Kalengirl's Weblog

Paxil (or Seroxat in the UK) is an antidepressant by the company GlaxoSmithKline and it is used to treat major depression. The active chemical is paroxetine, which is associated with weight gain. However, while I was on Paxil I did not gain any weight but I did experience the other side effects like nausea, somnolence, dry mouth, and headache.

The legal status of this medication is prescription only which means that the only way to obtain Paxil should be by visiting a doctor and getting a prescription after the doctor had made an extensive test. Sadly, that is not the case and most doctors will jump in to conclusions and will prescribe Paxil, promising a fast and easy recovery. Moreover, without the need of a prescription, the patient might not visit the doctor for follow-ups.

In Panama, you do not need a prescription to get Paxil from a pharmacy. Even thought the box says otherwise. You can get many drugs without a prescription in Panama. Most people don’t even bother to visit a doctor; why should they? If they only need to go to a pharmacy, list their symptom and the pharmacist gives them something. At the end, they save money by not visiting the doctor and only paying for the drug. While I was in the UK, I read a few pamphlets about the NHS and they have a scale with different symptoms and what to do if you have any of those symptoms. At the top of the scale they have the most serious symptoms like high fewer, and they recommend to visited a doctor in that situation in cases of an infection.

Paxil has serious side effect that most patients ignore. Here in Panama, most doctors do not know the different worldwide cases and prescribe Paxil to young people under 18. In the United States Paxil has the most serious type of warning, a black box warning.

I wonder why Panama has not follow these other countries by regulating the distribution of this drug, Paxil.

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