Posted by Schlepo on March 31, 2019, at 22:00:09
In reply to Re: Alternatives to Olanzapine., posted by bleauberry on March 31, 2019, at 14:11:10
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> > If my body chemistry is prone to experiencing anxiety from stimulants (which it probably is), would olanzapine help to counteract that response and balance things out?
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> Your question is the exact question I asked myself. Here's what happened.
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> I tried the stimulant Adderall because most patients find it helpful. I expected some anxiety from it. Within a couple hours of the first dose my depression turned super dark, super deep, and was clouded in massive anxiety and paranoia. It was absolutely horrible. Luckily it wore off in a few hours and I was back to my baseline the next day. It scared me.
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> So it was a while before I had the guts to try the other one, which was Ritalin.
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> When I tried Ritalin the experience was totally different. Within an hour it lifted my mood somewhat, and renewed my long lost interest in hobbies or getting things done. I actually wanted to do stuff and I found pleasure in doing stuff. That is what anti depression is supposed to be like. When it wore off there was some anxiety, but there was no anxiety when it was active. So I would time my doses to wear off at bedtime so I wouldn't feel the anxiety. Within a few weeks, Ritalin turned into a great anti-anxiety med. Which was backwards of what I expected.
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> I share this experience just to highlight that what you said, may not be true. Your fears may not happen.
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> I actually think antipsychotics can cause more anxiety than they mute. That's because they stimulate the release of NE and they block dopamine - which, depending on whether your dopamine receptors are under sensitive or over sensitive, will either help or hurt anxiety.
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> Ritalin works as an anti-anxiety for me because my receptors are out of whack. It works that way for school kids too. They get focused but calm.
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> I fear Adderall when it comes to anxiety, but not Ritalin.
>Your description of Ritalin reminds me a bit of a similar dynamic experience I had with Ativan a few months ago. When I took my first .5mg of it (while in a severe depressive state) I initially felt standard anxiety. But after about an hour the anxiety seemed to transform into a kind of euphoria and I realized that my depression had lifted. The euphoria was actually a bit too strong on a full .5mg at once, so I ended up dosing at .25mg 3X a day, and for a period of time everything was fine. What I'm really trying to get at is to figure out the reason why I was getting feelings of euphoria from Ativan and not any anti-anxiolotic or calming/sedating effects. What chemicals would have to be unbalanced for that to happen? Dopamine? Some problem with my GABA receptors? I think that if I could just figure that out I'd have a path to what would be the best treatment.
poster:Schlepo
thread:1103692
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20190206/msgs/1103795.html