Shown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Didier on November 18, 2000, at 21:14:04
Has anyone tried Dramamine for anxiety?
I am sick everyday. It feels like motion sickness to me. Yes, I have an anxiety disorder. My brain is injured by anxiety so I can not tolerate motion or noise. Because of past experience, I do not have any trust in doctors as a rule. I had bad experiences with "benzos". I have returned to a GP that had nothing to do with past troubles in my life and he will not prescribe any drugs for my illness. He said if I do not try i.e. biofeedback or whatever that my mental illness will only get worse.
My life before the overt symptoms of this anxiety disorder was pretty awful. It seemed that no one close to me was "listening" to my needs. Now, family members around me have shown vast improvement with their behavior concerning my needs and I am hopeful that because of this, I will eventually get better.
Right now, there is no money to consult with any other doctor. It is just as well because of my fear.
I just want to get through the day without succumbing to the illness and "crying" because of the discomfort of this "motion sickness" feeling. I have learned various ways to deal with noise and motion so I do not look obviously "mentally ill" during the day when out in public. This means that I do not jerk too much but I am left with this motion sickness feeling which is really related with the jerking. What ever is happening to my brain never culminates into a jerk because I wear earplugs and sunglasses and I, basically, avoid looking at moving objects. But from the amount of stimulous that is around, my body is prepared for one, so-to-speak.
I need to find a simple solution for the queasy feeling that comes from too much motion or noise. Some days; especially when I have to drive a car, it is really bad. I seem to be getting sicker and sicker. It could be that I am slowly developing an inability to tolerate it anymore.
Someone told me that his family wears wrists bands for "motion sickness". Is this for real? He said that his family swears by them.
I noticed that Dramamine causes drowiness. I can work around this to solve my problem if it works. How do these wrist bands work?
Posted by JohnL on November 19, 2000, at 7:18:39
In reply to Motion Sickness treatment for Anxiety Disorders?, posted by Didier on November 18, 2000, at 21:14:04
Didier,
I went to www.mentalhealth.com to do a little research on your situation, since your case sparked my curiosity. I am very sorry for the troubles you are having.Basically what I gathered was that there is considerable overlap between motion sickness and anxiety. It also became apparent to me that this topic is way over the heads of GPs. You might want to look for an opthamologist (nose, ear, and throat specialist) to identify or rule out any physical causes.
There were many drugs used to treat conditions like yours. In the benzo group, Diazepam was the best. Did you try that one? Another is Meclizine, an antihistimine. Dramamine was also mentioned, though I was surprised to see that people can get addicted to it. Piracetam, Nicergoline, serotonin antidepressants, and many other drugs were mentioned.
Once physical causes have been ruled out, you'll basically be in the same boat as the rest of us. That is, you'll just have to sample different drugs and see what happens. So time invested into weeding out and choosing a specialist who will cooperate with you in sampling a variety of medicines may be time well spent. You need to be able to tell a doctor you desire to sample a variety of different medicines, even if some have no clinical justification, and that you are willing to deal with the inconvenience and the trouble. Most likely when you discover a drug that is very helpful, it will work quickly. The exception would be serotonin antidepressants, which generally take a long time.
Generally it seemed that your symptoms are possibly related to the histamine, acetylcholine, or noradrenaline chemistries. So how benzos and SSRIs would work, I have no clue. But apparently they can. Though I didn't read it anywhere, I would almost guess that a small dose antipsychotic like Zyprexa or Risperdal could be sampled, since they have multiple actions in the chemistries that might be involved.
If you want to learn more, go to www.mentalhealth.com. Follow the prompts for research, and medication research. You'll get to a list of drugs. Choose one, any one, and select 'all topics' and following the prompts. You will get to a page(s) that has summaries of clinical studies on that drug. Now that you have arrived at the desired destination, go to the box at the top of the page and erase the drug's name. Now type in whatever you want to do research on. You can use AND or OR to fine tune your search. For example, I typed in 'motion sickness AND anxiety', or 'vertigo AND anxiety', or Meniere's disease, or Meclizine, or Dramamine, or whatever you want.
I think you may require a specialist, probably someone who is an expert on the inner ear, has some experience with psychiatric drugs, and who is willing to cooperate with you sampling different medicines. In the meantime, you could do some research and become real familiar with your condition. You'll have a better idea of what your options are, and which might seem more attractive. But according to what I read, you may already be on the right track in thinking about Dramamine. Of course, it will cause drowsiness, and you can develop a tolerance and addiction to it. Here again, the involvement of a specialist is probably a good idea.
John
Posted by Maniz on November 19, 2000, at 7:42:29
In reply to Motion Sickness treatment for Anxiety Disorders?, posted by Didier on November 18, 2000, at 21:14:04
Hi,
> Has anyone tried Dramamine for anxiety?
Me not, but there is a doctor that has a whole theory and treatment. I do not know if it is reliable:http://www.dyslexiaonline.com/info_phobias.html
The inner-ear origin of fears, phobias, mood, panic, and
obsessive/compulsive disorders was discovered by "accident." Patients
with Dyslexia or ADD responding favorably to inner-ear-improving
medications reported to Dr. Levinson that their fears, phobias, mood,
and anxiety symptoms either significantly improved or disappeared as
did their dyslexic and ADD symptoms.Some other products used for motion sickness are: The antihistamine Benadryl (dephenhydramine) may also work. Common side effects include drowsiness, lethargy and dry mouth.
And Ginger root (for nausea).
The wrist band seems to work (if they do) by acupressure: (Chinese and Japanese) treatment of symptoms by applying pressure with the fingers to specific pressure points on the body.
For anxiety, besides benzos, antidepressives are used.Once I read at life-enhancement.com a recomendation to take a choline supplement before bed to increase the barrier to sounds. I do not know if this can work for you because it seems motion sickness medication act by bloking acethylcholine.
Other product I have read about is magnessium.
For ear problems some use sound therapy, a method developed by Dr. Tomatis. You listen to tapes with a walkman while you do your everyday work because it dfoes not have to be loud. There are many websites, I think one is tomatis.com. In Canada there is Sound Therapy in Lund BC. There is a book by Patricia Joudry: Sound Therapy for the walkman.
Other treatments (questionable) can be ECS (electro cranial stimulation) or, simplier than biofeedback, light and sound machines that regulate brain waves (like www.bwgen.com (PC soft for sound), www.comptronics.com, etc).
Just what I have heard of, I am not sure if all these is worth to try.
The best would be to consult a doctor and a psychotherapist.
>
> I am sick everyday. It feels like motion sickness to me. Yes, I have an anxiety disorder. My brain is injured by anxiety so I can not tolerate motion or noise. Because of past experience, I do not have any trust in doctors as a rule. I had bad experiences with "benzos". I have returned to a GP that had nothing to do with past troubles in my life and he will not prescribe any drugs for my illness. He said if I do not try i.e. biofeedback or whatever that my mental illness will only get worse.
>
> My life before the overt symptoms of this anxiety disorder was pretty awful. It seemed that no one close to me was "listening" to my needs. Now, family members around me have shown vast improvement with their behavior concerning my needs and I am hopeful that because of this, I will eventually get better.
>
> Right now, there is no money to consult with any other doctor. It is just as well because of my fear.
>
> I just want to get through the day without succumbing to the illness and "crying" because of the discomfort of this "motion sickness" feeling. I have learned various ways to deal with noise and motion so I do not look obviously "mentally ill" during the day when out in public. This means that I do not jerk too much but I am left with this motion sickness feeling which is really related with the jerking. What ever is happening to my brain never culminates into a jerk because I wear earplugs and sunglasses and I, basically, avoid looking at moving objects. But from the amount of stimulous that is around, my body is prepared for one, so-to-speak.
>
> I need to find a simple solution for the queasy feeling that comes from too much motion or noise. Some days; especially when I have to drive a car, it is really bad. I seem to be getting sicker and sicker. It could be that I am slowly developing an inability to tolerate it anymore.
>
> Someone told me that his family wears wrists bands for "motion sickness". Is this for real? He said that his family swears by them.
>
> I noticed that Dramamine causes drowiness. I can work around this to solve my problem if it works. How do these wrist bands work?
Posted by Janice1 on November 20, 2000, at 19:46:36
In reply to Motion Sickness treatment for Anxiety Disorders?, posted by Didier on November 18, 2000, at 21:14:04
> why don't you try gingerroot. It is available at all healthfood stores and works well for an upset stomach. Good luck, Janice
Posted by Fire on October 24, 2002, at 18:59:27
In reply to Motion Sickness treatment for Anxiety Disorders?, posted by Didier on November 18, 2000, at 21:14:04
i came across this message while searching online for motion sickness treatments. I have a similar problem to yours and have been prescribed anti vert to treat it for years.
it's horribly debiltating- i can't go concerts or clubs where there may be lights flashing, driving in a car (especially at night for some reason) is almost un heard of, etc.
i also have a lot of problems with anxiety. i'm interested to hear how you found the correlation between the two.
Posted by linkadge on October 25, 2002, at 19:11:40
In reply to Re: Motion Sickness treatment for Anxiety Disorders?, posted by Fire on October 24, 2002, at 18:59:27
I believe there is a correlation.
The Herb ginger is a traditional
remidy for motion sickness, it
is also has an antianxiety effect.
(I don't know how pronounced either
of these effects are however)
Linkadge
Posted by Alara on October 28, 2002, at 1:24:26
In reply to Re: Motion Sickness treatment for Anxiety Disorders?, posted by Janice1 on November 20, 2000, at 19:46:36
When I was withdrawing from Effexor, I found that ginger and lemon tea helped with both the nausea and the anxiety. I still drink a cup every day for relaxation. It's very soothing.
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