[seeker1950]

For the past couple of years, I've been taking 40 mg of Paxil daily. I think this amount makes me apathetic, lazy, and want to decrease and even go off the antidepressant completely. This past week, I have been breaking the tabs in half, taking 20 mg. daily. Yesterday, students were difficult and rowdy, and by the end of the day, I was having a full-blown anxiety attack, tingling hands and shortness of breath. Also, I've found myself offended by coworkers this week, something I never do! The slights and insults are real, but in the past I would have just brushed them off!
Prior to taking the medication, now for 14 years, I would often imagine that people were talking about me at work...They probably ARE!!! as I'm rather the eccentric art teacher, but with meds, it doesn't bother me!
Wondering if I should just go back to the original dosage and give in to the lifelong need for the medication or try to tough it out, as summer is here in a few days!
Patty

[whitehorse]

i took paxil only at the urging of my husband (soon to be an ex-husband). he even asked his mother and sister to get it for me because i didnt believe i had to take them. my husband is not a psychologist or psychiatrist. he is not a doctor. he actually was a database administrator when we lived in california. we've lived in france for the last 7 years.

the last year i was with him, i took half a pill a day and then i stopped. i know what you feel about being apathetic and lazy. that's what i felt. i knew something was wrong (with my family) but i was just apathetic about the whole thing. my eldest daughter vaguely told me about my husband (her step-father) sexually molesting her when she was 9 years old. she refused to tell me the details. this was in 2003. perhaps because of multiple factors : i was scared to do something about it ; i was apathetic because of the paxil i took ; and most of all because my daughter didnt tell me the details - i let it slide and put myself on a wait and see mode. this was the biggest mistake ever. while i was putting myself on a wait and see mode, my husband was already planning his entire exit strategy.

now, i have lost everything because of my daughter's experience. i lost my home, my job, everything that i ever worked for in my life. i came to france with over a million euro and i ended up homeless. it seems to me that i share the same symptoms. like you, i get anxious, my hand tingle, shoulders and neck hurt and i have a shortness of breath. the medicine - Lysanxia helps me a lot with this. i take half a pill to get rid of the anxiety. a box of lysanxia ( i think there's about 20 pills in the box) lasts me for about 3 months as i take half a pill only when i get anxious.

[Cheri]

Paxil is good at helping to manage anxiety and social inhibition/sensitivity, in addition to depression. If you wean yourself off of it, you may feel more energized and less apathetic, but you may also find your anxiety and sensitivity to slights and gossip return in a big way.

Have you given any thought to how you might handle these problems without the medication? Are you in therapy? Do you have a pdoc who could prescribe something different? If not, you may want to put some supports in place before stopping the Paxil entirely.

[seeker1950]

Whitehorse and Cheri! Thanks for your replies.
Whitehorse, I'm so sorry you had this experience. The apathy related to Paxil has been an increasing awareness for me, having taken 40 mg. now for three years. I have continued to break these tabs in half, and have experienced no more anxiety attacks, though what you have described with yours, sounds just like me, including the pain in the upper back and neck. I was able to relax over the weekend, and get good rest, and today I actually felt "mellow!" despite having to drive, first to my first day of two grad classes, and then drive back to my school for the end of the day with two classes of rowdy 6th graders. I came home feeling optimistic, with no symptoms of anxiety.

Thanks, also, Cheri, for your valuable insights. I found my coworkers to be very agreeable today, and no feelings of paranoia!

Patty