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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Celia on December 26, 1998, at 15:36:08
Partly at my urging, because I had a good response to Serzone, my sister saw a doctor who prescribed Paxil for her. Unlike my gradual and undramatic improvement on Serzone, she had a classic "Listening to Prozac" response--waking up one morning feeling transformed. But that feeling has led her down some odd roads. She began a new hobby, which soon became a consuming passion, so that she was going out three or more nights a week to pursue it (leaving husband and 3 kids at home). That led to an affair, she and her husband have separated, and the kids are suffering. I don't mean this as a "Paxil made her crazy" story. She doesn't seem to be manic, she hasn't done anything dangerous or totally out of character. There were problems in her marriage pre-Paxil, and it's not exactly unheard of to have an affair! But from my vantage point, she does seem driven or sensation-seeking in prolonging the husband vs. lover conflict, and oddly unconcerned about the havoc being wreaked in her life and others', including the kids'. As she puts it, "I know I've made my life a shambles, but somehow that's OK with me." We're tempermentally different, but close and share support and advice. I'm worried about her, but I just don't know whether what I'm seeing is a subtle, but damaging "shaping" of her personality by the Paxil, or just a way of working out her destiny that is hard for me to comprehend.
Has anyone experienced anything similar on Paxil or other anti-depressants? If you've tried more than one, did you find that they emphasized or de-emphasized different aspects of your thought or emotion in different ways? Thanks for any insight you can give me!
Posted by Elizabeth on December 27, 1998, at 5:26:50
In reply to Reckless on Paxil?, posted by Celia on December 26, 1998, at 15:36:08
One thing that is sometimes looked at when trying to decide whether someone is manic is "vegetative symptoms." Has your sister's sleep changed? Does she seem excitable or fast-moving? Is she excessively energetic? That kind of thing.
The best advice I can give, though, is to mention the changes and your concerns to your sister's doctor.
>Has anyone experienced anything similar on Paxil or other anti-depressants? If you've tried more than one, did you find that they emphasized or de-emphasized different aspects of your thought or emotion in different ways? Thanks for any insight you can give me!
Well, sometimes they have helped with things I hadn't expected them to help with. For example, I noticed shortly after starting Prozac that I was no longer snapping at people over trivial things.
You said your sister hasn't done anything totally "out of character," so I do wonder whether this is really a "personality change" or whether the problems in your sister's home life have simply been "unmasked" by her relief from depression and/or anxiety.
On the other hand, hypomania can exacerbate marital problems. I will also say that during a hypomanic period, I had the same sort of "everything is okay" feelings that your sister describes.
Posted by alan on December 28, 1998, at 1:28:19
In reply to Reckless on Paxil?, posted by Celia on December 26, 1998, at 15:36:08
> Partly at my urging, because I had a good response to Serzone, my sister saw a doctor who prescribed Paxil for her. Unlike my gradual and undramatic improvement on Serzone, she had a classic "Listening to Prozac" response--waking up one morning feeling transformed. But that feeling has led her down some odd roads. She began a new hobby, which soon became a consuming passion, so that she was going out three or more nights a week to pursue it (leaving husband and 3 kids at home). That led to an affair, she and her husband have separated, and the kids are suffering. I don't mean this as a "Paxil made her crazy" story. She doesn't seem to be manic, she hasn't done anything dangerous or totally out of character. There were problems in her marriage pre-Paxil, and it's not exactly unheard of to have an affair! But from my vantage point, she does seem driven or sensation-seeking in prolonging the husband vs. lover conflict, and oddly unconcerned about the havoc being wreaked in her life and others', including the kids'. As she puts it, "I know I've made my life a shambles, but somehow that's OK with me." We're tempermentally different, but close and share support and advice. I'm worried about her, but I just don't know whether what I'm seeing is a subtle, but damaging "shaping" of her personality by the Paxil, or just a way of working out her destiny that is hard for me to comprehend.
> Has anyone experienced anything similar on Paxil or other anti-depressants? If you've tried more than one, did you find that they emphasized or de-emphasized different aspects of your thought or emotion in different ways? Thanks for any insight you can give me!
I second Elizabeth. Make sure your sister's doc is informed, and if he/she is not a psychiatrist, or just not well informed about contemporary psychiatry (some family practitioners are; some are not) be sure he consults one. Certainly, antidepressants can unleash mania or hypomania, where people can get very reckless and then wake up with a life in shambles. Please, act quickly.
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