Seroxat side affects question

[Alannah]

I've been prescribed seroxat (they have worked sucessfully for me in the past) but when I took the first one last week I got really bad side affects. Nausea and retching (even though I'd taken them with food)bad yawning and teeth grinding and a feeling of confusion and dissasociation.

I didn't take them again as I had lots of work to do and then we were going away for the weekend and this week I've been really busy too.

I'm seeing my psychologist tommorow and am feeling in pretty good shape even though I had a 'trying' weekend

As I've said i've taken them before and not had such severe side effects, does anyone here know why the effects were so bad this time and do you think I should ask the doc for a different type. I'm really not sure if I need ad's at all

Any opinions?

not sure about side effects but they have had a VERY bad press and gsk i think were taken to court because they lied about knowing about dangerous side egffects before releasing it

i would definitely ask for something else

i was on seroxat and got up on a different anti-depressant as i felt really suicidal and had thoughts of self-harm after being on seroxat for about 6 months. i don't know whether it was side-effects or they just weren't working... i did go from having panic attacks and anxiety to feeling really depressed and suicidal.
i had no problem switching from seroxat to the new ad's. no withdrawal symptoms.
from what you mentioned, i think you should ask for something different.

Thanks I will ask for something else

lilaclotus... that's exactly the kind of side effects that GSK knew about before releasing seroxat but went ahead and did it anyway! i don't remember what happened in the end... it may be ongoing but i know it was in the news a lot a little while back!

My best friend comitted suicide because of the side effects of Seroxat.

I can't believe they still prescribe it knowing how dangerous it can be.

[angry}

I was on seroxat for 5 years. One year when it was actually probably treating me and 4 years to get off it .

I didn't have any side effects at all while taking it, but had a lot of problems coming off it (these are all well documented problems now).

Dizziness, anxiety etc.

It did help me initially as I was severely depressed, but if I became depressed again I would ask for a different sort.

I had the yawning and jawn quivering side effect and also just felt very odd.

panorama did a programme about seroxat and it's side effects a while ago. the transcript and more info are here .

One worrying thing about Seroxat is that the vast majority of people who committed suicide whilst taking it seem to do so by hanging themselves... I'm convinced of the connection, particularly as a very close friend, who was not remotely suicidal, had visions of doing just that whilst on seroxat and had to come off it quickly, which she found horrific.

When it works it can be great, but for some people it is bloody dangerous.

Thanks for the replies. I did know about the suicidal side affects of seroxat but as it had worked sucessfully for me previously my doc thought it was a good option. The good news is that after seeing my psychologist today he thinks that I should see how I get on without them (I'm pretty chirpy atm, and am going on holiday tomorrow and just don't feel as down as I have done recently ). Feeling quite optimistic but am open to trying a different type if I need to in the future.

Sorry for your loss swiperfox

oh that's great alannah! have a good holiday and take care

THis is from the current summary of product characteristics for Seroxat

'Some of the adverse drug reactions listed below may decrease in intensity and frequency with continued treatment and do not generally lead to cessation of therapy.Adverse drug reactions are listed below by system organ class and frequency. Frequencies are defined as: very common (1/10), common (1/100,

The thing to remember in all of this is that all of the possible side effects have to be listed in this document (I know I used to write them, not for this drug but for others). For the vast majority of people taking them side effects are minor, still annoying I know. And for most people drug side effects get better with time. Awful things can happen when people take prescription drugs but leaving people untreated can also have awful consequences.

Please don't be over alarmed at this list

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prozac(fluoxetine) and seroxat(paroxetine) are different drugs but of the same type - SSRIs.
Fluoxetine is less likely to cause withdrawal effects.

well DP was on prozac when he attempted suicide. he went downhill fast when he started taking it. he got put on effexor (venlafaxine) and that was ok. i was put on seroxat a month after this attempt as i got really bad panic attacks out of fear of him doing it again and then on effexor 6 months later as i described earlier. effexor has it's own negatives. mainly makes you numb (but that could be better than incredibly low) and the withdrawal was very very hard. i think all ad's have pros and cons and should be used with great care. i kept a mood diary while i was on ad's to keep a record of it all.

HMB will hopefully see this and correct me if I am wrong- but IIRC seroxat has a very short half life compared to other ADs - therefore more chance of problems with withdrawal.

Seroxat helped me but is definitely the most unpleasant AD I have taken - made me feel dizzy if I didn't take it bang at the same time every day! Alannah - I think you can get different side effects on starting the same AD again - that happened to me with Prozac. Interaction between chemicals and body can be a weird thing!!!

Dh was also on Seroxat when he THREATENED (ie didnt carry out) suicide, has been off for somemonths now and much more able to cope with life

dh had pretty bad mood swings, sweats confusion

when he started reducing he was a nutter!!!!!! excuse the phrase but honestly didnt really know who he was it was scary

Blimey, i thought I was the only person going through / having been through all this with a dh- in some ways wish I was, but INCREDIBLY un-isolating experience