Your body tells you the best evidence. You took the Xanax , which is normally something you don’t do. You know the answer, it was the only thing different. If you aren’t used to taking it, of course you will have side effects. Your body told you the story. Let me tell you a secret, Drs often omit truth or don’t use their brain power, And here is a story, family member in hospital, is an alcoholic, started having dt’s from alcohol withdrawal. Dr puts him on Haldol, a potent antipsychotic. Fam. men. starts having trouble swallowing, they are going to send him to nursing home, I fill my sister in on effects of Haldol. She throws a fit to get him off Haldol, he recovers and returns home. True story. Do your own research if possible. Antidepressants affect each person differently. Someone else’s story might be good, but your own experience might not be. It’s a trial and error situation. Over the course of my own treatment, I’ve taken many different antidepressants. Some helped, some didn’t, some had horrible side effects. Something else to consider, these meds help some, but they do not help the underlying negative thought process that is causing the anxiety in the first place. You anxiety level will fluctuate with stress, making you think the meds aren’t working. The meds only help so much, therapy and other self help techniques are necessary to heal. If one is willing to go the distance, complete recovery is possible. After a lifetime of A & D I’ve made it to recovery stage, and I never thought it possible, but here I am.

I can understand feeling nervous about taking a new medication. I am the same way. I avoid trying new medications at all costs. But then I just - do it - and it turns out fine and it helps me to feel better.

Paxil is not a new medication, since you took it before. That is good, because you already know how you will feel on it. There will be no surprises. You have taken it before, so you will be fine taking it now.

I think your psychiatrist means to take the Xanax every day *until* you get over your fear of taking the Paxil. Not to keep taking it every day. Is my opinion on what he meant.

How is it going with those other things in your life, the stopping smoking, and the stopping alcohol? Because stopping those two things brings on their own set of symptoms that you could be experiencing now, that aren't strictly anxiety symptoms.

Other ways to lower your blood pressure can be - taking a walk outside, cutting salt and caffeine from your diet, limiting stress in your life best you can.

Good for you for seeing the psychiatrist. You are going to do great on the Paxil. It's a pretty mild SSRI medication, I have been on it. Just take the dose and go about your day, forget about it, don't think about it. Give it one month for the good benefits to kick in fully.

You're going to be okay.

Two recurring phenoms within my own recovery have been:

1) Each of my breakthroughs have been accompanied by a brain fog and/or a flood of emotions. Proof unavailable, but I do believe the *decision* to give medication a try affected me more than the drugs, themselves. Ditto for the later decision to move on to drug-free maintenance therapy.

2) Those same breakthroughs raised my awareness far enough that suddenly I was able to see a whole bevy of symptoms I had previously been ignoring and/or repressing.

But that is me and every case is unique.

Continued support while you sort your own case.

Stay hydrated! No matter what!

The basic thing I was told by every single medical professional was to make sure I hydrated before I made any other decisions in a 'fog'.

Anxiety is natural. Anxiety is a helper. When you have physical symptoms - try hydrating to see if that reduces naturally.

Trying new medicine...even if you have been on it before...trial and error.

Thank you all:
Yes. I still have not smoked. I think it is 3 and a half weeks: i did have a few beers last sat throughout the day and seemed to handle it fine. I have taken Xanax a few times prior and did not have these side effects: that’s why it threw me off. I’m feeling pretty spacey again today. I start therapy on Monday. I have started reading books about anxiety and also found an app that my insurance company recommended that also teaches me about the anxiety and breathing exercises.

Educating yourself about the dynamics of anxiety goes a long way in recovery. To know what is happening and why takes the mystery out of anxiety symptoms. So when you feel those symptoms you can identify them and not react to them but allow them, not fight against them, thus reducing your automatic fear response. The more you can do this, the less power they have and eventually fade away.

It was definitely the Xanax making you feel that way. Despite doctors trying to prescribe me Xanax I've managed to stay away from it. It may also be the dosage you're on but everyone I know who's taking Xanax have not experienced their anxiety improving, only remaining stagnant. I have been on Paxil before for many years but It made me feel numb. I didn't feel any emotions, I felt like a robot. So I asked to be taken off of it. I was then prescribed Effexor, which I have been on ever since. I also have my medicinal marijuana card so that has also helped me. The only downside I've experienced with Effexor is the horrible withdraw symptoms when you decide to stop taking the medication.

Dear abc..., With your trying to quit smoking and drinking, and...starting an antidepressant, I do believe, it's too much, too soon. Try one thing at a time. Xanax has helped me enormously through 30 years of life. I wish I had taken it when I was young. It would have made my life much easier. I can cope. I don't drink, but I smoke. This is just me. I'm not trying to influence you in any way.