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Re: Anticonvulsants for Anxiety: which are best? » Stan

Posted by Ritch on April 7, 2003, at 9:50:25

In reply to Anticonvulsants for Anxiety: which are best?, posted by Stan on April 7, 2003, at 0:40:59

> hi -- i'm seeing my doc soon and considering requesting a rx for one of the newer anticonvulsants -- i don't have a seizure disorder and am not bipolar, rather i want to try it for GAD -- ADs & buspar do little for me; benzos help somewhat but they make me feel tired, unmotivated, depressed, apathetic, blaaah, etc. perhaps the anticonvulsants will do the same thing but i'd like to try something different to see for myself. i didn't start thinking about this approach until a few days ago and thus haven't done much research -- i did find a couple of sites which listed some of the more "modern" anticonvulsants and gave a glimpse of their side effects and therapeutic profiles. some of the names that popped up were neurontin, lamictal, gabitril, topomax, trileptal, keppra, and a couple more. the one with the lowest incidence of adverse side effects (drowsiness, clumsiness, spaciness, severe rash, potentially dangerous drug interactions, etc.) seems to be neurontin. has anyone taken this with successful results for anxiety with negligible side effects? which of the other ones i listed are likely to perform just as well or better? and which ones should be avoided? i read that topomax is capable of promoting the most mental confusion, and if that's true, i'd be inclined to avoid it.
>
> i would appreciate any an all comments about this class of drugs and the specific meds inside the class as they apply to the anxiety-reduction goal. i realize that there have probably been many discussions of this nature in the past, but i'm only able to visit the board a couple of times a week. when i do stop by, i have trouble opening and reading messages due to the fact that i have an extremely slow internet connection and an ancient browser......once i open a message, i can fairly easily read the others in that thread, but if i must return to the "front page" of the board to check out something else, much time elapses before the page will load and everything slows to a crawl.
>
> anyway, enough of that business -- if you're able to link me to a detailed past thread on this topic, that would be great, otherwise fresh comments from users of these meds or people who have researched them would be even better. thanks again
>
> Stan


Well.. thus far if benzos have had a better response than antidepressants/Buspar, probably Neurontin would be worth a try. There are some that find the positive effects wear off after awhile, it is rather short-acting (so you have to take it two or three times a day), some get a paradoxical reaction to it. The only thing I can say is try it and see what happens. Gabitril is in clinical trials for GAD. Neurontin's refined version (pregabalin) is in clnical trials for GAD as well. Gabitril can cause mental dulling as well. Have you tried any TCA's for your GAD? You might find nortiptyline effective.


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poster:Ritch thread:216861
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