Paxil quit working

[Adispots]

13 years ago I was started on Paxil. I have extreme anxiety. A constant, nagging fear that I was never able to relieve. Constant BP spikes, very high, that caused my anxious mind even more fear. Goes to the couch, scared to move. A week after being on Paxil, it all went away. Gone...poof. I could get off the couch, be social, joined a basketball league, etc. Excelled at work, like nothing was ever wrong. 13 years later, I noticed it all slowly coming back... Then one day, crash....just like I was13 years ago. A constant ball of fear, anxiety, and a steady focus on the negative. It's debilitating for me. I've learned it was from 20 plus tears of never doing anything about my anxiety (my parents and I didn't know what it was.) I do see someone, and I'm now on Zoloft, but I'm all the way up to 200mg after 6-7 weeks. My symptoms have not really changed. I'm just wanting to know if anyone has had this problem and what did you switch too to get comfort again? Again, I see someone regularly and my Phyc. Doc is working with me. Her idea was the Zoloft. Should I try going back to Paxil? She said it might work. Is there another SSRI that someone here in my situation has had success with after a Paxil poop out? Please let me know. I'm just looking for relief. This past August it all started again and hasn't let up. Thanks in advance.

[Kat63]

My experience has been this way: The doctor will put me on an SSRI, and it will work fine for maybe 3 years. Then gradually it stops working; I tell the doctor, and he/she puts me on a different SSRI. And it works great...for a couple of years.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

[Adispots in reply to Kat63]

Alright. I won't give up hope. What worked best for you?

[Kat63 in reply to Adispots]

The doctor just has to switch me to a new drug every 3 years or so. It’s like I built up a tolerance to it. All the SSRIs work about as well for me - I’ve been on Prozac, Paxil, Lexapro, Celexa, and Zoloft - and now, I’m back on Prozac again.

[foxglove_pnw]

Hi !

I have had the same problem , Lexapro for 8 years until one day it stopped working.

After months of having panic attacks and anxiety I decided to try Zoloft ( September of last year) it didn’t work for me ! I lost a lot of weight , I felt like a zombie and when I skipped two days because of serious stomach pain when taking the pills , I ended up at the ER with discontinuation syndrome ! I almost went crazy , flu like symptoms , wanting to crawl out of skin. They gave me intravenous Ativan and sent me home .

I am back on Lexapro , same dosage and still suffering from anxiety / panic/ OCD ( some new stuff ) . I am able to function but I am not where I would like to be ! Some days are better than others. My energy is back

Hope you can find an answer .

[Adispots in reply to foxglove_pnw]

Thanks for the info. I can see we are all in this stuff together.

[foxglove_pnw in reply to Adispots]

We are ! I trying to figure out where to go from here ! I really don’t want to try any other meds . I am trying new coping skills to see if I can do this !

[Adispots in reply to foxglove_pnw]

That's a great idea. Paxil worked so well for me, so I'm thinking to go back on it, try to gather myself, and work on myself more.

[foxglove_pnw in reply to Adispots]

I wish I could tell you is an easy road but it is not ! Like I said , the only good think is my energy ! I feel like doing things , getting together with people etc

It is worth trying !

[Rosa66 in reply to Adispots]

Did it work again? Paxil stopped working after 25 years and I’m afraid about what to try next….

[Rdiz777]

Best of luck my friend. Praying for you! You WILL get back to where you want to be!

[Adispots in reply to Rdiz777]

Thanks for the kind words and prayers.

[LilyAnnepuppy]

I was on Paxil for over 20 years when it stopped working. It took awhile to find the right combination of meds. But I worked with a psychiatrist. My antidepressant now is Prozac. But there’s a couple of more meds involved as well. Im stable now.