Depression Learning

asking for xanax and paxil

Question:

Hi Judah, I don’t know about the Paxil but Xanax has been a great med for me for many years now.  I find it calms me down within a few minutes if I put it under my tongue….fast acting I guess.  I only use .25 at a time and I don’t use it every day but I do use it at night for sleep.   I did talk to my dr. and he said that any of the SSRI (including Paxil); works well with Xanax..  Good luck,  Marry

Response:

Thanks for all the answers and support, folks.   I’m curious now, I defintley want "counseling"…specifically psychotherapy…I’ve read alot about it and think it would help me. My question…should I see a psychiatrist for the therapy as well as the meds? or is that too likely to backfire again, and I should just see a psychologist for the therapy, who works w/ a psychiatrist for meds….does anyone have experience with any of these set ups? thanks again.

For anxiety/panic you will want to see somebody who practices Cognitive Behaviorao Therapy (CBT) and those are mostly clinical psychologists. Read up on CBT (the onl;y therapy that can rightfully claim statistically significant results with PAD) at http://www.cognitivetherapy.com and http://panicdisorder.about.com/cs/therapycbt/ Philip

Response:

Thanks for all the answers and support, folks.   I’m curious now, I defintley want "counseling"…specifically psychotherapy…I’ve read alot about it and think it would help me. My question…should I see a psychiatrist for the therapy as well as the meds? or is that too likely to backfire again, and I should just see a psychologist for the therapy, who works w/ a psychiatrist for meds….does anyone have experience with any of these set ups? thanks again.

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – :Hi, last year I was very depressed…very depressed and did not seek :treatment.  it seemed to get a little better, but still with some :rather tough bouts of depression over the past year.  Anxiety has also :come into the picture.  Recently the anxiety has gotten very bad, :almost uncontrollable.  My temper is insane.  I was thinking of asking :the dr. to prescribe me xanax for the anxiety and paxil for the :depression…is this a common pairing or are there better ways to go? Dear Judah, I think it would be in your best interest to see a psych doctor to be diagnosed and treated. MD`s while they mean well, often times don`t have the expertise to treat anxiety disorders effectively. If you had a heart condition, would you want your MD to treat it, or a specialist like a cardiologist? Your mental health deserves the same respect. It might also help if you got into some therapy to deal with your anxiety, depression and anger issues. Take care and I hope everything works out.

Indeed, Jackie is right. The idea of trying a combo of Paxil and Xanax is a good one but it had better be monitorted by a specialist. Philip

Response:

Hi, last year I was very depressed…very depressed and did not seek treatment.  it seemed to get a little better, but still with some rather tough bouts of depression over the past year.  Anxiety has also come into the picture.  Recently the anxiety has gotten very bad, almost uncontrollable.  My temper is insane.  I was thinking of asking the dr. to prescribe me xanax for the anxiety and paxil for the depression…is this a common pairing or are there better ways to go?

There is no telling which antidepressant will work for us as our reactions to meds are so individual but the combination of an SSRI like Paxil and a benzo like Xanax is very common and often very effective. Just see to it that you *start low and go slow* with the Paxil, e.g. start at 5 mg, stay there for a week and then raise the dose in weekly increments of 5 mg (or at whatever pace seems comfortable) until therapeutic dosage is reached which may be anywhere between 20-60 mg. Starting on a low dose and raising it slowly will avoid or at least minimize initial Paxil side effects (like heightened anxiety) while Xanax will also help with that. Xanax works fast, you will have to give Paxil eight weeks for a fair trial (but most people get to feel better much earlier). Philip

Response:

Yes that’s my experience with my psychiatrist. He’s merely my drug dealer who I see twice a year ; ) This seems to be the majority… Good luck in your search for a therapist that will listen to you… Kevin…

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Thanks for the responses.  I think you’re right, I should probably see another psychiatrist…or possibly a psychologist that works with a psychiatrist.  When I saw the last, I was doing "alright"..and I’m a pretty private person, so I didn’t quite open up about my problems right away.  This was a problem, because the format of most of this particular psychiatrist’s proceedings were that the patient basically came in, told him the problems, he prescribed something, they left for three months or so…came back and if they said they still had the problems they got more meds. I was looking more for psychotherapy, w/ possible medication if the Dr. saw fit.  So you could imagine my surprise when this guy didn’t even try to slowly build up my trust to talk about things (what I thought it was gonna be all about)…I saw him once and we talked a little…then he said come back in a month…umm ok…so i came back and after that he said I seemed fine.  I wanted to say "Geez buddy you don’t even know me…"

Response:

Hi, last year I was very depressed…very depressed and did not seek treatment.  it seemed to get a little better, but still with some rather tough bouts of depression over the past year.  Anxiety has also come into the picture.  Recently the anxiety has gotten very bad, almost uncontrollable.  My temper is insane.  I was thinking of asking the dr. to prescribe me xanax for the anxiety and paxil for the depression…is this a common pairing or are there better ways to go?

There are *many* common pairings, but Xanax and Paxil seem to go together well.  Note:  meds work differently for different people. Have you considered Klonopin?  It lasts longer (24 hours I think), but isn’t as quick-acting as Xanax.  I like taking Klonopin once or twice per day instead of Xanax every 4 hours. SIanon

Response:

I’m on Paxil 10mg right now for the last 2 weeks and was just given 1mg xanax after "begging" for it. I still get the anxiety after about 3 hours until my next xanax About 5 years or so ago, my GP put me on the same combo and at that time after about 3-4 weeks on the Paxil I finally felt relief. I should have stayed on it but after 6 months I felt I didn’t need it . So here I am again. I had been able to wean off the xanax after the few weeks on the Paxil. I believe it takes more time for some people but it worked for me then so I’m sticking it out best I can. My heart goes out to you because I am going through the same as you right now and can relate to how you feel. This anxiety is insane. Good luck to you and I will keep all of you in my prayers. Carmen – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, last year I was very depressed…very depressed and did not seek treatment.  it seemed to get a little better, but still with some rather tough bouts of depression over the past year.  Anxiety has also come into the picture.  Recently the anxiety has gotten very bad, almost uncontrollable.  My temper is insane.  I was thinking of asking the dr. to prescribe me xanax for the anxiety and paxil for the depression…is this a common pairing or are there better ways to go? There are *many* common pairings, but Xanax and Paxil seem to go together well.  Note:  meds work differently for different people. Have you considered Klonopin?  It lasts longer (24 hours I think), but isn’t as quick-acting as Xanax.  I like taking Klonopin once or twice per day instead of Xanax every 4 hours. SIanon

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – :Hi, last year I was very depressed…very depressed and did not seek :treatment.  it seemed to get a little better, but still with some :rather tough bouts of depression over the past year.  Anxiety has also :come into the picture.  Recently the anxiety has gotten very bad, :almost uncontrollable.  My temper is insane.  I was thinking of asking :the dr. to prescribe me xanax for the anxiety and paxil for the :depression…is this a common pairing or are there better ways to go? Dear Judah, I think it would be in your best interest to see a psych doctor to be diagnosed and treated. MD`s while they mean well, often times don`t have the expertise to treat anxiety disorders effectively. If you had a heart condition, would you want your MD to treat it, or a specialist like a cardiologist? Your mental health deserves the same respect. It might also help if you got into some therapy to deal with your anxiety, depression and anger issues. Take care and I hope everything works out. Jackie ~*~I have signed a pact with life: we will not get in each other’s way~*~   ~ Janusz Korczak, Ghetto Diary ~

I agree very much with this reply. It’s worth the extra money to go see a psychiatrist. good luck

Response:

Thanks for the responses.  I think you’re right, I should probably see another psychiatrist…or possibly a psychologist that works with a psychiatrist.  When I saw the last, I was doing "alright"..and I’m a pretty private person, so I didn’t quite open up about my problems right away.  This was a problem, because the format of most of this particular psychiatrist’s proceedings were that the patient basically came in, told him the problems, he prescribed something, they left for three months or so…came back and if they said they still had the problems they got more meds. I was looking more for psychotherapy, w/ possible medication if the Dr. saw fit.  So you could imagine my surprise when this guy didn’t even try to slowly build up my trust to talk about things (what I thought it was gonna be all about)…I saw him once and we talked a little…then he said come back in a month…umm ok…so i came back and after that he said I seemed fine.  I wanted to say "Geez buddy you don’t even know me…"

Response:

:Hi, last year I was very depressed…very depressed and did not seek :treatment.  it seemed to get a little better, but still with some :rather tough bouts of depression over the past year.  Anxiety has also :come into the picture.  Recently the anxiety has gotten very bad, :almost uncontrollable.  My temper is insane.  I was thinking of asking :the dr. to prescribe me xanax for the anxiety and paxil for the :depression…is this a common pairing or are there better ways to go? Dear Judah, I think it would be in your best interest to see a psych doctor to be diagnosed and treated. MD`s while they mean well, often times don`t have the expertise to treat anxiety disorders effectively. If you had a heart condition, would you want your MD to treat it, or a specialist like a cardiologist? Your mental health deserves the same respect. It might also help if you got into some therapy to deal with your anxiety, depression and anger issues. Take care and I hope everything works out. Jackie ~*~I have signed a pact with life: we will not get in each other’s way~*~   ~ Janusz Korczak, Ghetto Diary ~

Response:

Well I don’t have depression but I do have anxiety and anger issues. At one point I was on both Paxil and Xanax, and there were no problems mixing the two, but Paxil never did a thing for me so I stopped it after 3 months and now only on Xanax…. And yes some people do need to use both an anti-depressant and a benzo to help with both depression and anxiety. Although some only need an anti-depressant. There’s also some who need to take 2 different anti-depressants and a benzo… See where I’m going? ; ) It all depends on the individual and what they need to help them. I don’t do therapy so I can’t advise anything there, but some here highly recommend CBT which really helped them alot… Take Care Judah….

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, last year I was very depressed…very depressed and did not seek treatment.  it seemed to get a little better, but still with some rather tough bouts of depression over the past year.  Anxiety has also come into the picture.  Recently the anxiety has gotten very bad, almost uncontrollable.  My temper is insane.  I was thinking of asking the dr. to prescribe me xanax for the anxiety and paxil for the depression…is this a common pairing or are there better ways to go?

Response:

Hi, last year I was very depressed…very depressed and did not seek treatment.  it seemed to get a little better, but still with some rather tough bouts of depression over the past year.  Anxiety has also come into the picture.  Recently the anxiety has gotten very bad, almost uncontrollable.  My temper is insane.  I was thinking of asking the dr. to prescribe me xanax for the anxiety and paxil for the depression…is this a common pairing or are there better ways to go?

Response:

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