To combat my recent round of depression/anxiety, I've doubled the dosage of my Paroxetine (generic Paxil) on doctor's orders. My stress tummy has gone away although I'm still feeling a bit anxious inside but I'm hopeful that this will also subside as the drug takes more effect. I was told to give the new dosage two weeks before I deemed it successful or not.
On the down side, my ears have been ringing really loudly! They've rung for a long time and I had attributed it to getting older and listening to loud music when I was younger. I mean, I'm sure there is some long-term damage resulting from my stereo headphone use as a teen. Last night, I was trying to get to sleep but the ringing was keeping me awake. That's when it hit me...I just did a look up for the side effects of Paxil and ringing in the ears is common. Maybe my ears aren't damaged after all and there is a possibility of a solution. I'll have to have a chat with my doc to discuss options.
My mother has complained of ringing in her ears (tinnitus) for years. She was always searching for the next best remedy for it. Again, we attributed it to age, etc. Guess what drug she's been on since my father died. Yup, Paxil. She was at 40 mg/day back then and we have steadily weaned her off of it where she is down to 10 mg. She hasn't complained of tinitus in a LONG time. We may have discovered a solution for both of us!
The lesson is that if you are experiencing some physical ailments, don't rationalize the symptoms away. Perhaps something is wrong or you're having side effects from a drug that might be seemingly unrelated. (Like, who would think an anti-anxiety med might cause ringing in the ears?)
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Hi from Australia,
I'm in a similar position to you. I care for my father who has lewy body dementia and alzheimers. And, yes, the nights can be long...woken every couple of hours..."I need to go the hospital, now, phone the ambulance". Dad had 2 trips via ambulance the weekend before last and the pain was sorted out, followed by a visit to the Dr through the week. "I'm going to walk there"...followed by "I'm going to kill myself". The next day he has bounced back and I'm knackered, stressed, can't think clearly...you know the feeling. I catch up on sleep ready for the next round because he is my Father, just like you; because she is your Mother.
I too, like my Father and Grandmother have suffered from depression and panic attacks throughout my life but for some strange reason I'm doing ok at the moment (as long as I can catch up on sleep). I feel for you, depression, anxiety and sleep deprivation would make caring soooo difficult.
I don't know if this will make sense but in order for me to deal with my situation I had to re-adjust my attitude to everything. I had to change my thought pattern from a negative, ie its a burden to a positive, ie its a priviledge to share this time.
Sending you best wishes and hoping today is a good day for you and your Mother.
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