Hello docs! My doctor has prescribed me paxil 20mg a day, for generalized anxiety. I had taken my first dose about 3 days ago in the morning. I’ve never taken any medication of this sort before and I know there is supposed to be some side effects, but I had a migraine, and felt sick all day, along with some tremors. Unfortunetly im not able to get in to my doctor for another week, and the next day I did not take my pill as it made me extremely worried. I know you guys aren’t allowed to direct me on whether or not I should continue taking it, but what I am hoping you could answer is if these side-effects are something I should be worried about. Thanks a lot. If it helps, I am a 20 year old male. Me being a rather anxious person, I worry a lot about these types of things, and worry that meds like serotonin inhibitors might have some bad side effects on my mental health.
The majority of SSRI side effects are not dangerous or anything to be worried about, and the majority of them tend to resolve on their own within the first few days/weeks of taking the medication.
With that said, since all the SSRIs have essentially equivalent efficacy for treatment of generalized anxiety (about 60-70% remission), I’m not sure I would have started with Paroxetine as my first choice, as it does tend to have a bit more side effects than many of the other / newer options. Of course, there may be something that your doctor knows about you / this situation that I don’t, that made them choose that medication. I can’t say for sure, obviously.
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