I was prescribed 20mg of paroxetine for my depression last year, and having studied the instructions stating they were non-addictive, I proceeded to take one tablet a day. After a period of 2-3 weeks I noticed that I was no longer having wild mood swings and my depression was improving, so I was feeling quite positive about the results.
After about a month of taking the pills, my prescription had run out and I had forgetten to obtain a repeat. It was a bank holiday, so I figured I'd put in the repeat after the long weekend.
This was where the problems started. After 2 days, I woke up feeling really strange. I was lightheaded, felt constantly dizzy and sick everytime I stood up. I was becoming easily frustrated and stressed, and did not know what the hell was happening to me. It felt like I was losing my mind. That night I tried to sleep it off, hoping that I'd picked up a bug of some sort. I found it really hard to get to sleep, and when I eventually did I had all sorts of crazy dreams and nightmares. My head was racing, and I was having panic attacks.
I woke up the following day feeling much the same. It felt like something had been taken away from me, and I was never going to be the same again. My personality had changed. I was quiet and did not want to leave the house, all the time my head was spinning and the constant feeling of panic and dread would not leave me.
Anyway, after what was the longest 4 hellish days of my life I managed to obtain my repeat pescription and almost immediately after taking the first tablet, I began to feel better.
I am currently still taking Paroxetine, and I'm dreading the time when I have to come off them. I have never experienced any problems with other drugs before, and sincerely wish I had never been pescribed this drug.
If your doctor tries to pescribe this drug for depression problems, I would seriously question it. There are other drugs available, and I'd rather take the depression than be in the situation I'm in now.
