PAXIL for IC

[ad8123]

My Md switched me to Paxil 10mg after having a terrible time with Elavil. I thought it was to treat IC? Does anyone else take it for IC? I met with my pain mangment MD today and he sent her a summary on me that said the paxil was for anxiety!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am a bit angry, i donot want to be treated for anxiety, only IC? Anythoughts, has this happened to anyone else?

Angela
Florida

[IBNPAIN]

I'm afraid that anxiety and IC go hand in hand and many doctors will prescribe Paxil or another anti anxiety/depression medicine. I know I am on all kinds of things. Paxil didn't work for me, only made me sleepy and more irritable. I tried Zoloft and gained 50 lbs and lost my sex drive, so that went out the window. I was on Welbutrin up until a few days ago and a member wrote in and said it made her flare worse, so I called my shrink and he told me to try going without it. The one thing I can't go without is my Xanax. It is just for anxiety and it is Godsend for me. I can be a nervous wreck and take one of those and within 15 minutes I can feel my bladder and my nerves mellowing out. So don't be too quick to give up on some kind of medication that can help you deal with stress. Stress is a major factory in IC. For me the more stressed I am about something the more my bladder pitches a fit. I am in a high stress level job, I mean off the charts and some nights it's all I can do to drag my tired hurting butt home and get it into the shower.

I hope you find something that works for you. My Mom swears by Paxil. So maybe you will have some luck with it. I say give it a try, you may be surprised.

Good luck and God bless.
Carol:hi:

[HillaryD]

I'm on Paxil Cr for my IC.

[ad8123]

My pain managment md told me to keep taking it but now the problem is WHEN? I am on sooooo many meds now that I am taking them by the handfulls, eeek. The pain managment md explained that antianxiety drugs keep the entire body relaxed it is not just a mental thing and that made me feel better also. She is trying to ween me of some meds though.

toooo many pills
Angela
If your wondering
Ultram 4x a day every 6hours exactly
hydroxyzine am and pm
Paxil I do not know when
A sleeping pill at night
detrol(?) for bladder spasms 3x a day
and Lidoderm patches every 12 hours
Plus birth control
Antacid at night for sever heart burn

UGH

[IBNPAIN]

That is a lot of medication. No wonder you have awful heartburn. I used to take all kinds of medication. Unreal amounts that about 5 different doctors, shrinks, heart guys and gyns and uros. They always want you to write down what you are taking when you go to a new doctor, but do they really read it?

I know one of the doctor's in my primary care group, not my own PC, but one who happen to see me that day, said "you have a high level of sugar in your system, have you ever been checked for diabetes?" Hellooooooo???????It says right on my chart that I have been a two shot a day diabetic since I was 6 years old. I'm 43 now. It really is a bit scary.

So I have cut myself off from my medication. I got my blood pressure under control through diet and exercise. I dropped my anti depressants. I feel much happier without them. Strange, I know, but I do. I quit taking the Detrol LA, I never saw any difference and they also constipated the heck out of me. The medication I was taking for my rhumatoid arthritis was killing my bladder, so I do pilates and have massages twice a week for that. I do still take my Elmiron, which I have been taking for two months now, and can tell a big difference. For the good. So basically I take Elmiron three times a day, I dump the contents of the capsules in a small amount of water, it is less hard on the stomach that way, and I still take 2mg of Xanax a day and that is it. It feels better knowing I have less drugs in my system, but I sure would like a few percocets for the two days where I start my period, they are pure hell for some reason.

I am a firm believer now, that the less you can get away with taking the better off you are.

But hey, if all your medications work for you and you feel better then that is the most important thing.

Do whatever you do to feel the best you can feel.

:kiss:

[ad8123]

I am so glad that someone has found relief without a ton of meds. The pain management Md told me, "you are on a lot of medication!", then she wote me six prescriptions? Go figure. I am trying to cut down to one hydroxyzine a day. I need both pain meds througout the day to function. But I am leary of the antidepresant and at the follow up I am going to see if we can nix that too. I really wanted pilates or yoga to work for me, but it was just to hard, causing more pain and made me need to pee more. I do walk on my treadmill though, that will have to do for now. Thank you for your reply it does bring me a lot of hope to see that some IC'ers can live without ALL the drugs. Elmiron is supposed to be the best one, I had a bad reaction the first time so my urologist took me off it. He said we could try it again (out of the capsule) at the end of summer when the pain is managed and when I have had a GI evaluation by my primary (I see her friday). Pray for me.

May God bless and keep you always.
Angela
Florida

[IBNPAIN]

Angela

I will indeed pray for you:pray:

I hope you can get your pain under control, soon. I know this whole IC mess can be exhausting and then I read how so many of these other women have even more to deal with and I don't know how they do it. I am basically a whiner and I get on my own nerves sometimes, so I can imagine what I would be like if I had what these other ladies had to deal with.:(

All we can really do is pray and keep coming back here and getting hope. I know it seems like some days all we read are postings where everyone is in pain and hurting, but then you can come across one where that person is in remission and you say "well maybe that can be me soon!"

I hope you can try the Elmiron again when you get your pain under control. Like I said I was ready to throw the whole bottle out because of the upset stomach and blurred vison and a few other things, but that all seemed to work its self out for me.

I have a dear friend who had made me read Proverbs, Chapter 3 verses 5 through 10 for the past week, over and over, and she reads them, too, and swears that after 17 days I am going to tell such a difference I won't even remember what IC is. Hey, I will try anything and if it works then I will be right back here telling everyone to try it.:thumbsup:

You take care of yourself and let me know how you are getting along. I have quite the prayer list that I have created and keep adding names to it. At my circle meeting on Tuesdays at church we read the names of everyone on it. My husband says we are all a bunch of old biddies practicing voodoo. :dizzy:

Feel better soon.:pray:

Carol