looloo75: Direct switch symptoms

[looloo75]

Hi everyone, I am new here so not sure what the protocol is or how to use this site properly, so please forgive me if I have posted in the wrong section.

 

I am looking for some advice from anyone that has done a straight switch on SSRI's. My story is that I was a long term paroxetine user (over 20 years) I was relatively ok on my dose of 40mg for anxiety, ocd. For some unknown reason 2 years ago in my infinite wisdom I decided that it was no longer working for me and that I may lose some weight if I switched to another SSRI, so, as I had a brief experience (1 year) with escitalopram several years ago after my doc decided that I should come off paroxetine (which failed and ended up back on paroxetine) I decided that I should give it another go. I was doing fine on 20mg for just over a year and then Nov 2020 I had a severe panic attack and intrusive thoughts along with some gastric issues, I convinced myself that the escitalopram had stopped working or pooped out. So I have talked my GP and asked him to put me back on paroxetine as of Dec 2020. I did a straight switch from 20mg escitalopram, 2 days at 10mg then onto paroxetine 10mg - 3 days then up to 20mg for 7 days and now currently at 30mg. To be honest, I have never felt so ill in my life. I am suffering constant anxiety, don't want to leave the house, suicidal thoughts, fear of going crazy, terrible cortisol spikes in the morning, diarrhea, nausea, lack of appetite (lost over 14lbs), vivid dreams, auditory hallucinations, pounding, skipping heartbeats, ocd thoughts, internal vibrations, shaking and hot flushes. 

 

I suppose my question is, has anybody had this experience with straight switching SSRI's? Is this withdrawal symptoms from escitalopram combined with start up effects of paroxetine? I have spoken to my GP who has prescribed Propanolol for the physical anxiety symptoms or suggested it was my age (46). The beta blockers do stop the shaking, tremors in the morning but I don't really want to keep taking them. I have been on the paroxetine for 5 weeks (3 weeks at 30mg), should I not be feeling better now? Do I need to up the dosage as 40mg paroxetine is equivalent of 20mg Escitalopram. Do I need to give it more time? I am at a loss so any knowledge and advice would be very much appreciated. 

 

I am sorry for prattling on but I am getting desperate for some hope.

Thank you

 

 

Edited January 29, 2021 by manymoretodays
first post, merged from S and SC

[looloo75]

Hi everyone, I am new here so not sure what the protocol is or how to use this site properly, so please forgive me if I have posted in the wrong section.

 

I am looking for some advice from anyone that has done a straight switch on SSRI's. My story is that I was a long term paroxetine user (over 20 years) I was relatively ok on my dose of 40mg for anxiety, ocd.

 

For some unknown reason 2 years ago in my infinite wisdom I decided that it was no longer working for me and that I may lose some weight if I switched to another SSRI, so, as I had a brief experience (1 year) with escitalopram several years ago after my doc decided that I should come off paroxetine (which failed and ended up back on paroxetine) I decided that I should give it another go.

I was doing fine on 20mg for just over a year and then Nov 2020 I had a severe panic attack and intrusive thoughts along with some gastric issues, I convinced myself that the escitalopram had stopped working or pooped out. So I have talked my GP and asked him to put me back on paroxetine as of Dec 2020. I did a straight switch from 20mg escitalopram, 2 days at 10mg then onto paroxetine 10mg - 3 days then up to 20mg for 7 days and now currently at 30mg.

 

To be honest, I have never felt so ill in my life. I am suffering constant anxiety, don't want to leave the house, suicidal thoughts, fear of going crazy, terrible cortisol spikes in the morning, diarrhea, nausea, lack of appetite (lost over 14lbs), vivid dreams, auditory hallucinations, pounding, skipping heartbeats, ocd thoughts, internal vibrations, shaking and hot flushes. 

 

I suppose my question is, has anybody had this experience with straight switching SSRI's? Is this withdrawal symptoms from escitalopram combined with start up effects of paroxetine? I have spoken to my GP who has prescribed Propanolol for the physical anxiety symptoms or suggested it was my age (46). The beta blockers do stop the shaking, tremors in the morning but I don't really want to keep taking them. I have been on the paroxetine for 5 weeks (3 weeks at 30mg), should I not be feeling better now? Do I need to up the dosage as 40mg paroxetine is equivalent of 20mg Escitalopram. Do I need to give it more time? I am at a loss so any knowledge and advice would be very much appreciated. 

 

I am sorry for prattling on but I am getting desperate for some hope.

Thank you

 

Edited January 29, 2021 by manymoretodays
name to title, tags, spacing for readability

[brassmonkey]

Hi looloo-- welcome to SA, I'm so glad you found us and so sorry to hear about your situation. I won't say what I think about your doctor.

 

First off Thing Will Get Better, but it will probably be a pretty bumpy road for a while. Over the last months you have made a number of very large changes in dosage and between drugs. This has really confused your body and is causing the various symptoms you are feeling. Paxil is one of the hardest drugs there is to get off of, we have people do it all the time, but it has to be done slowly and carefully. I took 40mg of paxil for 23 years and finished tapering off of it over four years ago and things are going quite well.

 

As you guessed you are running into WD symptoms and start up symptoms at the same time. This is from all the changes we have mentioned. For right now your body is craving stability, so it would be best not to make any more changes or add any other medications. The 30mg of paxil is a good dose to try and settle in on. I would suggest that you hold where you are right now on all the drugs listed in your signature. There probably are going to be daily fluctuations in your symptoms for the nest several months while your body sorts things out, but they should settle out and stabilize. Once you are stable we can look in to developing a tapering plan to get you off of the drugs for good.

 

Currently we are being swamped with new members, so please bear with us as we try to get back to you as quickly as possible. Also this thread is the place for you to ask questions, keep records and chat with friends. So if you have a question, and I would be surprised if you don't, ask away right here.

 

Again, welcome to the group.

[Healthanxiety101]

I recently switched from zoloft to prozac.

I was okay for like 12 days, I felt great to be honest, and then I started with a few stomach issues.

 

From what I can gather, it's like a doubled edged sword...withdrawal and start up.. plus prozac has a long half life so I think I'm right in suggesting the side effects can be delayed.

 

Either way it's ramping up my anxiety and I'm worrying like crazy!