"Paxil worked wonders when I first started"

I have been on Paxil for 5 years now. It worked wonders when I first started. For the last two years I have been trying to get off it. Like some of you I tried to quit cold turkey. I ended up in the emergency room with a headache so severe, they thought I had ruptured a vessel in my brain. Depressed by the event, I went back to Paxil. Then I tried to taper it down, from 20mg to 10mg a day, and now I take half of that for last two months, when Itried to quit that, I fell into a depression so severe that I became suicidal, so I went back again. Now a friend (a psychiatrist friend of mine tells me that if I substituted it with Prozac, it will be easier to wean off Prozac. I havent tried because I am afraid of the side effects. I have gained 20lbs, and lost the motivation and spunk I had before. It is sad that the general practitioners dont know about the adverse effects.

I will be trying the Prozac maybe next month. If it works, I'll let you know. Good luck to you all. Whatever you do, NEVER quit suddenly, especially if you have been on it for more than a year.

-- submitted by Dr. Swadud, 39