Posted by Rick on January 5, 2002, at 14:40:49
In reply to How would you compare CELEXA to SERZONE... ????, posted by Milena on January 5, 2002, at 11:18:09
I've taken each, and even took them together for awhile. Celexa had modest benefit for my social phobia at up to 40 mg. Actually, it seems the main way it helped was by making me more apathetic. Not exactly the best route to recovery. That said, its efficacy could vary a lot by person. I infer from your question that it's helped you more than it helped me, but with difficult side effects.
Weight gain is generally not a problem with Serzone, although Celexa certainly doesn't have a Paxil-like reputation for that side effect, either. (I didn't have that problem with either one.)
My social phobia definitely responded better to Serzone, as part of a Klonopin/Serzone/Provigil combo. But the Klonopin is clearly the key med at alleviating the fear of social interaction, while the Provigil enhances its benefits by making me a lot more outgoing, confident and assertive.
While Serzone alone would probably be helpful (someone who used to post here a lot said it was wonderful for her social phobia but couldn't help her OCD), I think it's helped me more via beneficial interactions with the other meds.
I CAN say that I've had no adverse sexual effects whatsoever at up to 450 mg of Serzone, whereas Celexa had negative impact at 20 mg and basically ruined my sexual functioning at 30 mg. That said, everyone's different: A co-worker had wonderful results on Celexa 60 mg for depression, although it took a full eight weeks to kick in. He claims that following initial bouts of nausea and sweating, he's had no side effects at all. But one thing that seems consitent across the great majority of people is that Serzone won't cause sexual problems except perhaps at unusually high doses that go beyond the recommended range.
BTW, the poster who thought Serzone was wonderful for her social phobia replaced it with Effexor, which she said was almost as good for the SP, while also helping the OCD. Even though Effexor often causes sexual dysfunction, she said that was not a problem for her with Effexor. Also, I recently saw a friend I haven't seen for a few years and he seemed do be doing so much better than before. While his problem was depression, he's always been a rather withdrawn person, but now seemed so much more assertive and confident. Turns out he had been taking Prozac for years, but switched to Effexor a year ago after the Prozac largely pooped out. So Effexor may have distinct possibilities as an SP treatment (some open studies have suggested this, as they have for Serzone and Celexa). Of course, you always need to be wary of Effexor if you have high blood pressure or risk factors for it. It's not known for weight gain. In fact, at the higher doses where adrenergic effects kick in, it may actually have some of the opposite effect.
Sorry about rambling, but getting back to your original question, I think Serzone is definitely worth a try and it's unlikely to cause sexual or appetite problems like Celexa. But, as confirmed by placebo-controlled studies, nothing beats daily low-dose Klonopin for safe (if used responsibly) and consistent SP relief, along with minimal side effects. For non-depressive social phobia, AD's should be used as potential augmentors for Klonopin, not the more typical vice-versa. (Of course, AD *really* stands for ADvertising budget, so it's not surprising docs are always reaching for the SSRI's as first-line treatment...plus, mostly-unjustified benzophobia remains far too prevalent.)
Rick
> Has anyone ever been on Celexa at one time and Serzone another? I'm on 60mg of celexa now and I'm gaining weight, and have sexual side effects as well. I heard that with Serzone there is no weight gain and no sexual side effects, but how is it compared to celexa for social phobia? Is it better/worse??
>
> Thanx,
>
> Milena
poster:Rick
thread:14476
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020103/msgs/88880.html