Posted by bones on December 28, 1999, at 8:22:42
In reply to Re: Anxiety Medicines: Which One?, posted by Cindy W on December 27, 1999, at 9:03:25
The postings above sound so familiar. I too have tried a number of SSRI's - with no success; the side effects always made me discontinue. Right now I'm trying neurontin (gabapentin) which is "usually" prescribed as an anti-epileptic medication. I have hardly any side effects. (I'm on a dose of 200 mg/day.) (Actually, I have put on five pounds, and did outeat the near term pregnant woman sitting an a party next to me a couple of days ago, but that may just be seasonal overeating?? I'll have to wait and see) My social anxiety symptoms have been GREATLY diminished. (Not working on my OCD.) I'm sleeping well; I look forward to social situations. I feel I'm a little more serious; suspect my demeanour has changed - my face feels very relaxed, perhaps lacks the "extreme" expression that constant anxiety produces. So far I'm sticking with this med. (which is commendable for med); the therapeutic effect outweighs the side-effects.
A side note: My social anxiety symptoms are mainly tremors and blushing, and conversational mind blank. ("I've forgotten what I was saying.") I find that Neurontin doesn't really disinhibit like the SSRI's do. I don't laugh as much - my mood is stabalized. It works exceedingly well with my tremors - the blushing is reduced but is still present (Drats!!)
I'll keep you posted - see if I continue with this one.
Good luck fellow anxiety sufferers!!
poster:bones
thread:17454
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991212/msgs/17619.html