Posted by JohnL on September 29, 2000, at 4:25:25
In reply to HELP!!!!! Anxiety and Panic Attacks!, posted by Nic on September 26, 2000, at 9:26:10
> Thanks you so much in advance!!!!!!!
>
> It seems like a great board.Nic,
You are right. Awesome board. Some of the most helpful folks in the world hang out here.Concerning your questions, I'm sorry to say I don't think there are any easy answers. I'll tell you why.
First of all, one of the primary side effects common to Prozac is nervousness or anxiety. That doesn't mean it always happens, but it is a common trait of Prozac.
Second, Serzone can be either anti-anxiety or pro-anxiety. It varies dramatically from one person to the next.
Furthermore, in Dr Bob's Tips as well as other literature, there is an apparent interaction between Serzone+Prozac that can result in excessive anxiety. You might try stopping the Prozac and see how things go with just Serzone. It will take 4 weeks or more for the Prozac to washout (you can stop abruptly if you want to).
When you read my posts, please try to understand that I view psychiatry from a slightly modified perspective than the general population. Most people interested in psychiatry are trained to diagnose symptoms and then treat those symptoms with medications generally accepted as being appropriate for those symptoms. I instead try to treat the cause of the symptoms. That way, instead of just numbing the symptoms or fixing them by a domino effect that takes time, correct the guilty chemistry at the heart of the problem and thus eliminate the symptoms completely.
What will work for you? Who knows. Only through trial and error can we gather clues as to what chemistry is responsible in your case. Here are some examples to consider:
A 79 year old successful enterpreneur had seen over 10 doctors for depression and anxiety. He said substances which stimulated NE (antidepressants, asthma meds) worsened his condition. After the evaluation, within 2 hours, a single Lithium daily allowed him to feel good for the first time in his life, probably for the rest of his life.
A middle aged woman complained of chronic moodiness, headache, and anxiety. She said all antidepressants worsened her and that Lithium didn't help. Electrical smoothing with Depakote made her normal within hours.
I could go on and on with tons of examples like these, but they all point to the same conclusion...anxiety is caused by a variety of chemical imbalances (at least 10), and your treatment might be limited and frustrating if restricted to just antidepressants and benzos.
During a year studying 750 anxiety with depression patients who got completely well, here is a statistical breakdown of what worked...
Serotonin antidepressants 37%
Other antidepressants 11%
Benzos 24%
Lithium 22%
Stimulants 14%
Antipsychotics 13%
Anticonvulsants (Depakote) 11%
Anticonvulsants (Tegretol) 3%
Thyroid 24% (though was sometimes a factor, was not a cure)Stimulants required a 4 to 6% of maximum antipsychotic dose 21% of the time.
Beta adrenergic blockers such as Inderal were not recorded, but were sometimes helpful especially for palpitations.
Estrogen (females) was not recorded, but was sometimes helpful.A good doctor can help sort out the clues. If you're worse or unimproved with a certain medication, chances are good the chemistry will be targeted by a different medication class. Don't rule anything out. Anything's possible. If your doctor is only considering ADs and benzos, he/she is ignoring a whole lot of other chemical imbalances that result in anxiety and depression.
John
poster:JohnL
thread:45313
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000926/msgs/45455.html