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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by vince on August 19, 2001, at 16:22:38
I've had depression for a long time but the last few months I've started having really serious anxiety. I don't know how to treat it. I want to ask my pdoc for xanix but he says that my depression wouldn't all of a sudden change to anxiety. I'm afraid he won't help me. I'm losing my mind - what's left of it. What AD's or other meds are good for severe anxiety if he won't prescribe benzo's.
Thanks, Vince
Posted by paxvox on August 19, 2001, at 17:09:16
In reply to New symptom anxiety - please help!!, posted by vince on August 19, 2001, at 16:22:38
> Vince, to my knowledge, only Paxil and Buspar are alternatives to the benzos for anxiety. I am personally a fan of benzos, if used responsibly. Unfortunately, there is so much abuse of them that you can understand the doc's caution. Even my Pdoc has tried from time to time to to get me off the benzos to a "mood stabilizer" like Depakote, Topamax or Neurontin. I did not like any of them, however, some people out there have had good results. It's a very individual thing. if you want benzos, ask your doc, if he won't come across, find one that will. just be careful of showing the infamous "drug seeking behaviour". Knowing full well it is 10 times easier to walk down to the corner and buy some crack than to get legitimate scripts. Gonna take time and patience. However, if you have been "hooked" before or self medicate in other ways, good luck.
Posted by chloe on August 19, 2001, at 17:48:03
In reply to New symptom anxiety - please help!!, posted by vince on August 19, 2001, at 16:22:38
> I've had depression for a long time but the last few months I've started having really serious anxiety. I don't know how to treat it.
If benzos are not an option, neurontin might be a good medication. It tends to be calming.
Talking to someone/therapist/your pdoc about your fears might help too.Good luck,
Chloe
Posted by JohnL on August 19, 2001, at 17:53:34
In reply to New symptom anxiety - please help!!, posted by vince on August 19, 2001, at 16:22:38
> I've had depression for a long time but the last few months I've started having really serious anxiety. I don't know how to treat it. I want to ask my pdoc for xanix but he says that my depression wouldn't all of a sudden change to anxiety. I'm afraid he won't help me. I'm losing my mind - what's left of it. What AD's or other meds are good for severe anxiety if he won't prescribe benzo's.
>
> Thanks, VinceIf he won't prescribe benzos, then he probably needs to be replaced with another doctor who will.
John
Posted by JohnL on August 20, 2001, at 4:07:19
In reply to New symptom anxiety - please help!!, posted by vince on August 19, 2001, at 16:22:38
> I've had depression for a long time but the last few months I've started having really serious anxiety. I don't know how to treat it. I want to ask my pdoc for xanix but he says that my depression wouldn't all of a sudden change to anxiety. I'm afraid he won't help me. I'm losing my mind - what's left of it. What AD's or other meds are good for severe anxiety if he won't prescribe benzo's.
>
> Thanks, VinceWhen your doctor says depression won't all of a suddent turn into anxiety, I think he is way wrong. Nobody understands the brain well enough to be able to predict such a thing. A noted world class psychiatrist, Hagop Akiskal, states that mental illnesses are constantly evolving and constantly in motion. Anything is possible, and anything can happen. To be able to neatly categorize symptoms and diagnosis is merely an effort at trying to organize the unorganizeable.
The fact is you are experiencing anxiety. No ifs, ands, or buts. The doctor would be an egotistical fool to try to ignore the facts, and would obviously not have you best interest in mind.
One important thing to remember is, who is paying who? I mean, the doctor works for you. You do not work for the doctor. You are ultimately the boss and the paying customer. You are not the doctor's toy. It is your life and your wellbeing at stake. Just remember who is the boss.
When a doctor is reluctant or refusing to prescribe a benzo, one method that can help is to compromise. Simply ask for a one week supply to sample. That takes away a lot of the risk they might be worried about. And one week or less is all you will need to see if it works anyway. Then, if it does work, the doctor will see how well you are doing and it will be much harder for him to deny you the medicine that improves your life. This method is similar to just getting a foot in the door, or planting a seed. Later on it is easier then to get a full commitment. Sometimes you have to wheel and deal and bargain and compromise to get past a doctor's reluctance. But through it all, always work from the angle of who is the paying customer and the ultimate boss. It's your life at stake, not his. And you are paying big bucks for a service. Insist on getting your money's worth, just like you would in any other transaction.
John
Posted by Janelle on August 20, 2001, at 16:03:30
In reply to New symptom anxiety - please help!!, posted by vince on August 19, 2001, at 16:22:38
I totally agree with the previous threads below here. They give good suggestions. I'd just add that if you are comfortable with your pdoc, ask why he's resistant to benzo's. And if you're not so keen on him, you may want to consider switching. I've never heard anyone say that depression won't change to anxiety. In fact, there is such thing as "agitated depression" or depression WITH anxiety; depression often has an anxiety component. Even the commercials on TV for Zoloft list anxiety as a SYMPTOM of DEPRESSOIN!! The two often go hand in hand. And I am living proof of this I've had bouts of depression and anxiety (I always get more anxious when I'm in a depression) for a long time).
Paxil and Klonopin helped me for a long time but eventually the Paxil pooped out. I still take Klonopin at night and found that it helps me sleep and also rid me of that horrible anxiety, right in my gut that I would feel upon waking up.
As has already been mentioned under here, some of the mood stabilizers or even a low dose of an a-p such as Zyprexa or Resperidol might help - they can sometimes calm one's thoughts and nerves.
Good luck!
-Janelle
Posted by Zo on August 21, 2001, at 21:52:34
In reply to Re: New symptom anxiety - please help!! More, posted by JohnL on August 20, 2001, at 4:07:19
Damn, John L. . you are *Good!*
Zo
This is the end of the thread.
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