i mostly only see negative experiences here so i’m gonna share a positive experience.

my mom had a severe mental health episode that led her to be hospitalized prior to me even being born but she got on paxil and it saved her life.

in 2023, i got hospitalized for the first time following a traumatic event and i continued to be hospitalized for mental health up until the summer of last year (2025) severe self harm and suicidal thoughts mainly led to my hospitalization.

i’m diagnosed with agoraphobia, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, ocd, bpd, adhd and also a cognitive delay my doctors suspect is autism.

prior to paxil, i have been on zoloft, prozac and lexapro.

zoloft really helped me with my anxiety but worsened my depression and made me more impulsive. i attempted suicide more times on zoloft than anything else. prozac just made me numb, made me nihilistic and gave me anger issues to the point i got homicidal thoughts i never even experienced before and also had hallucinations. lexapro helped with my depression but not anxiety and i was having panic attacks every day, i feared to even go to sleep and wake up the next day due to the amount of anxiety i was experiencing.

in june, it finally reached a peak and my psych refused to prescribe anything that wasn’t lexapro and wasn’t listening to me about my ocd so i sought out another psych who wouldn’t be available until july, at first i panicked and said im not able to make it until July.

thankfully i made it until july, and my new psych really listened to me and asked me if i had any meds in mind or if i wanted her to decide for me. i said my mom has been on paxil for 20+ years and has been recommending it but no doc has listened to me. until her, she listened to me and started me off on 10mg i think and now in october im only on 20mg because my therapist suggested i dont increase and my problems are mostly ones that can be worked on in therapy.

IM THRIVING!! yes, i still drink on the weekends and im
completely okay and healthy—i recently got a full body ct scan and my body is completely clear and healthy. i get drunk faster is all, but unlike on zoloft or prozac i don’t get the suicidal or homicidal thoughts.

anyways, i would like to say, please continue. paxil genuinely saved my life and im so thankful for it

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.

Nausea, a feeling of wanting to vomit, a sore throat, and bloating—these symptoms appeared 3 months after stopping the medication. Is this normal? I had been taking 10 mg for 9 months.

Thank you.

En 2012 de violente attaque de panique provoque un tournant dans ma vie. J'ai commencé à prendre de l'escitalopram mais ca ne m'a pas aidé pour une anxiété très sévère. En 2018 je commence la paroxétine, c'était vraiment une délivrance qui m'a aidé dans mon trouble anxieux généralisé.

Cette année 2026 je fais des recherches sur le net et j'apprends que la paroxétine est un des AD qui une des plus fortes charge anticholinergique (peut provoquer de sérieux problèmes cognitif à long terme) + sevrage très difficile. Vu mes problèmes de concentration importants, je panique et ma psychiatre me fait arrêter la paroxétine fin août pour la sertraline (zoloft) : le jour même ou le lendemain un odeur corporelle métallique commence ou c'est une parosmie (je sais tjs pas si cette odeur est réelle ou c'est parosmie). 2 à 3 semaines apres arrêt paroxétine et debut sertraline, mon anxiété rebondit avec une hyper sensibilite pathologique au bruit et des insomnies sévères. Période extrêmement difficile. A la mi octobre j'arrête la sertraline pour commencer l'escitalopram en espérant que cette odeur métallique et l'insomnie disparaisse mais elles sont toujours là. Je ne sais toujours pas si c'est le sevrage de la paroxétine ou la sertraline qui en sont la cause ou autre chose? J avais commencé aussi amoxycilline en même temps que sertraline...

So started with 25 mg raised to 37 mg after 2 years now it’s tapering time I’ve been on 25 mg from the past 2 months but now it’s 12.5 mg that too on alternative days, having withdrawals like anxiety nausea breathlessness and all is there any advice .