Posted by CK1 on December 4, 2005, at 18:12:58
I'm diagnosed as "bipolar spectrum" with comorbid social anxiety.
I was on Paxil 10mg for 3 years and it helped wonderfully with the social anxiety but stopped working last this past January and every other SSRI I've tried since then has made me jittery,agitated, and anxious -- essentially putting me in mixed states.
I was put on Depakote ER 500mg about a month ago and I can really feel it leveling me out (i'd feel great one day, bad the next, etc), but it is doing NOTHING for my social anxiety and depression.
I also take Adderall some days which helps depression greatly but makes anxiety worse.
Since Paxil worked sooo well for so long, I really think an SSRI is the one thing that will help my social anxiety.
1) Can adding a mood stabilizer like Depakote to an SSRI that previously pooped out and/or didn't work, cause the SSRI to regain it's effectiveness?
2) If an SSRI like Effexor made me extremely panicky without a mood stabilizer, would it have a different effect taken with a mood stabilizer?
3) If I cannot take SSRI's anymore, what is available for bipolars to help with depression/social anxiety/motivation?I just started twice weekly therapy last week and I have high hopes about it as far as helping me "cope" with this and "help" anxiety, but I still think that I also need to get my meds right also!
poster:CK1
thread:585460
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051203/msgs/585460.html