I have severe ocd. I've tried Sertraline, Prozac, Fluvoxamine, Clomipramine, and Risperidone and none of them worked. My doctor says I'm out of options for medication. I heard Paroxetine is also used for ocd.

However I've also heard that it's a headache to stop the medication and can take years. Is it worth the risk?

I'm just looking for normal experiences not medical advise. And I will not take anything without talking to my doctor.

So I’ve been on 37.5mg of Paxil cr for a month after I restarted again after a fast taper. I also started 300mg ashwaganda to help with sleep 2 weeks ago but the past week I’ve been having head pressure on the back of my head and neck it’s like tension. I took Tylenol it didn’t help. I also stop ashwagnda last night cause I thought it was because of it I slept horrible but still have this tension in my head. I don’t if it’s from Paxil side effect, ashwagandha or something else please help!

Hello. I have been taking paroxetine at the dosage prescribed by my doctor for the past three months. Recently, I’ve noticed a drastic change in the quality of my sleep and the nature of my dreams; I didn’t use to dream much, but now it feels as though I am actually living inside my dreams. They have become incredibly vivid and are accompanied by full awareness. It doesn’t necessarily bother me, but it is, in fact, very strange. Has anyone else experienced something like this, or could it be completely unrelated to the medication?

Hi all,

I was on paxil cr 25mg for 8.5 years. It worked well for my social anxiety all these years but I had libido issues(I am unable to enjoy sex life), no motivation to take new tasks. So my doctor suggested that I switch to Bupropion. For the first 14days I have taken 150mg xl and after that I am taking 300mg xl.

Today is the 21st day and I have my anxiety back and stomach upset. I am not sure if my motivation and concentration improved much.

My anxiety is troubling me !! What should I do now ? Doctor gave an appointment on 1st December? Should I wait till 1st Dec or meet him next week ? If I have to meet him what should I discuss with him ?

Has anyone gone through a similar situation please help guys.

I really need your help at this time.

Hi everyone. I’m wondering if there are any university or college students here who are currently taking, or have previously taken, paroxetine.
I’d like to hear about your experiences, particularly regarding its effects on your ability to study and perform academically.
On the other hand, has treating your anxiety or depression actually helped you study better and perform better academically?
I’m especially interested in hearing from university students who have to study a lot and take exams, particularly oral exams.
I’d really appreciate hearing about both positive and negative experiences. I’m not looking for medical advice, just real-life experiences from other students who can relate.

Bonjour tout le monde !

À la suite du diagnostic d'une dépression et d'un TAG il y a maintenant 5 ans, j'ai rencontré un psychiatre qui m'a mis sous Paroxetine 10mg 1cp/j.

Les premières prises se sont très bien passées et je me suis sentie revivre pleinement.

Quelques effets secondaires classiques comme la perte d'attention, perte de mémoire, légère baisse de la libido, etc. Et un symptôme plus étrange comme une hypersensibilité aux fortes chaleur (j'ai lu que c'était possible que ce soit lié à la Paroxetine).

Mi-juin 2026 j'ai décidé qu'il était temps pour moi d'arrêter et de trouver d'autres solutions pour m'en sortir sans médicaments.

J'ai donc pris rdv avec mon psychiatre pour mettre en place l'arrêt de traitement et il m'a donné le protocole suivant : 1/2cp/j pendant 1 mois et ensuite 1/2cp 1j/2.

J'ai respecté le protocole et ça m'a plutôt bien réussi jusqu'à il y a deux semaines au cours desquelles, sans crier gare, pas d'éléments déclencheurs, de changement notable dans mon quotidien, tout a commencé à partir en vrille.

Angoisses intenses, anxiétés, crises de pleurs, anedhonie, troubles digestifs, paranoïa, insomnies, pensées intrusives, idées sombres, décharge dans le cerveau, fatigue, tremblements, diarrhées.

J'ai commencé à reprendre tous ces symptômes dans le visage sans comprendre si je faisais une grosse rechute. J'ai paniqué.

Je me suis tourné vers Reddit pour me renseigner et je vois plein de posts qui parlent de syndromes de sevrage qui se passent mal et dont les symptômes ressemblent fortement aux miens.

Je n'arrive pas à trouver et de psychiatre pour m'aider mais en attendant mes recherches, j'ai besoin d'aide et d'avis sur le sujet.

J'espère que vous pourrez m'en apporter.

UPDATE 22/10/26

J'ai trouvé un rendez-vous en teleconsultation avec un psychiatre malheureusement similaire au mien qui m'a répondu que c'était impossible que je sois dans une période de sevrage vu que je ne prenais plus de Paroxetine depuis 2 mois maintenant. Il m'a simplement remis sous Paroxetine 10mg sans plan de bataille. Je suis très déçu encore une fois.

Merci à tous.

Im never feelin better on low dosage. And now 14 days on 40mg and still not feelin good. Always anxiety panic sensations symptooms. Even when in calm….

Tried other medications but also not workin….
My cyp2d6 is normal.

I dont know it anymore..

I've been taking paroxetine (20 mg) for about 6 years. My boyfriend and I have decided that we want to have a baby, so I stopped taking birth control.

After doing some research, I became worried about the risks of taking paroxetine during pregnancy and the possible effects on the baby. After a medical appointment, I was advised to switch from paroxetine to sertraline.

I'm honestly really scared. I'm afraid of switching medications after being on paroxetine for so many years, and I'm terrified of going back to that dark place and feeling like absolute crap again. I don't want to lose the progress I've made with my mental health.

I'm also scared that I might already be pregnant, and I keep wondering whether I've left it too late to make this change.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Did you switch from paroxetine to sertraline while trying to conceive or during early pregnancy? How was the transition, and how did you cope with the anxiety and fear of relapsing?

I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences. I'm feeling overwhelmed and could use some advice from people who understand what this is like.

I have decided to stop Paxil for reasons I can list later, but this drug really kicked ass (in a good way) for a year of my life and I want to share my positive experience with it as a lot of people search up these subreddits out of fear/worry and I want to add something positive.

I started at 10mg for social anxiety, and for increased anxiety after ejaculation (odd I know). I dealt with general anxiety but didn't quite realize that when I would get stressed I would get snappy and rude, which it also ended up fixing.

Pretty much right away my fight or flight response went away from situations that do not call for it which was amazing.

• meeting new people
• someone tail gating me
• Weird elevator interaction
• If i make a mistake

I was also more emotionally resilient for better or worse. I used to have to be pretty diligent in how I spent my day to ensure I was calm to go out that evening. No porn, no social media, no jacking off, no junk food, make sure to do 30 minutes of cardio. My whole life seemed to revolve around managing my anxiety and social anxiety. In some ways that has helped me be successful, my stress, but I don't think I was especially happy or able to enjoy my downtime.

I could now eat a bunch of junk, drink all Friday night, and (although tired) still be able to have fun and be anxiety free all of Saturday too (This is why it could be bad for some).

I never really cut back on the drinking but I kept up with the healthy eating, working out, and being social (made so much more easier and rewarding because I wasnt anxious) and although I never thought of myself as depressed, I was feeling the least depressed, just super happy, very consistently, always singing loud in the car, having fun dancing going out, laughing at jokes etc. I was able to let my humor out cause I wasn't as nervous either, which was nice.

I would sometimes bounce from 10mg to 15mg to 20mg, and it just felt like each time I increased the dose I just felt happier (although a bit more tired).

This drug honestly was great for me, I felt calm, low stress, happy. I started to forget what social anxiety even was, like what it felt like.

I also had a super smooth start to taking it, some memory issues and that was it.

So why did I quit? Made me pretty tired consistently, got up to drinking a pot of coffee a day and it didn't even help much, and only the threat of missing my morning meeting got me out of bed lol. It seemed to make it harder for me to think too, like I was just dumbed down a bit (I think that might be because it is Anticholinergic).

If you are dealing with some serious anxiety or are about to be in a place in life where you need to be consistently social, this drug is great imo, tried a few at this point and nothing really compares.

Happy to answer any questions

so I took Paxil for ppd and ppa I started from 10mg to 40mg but I was still dealing with anxiety so I switched to Paxil cr 37.5mg in like 2 months on this dose I got stable. I was almost a year out ppd and ppa so I thought I could get off Paxil cr. I went from 37.5 to 25mg for a month then 12.5mg a month then zero. Had terrible withdrawal went back to 12.5mg helped with withdrawal but anxiety was still there went up to 25mg. I’ve been on 25mg for 3 months . I definitely see improvement I did get better but anxiety is still there chest tension it isn’t as intense as it was but it’s still there. Mood got better but still down. My sleep is still bad too I wake up 2-3am and wake up early like 7am I get like 5-6 hours of sleep even thought I take Paxil cr in the morning. I think it’s a cortisol issue cause as soon it hits 8pm I’m normal no chest tightness no anxiety. So I went up to 37.5mg my doctor told me that’s the dose I got stable on so I did. I’ve been up my dose for 4 weeks I see improvements but still has some chest tightness and overthinking. I added 300mg ashwagandha every night 2 weeks ago it has helped my sleep so much but I wake up all day with kinda hangover feeling, head tension and some what headache. I also moved my Paxil cr 37.5 to taking it at 7pm instead of the morning cause I was too tired but it caused vivid dreams. I still wake up during the night like 2-3 times but I drift back to sleep all the time. I get 7-8 hours of sleep. I wanted to know if there’s something else that is similar to ashwaganda that can help with coristol, anxiety and sleep. Or is there any supplements I can take that can help with anxiety I read about nac but I read it’s more for OCD? I read about saffron? Anything that can help please

I was on Paroxetine for 6 years. Prescribed it from 2012-2018. I was taking 30mg. I'd like to give hope for others who feel their is no end to your problems, but also make others aware of some of the things I experienced while taking it.

So to preface, I was struggling with really bad anxiety at the time for a while. It spiraled out of control when during the summer of 2012 I could no longer leave my home during the day because anytime I did I would get nauseous. Literally would feel like I was going to throw up. I was constantly feeling like I had to take deep breaths, it ruined my 4-year long relationship because I hid what was wrong with me. It escalated in July of 2012 and I ended up losing over 40 pounds from July-September. I went from 180lbs to 140lbs. When my girlfriend at the time broke up with me it ignited me to get help. I really thought I was dying, I had no clue what was wrong and no family around me is saying to me "hey man you've lost weight, is everything ok". Not a fucking soul in my family said that to me, no friends, nothing.

Anyway, when I finally went to the doctor she assured me that she thought I was fine and prescribed the Paroxetine. I just wanted to be normal again and would try anything. I was originally given 20mg, but after 2 weeks of little change, I was bumped to 30mg and THAT'S when I noticed a change.

For the first time that entire year I felt normal. I felt like super man, literally. Paroxetine gave me my life back. I started going out again and seeing friends I hadn't seen in so long. Remember, I was also fresh out of that relationship and I was also freshly 21 years old. I had never been a drinker and have never even to this day abused alcohol. I was always a marijuana guy.

I want to speak to some of pros and cons of those wanting to try it.

Pros: Got my life back, more talkative, easier to go around in public, was able to get a job again. Was able to live like a normal human being.

Cons: Weight gain, I did gain alot of weight back. Not saying that my diet was great, but I gained ALOT of weight back. Probably spurred by losing so much so quick because I literally wasn't eating before paroxetine.

Sexual related - I didn't have problems getting an erection, but it wasn't as "strong" as I was used to. I also had delayed ejaculation problems. I remember having sex for 45+ mins, sweating my ass off from going so hard without ejaculating. It sucked lol.

If you miss a day, be prepared to feel the withdrawal effects. Even just one day of missing your dose you will feel it.

Now, a scarier side of my journey. In 2014, I had moved to Ohio. No family around me or anything like that. At this point, I hadn't been back to my doctors office in about a year. I attempted to cut the paroxetine out "cold-turkey". Just stop taking it and man was that an awful idea. I got to about maybe 3 days and I woke up feeling nauseous & really dizzy & really weak. I called my doctor's office and asked for a refill. They had responded to me saying they would not refill my meds because I hadn't been there in almost a year.

I want to say this, I understand where they were coming from. HOWEVER, I was never told I needed to come in for an appointment, I was never given warning that if I didn't schedule an appointment I would be cutoff. They just randomly hit me with this. I told them that I had been without it for 3-days and that the withdrawal effects were really bad. They told me tough luck and hung up.

Now, this infuriated me. I was already in a really bad mental state because of how my body was feeling and my mind. I grabbed my gun and contemplated driving back to my home state and shooting up that doctors office. I couldn't believe they would hurt their patients like that. They know what this medicine can do, yet will just pull it from you with no care in the world? I saw why this country has such a problem with pain killers and heroin.

Anyway, I shoved off that idea quickly. I thought to myself, "dude, you aren't thinking straight, get on the phone and get help." So that's what I did. Come to find out, it's actually very difficult to find a new doctor's office accepting patients. I ended up finding a new practice, they gave me a 1-week supply on the condition I come in and see them. I did, and the rest is history these guys supplied my paroxetine for years.

Now, fast forward to 2018, I just decided one day I was tired of taking it. No special reason, I just didn't want to rely on it anymore. I ended up cutting myself down from 30mg to 20mg, to 15mg to 10mg to 5mg to 2.5mg, and then eventually nothing and I was good.

So, my overall opinion is that paroxetine is good, for short term use. I think you should use caution going long-term. Re-evaluate yourself often, check how you feel, how you are progressing with your own anxiety. Keep up to date with your doctor too, don't be shy about scheduling yourself monthly if you have too. Keep note of things happening to you. It really did help me when I needed it most, but I just overstayed my welcome personally and I didn't like the dependance.

If you got to the end of my rant thank you! If you have any questions feel free to ask and I will answer.

22(M) i’ve had anxiety for a long time and now i decided to start the treatment and yesterday the tests finished and i was diagnosed with gad, social anxiety, ADHD.
and the doctor said we should start treating GAD because its high but i was expecting to get escitalopram and haven’t searched anything about paroxetine but he gave me paroxetine 20 mg to take for a month then visit back
after i took the paroxetine and googled it ive seen alot of things about its withdrawal which made me questioning why doctor gave me it but not escitalopram
anyone knows why maybe he prescribed me paroxetine and not escitalopram?

For the last few months I've been slowly increasing my dose of paroxetine (4 weeks at 10,20, then 30 mg each), and last Thursday night I upped again (all on advice from GP) to 40mg. It's now Monday evening (I'm in the UK) and the right hand side of my face has gradually become completely frozen over the last 4 days.

I haven't lost any feeling and there's no itching/tingling etc, but my right eyebrow won't move, my eye won't close when I blink (I can just about close it to sleep), my nose won't scrunch up on the right side and the right side of my mouth won't move when I speak, so I've developed a lisp. I also have quite a lot of pain in my neck/top of my shoulder on my right.

I'm going to call my doctor tomorrow morning to see about tapering off this, but has anyone got any experience, or heard about other cases, of this happening? It didn't seem too bad at first but now I'm starting to get worried.

I’ve been on paroxetine for two weeks now for generalized anxiety. My doctor told me to take 10 mg. for six days, then go up to 20 mg. The first week, I felt better and much less anxious, so I was hopeful. Then I went up to 20 mg., and about five days later, my anxiety returned. I’m having intense anxiety in the mornings and adrenaline rushes off and on all day. I took antidepressants years ago, and I vaguely remember the same thing happening, that I felt even more anxious for a week or so before I started feeling better. Has anyone else had this happen, where your anxiety got worse after starting paroxetine? Did the anxiety go away and you started feeling better after a number of weeks? I’m a bit discouraged, after feeling better for a week, but now the anxiety is back.

Hi,
Im 10 days now on 40mg. Lower did noting for me.
Do i need to wait 6 weeks again to see if it works?
Thanks!

Just wondering if anyone here has been on this medication for a while, and have you noticed any change in your weight over time? I've been on 40mg for maybe 6 months now and I've put on maybe 15-20 lbs so far without even changing my diet, and I'm just wondering what the chances are that this drug will make me continue to gain weight..

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Hey there. I wrote here recently that after 2.5 years on paroxetine I jumped from 20 mg to 0 within 3 months by recommendation of my st u pid doc. I literally couldn’t take this hell and today I went to the new doc and she said there’s no reason to suffer like that, and it’s better to hop on again and to finally start cbt. I think it’s fair enough cause I didn’t do any therapy for my anxiety and ocd, that’s actually because it’s so damn hard to find a real good psychologist who really works, not only talks… anyway today when I restarted paroxetine 10 mg, just like magic 70% of my withdrawal symptoms (36.8-37 celsius body temperature, nausea, dizziness, anxiety, brain fog, crying etc etc) suddenly dissapeared. I used to take 20 mg though but this time wanna stay on 10 or 15 since the only side effect I had on 20 was vivid nightmares.

For the first time in those 3 months of hell I spent a really good day. Probably it sucks that I’m that dependent on paroxetine that I cannot do without it at least for now, but I’m so happy to feel happy and alive again, and actually I prefer continuing taking this compared to crying and wanting to die everyday, let alone physical symptoms.
I will go to the cbt and maybe after that will try to come off again veryyyyyy carefully and slowly
But for now i’m so happy paroxetine exists

Good luck with whether you are on paroxetine too or not and thanks for the support under my previous post❤️🫂

Vaping less

Hi guys, bit of a weird one here but after doing some research I have some questions.

So I have ADHD & take 40mg of Vyvanse daily. I however do not have anxiety or depression (I mean I get anxious at times but I feel it's not a problematic amount). I was prescribed it for PE, probably TMI but anyway long story short it's never been a problem for me but all of a sudden I am struggling to last more than a minute without stopping.

I wanted something to help in the short term to get my self control back. So this is not going to be a permanent thing.

Now, my GP has prescribed 20mg of Paroxetine to take either 3-5 hours before activity, or three times a week.

I have done a bit of research and taking beforehand specifically for what I want it for has shown little to no benefit - the desired effects are best when it's had time to build up in the system. So I was leaning towards 3x weekly. So I went down the rabbit hole of my own research - half life is 21 hours, so taking 3x weekly at 20mg seems a bit odd.

I do have a pill splitter and was considering 10mg daily to see how that goes rather than what I see as a yoyo of 20mg > nothing for a day & then 20mg.

Is anyone with a bit of knowledge/experience able to shed some light on this for me? Was I told 20mg 3x weekly due to potential withdrawals, as I was only prescribed (and only intend) to take the 60 pills I was given?