So tomorrow morning I am going to switch from 15 mg of Paxil to 25 mg of Zoloft. I've gained 20 pounds since increasing my Paxil dosage and I've had ZERO libido which as you can imagine is NOT good for my marriage. Also I'm tired ALL THE TIME, no matter how much sleep I get.
I saw my doctor today and he said all of this can probably be fixed by switching. Also, I was really concerned that if I got pregnant, Paxil would be dangerous to take. They've recently reclassified it to a Class D drug. Zoloft is a Class B drug. It has the smallest amounts of any SSRI crossing the placenta. This makes me feel a lot safer about the possibility of getting pregnant and GOD knows I wouldn't want to go through the switch while pregnant.
So I'm nervous too. Last time I decreased my Paxil dosage, when I was six months pregnant, I had HORRID side effects. They lasted about 10 days: nausea, vertigo, skin crawling, a ringing in my head, a feeling like my brain was buzzing, anxiety, agitation and the worst part... feeling like I was going insane.
So you can see why I'm nervous about quitting completely and switching to something else. But the doctor said that while I could possibly have some problems, some people switch and don't notice anything at all. Plus, I was pregnant when I changed doses last time and everything was magnified.
Michael said that maybe I should wait until next week so that we can have Dylan's party and me not be a basket case. While I agree with that, I also feel like having family around and lots of help with Dylan for the next three days will make me feel so much more secure than doing it alone next week.
So I step off the cliff tomorrow and I'm excited about the changes, doctor says I should start losing weight almost immediately, and get my libido back, but also scared that I'm about to enter the Ninth Circle of Hell again.
BIG BREATH
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