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Re: Klonopin and Paxil questions please help!

Posted by mrgreen on December 31, 2003, at 17:03:08

In reply to Re: Klonopin and Paxil questions please help! » Siraris, posted by Lil Debbie on December 18, 2003, at 16:44:26

I am a 24 old male, M.D./Ph. D. student (Biomedical Engineering / Neurology), and was taking Paxil for four years. The last two years of that period I complained of severe memory loss and sleeping problems, exactly as you described. Thus, I saw several different specialists (Sleep medicine, neurologist, internal medicine etc…) and underwent a large battery of tests. Unfortunately, nobody could find anything wrong or out of place with me. I finally went to see a psychologist who was very familiar with SSRI’s. He was very surprised that the other doctors were not aware of the cognitive problems with Paxil. He informed me that it in the psychologist circle, that it is well known that Paxil causes memory loss and sleeping problems. Supposedly, it is the worst out of all the SSRI’s. He also mentioned that SmithKline Beecham has worked very had to minimize the amount of published data on this.

After gradually stopping Paxil, my memory and sleep improved. Four weeks of being completely off Paxil, I could tell a huge difference. I haven’t taken Paxil for about 2.5 months now, and my memory is close to being about where it used to be. I can think clearly now and wake up feeling refreshed. I am also currently NOT taking any other medication and wasn’t when I was taking Paxil.

It is very sad that documentation about these problems is not widely known. I am sure there are many people out there suffering with the same problems and not knowing it is due to their SSRI. I feel like I lost two years of my life because of this medication.

- paxil memory loss
- paxil sleeping problems

> > I am a 22 year old male that was diagnosed with anxiety disorder 7 years ago. At first I was taking 1 mg of klonopin and Imipramine. I now am on .5 mg of klonopin and 10 mg of Paxil. 6 years ago I noticed a decrease in being able to remember/retain information, but as of late it has gotten terribly worse. I am a college student majoring in Computer Science and my mind is extremely important in what I do.
> >
> > Before I was diagnosed with anxiety, I was an incredible student, getting A's in all my classes and being able to remember everything. I could watch movies and remember all sorts of lines, all the characters names... I could read books and remember all sorts of stuff about it, all the little details even from 600 page books.
> >
> > I can barely remember the titles of movies I am watching now, let alone character names and things like that. I read paragraphs of articles and books and forget what I read as soon as I read it. While talking, I put together sentences in an odd fashion, I also forget things that I am going to say and always have a very hard time recalling words (I used to have an excellent vocabulary.
> >
> > I am finding as of late I start talking about things and forget what I am going to say. The other day I was going to bring my car in the garage when I got home, I went in to open the garage door, and instead of opening the door I went to go inside my house, completely forgetting that my car was outside, still on. I have had many more things like this happen as well.
> >
> > I have also had a problem with sleeping... this has been an ongoing thing, but as of late it's even more noticeable. I used to have a very hard time waking up and getting to school. Now, I am on break from my university, and just relaxing. I am finding myself not being able to fall asleep at night, and sleeping for 12 hours a day minimum and still having trouble waking up then.
> >
> > Is this something anyone else has noticed? Can it be cured? If anyone can PLEASE help me, give me any information you have, I would appreciate it so much. I just want my life back to normal. I want to be able to read information and retain it. I used to be such a smart wonderful person, and it feels like I've lost it all.
> >
>
> Response:
> I have been on Paxil for over 7 years. Originally for 'depression' but was later more accurately diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and OCD. I was at 20 mg, then when my anxiety became debilitating, about 5 years ago, I went into therapy and increased my Paxil to 40 mg.
>
> I don't have any answers to your questions, but can tell you that I have been experiencing the same memory loss issues. It has become much worse in about the last year. I have searched the internet a little and can find VERY little about this, except for a posting on this site from 2000 about SSRI's in general and memory loss.
>
> So if it helps to know you're not alone, you're not. And I'm sure there are many others who want to know about the possible effects of long-term Paxil use and memory loss. I especially want to know if it's reversable.
>


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