Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

Hey Cara,

Thought I'd give you some info from my perspective, I hope I'm not too late

I was on Paxil for about a year and a half. I found it did wonders for my anxiety, from what I've read, it is one of the better ones for dealing with "anxiety" vs. "depression" I too have an issue with sleep, it's horrible with me, it's gotten to the point where I work night shifts because I can't get to bed until usually 4:00am, and so that way I can sleep till noon and still have a productive workday. I did sleep better when I was on the Paxil, but I still sometimes needed an anti-anxiety med (i.e. Xanax) for the really bad days.

From what I've been told, you can take both, you just don't want to overdo it. And I can't help you on the pregnancy thing, but it looked like Michele gave you some good info on that

Now, although I did have good luck with the Paxil, I did experience some pretty unpleasant side effects. I gained about 40lbs on it, despite careful diet and excercise. I also completely lost my sex drive, and I mean completely. It's not the same for everyone obviously, but something to keep in mind.

To be honest, I probably felt the best i've felt in years when I was on the Paxil, but the added weight was too unhealthy for me to stay on it. And I must say, I totally agree that it's one of the hardest to get off of. I had severe withdrawal and am actually still trying to wean off it (I'm down to 5mg from 60mg). So that is something to consider.

I would probably try some of the other ones first, but if they're not working, Paxil is a good drug. Not to get too personal, but you look pretty tiny in your pic, so a bit of weight gain probably wouldn't be a huge concern for you. My problem was that I was right on the verge of being "overweight" so the extra gain put me into an "unhealthy" range.

Ok, I've been rambling but basically it comes down to what's best for you. Because the withdrawal from Paxil is so hard, I would probably recommend starting with something else. But, if the other stuff doesn't work, I wouldn't hesistate to give it a try, if it works as well for you as it did for me you may be glad you did

Kelly

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