Posted by desolationrower on April 24, 2010, at 22:47:12
In reply to Re: Severe anxiety and other problems, posted by Lisa2712 on April 24, 2010, at 11:01:37
> I don't think I have ADD, but I do have symptoms like it (like problems focusing, mind racing, impatience, feeling like a motor is running full speed in me, going fast, talking, walking and writing fast, squirming in seat, and others) , which is why I asked my psydoc if I could try a med for ADD and see if it helped. She put me on 36 mg of Concerta and I had a very bad reaction to it, it felt like my heart was going to explode, and I stopped taking it. Maybe the starting dose was too high.
> A psychiatrist told me I had mania and bipolar disorder because when I talked to her I rambled on and made no sense, I couldn't hold a conversation with anyone, my mind was going all over the place, and other symtoms that she interpreted as mania symptoms. Yes, I think my anxiety does go away, and I think it's more fun, but my symptoms are like ADD-like symptoms.
> I'm going to look into therapy for my anxiety.
>
> Thank you,
> Lisathis site http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/Anxiety.htm is a good read, describing bipolar with anxiety disorder. other pages on the side might give you a sense of what bipolar is like. maybe it sounds familiar.
i went and looked, i had written this before, http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090313/msgs/885392.html so i guess you tried some mood stabilizers but the side effects were the problem? weight gain especially with social anxiety would be frustrating. did you notice any benefit with them? and sometimes just starting at a lower dose and gradually moving onto a drug can make the side effects tolerable.
topiramate is sometimes used for bipolar, has a bit of evidence for social phobia, and tends to cause weight loss.
lithium does a lot of stuff and is probably worth a try. pregabalin or gabapentin can be anxiolytic and might work better for you than the benzo. and other things, like nac.
re: concerta - i don't know that physical side effects means its wrong for your brain. a try on d-amphetamine could be worth doing.
but it does sound more like mixed state bipolar than ADD, really. i guess if benzos do help with the anxiety, reducing the depression so you can tolerate a higher dose might be the thing to focus on.
-d/r
poster:desolationrower
thread:944443
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100416/msgs/944936.html