*gasp*

Hey, small world. I used to take Paxil as well. Little pink pill, if I recall correctly...

They ended up combining it with Trazadone as a combo anti-depressant/anti-anxiety/sleep-aid. It ended up making me stoned 24/7.

Heh. I switched to Efferox later in the year for anti-anxiety/anti-depressant. They pulled me off that after it made my resting heart rate sit at ~100 bpm.

Small freaking world. Paxil was a good drug. :)

Heh...yeah I know lots of people who have bad blood pressure effects with Effexor. One already has high blood pressure so they had to up THOSE meds to keep him safe.

The couple people I know on Trazodone seem to get some good out of it.

Paxil has done well for my anxiety but not so much for my depression. Gotta look into that.

You'll find a LOT of us around here are all drugged up. :) It seems to be a common thread among the many things that draw us to a community like this.

Heh. I still remember people coming up to me and saying “Why don't you just think happy?”, as if I'd seriously *choose* to be depressed. Bah, people suck.

Paxil's good stuff but you really need to be on enough of it to make a difference. When was the last time your dose was upped? Are you on the maximum? BTW, consulting with a (relatively current) drug handbook is always good; a drug handbook will outline exactly how much Paxil you should be on and when your dose should be upped. I used to get a standing prescription for Paxil, going to my doctor when the handbook said I should be upped. You can usually find (at least in PG, BC, Canada) a copy of the last years drug handbook in local libraries.

My GP had no training in psychiatry or psychology; the drug book was all he had to work from, and I'd make a point of knowing what was in it before I came to his office. Worked well for me :)

I'm on 20mg. Not much. I know I need to look at upping it or combining it with other stuff but...um...I'm afraid of doctors. So...I'm more likely to sit tight with what I've got than go ask for more. Sigh. :)

I'm trying to get a real psychiatrist going, but I keep lollygagging.

Fair enough. Doctors suck. I found that I could alleviate a lot of my concerns about doctors by supplying myself with knowledge; there's something about knowing more about the situation than the “professional” that is comforting, for me at least.

Do whatcha hafta do, eh?

I only got to talk to a psychiatrist once. Presumably it was so I felt they were taking my concerns seriously; in reality it was so a medical professional could check the not a suicide risk box. My shrink did a whack of tests on me, concluded my IQ was too high and sent me on my way with a “our treatment programs are designed for people who are socially or mentally inept. You're too smart for our programs.”

It was one of the hardest experiences on my life. It took a lot of guts for me to face the mental health association... my mom is a psych nurse so I knew I wasn't going to be able to avoid dealing with it in-family (which wasn't that big a deal, but my mom was heckled from within her workplace because of it)... to be flat out refused treatment because you're too f***ing smart... I don't know. I went home, thinking that I was going to die, ended up spending a week in bed and missed an entire series of exams at university, failed a semester, cost myself major money, eventually led to the breakup with the g/f and the moving back to my mom's house.

Anyways, I can understand not wanting to go to the doctor's. I've second-guessed myself many times over the years about how I handled the situation; if I had to do it over again I'd do it the same.

Basically, I'm trying to say that I understand where you're coming from and I've been there before. Do what you have to do; any steps forward are positive. It's all good :)