Posted by Thrud on August 30, 2001, at 1:35:24
In reply to Re: Xanax and panic, experiences? » Thrud, posted by Elizabeth on August 29, 2001, at 12:08:46
Elizabeth-
> > When I first crawled to a shrinks office he suspected possible epilepsy.
>
> Periodically, some doctor will bring that up to me too. I think it's pretty much been ruled out (and beaten into the ground) by now.Apparently I had some atypical symptoms, like an aura just before the attack (although they were subjective feelings rather than auditory/visual etc disturbances. Diurnal variation (they always became more frequent in the evening). Plus I did not (and still do not) manifest any cognitive features during an attack, such as fear of dying going crazy, trying to 'escape' etc. In fact, during an attack I am *incapable* of thinking about anything at all; I just sort of physically and mentally freeze and experience a nightmare sensation. Stuff like that sent me for an EEG and CT scan for a brain tumor (I turned out to be allergic to the Iodine tracer: my face puffed up, tears, saliva and "mucous" poured out uncontrollably. Fun stuff!)
> > When the EEG came back normal he diagnosed panic and put me on some tricyclic (doxepin I think). It was almost as bad as nothing.
>
> Hmm. That's surprising. How much were you taking, if you remember?Sorry, I can't remember the dose. I only rember it as the worst year of my life. Why was it surprising?
> > The depression, on the other hand, responded quickly and very easily.
>
> Responded to what, exactly?What ever it is in SSRIs that are supposed to reverse depression I guess! My depression is mostly psychological, caused by the inability to reduce my anxiety without introducing unacceptable side effects. Therefore, paradoxically, although somehow they were able to lift my mood reliably, thanks to their deficiencies and side-effects, they were equally unable to ease my depression beyond a certain point. Just better than using nothing I guess.
>
> I don't know that Lamictal has ever been studied as a treatment for panic disorder, although it would be reasonable to try it, especially when other things haven't worked.Yes, by then I had tried just about everything everything conventional and unconventional except the MAOIs. My pdoc and I did not bother with them because of their well known sexual side effects which I was (am) desperately trying to escape. (I know you like Parnate, but I'm going to try the benzo+stimulant combo or benzo monotherapy path first!) My pdoc is also considering upping the Lamictal from 200mg to 300mg. See, Lamictal has an odd effect on me in that it completely stops panic attacks but leaves me with very high general anxiety (therefore requiring Xanax[maybe klonopin would be better?]). We are not sure if Lamictal is anxiogenic or whether we need to go further to get more anxiolytic effect (if it exists). If that works I might be able to ditch the benzos and get better sexual function by using Lamictal alone. If not, there is no point in spending mega $$$ on Lamictal and we would probably go to benzo montherapy (or maybe benzo plus stimulant?)
>
> But anyway, I wonder if one of the other high-potency benzos (Klonopin, Ativan) might work for you without the side effects.There's always a chance I guess. Responses to medications are so idiosyncratic (spelling?) that it is amazing. It can't really hurt to try.
> It's weird that antidepressants didn't help at all. Were you able to tolerate them for long enough to find out if they would help?It is not that they didn't help at all. Some *virtually* didn't help at all. Others were better but could not prevent fairly regular, breakthrough attacks, particularly under stressful situations. I also mean "help" in a broader sense, like feeling I was well again.
I always gave them an adequate trial, everal months at least for all of them.> > What is adinazolam? I am going to look it up...
>
> It's a triazolobenzodiazepine, like Xanax. Brand name is Deracyn. It's not marketed in the USA, but in other countries it's used as an antidepressant and anxiolytic.Why was it rejected in the USA?
>
> Yes, I have -- mainly morphine, I think. I take buprenorphine (a synthetic opioid that is a partial mu agonist) myself, and while it does seem to reduce the frequency of panic attacks, it has some side effects (for me, anyway) that can trigger attacks.
>
> Opioids can definitely cause sexual problems, BTW.Count me out then. I'll choose cheap, effective benzo impotence.
> > As for Parnate, as soon as I read the side-effect profile I got flashbacks of the bad old days of TCAs and SSRIs: I am never going down that path again.
>
> Once again, don't be scared by the side effects that are listed for it. There's no reason to assume that any particular one will happen to you (although orthostatic hypotension and insomnia are very likely -- the benzos may offset the insomnia, though).I think the effectiveness of benzos as hypnotics may be temporary. Lamictal gives me a bit of insomnia and when I first started taking Xanax weeks ago it used to give me a great night's sleep (1 mg at bedtime would do it). Now I am getting breakthrough insomnia and not feeling as tired/sedated during the day. It is still keeping it's anxiolytic power though.
>
> > > It would be interesting to see how the combination of a stimulant and Xanax would work.
> >
> > Yes, I will definitely discuss this with my pdoc.
>
> I'd be interested to hear what he has to say.I'll keep you posted.
> [re inositol]
> > > I've heard good things about it. I never tried it myself.I'll keep you posted about that one as well.
Thrud
poster:Thrud
thread:76063
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010828/msgs/76927.html