Posted by JohnL on November 5, 2000, at 6:59:03
In reply to comimg off ativan, posted by Julia on November 5, 2000, at 4:44:55
To quit Ativan you'll just have to feel it out. You can ween off at a rate that is comfortable to you. Six weeks isn't that long and shouldn't be too difficult to ween. Not a good idea to stop abruptly though. Just ween off it over several days or weeks, whatever is comfortable to you.
It sounds like your symptoms may not be much related to the GABA brain chemistry system, or the serotonin system. If they were, both Celexa and Ativan would have produced better results than they did. It could be that other choices in the same classes could be tried for comparison though. Perhaps the drugs you tried just weren't a good match for you.
Some other things to consider. Small dose Lithium. Small dose antipsychotic like Zyprexa. Antihypertensives like Clonidine or Inderal. If Dothiepin generally worked for you, it might be a good idea to restart it, and then tweek it by sampling other add-on meds. If an add-on isn't helping, or just making things worse, in a two week period then move onto the next choice. Hopefully you'll stumble onto something you like. If not, you can always go back to the one or two that you liked better than the rest and give them a longer trial. The right one should be able to significantly improve your depression and anxiety together. They are probably related to the same chemistry somehow.
With anxiety I think it is important to keep an open mind and try every class of drugs. Don't rule out anything. The only way you'll ever find out is by exploring. Even drugs that have no clinical justification at all (like Lithium) can work like a miracle with some people. It happens. Just don't rule out antipsychotics, Lithium, Depakote, Clonidine, Inderal, etc, until you've tried them. I've even heard of people with longstanding anxiety who were cured with the stimulant Ritalin. Weird huh? That just indicated that a deficient dopamine/NE circuitry was somehow related. Anything's possible. The clues from your response to Celexa and Ativan kind of hint at trying other classes of meds instead. It's quite possible you could continue to be disappointed if you only stay with drugs that are clinically justified for treating anxiety.
John
poster:JohnL
thread:48223
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20001102/msgs/48229.html