I was taking 20-30mg of paxil for years. It helped immensely with the panic attacks...I definitely noticed that they are worse since I quit taking it. I tightly control my environment to compensate for the lack of meds, however, when I do have a problem my symptoms run rampant. I like my doctors, even trust them but the bottom line for me is that I do not trust the pharmaceutical companies at all. I watch the news, and it seems that every time I turn around they are finding some sort of new dangerous side effect.

I didn't see anyone in this thread warning of the dangers of suddenly stopping medications, so I will share my experiences. I once had a hard time getting in to see a new doctor to get my prescription refilled and ran out. I began to feel as though I had a tornado in my head, I could not focus and became emotionally unstable. Within days I was in the hospital following an "attempt". The doctors said it was common, and that I should never quit a prescribed medication for my condition without close observation by a psychiatrist. I only took small doses to get off the medication...step down...and never took it again. I am wretched at remembering to take my meds, and I think some of my instability in the earlier years was due to the fact that I kept forgetting to take them when I got busy.