Paxil Side Effects Blog

Antidepressant Paxil, generic name paroxetine, was released in 1992 by GlaxoSmithKline.Several complaints have surfaced regarding its side effects after 10 years of circulating in the market. Various lawsuits against its manufacturer have been incited by birth defects among infants whose mothers used Paxil during pregnancy.Among the most common birth defects are heart complications and physical deformities such as irregular head sizes clubbed foot and cleft palate. Due to these concerns, many patients have been reluctant to take antidepressants or have been thinking of changing their treatments.

According to a Reuters report, many depression patients are now exploring new therapy options for their depressive symptoms due to the harmful side effects of some antidepressants like Paxil. Several alternative treatments have been recommended by various healthcare providers in addition to a patient's therapy such as herbal supplements, acupuncture, exercise programs, music therapy and other holistic medicines. One of the most recently celebrated options is homeopathy. Homeopathy may be considered as a mixture of medical and emotional observations applying both scientific treatments and psychological therapy to treat depression patients.

According to BBC News, the basic principle of homeopathy is that "like cures like" and that an illness may be cured by small quantities of substances which produce the same symptoms. It said further that both homeopaths and their patients concur in saying that it has the power to heal. Today, some of the most famous and influential people in the world, including pop stars, politicians, footballers and even Prince Charles, all use homeopathic remedies.

Homeopaths believe that any physical disease has a mental and emotional component so they spend several hours with their patients, asking lengthy questions and observing personal traits just so they could treat the person and not the illness. Aside from these behavioral interviews, they may also conduct a physical examination and laboratory work. It goes without saying that to be able to come up with an effective homeopathic treatment, an assessment is made on the patient physically, emotionally and psychologically. Therefore, a therapy for fever on one patient may be different from another who is also suffering from the same fever.

People need to watch out for the side effects of the medicine that they are taking. Side effects of antidepressants can vary with each person. Paxil is one of the leading antidepressants in the market but severe side effects also come along with it. In every drug or medicine, there is a pregnancy risk category and Paxil went from C to D. An increase risk for heart attack is seen when antipsychotics and antidepressants are taken together, as shown in the results of a study conducted due to most patients taking antipsychotics also needs antidepressants.

Vulnerability to suicide is one of the major problems in taking Paxil as an antidepressant. People ages 24 and below have a high risk of having suicidal thoughts when they are taking Paxil. It is imperative that those taking Paxil should be monitored closely to watch out for signs of suicide like unusual behavior or worsening of their depression. Proper notification of a physician when there is a change of behavior seen in the person taking Paxil can prevent slip-ups.

Side effects that are less serious are often tolerable to some people. They may experience drossiness, insomnia, nervousness and dizziness. Some also complained about dry mouth, nausea, diarrhea and constipation with minimal weight changes. A change in their sex drive can also be noted with impotence. Paxil users also have common side effect of ringing in the ears.

Some of the reported severe side effects by Paxil users are as follows, those are the ones that needs to be referred to a doctor. Things to watch out for are headache, memory problems, confusions, seizures, weakness, fainting spells and easy bruising or bleeding. Those that may be allergic to Paxil could experience swelling of the face that could impede swallowing and breathing and also generalized fever. Some may have tremors, rigid muscles, overactive reflexes, irregular and fast heartbeat and sweating.

Some women taking Paxil while they are pregnant can have babies with birth defects although discontinuing the medication may have them in relapse. Plans of getting pregnant while under Paxil should be aired to the attending physician. The manufacturer of Paxil is now getting cases form women that have children with Paxil birth defects.