A year ago, I started having anxiety attacks and depression, accompanied by major PMS. I was fine at work, but when I left, I was a completely different person. I would snap and yell at my husband and kids and become irrational. Knowing how well Paxil had worked in the past for me, I asked my doctor to prescribe Paxil once again. After about a week, I began feeling the benefits of the drug, and by a month, I actually liked myself again. I've been taking Paxil for a year this time. My sex drive changes throughout the month, depending on the phase of my menstrual cycle, and I have no difficulty in achieving orgasm. I'm usually calm and in a pleasant mood. Let's face it, I'm a woman, it's a given that I'm not always going to be on top of the world.

My problem is that my husband keeps asking me when I'm going to get off of Paxil. He doesn't understand how I feel when I'm not taking it. He has suffered depression himself, and has taken medication for about a month or so at a time (nothing long term), so he should understand, but he just doesn't like the thought of his wife having to take anti-depressants. Now that I'm out of my medication, he says that I need to quit taking it. A person does not need to quit taking any sort of long term prescription medication cold turkey, unless directed and monitored by their doctor. If I feel like I'm a 'better person' because of Paxil, why would my husband want me to stop taking it?