Citation: labile. "Addicted To the Sickness: An Experience with Paroxetine (exp11153)". Erowid.org. May 14, 2003. erowid.org/exp/11153
In the fall of 1999, at 16 years old, I went to my family doctor for options in curing 'depression'. She diagnosed me with having an anxiety disorder, and perscribed 10mg a day of the drug commonly known as Paxil. With her many claims that it was not addictive and the current state I was in, I decided it couldn't hurt to try.
For the first year at 10mg a day, I experienced very mild side effects which included: dry mouth, fatigue, and occasional nausea. Without doctors orders in early 2000, I upped my dose to 20mg. The 10mg didn't feel like enough. My side effects increased to having what felt like heart palpations. Although mentally I felt better, my body was weak during 2 months of the 20 mg. Again I increased my dose, to 30 mg a day, hoping it would take care of my tired and weak feeling. It didn't. Because of this, I tired many times and many methods to quit taking my paxil.
Finally in the spring of 2001, I decided to quit it cold turkey. After 2 days of no paxil what-so-ever, the heart palpation symptoms increased. Many times during a day I would experience tunnel vision. After 6-7 days of no paxil, in the mornings, I would find myself in danger of blacking out in the shower. This was quickly followed by sharp tense pains in my stomach, vomiting, and daily mental breakdowns, worse than ever. As a month went by these 'withdrawls' slowly subsided, and by the time a month and a half passed I felt much more mentally stable.
I'm sure with correctional and maybe even recreational use, people have different side effects and expriences with Paxil. For whatever reason a person would find interest in this drug, I recommend trying something else. I found it to be highly addicting. If taken for medical purposes, and experiencing the same or similar symptoms, I would recommend the anti-deppressant Zoloft. It seems much milder, in my opinion.
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