"here is my experience with 10+ years of taking paxil. it did a good job controlling anxiety in combination with lorazepam 4x daily. but there was a huge cost to taking paxil. i gained 10lbs for every 10mg of paxil i took for a total of 40lbs gained slowly over years.  also, erectile disfunction became a problem. finally, about 2 years ago, because of insurance change, i had to change psychiatrists. my new psychiatrist asked me if i had noticed side effects of weight gain and sexual dysfunction while on  paxil. i had no idea my weight gain was related to paxil. he weaned me off paxil an on to prozac. i lost 40 lbs in 6 mos without trying. prozac works  just as well with my anxiety. perhaps paxil isn&#039;t the right choice for some people."