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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 15 of 15. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by B2chica on April 8, 2011, at 9:26:59
i see pdoc tonight.
i was wondering of some anxiety meds that i can take during the day that wont make me tired. xanax (enough to work on my anxiety) makes me too tired to work. on gabapentin right now, i take lots it helps but doesnt rid me of it. i end up loopy and anxious during day.any suggestions would be great.
i think if i can get a handle on my anxiety, it will help my depression break through.thanks
b2c.
Posted by Phillipa on April 8, 2011, at 12:53:31
In reply to Please anxiety meds, posted by B2chica on April 8, 2011, at 9:26:59
What worked in the past? Phillipa
Posted by B2chica on April 8, 2011, at 13:09:24
In reply to Re: Please anxiety meds » B2chica, posted by Phillipa on April 8, 2011, at 12:53:31
i think ive really only ever had xanax. when i'm on zyprexa that helps too. but i'm not ready to go back on that yet.
i want a simple anti-anxiety med that i can take during the day that wont make me sleepy.
Gaba normally worked but my anxiety has been so very bad lately it just doesnt work. or i have to take so many i end up feeling high and little less anxiety. not great for working.
Posted by bleauberry on April 8, 2011, at 17:19:43
In reply to Please anxiety meds, posted by B2chica on April 8, 2011, at 9:26:59
I would look outside of the psychiatric toolbox for your answers. There are herbs and plants of the earth better than the meds. There are causes of the anxiety that can be stopped so you don't even have to worry about treating it. It's another leg of the journey, but you either stay stuck on the present road or you lift your head up and see there are other roads, some of which make a lot more sense than the one your are on.
I know this is kind of generalized without much detail. I speak from personal experience, having failed all the meds and ECT. Entire books and entire clinics are founded on what I'm talking about. The journey to healing, rather than just managing, has to start somewhere or else you will never find what you are hoping for.
Staying a bit more on topic to your direct questions, I assume you have been on the SSRIs? Sampled any of the antipsychotics in combination with them? I am not recommending either of those strategies, only pointing out that they do work very well for a select sample of patients. Not me unfortunately, but I have seen them work for others. Side effects, well, that's another story. That's why I prefer to look at the healing side instead of the managing side. Managing almost always comes with the compromise of undesirable or untolerable side effects.
Strange, but the one med in my suitcase that did the fastest good for my anxiety was Parnate at a very low dose. (5mg) In the herbal category, it is a dropperful of Lemon Balm tincture in a glass of water....relief within an hour, lifting of spirits a bit too, without any brain fog or sedation. It combines very well with St Johns Wort, which also is good for your symptoms in a select number of patients.
On a more basic level, it could be something as simple as the need for more magnesium and/or B vitamins. Or avoiding gluten foods. This brings us full circle back to the healing part rather than the managing part. But they are certainly cheap enough and safe enough to experiment with. I cannot say from my own experience, but there are several sources (doctors, clinicians, forums) that claim Niacin is the one for anxiety. It takes high doses, and most prefer the Niacinimide version because it has shown affinity for the gaba receptors the same as benzos. Except without the tiredness, and it takes weeks to really kick in, though some people feel relief almost right away.
Lots of things you can do. I personally would rely on the lowest possible doses of meds I could to function just to help me out a little bit while embarking on deeper experimenting and exploration into other strategies that make more sense and are more in tune with the body's own biology.
Posted by MatthewDavid on April 8, 2011, at 17:37:53
In reply to Please anxiety meds, posted by B2chica on April 8, 2011, at 9:26:59
many people have amazing results with buspar but others get too wound up. it can be added with most anti depressants. not in the same class as benzo's like xanax
Posted by Phillipa on April 8, 2011, at 18:20:40
In reply to Re: Please anxiety meds » B2chica, posted by MatthewDavid on April 8, 2011, at 17:37:53
Matthew must have been reading my mind as that is exact same thing I was going to suggest. Very mild when I took it. In my case my anxiety was so high benzos were the only thing that worked. But at the time they were only Rx'd in 5mg doses. Phillipa
Posted by Christ_empowered on April 9, 2011, at 3:44:41
In reply to Re: Please anxiety meds, posted by Phillipa on April 8, 2011, at 18:20:40
I can't think of anything that would sedate you with causing some degree of drowsiness. Maybe an amount of Klonopin roughly equal to your xanax, dosed 2-3 times daily? Still, that can make you kind of stupid. Maybe if you upped the bezo and reduced the gabapentin?
Posted by hyperfocus on April 9, 2011, at 10:55:26
In reply to Please anxiety meds, posted by B2chica on April 8, 2011, at 9:26:59
Only suggestion I could make would be to echo what CE says - another benzo like clonazepam (Klonopin) might work better than the Xanax. Or you could try like lorazepam (Ativan) even though it's supposed to be more sedating than the others, but different meds affect people differently.
Only other suggestion would be a low dose of an AP like Risperdal. I used to use Risperdal alone in the night just to sleep.
I didn't have any luck at all with Buspar.
Posted by floatingbridge on April 9, 2011, at 18:16:47
In reply to Please anxiety meds, posted by B2chica on April 8, 2011, at 9:26:59
Hopefully you have something good in hand right now.
Lyrica dropped my anxiety level to zero, but if neurontin makes you feel loopy, I'd skip it then. It's a newer, souped-up version of neurontin.
I like xanax XR. It creates way less ups and downs and isn't as stupifying for me.
I've tried other benzos, and in my experience, each one affected me differently. Klonopin was a depressant ultimately; however it saw me through the worst because it worked very 'deep' for me. Librium gave me restless legs and zip relief. After experimenting, it was xanax xr that worked best with
regular xanax as back up emergency.I have started to introduce some supplements. My doctor felt gaba was an issue, so I also take 500 GABA 2xdaily, taurine 1000 2xdaily, and dl-phenylaline 500mg daily, krill oil, 2000mg daily (for
now). This was her otc script for me while I stabilize (hopefully) off AD's and do a norco taper. I take 1.5mg of Xanax xr like clockwork (3x0.5mg) and w/o my usual guilt for now. I haven't needed to pull out the emergency regular xanax for awhile.
Will you tell us what you try next?Best,
fb
Everything except the Krill Oil and the dl-phenylalanine are cheap. The Krill oil is out of sight. I think if you aren't doing
any fish oil, an economical clean cod oil is worth trying. I know it's the rage right now, but I think it's slowly helping me.How's your sleep these days?
Posted by B2chica on April 11, 2011, at 12:09:46
In reply to Re: Please anxiety meds » B2chica, posted by floatingbridge on April 9, 2011, at 18:16:47
ok. i talk too much in my sessions.
so he's insistent on me having an antipsychotic.
he Rx'd perphenazine (see freak-out link down below).
part of my freak-out is based from past experience with meds. other i'm sure is my paranoid anxiety (thus a need for AP).
i know zyprexa wont hurt me as i've taken it many times in the past and it works great. but they ALWAYS up me to 10 and thats when i gain weight.
perphenazine is Supposed to be weight-neutral.but honestly i'm scared sh**less.
and i dont know why.
i think i need to get drunk to take my first dose!
@#$(*&#&*&
dang it i JUST wanted something different for my anxiety....on the other hand i KNOW i get irrational thoughts. but i KNOW they are irrational. (thus again thats why the dx of psychotic depression).
its a cycle, my anxiety gets worse my psy symptoms get worse. my depression gets worse my psy symptoms get worse.
Posted by floatingbridge on April 12, 2011, at 23:53:01
In reply to Re: Please anxiety meds » floatingbridge, posted by B2chica on April 11, 2011, at 12:09:46
Does less than 10 work for you? Is weight the only side at the upper dose? _
>works great. but they ALWAYS up me to 10 and thats when i gain weight.
I haven't heard of this. I'll check out your link below. Sometimes new is an improvement. Is it like abilify?> perphenazine is Supposed to be weight-neutral.
>
> but honestly i'm scared sh**less.
> and i dont know why.This makes sense to me, being apprehensive. Because meds do serious stuff. Tasks we want them to do, but it's always a bit of a crap shoot. Can you have someone with you or on call (really on call) in case you want them. Sometimes knowing that something is available can help keep away actually 'needing' it...?
> i think i need to get drunk to take my first dose!
> @#$(*&#&*&
> dang it i JUST wanted something different for my anxiety....
>
> on the other hand i KNOW i get irrational thoughts. but i KNOW they. are irrational. (thus again thats why the dx of psychotic depression).That's what makes psychotic depression? I have tons of paranoid, irrational thoughts. Had a big bout today triggered by a doctor's visit. Jeez. Is it the intensity of the thought, even though you are aware, that categorizes your depression as psychotic?
> its a cycle, my anxiety gets worse my psy symptoms get worse. my depression gets worse my psy symptoms get worse.Hold on lady, you'll get through this. I'm hoping by the time you read this, you will have begun experiencing some relief.
Thanks for updating your status.
fb
Posted by B2chica on April 13, 2011, at 8:12:39
In reply to Re: Please anxiety meds » B2chica, posted by floatingbridge on April 12, 2011, at 23:53:01
thanks fb.
feeling only very little relief from anxiety. havent been eating much of anything last 2 weeks. saw pdoc last friday and just got notice that med is at pharmacy. Finally.
i try it tonight.as for psychotic depression. my depression can drop really fast really quick and most times ends up with suicidal ideation or failed attempts. Also, as depression and anxiety worsen i get little visual and auditory 'illusions'/hallucinations. the reason it was classified as psychotic depression (as i was told by last pdoc) is that i KNOW that the paranoia, and illusions are not real, i still have them, but i can logic that they are not real.
though i must admit sometimes it gets very difficult to keep knowing that...anyway.
thanks
b2c.
Posted by Phillipa on April 13, 2011, at 19:30:41
In reply to Re: Please anxiety meds » floatingbridge, posted by B2chica on April 13, 2011, at 8:12:39
I would think that because you know your thoughts are irrational logically it would not be classifed as psychotic depression? Phillipa
Posted by B2chica on April 22, 2011, at 12:52:15
In reply to Re: Please anxiety meds » B2chica, posted by Phillipa on April 13, 2011, at 19:30:41
thats actually in the definition of psychotic depression and why its so hard to Dx. Because people who are psychotic dont know its not real and report hallucinations, those who know its not real most often dont report it for fear of misdx with schizophrenia or such.
b2c.
Posted by Phillipa on April 22, 2011, at 20:05:45
In reply to Re: Please anxiety meds » Phillipa, posted by B2chica on April 22, 2011, at 12:52:15
B2chica kind of like a catch 22. Phillipa
This is the end of the thread.
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