Paxil to Prozac, anyone done this?

Dawniedo · 01-30-2009, 07:24 PM

Hello! new to the board!

I have been on Paxil for almost 7 years now....was put on it when my mom died and my baby was born within the same month. It was wonderful and changed my life!

Not doing so good for me anymore. I had tapered down to a low dose, but then decided to go back up and it no longer worked. Gave me bad effects even. So I have tapered back down to 7.5mg but the anxiety, etc is horrible. Went to a dr who said to start taking Prozac (10mgs) while tapering off Paxil the rest of the way....she also gave me Klonopin to help with the transition.

Needless to say I am scared.

Anyone else gone from Paxil to Prozac and lived to tell about it?

Thanks!

Dawnie

Sarahsue · 02-02-2009, 01:14 AM

Are you trying to go off of anti-depressents completely or do you just want a different one? I am assuming that since you are only taking 7.5 mg of Paxil you have already started to taper off. I went off paxil about this time last year, and I have to tell you the withdrawl side effects were awful. I never tried it, but a lot of people recommended going on to Prozac to come off Paxil. Prozac I guess is easier to quit than Paxil. I wouldn't worry too much about going from Paxil to Prozac. I did take Klonopin to help with my anxiety attacks and it really does help a lot.

Dawniedo · 02-02-2009, 09:47 AM

I wanted to get off Paxil and not go to anything else, but over my 5 month taper, I have been feeling so awful that I would consider going on another SSRI at this point.

One Dr said to start on Lexapro while tapering off Paxil and this new one said start on Prozac while tapering.
Both said to use Klonopin during the transition.

When did you start the Klonopin? During your W/D from Paxil? How much did you use? every day or as needed?
I am just scared to be taking so much stuff....but need to do something.
I feel awful.

thanks!
Dawnie

tswetter · 02-02-2009, 08:44 PM

i have never taken Paxil, but i have been on 60mg of Prozac for about 4 years now and am finally starting to taper off of it. so far there are no side effects from weaning off of it, BUT i do believe that you have to do it VERY SLOWLY! i tried to quit taking it cold turkey last year and i was an absolute mess

Sarahsue · 02-03-2009, 02:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dawniedo

I wanted to get off Paxil and not go to anything else, but over my 5 month taper, I have been feeling so awful that I would consider going on another SSRI at this point.

One Dr said to start on Lexapro while tapering off Paxil and this new one said start on Prozac while tapering.
Both said to use Klonopin during the transition.

When did you start the Klonopin? During your W/D from Paxil? How much did you use? every day or as needed?
I am just scared to be taking so much stuff....but need to do something.
I feel awful.

thanks!
Dawnie

If you really don't want to take another SSRI, I would wait for the withdrawls to go away and then see how you feel. Going off of Paxil was awful for me, but I have been off of it for about 9 months and I feel great now. I believe Lexapro is in the same category as Paxil so it is going to be hard to get off of it too. However, I have heard that Prozac is easier to get off of than Paxil. I used my Klonopin as needed. I would usually take one when I went to bed, but not necessarily every day. I would try taking the Prozac and using Klonopin as needed. Let me know if you have any other questions.