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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Marvin on October 15, 2000, at 12:16:43
New to this board, but hopeful for some experienced advice. I have suffered from situational bouts of anxiety (mostly depersonalization & derealization) after events which occured at ages 15, 18, 21, and now 29 yrs old in my life. After the 21 yr old incident, the anxiety was so bad and would not subside with pyschotherapy that I became majorly depressed. At that point, my PDoc started me on Prozac. The Prozac (at 40mgs) lifted the depression caused by my anxiety. At 22, I moved out-of-town and have had another PDoc monitoring my Prozac and another therapist helping me sort out my issues. Since then, I have been able to handle my anxiety and depression in therapy until a recent event in my life caused a relapse. The panic attacks went beyond the DP & DR in the other attacks to include chills, sweats, nausea, etc.. Given the debilitating nature and the fact that I was due to start a new job (not the cause of the anxiety) this PDoc increased my dosage of Prozac to 60mgs and put me on Klonopin. I was very hesitant to take a benzo, but knew I needed to function at my new job. The Klonopin worked and I now am in a tapering off mode after 6 weeks of use. The highest dosage of Klonopin I was on was 0.75mg daily. I am now currently on 0.50mg and looking to taper more soon. I am very adverse to being on benzos and am concerned that while Prozac has been very helpful for depression, it may not be the right line of attack for an anxiety disorder "which only causes depression if untreated". Hence, I think my problem is anxiety, not depression, but if I can't get out of my anxious states, I do get depressed. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has had any success or could talk towards switching from Prozac to Paxil, especially given the fact that I do not want to take a benzo (Klonopin)? I have a close friend who has had a history of anxiety problems and just started Paxil and loves it (she had previously used Xanax, Prozac, etc.). I have the ususal side effects from SSRIs with Prozac (mostly libido), but am pretty tolerant to medications. If I switched SSRIs, would I need a "washout period" or will I likely taper Prozac while adding Paxil (in addition to tapering Klonopin)? Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, regarding treating my situational anxiety would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance for your help!
Posted by MK1 on October 16, 2000, at 0:12:14
In reply to Contemplating Switch of SSRIs, posted by Marvin on October 15, 2000, at 12:16:43
I've heard some people talking about some SSRI's being stimulating while others less so. I think Paxil is supposed to be good for anxiety, as well as Serzone. For switching SSRI's, in the past my doctor just switched me the next day, but others report withdrawal symptoms. I would advise not tapering the Klonopin anymore until you feel well with a new med. Once you feel better than you could resume tapering if you wanted to.
Posted by Shirley on October 19, 2000, at 19:17:33
In reply to Contemplating Switch of SSRIs, posted by Marvin on October 15, 2000, at 12:16:43
Marvin,
I can't comment on the Klonipin but since I'm currently transitioning from Zoloft to Prozac, I can provide some information. My psychiatrist has been gradually reducing the Zoloft while slowly increasing the Prozac. I didn't have any problems until I dropped the Zoloft per his instructions while staying at the same prozac level. We are now back to what worked well the first few weeks. But as I'm sure you're well aware, you mileage may vary.
As far as anxiety, I also have that as a component of depression and Zoloft worked very well on that. Maybe you should consider it?
I am switching because I gained alot of weight on Zoloft and the combination of Zoloft and any stimilant was causing monthly agiation fun. When I started the Prozac, still got the same symptoms but not nearly as severe which further supports my belief that I have made the right choice.
Good luck and fire away if you have any more questions.
Shirley
This is the end of the thread.
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