Posted by tm on June 12, 2003, at 18:25:16
In reply to Lexapro/Paxil...Can the nurse be right?, posted by Ninki on June 12, 2003, at 17:24:50
> I've read and commented on this site about my side effects coming off paxil and going on lexapro. From reading the other postings and from your generous feedback it seemed like my stiff joints, nausea and extreme tiredness matched those of others on Lexapro but my extremity swelling was of concern to those of you who responded. As suggested, I contacted the Doctor, who's nurse called me back and suggested I drop from 20 to 10 mg of Lexapro. She also told me the flu like symptoms were from coming off the Paxil. She told me to call back in a week. I called back today and explained I still had all the symptoms except the swelling. She still insists the side effects are from the Paxil withdrawal and not the Lexapro and wants me to increase back up to 20mg. By the way, the swelling went away when I started my period. I also got a perm on Tuesday and it didn't take. The paxil was stopped on May 28. Do you really think I could still be having withdrawal symptoms or does the nurse not know what she is talking about? It sounds like Lexapro symptoms, not withdrawal from paxil. I don't know what to make of the hair perm not taking, they have always worked in the past. Loosing confidence in the medical people. Your thoughts?
Here it goes if my memory serves right. I made the same switch. This is what my pdoc told me. Paxil has such a short half life that if you are not weened off of the paxil you could suffer. I started on 10mg of Lex and he reduced my Paxil from 25mg CR to 12.5 for 1 week. So for 1 week I was taking 10mg of Lex and 12.5 of Paxil. After that I stayed on the 10 of Lex for 7 more days and was suffering bad anxiety and then depression because I felt so bad. He then raised me to 15 of Lex . I am currently taking 20 of Lex that he raised me to last tues. I also take .5 of Xanax four times a day. My pdoc told me that it would take I believe 2 weeks for the Paxil to get out. It may be shorter than that, I just remember it wasn't more than 2 weeks. I am tired now maybe because of the increase. My nausea has been gone for about two weeks. A week ago last Monday was the first morning I woke up with no anxiety. I have no problem with my joints. I hope this helps. Don't hesitate to ask me anything about what I wrote if I confused you. I wish you luck with your treatment. Tim
P.S. The process of the switch started the last week in April.
poster:tm
thread:109458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030609/msgs/233508.html