Posted by dove on October 3, 2001, at 14:57:21
In reply to Re: Trying Serzone » Denise528, posted by Mr. Scott on October 2, 2001, at 23:43:16
Here's what my top strategies would be:
1) Serzone. "Start low and go Slow", as they say. 400 mgs. per day being the normal ramping goal.
2) Amitriptyline. Quite sedating for some, I've found that it fluctuates. However, I take my Amitriptyline before bed w/ 100 mgs. of Serzone.
3) Combining the above and/or adding Neurontin. Neurontin has been a very smooth med for me, and I've been staying within the 1,800 mgs per day range. Although, I have to space it into 4 individual doses throughout the day to get the desired effect (i.e. less anxiety, fewer panic attacks, and a slight lifting of my deepest depression; bringing a more stable depression.
I've never tried Effexor and would be curious to give it a go, and have even asked my p-doc for it. He isn't comfortable with some of Effexor's side-effects and discontinuation problems and has said "no" for the time being.
I'm taking Serzone at 400 mgs. per day, divided into four separate doses, and initially suffered from fatigue, light-headedness (is that a word?), brain-drain, ect... Once I reached the 400 mgs per day and stayed there for 3 weeks or so, I noticed a significant change in the side-effects. It improved my libido after having nil while taking Prozac at 20 mgs. per day. It stole the harsh edge of my anxiety problems, and just kind of smoothed things out.
Currently, I'm taking 6 different psychoactive meds, and Serzone is still on the list at 400 mgs per day. One very negative side-effect I've discovered is accidental withdrawal symptoms from hell! I miss my dose by one hour and I'm as sick as a dog and feel like my skull is caving in. I have spoken with my p-doc regarding this and he says it's probably not the Serzone but the synergistic effect going on between the different meds and the missed Serzone might be lessening the amount of my other med's active availability.
And that whole idea of going back to a med that worked previously after discontinuation is bang on! One of my current six med-cocktail is the Prozac that killed my marital relations first time around. It has a completely different feeling this time around. In fact I've moved up to 25 mgs. per day and am still not seeing the positive effects it gave me before. I wish there was some concrete evidence to explain these supposed apparitions (at least in my p-doc's view)!
I know you're still not convinced of Serzone's effectiveness, and no wonder! I would not ever rely on Serzone alone to handle my major depression or anxiety baggage, not ever!!!
dove
poster:dove
thread:79119
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010927/msgs/80174.html