Posted by Ritch on January 18, 2003, at 13:53:13
In reply to Ritch, posted by Jaynee on January 18, 2003, at 11:57:59
> I tried Pantaloc, which sent me to ER, had some weird esophageal spasm. Then I tried Nexium, which was no better than taking a sugar pill, since it did nothing to help my stomach. The gastro specialist I saw said I didn't have Reflux or IBS, but he felt some motility problem. It doesn't matter what it is, I know it is caused by anxiety, even though I don't feel very anxious. I even had the H-pylori breath test which came back negative.
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> I have researched gastro problems inside out, but still haven't got anywhere. The Germans use Peppermint oil for functional dyspepsia, so I am going to give this a true go. If that doesn't do the trick I am going to try Zelnorm.
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> What is interesting my sister who does have bad reflux and takes Losec, which helps her, tried Celexa. She said she had a bad reaction to it. She said it caused her lungs to fill up and cough all the time. Since she is on puffers for her so-called "asthma", she got scared. I told her that relux can cause coughing and asthma. I said, what probably happened is that the Celexa caused really bad acid reflux that went straight back down into her lungs. She said celexa was the worst for her lungs, and the only SSRI that didn't affect her lungs too bad was Prozac.
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> I think I will give Effexor XR a try. My sister tried it and she said it was like being on acid. Obviously she didn't like it.
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> What about Lexapro? Does it have a bad rep for stomach problems? Because it is Celexa with the R isomer removed, maybe it doesn't have the same effect on the stomach. Just a thought.I just read JFlange's link above and it was very illuminating! (I'm printing that and bringing it in to my pdoc) That is precisely the series of events that occurs with me when I start getting panic. However, I get a lot of other autonomic instability symptoms as well: Flushing, intense sweating, heart racing, etc. When I used to get panic in confined places (full of people) in college, what worked the best for me was to take some Benadryl (an anticholinergic) prior to class. I was dry-mouthed and somewhat fuzzy headed, but it seemed to work to prevent the panic just as good as a benzo. Nowadays, if I am going to be in a situation that tends to provoke panic I combine about 12.5mg of Benadryl with .125-.25mg of Klonopin about an hour before and it works like a charm! Oh, BTW, I started having these GI disturbances when I was about 14 and the GP I saw at the time called it "hyper-peristalsis" and told me it was due to hyperactivity/instability of the Vagus Nerve. Anyhow, he prescribed me some propantheline (an anticholinergic), and it worked rather well. The reason I think that Effexor works better for me is that it has such a short half-life and by the time I go to sleep most of the peak effects are gone and my tummy is calming down. I still get diarrhea from Effexor (even at the tiny dose I take). The gut has the most prominent number of serotonin receptors than anywhere else. However, a serotonin reuptake inhibitor just wigs out my GI tract in a major way. The most common receptor in the gut is the 5-HT3 receptor (from what I understand). Remeron antagonizes it and I had improved GI functioning with Remeron. BUT, I couldn't handle all of the other effects of that med. Zofran is a selective 5-HT3 antagonist used for post-op vomiting/nausea and nausea/vomiting associated with chemotherapy, which is being studied for anxiety disorders (but it is VERY expensive). I am extremely skeptical that Lexapro would be any different than Celexa in the reflux department.
poster:Ritch
thread:136168
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030113/msgs/136441.html