Posted by Mitch on November 18, 2001, at 17:54:13
In reply to What is Neurontin? Best social disinhibitors?, posted by 3 Beer Effect on November 18, 2001, at 15:05:26
> I started taking medications in order to stop my binge drinking in social situations. I never drank in the morning or by myself but whenever I went to college parties I would have to be drunk to talk to girls. Obviously, I can't be drunk for the rest of my life, so I stopped drinking, but now have much trouble with social anxiety/phobia especially with girls. When i'm sober i'm very shy & quiet but people have told me that when i'm drunk "i'm the polar opposite" & one of the loudest & wildest, & most outgoing persons they've ever met.
>
> So since I hope i'll never go back to drinking, I am trying to recreate the wonderful "social, relaxed, euphoric, confidence in a can, all is well with the world," feeling you get after exactly 3 beers.
>
> I've tried all of the SSRIs, & Effexor but they all gave me insomnia & anxiety. Remeron didn't work at all except make me sleep 17 hrs per day.
>
> The one SSRI I just started on a week ago that has none of these negative anxiety/insomnia effects is Celexa (Citalopram) 20 mg.
> I am also taking Klonopin (Clonazepam) 1 mg per day (0.5 morning & 0.5 night). I'm hoping that my psychiatrist will increase the Klonopin dose but for some reasons all doctors are scared of the benzodiazepines even though they cause no liver or other major organ damage & are relatively safe in overdose.
>
> Since both Klonopin & Alcohol both work on Gaba would Neurontin be a good addition to this regimen since I think it works on Gaba too?
>
> What other good Gaba agonists or social disinhibitors are out there?
>
> Meprobomate better than Klonopin? (I seem to be slightly tolerant to the effects of benzodiazepenes possible to the previous weekend college binge drinking from 5 months ago.
>
> What herbs work on GABA for anxiety? Valerian & Kava Kava? Benadryl (Diphenhydramine, an otc, make me hungover & depressed).
>
> (I am not going to take GHB- it is illegal)
> (I can't take Moclobemide (Aurorix) since I don't want to have to pay for unreliable overseas drugs when i have a US HMO insurance plan that pays for psychiatrist visits/medicines.
>
> MAO A inhibitors Parnate & Nardil would work perfectly for my condition but they are too dangerous & have too many side effects.
>
> Also, i've never read one instance where Buspar has worked, EVER, so i'm probably not going to waste my time with that.
>
> In closing, out of all these medicines, they are worthless in anxiolytic efficacy compared to good old alcohol! Maybe chloral hydrate would be the best since it metabolizes to alcohol in the body?3Beers,
I would add the Neurontin. I have been on Neurontin/Klonopin/Celexa and it worked fairly well. If you get over 900mg/day you might get too sleepy, though. I found 300mg twice daily worked well.
There was another poster here before that hasn't posted for a long time (Joe Schmoe) who was on a combo of Klonopin/Celexa/Wellbutrin. Maybe it worked really well for him (that's why we haven't heard from him)??
Mitch
poster:Mitch
thread:84587
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011113/msgs/84596.html