[maryjtim@comcast.net]

My son was placed on 12.5mg of paxil CR to help social anxiety and has gained 54 lbs. over 9 months, also has very high cholesterol and triglycerides. Have any on you taken this medicine and had these side effects?? I understand there is a withdrawal when coming off this medicine. Have any info about that?? Thank you for your help.

MJ

[Bookwoman]

My daughter recently has been taking Paxil and now has high cholesterol. She is very lean and has not gained weight with it. Her cholesterol is 217.

[sabrinassecret]

I have been on paxil for 7 yrs now.. huge weight gain and high colesterol just to mention of few of the horrible side effects. Tried to get off of the med many times only to go back simply because it was unberable. This topic is the main reason I have signed up on this forum, can anyone direct me to any area that is specifically for Paxil?

[maryjtim@comcast.net]

Sabrina, did you try to taper off the Paxil very slowly?? My son was only on 12.5 mg but still had withdrawal effects, he cut the pills in half with a pill splitter (you can buy one at a pharmacy) and took half a pill a day, eventually half a pill every other day, half a pill every few days, then off. He still felt bad for a few days but got off of it. This is how his doctor suggested to do it. I hope you can somehow get off it, it is too soon to tell how it will affect his weight/cholesterol, but he says he already feels better. Good luck!

[TheSallowThing]

I know I'm replying to quote an old post here, but I too went on PAXIL CR for Social Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder. I received these pills via my local county department of health as I had no insurance and couldn't afford to see a private doctor. They charged a sliding scale fee and gave me sample packs that they received from pharmaceutical companies. I was started on a very small dose and saw a therapist weekly and the county psychiatrist bi-monthly. Every visit he would look at me and say I was moving around too much and he'd up the dosage. I eventually found myself on a 50mg dose per day of PAXIL CR. In less than six months I gained 70 pounds. Skin was stretching and breaking as though I were a pregnant women. I still have the stretch marks, fortunately I no longer have those extra 70 pounds. Anyway while on this drug my weight went out of control and no matter how much I exercised or tried to control my eating the numbers on the scale climbed out of control, my cholesterol shot up to 220, and I found myself bruising very easily. I had bruises up and down my body. Especially on my legs. All complaints to the psychiatrists or medical staff at the county health department were met with severe skepticism. I was told I just wasn't paying any attention to what I was eating, as for the bruises...I was just bumping into things or it was implied I bruised myself for attention. If I missed a dose of PAXIL I would have dreams literally so vivid I could not tell if they were dreams or reality. After missing doses I often had to ask my family if certain things had actually happened. I found myself kind of zombified and unconcerned with much of anything. Eventually I just quit the paxil cold turkey, which generally isn't recommended. But I felt fine. I greatly regret ever going on this drug and because of it am very wary of all pharmaceuticals, even simple OTC things like tylenol. I take nothing unless I'm in SEVERE discomfort.