Suggest Dosage For Paxil And Paroxetine

Posted on Sun, 17 Jan 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sun, 17 Jan 2016 Answered on

Thu, 18 Feb 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : A while back i was having some anxiety or what I thought was anxiety .So the doctor put me on 20mg Paxil and it worked really well. I took it for about five years and I started to feel bad again but i noticed that my prescription had changed to 20mg paroxtiene.My question is can these two prescriptions be different if they are the same strength? I stared back on the name brand Paxil and Im two weeks in.I noticed when i started back on the name brand Paxil it felt like a dose increase. I also think its starting to alleviate my symptoms..

Answered by Dr. Klarida Papaqako (46 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Same medicine- same strength

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Thank you for using HCM to post your question.

Paxil or Paroxetine are the same medicine, which means just different producers/brand names but the same components of medicine.

If you think that the one you were using previously was helping you more, then you can switch to it, because basically you are not changing the medicine.

I would suggest though, that before you decide to switch other times, just stay within the same medicine as in this case, or consult with me, or your doctor.

Hope I answered your question.
Let me know if you need more clarifications.
Otherwise please close and rate the answer.

Regards,
Dr. Papaqako

Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T