I had Been taking 40mg of Paxil for about three years to help me control my panic attacks which developed about the age of thirty five. I have always had a low level of depression all my life that I could always cope with, but in my mid-thirties, began having terrible panic attacks that came out of nowhere and for no good reason. Sometimes I would be enjoying something pleasant and completely non-stressful and BANG, a panic attack would hit me like I had just missed being in a car wreck; a pounding heart, shaking and light-headedness. They were completely disabling while they lasted (usually 10-15 minutes) and I knew I needed something from my doctor to help with these attacks.

I tried Prozac for three months with no results whatsoever. Next, he put me on Zoloft, which had a paradoxical effect and put my anxiety through the roof. Next came Paxil. After two months of taking it, I felt like my old self again. The panic attacks stopped. It seemed to even relieve the bit of depression as well. I also became less of a perfectionist (OCD?) which I never liked as part of my personality. I was less shy around strangers and felt I could strike up a conversation with anyone without even thinking about it. I felt that Paxil was the answer to my dreams. And in some ways it was. BUT, I also had many side effects that made me wonder if it was worth continuing. Although I felt much calmer, it also made me feel lethargic, gave me blurry vision and killed 90% of my sex drive to the point that when I did try to masturbate, it would take a ridiculous amount of time to achieve an orgasm. It even got to the point that I would never even think about sex. My libido, it seems, had disappeared, which was never a problem before the drug.

I finally decided to try to wean myself off the Paxil in hopes that I might be able to function without it. Guess what? You got it. Horrible withdrawal symptoms. An inability to concentrate was one. Another, it seems, is a permanently lowered sex drive. However, the worst was a strange, wave-like feeling of "unreality" that kept sweeping over my brain six or seven times per minute. Many people here have reported similar feelings like a fleeting electrical storm or shock or "brain sloshing," like one's brain is starved for that extra serotonin it was utilizing. This "wave" feeling would only last a second or so but was relentless in its regularity and became very distracting and bothersome. Another withdrawal problem was insomnia and waking up many times during the night. I also have had very strange dreams and sometimes nightmares because of my inability to stay asleep; though I never had this problem before starting Paxil.

Can anyone relate?

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