Posted by Rocket Jackson on March 7, 2006, at 9:11:52
Hello,
I apologize for the recent onslaught of new threads, but I truly do appreciate all of your feedback thus far. It's always good to hear what's currently "working" out there for those of you who suffer from social anxiety disorder. Having known of my diagnosis for about 5 years but suffered for many more, I've done quite a bit of research on the topic over the past few years. But as most of you know, what is currently approved by the FDA or even showing "promise" in studies doesn't always pan out anecdotally in the real world.
Being a medical school graduate, I took particular interest in anxiety disorders (specifically social anxiety) during my 6 week Psychiatry rotation. It was then that I realized the true void that has existed among the medical field (even Psychiatry) in social anxiety knowledge and treatment. I've seen so many docs quote the same rehashed lines (e.g. SSRIs are the first-line and effective treatment of social phobia) and either don't realize or don't care to realize what really does or doesn't work for patients, not to mention acknowledgement of the nasty side effects. This is quite frustrating to say the least, which is one of the many reasons why forums such as these are so valuable.
With that said, what have you found has been the best treatment so far in your experience? As I've mentioned in other posts, I currently take Klonopin 2mg + Provigil 200mg every 3-5 days prn for events or activities I anticipate will cause more anxiety than the typical baseline level I experience in my everyday living. I'm desperately looking for a daily treatment to add to my regimen to fill in the gaps, and have found Lexapro, Zoloft, Neurontin, Gabitril, Cymbalta, Buspar, and Wellbutrin to be complete busts. I've made a few attempts with daily Klonopin in the past, but it seems to lose its optimal effect when I take it more than 3 days or so. However, this really may be a case of taking an inadequate dose, less-than-optimal times or spacing, or just plain not taking it long enough to achieve good therapeutic levels. I just know how wonderfully it works when I do wait a few days between doses, and I don't want to lose that.
Thanks for all of your support. It's great to see how much feedback exists for all of us who suffer from our various ailments.
Take care,
Rocket
poster:Rocket Jackson
thread:616975
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060304/msgs/616975.html