Paxil

[Cinnci]

right now I am on 20mg of Paxil. My doctor says it is just the starting point. Has anyone else had any success with Paxil?

[Tam]

I'm on Paxil too. 6 weeks and counting....I haven't seen any benefits yet. I'm still picking, or I think about picking a lot. I will probably go back and ask to up the dose one more time if I don't see something in the next week. Isn't that the heck of it...how do you really tell when there is a change? I mean I journal and chart...but will I just wake up some morning and forget to pick...or will I suddenly stop? I'm baffled.

[beensqueezin]

Paxil Makes you feel social

Zoloft makes you feel high

Celexa make you feel like a zombie

Well for me at least. and when you stop taking any of these the withdrawal is horrendous!!

No pill is going to make us stop picking. My own doctor said nothing can. We need to challange ourselves. NO PILL WILL DO THE TRICK TRUST ME!!!!!!!!!

Do you want to be on perscripions for the rest of your life? I sure as hell don't these medications mess with the chemicals in your brain. All of them have side effects. I just quit 2 days ago taking my Celexa and I have had terrible nightmares. I feel it leaving my system it is so terrible, but the longer you stay on it the more damage it does.

Drugs are just a MuiltiBillion dollar Bussiness and we are just profit in a doctors eyes. We are the only ones that can stop this behavior no one else no pill or other wise.

Sorry to be blunt but it is the truth!!

Angela

[Dawn]

I've been on Paxil for almost 2 years now. It does nothing for me. And neither has anything else. I hate this.

[beensqueezin]

See what I mean Dawn? You are taking drugs for really no reason, talk to your doc about getting off possibly. It will benefit you in the longun. You need to be yourself, You don't want to be altered by medication ya know?

Angela

[Christy]

Angela, you are so right about paxil and all drugs concerning skin picking, they are just putting money into the hands of the makers for what? Lousy side effects and no results. I was prescribed Paxil and my doctor was like there's no side effects, and then I researched it more and said no way. There is weight gain, sexual side effects, "buzzing and electic shock feelings" the list goes on, no thanks. I read what you wrote in another post about how we need to challenge ourselves, and I totally agree. I am using the hypnotic script and habit change workbook and it does take some work, but everything in life does. I also tell myself it is a choice to pick, yes my subconscious makes the choice, but my conscious mind also makes a choice to default to the subconscious if that makes sense. We have to fight it, god guarantees us free will and the choice between right and wrong and we don't need to be victims, I take responsibililty when I pick now, I don't play the victim saying I need meds. I made the choice to do it and I definitely pay for it. And for all the times I don't pick, which really is a lot, we need to acknowlege it and know we did it!! Ok I'll get off the soapbox now I am talking to myself as well as you guys, I just know we can do it and we are strong people. Take Care everyone Christy

[ashamed in NY]

i was on Paxil when i attempted suicide. so obviously it didn't work for me. i was switched to Wellbutrin after that, which worked better than the Paxil but i still wasn't 100% (not that i really even know what that would feel like...i just still wasn't happy).

anyway, i finally had to take myself off meds because i graduated from college and was no longer covered under my parents insurance plan, and my job didn't provide benefits and i couldn't afford it on my own. that was 2.5 years ago, i quit that job in September and moved back home....took some time off (really, i think i'm just hiding from the world...but i tell people i wanted to take some time off, and i'll start looking after the holidays). anyway, as soon as i get a new job and insurance i'm gonna go nuts with doctor's appointments...dermatologist, pyschiatrist, etc. i'm so tired of this.

i think i read somewhere that Prozac was found somewhat effective in fighting CSP? and obviously as an SSRI would help with the depression/anxiety. anyone here have experience with Prozac?

[italyqt]

I have been on Buspar and Paxil and just recently was put on both at the same time. My picking seems to relate very closely to my anexity level the meds help my anexity but it dosen't stop the picking 100%.

[smoothie]

Prozac doesn't stop the picking, it helps with depression, but not picking,....I know,...I been on it for a while,.......it's all behavioral,....I agree with everyone else,.....medications don't stop picking.

[M]

Hi there, I'm a guest. I was on Paxil years back for bulimia and depression. When I began taking Paxil is when I started my skin picking. Paxil was the worst thing for me. I don't recommend it even though I know we all react differently to different drugs.

Good luck!

[Jen]

I guess you could consider me a double blind study for the fact that Paxil does not work for picking. I did not know I had a problem until I read an article on trich. It had an aside about dermatotillimaina (CSP). I had been on it for six months by then so if it really worked like it should I would have just miraculously stopped, but I didn't. It didn't make it any worse though. Hard to believe I've had this for so long and had no idea. I honestly thought my problem was the acne, the wounds I thought went along with it.

[moon]

my husband was on paxil for depression (which in him showed things like anger and irritabilty and negative eveything!) He was a total ZOMBIE on paxil...he was then put on serzone for a long time and did well with that...i dont know how it would work with picking *shrug*

i think we should perhaps try to determine the CAUSE of why we pick and maybe not to try to mask the symptoms of the picking itself... i dunno

[freedom]

hi,
i'm just replying to everything tonight!

i've been taking celexa for depression for 10 months
and it has been quite helpful in terms of allowing me to see things a bit differently - i've had very few side effects except for a lessened libido (unfortunately).

i only recently told my therapist about the picking which is great. i am quite sure that since i started the celexa the picking is worse. our theory on that is that although i don't feel anxious anymore the triggers for my anxiety still exist and the picking is an expression of feelings that have been numbed by the medication. this could be interpreted as not so great but i think that it just shows that the picking is an expression of feelings and thought patterns that need to be addressed and released.
my therapist says that the skin is the layer between the internal and external - so the picking brings what might be stuck inside to the surface.

this is all very good to know. but the question is how do you find an expression for pain and darkness which is not destructive but is healing....

i don't have that answer yet but i am hopeful

this is not to say that there is anything wrong with being on medication although i hope to get off it in the spring. i think it is a scam in a way because although medication is helpful and important it doesn't change the fact that you still have to deal with life and emotions and yourself.

sorry this is so long but i think it is helpful to share all this...

thanks
freedom

[Amy]

When I found out what I had I was shocked. She first of all I had no idea there was a name. And second, I have been taking Paxil for about 6 years now for panic and anxiety disorder. I always have been a picker and my Mom would tell me I was scarring myself up, but for some reason it is a compulsion. I always mentioned it to my therapists and they said NOTHING. I still pick and my arm is quite scarred from it. Apparently the Paxil doesn't work for me in regards to CSP. I currently take 40 mg per day.

[cranky]

I have suffered with obsessive compulsive disorder for as long as I can remember. When I was sixteen and started suffering from teenage acne, I became a compulsive skin picker. This resulted in depression and social avoidance for years.

In my early twenties I was prescribed Zoloft for depression and used it off and on for the next 7 years. It seemed to help but in my late 20's I became obsessed with pre-mature aging, wrinkles and all the damage I had done with the years of skin picking.

For the last 2 years I have been on Paxil and it has been absolutely wonderful. The change in my behaviour and emotions have been gradual, but amazing. Prior to going on Paxil, I saw a therapist and finally admitted to everything about my skin picking, obsession with aging and appearance etc. What she said made intellectual sense, but it wasn't until I went on the Paxil that I could really experience everything she said as being true. I still have occasional thoughts about my skin and appearance, but I have stopped the nightly picking, the constant comparisons to others etc. I never experience the deep "lows" that I used to have many times during a typical day.

I know people have strong negative feelings about Paxil and that different people experience different thing...I just wanted to share a positive experience. For me, Paxil has been a life-saver. I feel like a normal person for the first time in my 35 years and for me it is an absolute miracle.

Good luck to everyone struggling with this problem. Sites like this are so wonderful. I wish I could have visited something like this when I was a teenager.