Hi Jen, there is no reason to feel ashamed or embarressed about taking
the right meds for panic disorder or any other anxiety disorder.
Remember this is a serious condition.
On paxil vs proxac. How long were you on prozac for? I cant quite tell
from your post but I suspect you werent on it that long. Also why did
the dr recommend proxac over paxil this time? Is it because of the
poop out syndrome, where in many ssri's if you take it for a long time
its unlikely to be effective anymore?
One of the big risks with taking SSRIs for anxiety disorders is that we
sometimes feel great and decide to stop taking them, but then we
relapse. Usually they prescribe SSRIs for 6+ months minimum, and
many people need to take them for much longer.
Important notes about SSRIs (ive done heaps of personal research in
this area).
1) everyone feels different on the various types. It is common to try
one and have to change, but then find the next really good.
2) From what I have read, Paxil, Zoloft and Luvox are the three that are
recommended for panic typically. Luvox and Paxil in particular are
recognised as midly sedative SSRIs, which means that they do have a
calming effect. Zoloft and Prozac are non sedating SSRIs, which means
they do tend to make people with anxiety feel even more anxious
during the initial phase.
3) You have to be on an SSRI for 4-6 weeks (assuming no allergic
reaction etc) for it to become effective, and this can mean 4-6 weeks at
the therupedic dose (sometimes they start you off on less). I have
personally been on Luvox for around that time now and its really
working wonders for me. It made me feel really jittery and anxious at
first, but that gets better every day and is a normal reaction to SSRI for
anxiety.
4) Yeah so Prozac would definitely make you feel more jittery than Paxil
or Luvox, and I know luvox made me feel very jittery at first.
Go back and see your dr, and get a recommendation. I know that
Luvox is only legal in the US for OCD (most other countries like UK and
Australia, its legal for panic also), so your choices are probably paxil,
zoloft etc, there are heaps look at www.crazymeds.org which is a great
site for details on what is around and what they do