Ugh, I took Paxil (paroxetine) on two different occasions between 1999 and 2013. It helped my anxiety (especially my social anxiety) and depression a little bit, the idiot pdoc I was seeing at the time slowly titrated me to the max dose (80 mg) without telling me anything about the downsides to that drug.

I crashed into a devastating depression 5 years ago when I tapered off Paxil without seeing a doctor. (I know, stupid, but what's done is done and that was an awful time in my life that I'd rather not revisit.) I went to a pdoc and he put me back on Paxil. I felt stable for a little while, but then I went into depressive episodes again. I hated Paxil all those years because it made me hungry 24/7 and I gained a ton of weight which lowered my self-esteem.

I have just been put on lamictal and when I see my new pdoc on Monday I am pretty sure he is going to want to add another SSRI I haven't tried in order to address my anxiety attacks and ensuing Xanax dependence. Not looking forward to taking a SSRI again.