will feel. To me it is the equivalent of telling somebody not to seek medical help for a wound and to just let it 'heal on its own' -

In any case, we agree wholeheartedly that this med should not be used on anyone who is just down, has a clearly situational depression, or is just 'shy' - When I say 'depressed' I mean, you are not functioning in life and you feel totally hopeless and feel like life isn't worth the effort.

To me, that reaches the point where if meds help you, take meds.

[rasputin1952]

46. I think if there is a med that helps someone...

it should be an available choice. Some people have reactions to certain meds.

I can't take steroids. I was given a script for them, and within an hour after taking the first dose, (seemed somewhat massive to me), I could not control my emotional behavior. I just didn't take any more.
(BTW, stopping any med abruptly could be hazardous).

I was on an emotional rollercoaster all day, and made some horrid judgment calls. In fact, I lost my job because, although I didn't argue with anyone prior to this, I got in a very heated argument w everyone I met! The worst part was, I knew I was doing it, and had no control, none whatsoever. I had a terrible experience with that stuff, jeez. Two days later, i went back to where I had worked, and explained to people what had happened. It was humiliating, but it needed to be done. Most of those I spoke with, looked at me as if I had gone berserk, but accepted my apologies.

If I had known I was in that small %age of people that had this reaction, I would have just stayed away from the stuff. I took it for arthritis, I'd rather suffer through the pain of the arthritis in my neck, than do something I will regret.

If what you take helps you, I am glad that you have found relief. After all, why should you be tormented if there is a course of action that works?

O8)

[The Rock]

43. Paxil...

I hated that drug. I was on it for about a year. All it did was make me sleep. It didn't even help with my depression. In fact, it made it worse in some instances.

Zoloft isn't doing any wonders either...

[chaska]

45. I tried it too.

Made me so sleepy I couldn't function. It was torture trying to stay awake at my proofreader job.

[mykpart]

47. OK, first of all, I take Zoloft

and have been taking it for 2 years. I started taking it when I became depressed after a heart attack, which also triggered some PTSD from my childhood and first marriage. That said, I agree that sometimes your feelings are appropriate and you should be allowed to experience them. And antidepressants are not the right treatment for everyone. But some of us have a chemical imbalance and need these. Without them we are not functional. I wasn't just sad, I couldn't get out of bed, and didn't want to. I didn't care if I had sex with my husband of only two years, or even if I was clean or not. The Zoloft hasn't made me numb, it has just made me human. The problem is, too many doctors prescribe antidepressants like they prescribe antibiotics, as a "cure-all", and not everyone needs them.

[Guaranteed]

48. "Without them we are not functional."

I think you hit on the key word, there: "functional." When people get to the point where they are so energyless that they can not get out of bed, like you said, or regularly have panic attacks when they leave the house (just as a couple of examples), clearly, for the sake of their well-being, they're going to have to augment their brain chemistry.

But considering the numerous side effects and invasive nature of these drugs, and my own, personal, philosophical beliefs, they should truly only be used as a last resort. They should only be used when there is absolutely NO other choice, when not using them will most likely lead to the their and their family's destruction. We have to be careful that we don't create more problems for people by telling them that it's not alright to be sad, or even depressed, or nervous around others, which stigmatizes, insults, and pushes further guilt on them. The last thing someone needs when they're already not feeling well about themselves is to be told that they're defective, because they might just become convinced of it.

That's great that the Zoloft is working for you, though. Anti-depressants, I know, can save peoples' lives.

[SmileyBoy]

50. I used to. I'm on Celexa now.