Posted by Mitch on December 30, 2001, at 22:11:15
In reply to Re: GABITRIL (tiagabine) new anti-anxiety drug????? » Mitch, posted by MB on December 30, 2001, at 20:59:36
> Yeah, Maybe the benzo/AE/pstim (Klonopin/Neurontin/Adderall) would work to fix cylcing, anxiety and attention problems...but you did mention that your anxiety was "OCD-like" for which an SSRI might do better than Klonopin (but, like you said, you risk cycling with the SSRI). Neurontin/pstim/Li? Does the lithium have an anti-anxiety effect for you? Would the weight gain issue with litium worry you?
Yes, the Lithium does have something of an anxiolytic effect. I was on lithium monotherapy for many years. It is just during the seasonal depressions I would get so tired... and the lithium didn't address that very well. Not that I ever wasn't at "high-enough" doses. I was up to 1500mg/day for a few months (about 1.2 blood level-wise). I never found more than 600mg/day to be of any additional benefit. I never experienced any major weight gain from Lithium. Depakote was a different story, though (but that was still about 15-20lbs. at most).
As far as the "OCD-like" quality to anxiety-I really think it would be more accurate to say it was GAD-like "ruminations". The "OCD-likeness" of it had mostly to do with the repetitive (and "stuck") aspect of it. I don't *do* rituals (checking-counting, etc.)-I would obsessively worry about situations-what I said-what was said in return-what I plan to say later-like a negative rehearsal of sorts-a waste of time that just makes you feel crappy. Also, a lot of "catastrophic thinking" which is typical of people with GAD. But, I don't feel uncomfortable looking at it as related to OCD-because I think it is.
> Journaling or charting is hard for me. First of all, focussing is hard, and then, when I *do* focus, I obsess over the perfection of the chart...as if a mistake is going to be the end of the world. For now, my poor friends can be my journal. I babble at manic length about where my mind is and what meds I'm on...then I ask them later what I said. Very inaccurate, but if they make a mistake I can get mad at them instead of myself < g > heh heh heh...Yep, you have got that "stuck switch" situation that SSri's help. It is interesting that people with ADD hyper-focus and get "stuck" like folks with OCD (getting fussy and perfectionistic). Also social anxiety is related to perfectionism, too (evaluation anxiety). I am starting to see this type of symptom complex emerge the more I read and post here-this blend of bipolar, SP, ADHD, OCD/GAD. I am just hypothesizing here, but I think (my opinion!), this is all an information processing problem that involves major structures in the brain simultaneously underfunctioning and overfunctioning. I think at bottom it results in some form of an "attentional syndrome" that can manifest as over-focusing (GAD/OCD/SP), and also a lack of focus (BP, ADHD). The negative emotional "fallout" is a result of screwed-up information sharing between different functional and structural parts of the brain.
> Yeah, I though Trileptal was screwing with my concentration, but it was the caffeine withdrawal. I ran into a stressful social situation (resulting in a 4 hr drive) so I slipped off of the coffee wagon . The concentration returned (but so did the anxiety). I start my caffeine detox again tomorrow so I can enjoy the leveling effects of trileptal without the caffeine anxiety. On the trileptal, my chronic negativity and cynicism are gone (only at 150 mg), but there is still a painful dysphoria. I guess the AD and pstim will help with that. Amphetamine still seems scary to me. Did you find Adderall addictive at therapeutic doses? I was addicted to crank as a kid. I told my doctor that (that I was scared) and he said that at therapeutic doses I wouldn't be getting "high" and would have no desire to abuse it. Do you think that is true?
>
> MB
Well, I was only on Adderall for a couple of months. It was very effective-and at only 5mg/day. I never wanted to take more of it. I got a little euphoric the first day or two on it-then I was just alert and slept ok. As far as abuse goes-all you can do is try it and see. If you find that you are focused and alert and still want to take *more* to get a buzz-then that would probably be a danger sign. I never liked "speed" that much. If I was going to get "addicted" to something, opiates would be the most likely thing for me (I "liked" pain killers after surgery-etc. probably a little *too* much).Mitch
poster:Mitch
thread:86944
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011222/msgs/88302.html