Posted by Michael Bell on November 26, 2010, at 18:22:22
Point blank, it is the single most effective med I've ever tried with respect to its action on social phobia, hands down. I'm not talking about anxiety relief, which many drugs provide. I'm talking about its prosocial nature. And I've taken the heavy hitters, like klonopin, Nardil, SSRIs and Dexedrine. Mind you I only take it at night for narcolepsy so I can only guage the hour or so before I go to sleep, but with respect to late night phonecalls with friends and family or conversations with my wife, it is like nothing else. You don't feel pressured to talk. You WANT to talk. And talking comes easily.
The downsides: It has a very short halflife, and is extremely dose sensitive. A ten percent difference in dosage means a difference between being social and being absolutely ready to sleep. Plus tolerance probably builds, but it is hard to really say for sure.
If they could make an extended release version and figure out a way to minimize tolerance (such as NMDA antagonists for stimulants) then it would be a powerful tool for social, phobia, if it were approved for that purpose.
I feel strongly enough about this that I would sign a petition along with thousands of other SP sufferers to send it to Jazz Pharmaceuticals and the FDA to pressure investigational studies into its applicability for SP.
poster:Michael Bell
thread:971368
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20101117/msgs/971368.html