Posted by Bill L on October 16, 2000, at 7:39:29
In reply to Changing SSRIs, posted by Marvin on October 15, 2000, at 16:42:57
Since the Prozac has controlled your depression and anxiety for 7 years, it sounds like it was in fact the correct drug. You said that an "episode" caused you extra anxiety. Was it an isolated episode? If so, maybe you only need anxiety meds for a short time.
If the Prozac is still working for the depression, I would stay on it. You may want to try to go back to 40 mg and see how that works. If you need more, you can go back to 60. Some people take 80 mg. There is a good chance that Paxil could make you feel tired.
I take Celexa. I used to take Prozac. Prozac worked for me only for a year at 20mg. I never tried increasing the dose because even at 20 mg it made me feel wired. The Celexa is working so far. It's less activating than Prozac.
> I tried to post this once, but it didn't seem to work so I'll try again. If it shows up twice, I apologize. I was wondering if anyone could help me with regards to changing SSRIs. I have a history of prolonged situational anxiety attacks which were first treated with psychotherapy, but at age 21 treated with Prozac once my inability to beat the anxiety turned into major depression. I have been on Prozac (40mg) for almost 7 years and have been successful at keeping my anxiety and depression in check. I recently had an episode, however, which caused me extreme anxiety, even adding symptoms to the usual derealization and depersonalization I had felt in the past. This time, the anxiety came with nausea, chills, sweats, etc. Given the debilitating nature of this particular attack, my PDoc upped my Prozac to 60mgs and added Klonopin. I am not happy about being on a benzo, but I must admit that the Klonopin did help me in a time of need. My steady dosage for 4 weeks was 0.75mg and I have now started to taper back (0.50mg). I am concerned, however, that maybe the Prozac was the wrong choice made 7 years ago. I firmly believe that it was my inability to overcome the anxiety which caused the depression, and not that I was merely depressed. As such, I was curious if anyone had made change from Prozac to Paxil for such symptoms? Also, is there any washout period for coming off one SSRI and onto another? I really do not want to take benzos and am hopeful that Paxil may represent a better solution than 60mgs of Prozac and Klonopin combined. Any thoughts? Thank you in advance for your answers.
poster:Bill L
thread:46425
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20001012/msgs/46469.html