Posted by chemist on July 26, 2004, at 21:04:23
In reply to chemist or Sad Panda- your thoughts, posted by cpallen79 on July 26, 2004, at 20:31:13
> Hello you two... I was thinking about adding in an anticonvulsant to augment my depression/anxiety and OCD. My PDOC suggested it at our last session as an add-on for anxiety/agitation and I told her I'd think about it (she suggested Lamitcal... not crazy abotu with that nasty rash, I'd be so hypervigilant that it's not even funny). I've been doing research and am still thinking about it. It may be a good idea to do a mood stabilizer/anti convulsant as I get really bad tension headaches and I've heard that anticonvulsants are great for this. So far, two that stick out are Topamax and Depakote. Both seem to have very very harsh side effects. What do you guys think? Should I pursue this or hold off? There is only one side effect that I absolutely cannot stand, and that's Akathisia and anxiety. I don't know if these cause this, but given my last experience with just a tiny bit of Seroquel, I'm very reluctant to try anything that may potentially cause this. I'm also scared of gaining a ton of weight from these meds. I'm currently taking Adderal XR 5mgs, Trazedone 50 mgs, and Luvox 100 MGS. What do my esteemed co-posters think?
hello there, chemist here....i did the topamax routine for a while after trileptal, and found that it was less effective for me. i enjoyed the weight-loss - i didn't need to lose any, truthfully, but you can never be too rich or too thin, and i am not rich - but it did not address the anxiety: valium did. i did have a run with 25 mg seroquel at bedtime for a stint, and did not have any untoward effects; however, others on this board have reported that they are sensitive (as you indicate you are) even to small doses of seroquel. in my opinion, a higher dose of luvox or, for that matter, a lower dose might do the trick. keep in mind that luvox has a very, very wide dosing range and you need to be open to exploring different doses. now, if you are satisfied at 100 mg, fine. i am leary of the anticonvulsants (with the exception of trileptal) as well as the antipsychotics (as you note in your comment about seroquel, you are to). so, back to the anticonvulsants. in that they are being prescribed off-label for mood disorders, i am not sure if you would gain additional relief from anxiety by using them. an indirect lessening of anxiety via mood stabilization is possible, i suspect, and lamictal is what everybody is talking about these days. the punch line: in consult with your doctor, in my opinion, i would play around with the luvox, eliminate the adderall (or take half of it) and see what happens. if the anxiety goes away, you can eliminate the adderall and readjust the luvox. next up is (in my opinion) 0.5 mg klonapin qd. this will do the trick, allow you to keep the adderall, and lessen the trazodone. i hate to keep coming back to benzo/beno derivatives, but in my experience (personal) they do the job. i realize my answer is not as complete as you (or i) would like, but i do not feel that the efficacy of the anticonvulsants/antipsychotics are worth the risk if a low dose of a drug that has been around and in use specifically for anxiety management is available, such as klonopin. let it sit for a while and get some other opinions. sad panda, sls, king vultan, and others tend to lean toward certain TCAs, and know their stuff. remeron might be a suitable alternative for the trazodone, killing two birds with one stone (i.e., addressing sleep and some mood stabilization). give a shout to the others, as you have my take. regardless, please keep us informed. all the best, chemist
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