hello my mom had been on paxil a while back, must be off about 6 months. about 2 weeks ago, i noticed a change in her behavior - depressed, anxious and basically not comprehending anything that was being told to her. she has no reason to be depressed - has a male in her life. her original depression began 7 years ago when her husband passed away. the reason she recently stopped the paxil was because she has been so happy and active. now she is not doing anything. she can not even turn on the t.v and when she does, she cannot change the channel.she is back on paxil - 20 mg. how long should this take to work? the nurse at her doctors office seems to think about 1 week. however i am reading it can take longer? can you advise? thank you.

Lisa,

Has your mom gotten better?

If she is still experiencing withdrawals, i highly recommend having her go back to the doctor's office. Sometimes withdrawal from a prescription drug can cause severe side effects.

Maybe next time your mom can taper off the drug instead of stopping cold turkey ( I am assuming she stopped from one day to the next)

Perhaps the best thing for her to do is to start back up on it temporarily. When she stabilizes a bit, maybe have her explore some non-prescription, LONG TERM solutions and coping techniques for her depression. Then, when she begins to taper off, she will have a plan to deal with depressed or anxious feelings the next time they appear.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

Stefford

Hopefully things are better! I went off Paxil a couple of months ago, and not only did it take FOREVER to get off of (my dr. said that along with effexor, it is the worst drug on the market to get off of), but it had the worst withdrawal for me. I had "head tremors" that made it hard to walk, let alone drive or work. Also, Paxil is one of the worst drugs as far as lethargy is concerned -- I was laying on the couch all day long when I was on it and was SO unmotivated. I got a new dr. who recognized it as a very bad match for me (anti-depressants are supposed to make you motivated, not worse! Otherwise they are a bad fit.) and I am on something better now.

I would also like to say that there are many people (me included) who "have no reason to be depressed" as you put it. Depression involves brain chemicals (if it lasts longer than a few months) and for those of us who struggle with it, it's almost like a cancer to the brain -- you can't tell someone to "snap out of it" when they have cancer, and depression is the same way. Depressed people do not enjoy being this way! And hopefully your mom is feeling better.

-haley

My Dr put me on Paxil 5 years ago. I would really like get off of it, though it seems like there is never the right time, there always seem to be something stressful in my life.
He said that it would eventually help with the production of seretonin in the brain. I am wondering... being on it for such a long while did my brain stop naturally producing it ans is my brain relying on it to produce seretonin?