Paxil

I took Paxil before and after 2 weeks and not too many side effects besides some nausea and a headache for a couple days I was fine. I felt really good and had lots of energy for a couple weeks and then it tapered off into a more "normal" rhythm. I stopped taking a few months ago but decided to start taking it again recently.

I started off on 10mg for a week and had serious nausea and headaches for 4 days. The headaches past but the nausa didn't. That lasted about a week. I then started taking 20mg a day and still experienced the nausea but it increasingly has gotten better. Over all I feel like crap.

The point.....ok, a side affect I didn't notice before was blurred vision. I am having problems reading and focusing. When I sit at the comp I get sick. Is the blurred vision something that will taper off too or is this a permant side effect while on the meds? Is this dangerous? Should I discontinue use?

I would ask my doc except the doctor that I had who was really decent up and quit and now I have to find a new one, sign up, wait a good month or more for an appt and hope I like the guy and he cares. It's socialized heathcare in Norway and it's bad. Any thoughts Cam or anyone?

Heidu

There is a time in life when you stop existing and start living.
There is a time in life when you are given a new chance and new dreams.
There is a time in life when the old is to be forgotten and the new embraced.

There is a time in life......And that time is now.
Unknown

Don't know what good advice I can give you , Heid other than my own personal experience with it.
Im very sensitive to meds and was prescribed Paxil as well. I was also prescribed Xanax while I tried to weather the beginning seide effects til it stabilized in my system. I can say that time period was pure hell and mroe times than not I didnt think id get through til it adjsuted.
I didnt get the headaches you speak of...but maybe the blurred vision is a form of the headaches you had?
I took it alot slower than most people...a quarter of a pill for a week...then a half...then 3/4 and finally after a month I was up tofull. And it was very hard to be honest.
BUT once I was there the benefits paid off. It helped immensely jsut had to deal with til I got leveled out unfortuantely.
The thing syou mentioned dont sound medically alarming though I MORE than understand how you feel. I thought for sure something wasnt right and it scared me alot. Its good that you ask someone "official" so they can either reassure to be patient or sugget a different med maybe.
Hoep you get it sorted out quickly, g/f...I knwo it can be scary when its suppsoed to be helping.

Heidu - Aw c'mon, we have socialized medicine here in Canada, too, and it's not really that bad when you look at countries without comprehensive medical care. We complain about our system, too, but every time I am in the U.S. I hear about HMO horror stories I am grateful for our systems.

Yes, blurred vision can occur with Paxil™ (paroxetine), and other SSRI-like antidepressants There are a number of potential reasons for a change in visions when using these drugs and the vision change could be due to one or several underlying "side effects".

Paxil, with it's blockade of muscarinic (cholinergic) receptors can cause a bodywide drying of membranes. This includes: a dry mouth and an associated increase in thirst (and possibly also contributing to an increased incidence/likelihood of halitosis); a decrease in vaginal lubrication; drying of nasal secretions; thickening of earwax; constipation; urinary retention; and, of interest to us, a decrease in tear production.

The decrease in tears leads to dryer eyes, which can cause the blurry vision that you are mentioning. The body does respond to the drying and does try to reverse the trend. Blurring due to dryness can be looked at as a "start-up" side effect that fades to some extent, but there can be residual dryness for number of months before the body totally compensates for the muscarinic blockade initiated by the Paxil.

Paxil has a better track record of treating panic disorder, and other anxiety disorders, than the other SSRIs due to Paxil's blockade of muscarinic receptors. As an aside, it is muscarinic blockade that causes the excessive dry mouth, constipation, and much of the drowsiness associated with the older tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) like amitryptyline (Elavil™) and nortriptyline (Aventyl™). Paxil does not bind to muscarinic receptors as tightly or as readily as the TCAs, so it does not cause the above side effects to the same extent as the TCAs, hence the Paxil is a better tolerated antidepressant.

The anticholinergic-induced drowsiness induced by Paxil is less than that induced by the TCAs and seems to resolve much sooner than with the older drug. The drowisness caused by Paxil usually resolves more quickly than does the vision changes, giving us an indication that there are other factors involved in Paxil-induced vision changes.

Another way that vision can be modified by Paxil is through abnormalities of "<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bartleby.com/61/22/A0042200.html>accommodation</A>". Accommodation, as it pertains to the eye is, "(t)he automatic adjustment in the focal length of the lens of the eye to permit retinal focus of images of objects at varying distances". Slower accommodation by the eyes can lead to blurry vision.

Paxil has also be known to cause "<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bartleby.com/61/77/M0507700.html>mydriasis</A>" which is a "(p)rolonged abnormal dilatation of the pupil of the eye caused by disease or a drug". When the pupil is slow to react to light (ie. slow to contract), blurred vision and sensitivity to light can result. The eye usually adapts to this side effect as well.

Another possible explanation for vision changes as a side effect of Paxil is through complications from the development of "<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bartleby.com/61/34/C0573400.html>conjunctivitis</A>" instigated by the drug, which is defined as, "(i)nflammation of the conjunctiva, characterized by redness and often accompanied by a discharge". The "<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bartleby.com/61/32/C0573200.html>conjunctiva</A>" is, "(t)he mucous membrane that lines the inner surface of the eyelid and the exposed surface of the eyeball". When conjunctivitis occurs because of Paxil the reason can usually be traced to the anticholinergic-induced decrease in tear production, and thus decreased moisture in the eye, leading to red (irritated) eyes, and potentially to an opportunistic bacterial infection of the eye(s).

This bacterial infection may result from a decrease in the ability of the body's immune system to clear bacteria from the eye as readily. A decrease in tear production means that bacteria is not as readily washed away as they normally would; also since there are less tears, there are fewer immune cells on the eye to kill the bacteria.

All this being said, the incidence of vision changes caused by Paxil is beween 3% and 4%. The initial amount of vision change will vary from person to person, as will the degree to which the eyes will ultimately compensate for the drug-induced vision changes. I always advise that one waits at least 6 months after starting Paxil before having there eyeglasse/contact lens prescription changed. This is to give the eyes time to find a new steady state level.

The level to which one's eyes will ultimately change (if indeed they do) is very patient variable, so one cannot predict this ahead of time. Changing one's prescription before (approximately) six months may be a waste of money, as the vision changes may not have settled out and one will have to have their lenses ground again.

As for one's vision changing upon discontinuing Paxil, I would expect that this is possible. This is probably more likely to occur in someone whose vision changed when they started the Paxil. I have heard of people's vision changing enough to require a prescription change after starting Paxil, but I have never heard of someone's vision changing after stopping Paxil; but then again, I have never inquired about this (I usually don't see people after they've stopped taking medication like Paxil).

I hope that this long-winded answer is of help. - Cam

P.S. The vision changes are not dangerous, but are not usually severe.

Serenity,
Thanks for the info. It's getting better now.
Hugs,
Heidu

There is a time in life when you stop existing and start living.
There is a time in life when you are given a new chance and new dreams.
There is a time in life when the old is to be forgotten and the new embraced.

There is a time in life......And that time is now.
Unknown

Cam,
Thanks for all the info and insite. It's greatly appreciated. It's so nice that you take your time to answer questions. It really puts ones mind at ease. It's also great to know I am not going to go blind :O)
The side affects are lessening and I can see much better now. Thanks for the heads up about getting a new glasses prescription. I was due to go in an do that in a couple weeks but now I will wait.
Thanks again,
Heidu

There is a time in life when you stop existing and start living.
There is a time in life when you are given a new chance and new dreams.
There is a time in life when the old is to be forgotten and the new embraced.

There is a time in life......And that time is now.
Unknown

I started Paxil about six months ago. It has been working just fine. I've been on other antidepressants, but most of them, Prozac, Pristiq either stopped working or had side-effects that were unacceptable.

I've noticed that there are quite a few websites offering help to people who have had their lives "ruined" by Paxil and or symptoms of addiction when trying to get off the drug.

I've never had trouble with addiction before but I have had horrible black depressions that were unrelenting and made my life a living hell.

Anyway, what I am trying to get at, is how and who gets these terrible symptoms with Paxil. Does everyone get "electric zaps?" or some such?

Anyone with information, I'd love to hear about it. For me, I am going to continue with Paxil, as it has been a life saver. I am able to have a way more normal life and am not depressed as I was before I took Paxil.

I don't take Paxil™ (paroxetine), but Pexeva, also paroxetine, but is supposed to be easier to withdraw from if I would ever need/want to. My P-doc also says it is less likely to cause weight gain, all the things that I've read/heard about from Paxil.

I have very good results with Pexeva. It is manufactured by a different drug company and is different from Paxil with the inactive ingredient. It is not a generic. I have never taken Paxil, but my friend has been on it for over 10 years and she said her doc says it is the perfect match for her for her panic disorder!

Good luck!

I took Pexeva at first, too. But I needed something generic and cheaper so I went with Paxil. They seem the same to me, for now.

I am glad to hear from someone who also has had good results with paroxetine.

I'm 22 and I just started taking Paxil four days ago. The last two nights I have woken up at about 1am feeling very shakey inside, nauseous, mentally confused and, with lack of a better way to describe it, my brain feels tight. It feels like hell so I would greatly appreciate some feedback if anyone else has experienced this, and if so for how long?

I got the electric zaps when I went off of Effexor too quickly. It totally freaked me out until I did some research and found out what it was. I think if you taper off the Paxil slowly, the risk of brain zaps decreases.

I am not sure which is worse, depression and not taking Paxl, or being so damn hungry when taking Paxil. It's a hard choice.

I had the electric shocks when i went off of paxil years back, scared the hell out of me, also felt like i was walking on water for 3 days, i have to call out sick. i was on paxil for 2 years, it helped during the time i was on it, and I was weened off it and still had horrible side effects...