I have been taking paxil for about 15yrs. My mother passed in December 2016. On March 1 2017 I had a severe breakdown. I was having severe anxiety and high blood pressure and My face was red and this scared me and made My anxiety worse because I was afraid of having a heart attack. My Dr changed my paxil to Prozac in mid March. I took this for 5 weeks with no relief. I took myself off of the Prozac and used Xanax through the withdrawals. I have been off of both medications for about 4 and a half weeks. Last week I was experiencing heart palpitations and went to the Dr. They did an EKG and blood work which came back fine but the Dr suggested I see a cardiologist. I am still experiencing light headedness, feeling faint, sometimes shake, drowsiness. My question is, are these symptoms normal? should I still be having these symptoms after being off the ssri's after a month? If so, how long will this last? My psychiatrist has told me to get back on the paxil because it saved my life 15yrs ago and it will help me now. I am hesitant about going back on it because all I have read are negative articles about this drug. Any thoughts or comments are GREATLY appreciated!
Hi sorry to hear about your loss.
I was wondering if xanax was causing the lighheadedness as the withdrawal is very unpleasant and can last for a while depending on various factors such as metabolism etc.
Perhaps you shouldseethe cardiologist firstand seekadvice or an opinion asto why you are experiencing palpitations. Do SSRI's cause cardiac issues?
Hey there,
So I have experience being on Prozac and let me tell you....extremely bad experience. I was only in it for 3 weeks for my severe anxiety. I began to be very confused, severe depression then kicked in bc of this drug and I was crying ALL day EVERYDAY, even when I stopped the drug. I also had horrible nightmares that continued for sometime after I stopped. I feel my anxiety got way worse after I stopped. I have never felt the same since Prozac. It's been almost 2 years I wanna say now. I feel like it changed my whole personality. As for Paxil, I was prescribed it, but refused to take it bc I heard getting off is like heroine withdrawals. Don't know if it's true or not, but refused to take it. I've tried pretty much every single antidepressant out there, and had a pretty bad experience and horrible side effects with all, but Prozac was the worst! I do take xanax every now and then. I notice if I take it like 2 days in a row, the 3rd day I kinda get maybe a withdrawal and my anxiety is amped up. It does save me though in times of need, but take as little as possible. Only when you really need it. Hope I could help! Best of luck!
Also, my very sorry to hear about your loss.