Posted by med_empowered on March 10, 2006, at 16:53:49
In reply to Re: antipsychotic for anxiety (again sorry) » xbunny, posted by ed_uk on March 10, 2006, at 15:50:38
hi! I understand that benzos aren't frequently RX'd in the UK but I think that may be the best course of action. In addition to helping with anxiety, there's some evidence that benzos can help with schizophrenia, either as add-ons to stable antipsychotic treatment or as as-needed agents when the person is at risk of a relapse (google "diazepam for schizophrenia" or something similar and you'll find some recent studies that confirm this.) So...I'd personally say try a benzo--klonopin, ativan, diazepam, etc.
Another option would be BuSpar, but I don't know how that would work..it plays with serotonin and dopamine, which are both also affected by neuroleptics and antidepressants; it seems that throwing buspar in the mix might not be the best course of action.
Some people say zyprexa or seroquel help with anxiety, so tapering off one or both of your current meds and going onto one or both of those might be worth a shot...since you're on 2 antipsychotics already, its probably a good idea to switch stuff out at this point, instead of adding on..there isn't much evidence for multiple antipsychotics being beneficial, and the side effects can get kind of extreme.
Can you do CBT therapy? I don't know how it works in the UK but here there's a growing interest in doing CBT and other forms of therapy with people with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders (in the past, it was kind of assumed that meds and vocational rehab were all that could really be done for such disorders). Since you're stable and functioning, it seems like you'd be a good candidate.
Good luck!
poster:med_empowered
thread:618273
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060310/msgs/618492.html