![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 21 to 45 of 45. Go back in thread:
Posted by gadchik on June 13, 2013, at 10:33:35
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » gadchik, posted by Vincent_QC on June 13, 2013, at 10:23:33
Once my anxiety got under control, and I took care to sleep well, eat well, exercise, my heart just went back to normal. The heart cath is invasive and expensive. I also had a heart ct scan with the dye, and an ultrasound of my heart, stress test, and an enzyme check, ekg...so many tests, and no cause but anxiety. Crazy what anxiety does to the body. But I was obsessed with my heart and whether it was beating too slow or too fast, I couldnt breathe sometimes and felt as if an elephant was on my chest.
Posted by gadchik on June 13, 2013, at 10:45:57
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » g_g_g_unit, posted by Vincent_QC on June 13, 2013, at 10:28:51
As far as the clonzepam, I believe Im developing a tolerance to it,so I took 1/4 out of my pill last night, and feel great today. Your post about developing a tolerance to it really had an effect on me. I may finally be able to taper it and only use occasionally!
Posted by Vincent_QC on June 13, 2013, at 10:57:40
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » Vincent_QC, posted by gadchik on June 13, 2013, at 10:33:35
> Once my anxiety got under control, and I took care to sleep well, eat well, exercise, my heart just went back to normal. The heart cath is invasive and expensive. I also had a heart ct scan with the dye, and an ultrasound of my heart, stress test, and an enzyme check, ekg...so many tests, and no cause but anxiety. Crazy what anxiety does to the body. But I was obsessed with my heart and whether it was beating too slow or too fast, I couldnt breathe sometimes and felt as if an elephant was on my chest.
Oh ok!!! But what did you do to have your anxiety under control?
Yes anxiety can do crazy things... The hardest part of it it's to deal with the symptoms and try to not worry about them but in my case the heart obsession is out of control and feed the anxiety all the time. I did try to learn some tips to manage my heart obsession on therapy but it never work... So to avoid the most I can the heart symptoms I tend to rely too much on the propranolol and clonazepam... And with that heart obsession and all those symptoms I can say that dependence to a beta blocker can occur and it's the same type of dependence than the benzo meds...
I have so many bad habits, I mean I know that smoking and not eating enough and choose poor foods choices and not be physical active is bad for my heart, but I feel stuck and cannot start to make good moves to at least give a chance to my body to not develop a heart disease...
Anyway, maybe you can give to me some tips about how to manage that heart obsession?
I'm so tired of taking my blood pressure all the time at home and also have a fixation on my heart rate and chest pain...
Thanks!
Posted by g_g_g_unit on June 13, 2013, at 11:04:32
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » g_g_g_unit, posted by Vincent_QC on June 13, 2013, at 10:28:51
> > i'm a bit like you Vincent .. severe anxiety, extreme med sensitivity, and also have a heart-attack obsession (among others though, i have full-blown OCD).
> >
> > i haven't been able to tolerate any ADs up to this point either, and was thinking about trying Lamictal as a last resort.
> >
> > hope it works out for you, please let me know how it goes
>
> Hi -:)
> ok and what meds you take right now to control your anxiety and OCD?nothing at the moment, though i'm non-functional. i do take clonazepam occasionally when i have to leave the house (i can't without it) ..
>
> In the past, did you always been sensitive to the side effects of drugs?i think so, but i have a feeling it's gotten worse with time
>
> Do you think you will try the Lamictal soon?possibly yes, i was thinking of asking my GP for a trial .. either that or Lithium.
>
> Let me know ok!!!sure no problem :)
>
> Thanks ;-)
Posted by gadchik on June 13, 2013, at 12:12:11
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » gadchik, posted by Vincent_QC on June 13, 2013, at 10:57:40
You and I are quite alike! I also had an obsession with taking my blood pressure constantly, also would put my hand on my chest to be sure it was beating. I constantly thought of heart rate. I would even keep myself up at night,jumping up and down, afraid to sleep, thought my heart would stop beating. Also, woke up one night and it was racing and you could feel it beating out of my chest. I think my anxiety caused something with the electrical system of heart to go haywire. I got psychotic with no sleep and stopped eating, made matters worse. I was hopeless, wanted to die. I refused all meds for a long time. They gave me an injection of ativan in er, and that gave me profound relief. I found a pdoc I trusted and she got me to try clonazepam and remeron, very small dose. She then added zoloft. I started to sleep and eat, very gradually started to walk. I was very weak. The clonazepam and remeron helped me stop thinking about my heart. But the sleep, nutrition,exercise was a huge part in my recovery. Do everything in your power to get well. The human body will respond. It has huge capacity to heal.
Posted by Vincent_QC on June 13, 2013, at 15:21:45
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » Vincent_QC, posted by gadchik on June 13, 2013, at 12:12:11
> You and I are quite alike! I also had an obsession with taking my blood pressure constantly, also would put my hand on my chest to be sure it was beating. I constantly thought of heart rate. I would even keep myself up at night,jumping up and down, afraid to sleep, thought my heart would stop beating. Also, woke up one night and it was racing and you could feel it beating out of my chest. I think my anxiety caused something with the electrical system of heart to go haywire. I got psychotic with no sleep and stopped eating, made matters worse. I was hopeless, wanted to die. I refused all meds for a long time. They gave me an injection of ativan in er, and that gave me profound relief. I found a pdoc I trusted and she got me to try clonazepam and remeron, very small dose. She then added zoloft. I started to sleep and eat, very gradually started to walk. I was very weak. The clonazepam and remeron helped me stop thinking about my heart. But the sleep, nutrition,exercise was a huge part in my recovery. Do everything in your power to get well. The human body will respond. It has huge capacity to heal.
Thats crazy this obsession with the heart, before 2010 I never was like that... Had minor panic attack while I had to take the bus alone or do an oral speech at the university, but my heart was never an obsession, it was more about going crazy in front of the others and the lack of social ability to make new friends or walk alone in a street cause of the social anxiety...
Now it's all about my heart... Like you at first I had a very low heart rate back in 2010, it's when the anxiety get worse, I start taking my blood pressure all the time even when I was out of the store, I drove the pharmacy with my friend and had to stop to take my blood pressure there... in the middle of 2010 I start having tachycardia especially in the morning and panic attacks was back for good... And then I start taking my pulse rate all the time, on my wrist, on the big veins of my neck...
Now I don't even need to take my pulse rate, I feel each heart beat and count them in my head and the tachycardia is on all the time... In the morning my heart go so fast that I can't count my pulse rate, but it's usually 140 sit and jump to 160 and more by just walking in the house... My cardio Doc don't seem afraid or worried about it, me it's driving me crazy... Also knowing that I have a low ejection fraction of 47 (September 2012 results and felt better at that time so I guess it's even lower now, it's freak me out since I don't want to have heart failure... I also worry about my lungs, lungs cancer run in my family...
The other anxiety symptoms like the chronic headache, heat intolerance, feeling hot all the time, insomnia and bad sleep, lack of energy, low level of stamina (if my parents invite my family for a dinner at home I will feel very anxious to the point that I have to go in my bedroom...or reading a book or watch a movie is impossible since it make me feel very bad after and increase my anxiety and trigger panic and heart symptoms, same if I listen to music, my heart will start going crazy and my head hurt...), the dizziness, weakness...those symptoms are typically anxiety related for sure but for the heart I'm always worry...
So right now you are on what dose of remeron, clonazepam and Zoloft? Did you had to increase very slowly the Zoloft like 6.25mg, 12,5 mg...?
The Zoloft is one of the ssri who trigger panic on me, first dose and 2 hours later I start having panic attacks for 24 h in a row... So give me terrible migraine... I took 200 mg of it at some point before I start being med sensitive for my social anxiety, didn't work after 3 months, it was back in 2008...was before on 30 mg of remeron, 30 mg of Prozac, 10 mg of elavil and 20 mg of Valium... The Zoloft makes me so anxious that my old PDoc at the time change my low vium dose to high Xanax dose... 8mg... It didn't help and I develop a high tolerance to the Xanax, I drop the Zoloft and switch to the Effexor and it was even worse, start having strange behaviours like not eating and obsession about my weight, sleep 1 to 2 h by night, was very energic and at the same time a way too anxious and start abusing the Xanax and ending at the hospital cause of the 12 mg day of Xanax... Anyway...
Right now, I have to do like you and start to put some order in my life, stop smoking, eat well (less sugar, more fruits and vegetables), start to walk a little bit and strength my heart... It's so hard when you feel like shit and anxious all the time... My heart symptoms prevent me to do any kind of exercise cause I fear it will trigger a heart attack... It's a bad circle and I can't find the exit!!!
Well, thanks again and answer about your meds dose ok!!!
Posted by Vincent_QC on June 13, 2013, at 15:24:27
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » Vincent_QC, posted by g_g_g_unit on June 13, 2013, at 11:04:32
> > > i'm a bit like you Vincent .. severe anxiety, extreme med sensitivity, and also have a heart-attack obsession (among others though, i have full-blown OCD).
> > >
> > > i haven't been able to tolerate any ADs up to this point either, and was thinking about trying Lamictal as a last resort.
> > >
> > > hope it works out for you, please let me know how it goes
> >
> > Hi -:)
> > ok and what meds you take right now to control your anxiety and OCD?
>
> nothing at the moment, though i'm non-functional. i do take clonazepam occasionally when i have to leave the house (i can't without it) ..
> >
> > In the past, did you always been sensitive to the side effects of drugs?
>
> i think so, but i have a feeling it's gotten worse with time
> >
> > Do you think you will try the Lamictal soon?
>
> possibly yes, i was thinking of asking my GP for a trial .. either that or Lithium.
> >
> > Let me know ok!!!
>
> sure no problem :)
> >
> > Thanks ;-)
>
>Ok so you are disable from work like me? Homebound and agoraphobia like me? Can you go out of your house alone like to take a walk in the street? Can you stay alone at home? Did you feel ok at home I mean symptoms free or you have anxiety symptoms even at home?
Posted by ihatedrugs on June 13, 2013, at 15:26:04
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » ihatedrugs, posted by Vincent_QC on June 13, 2013, at 10:10:14
> > Hi,
> >
> > I took Lamictal for a year and didn't get any anxiety (not bipolar). My brother who suffers from debilitating GAD takes 200mg and has been on it for over a year and doing well. Just give a try and monitor your symptoms. Í'd stay away from Google as it could drive anyone insane. Wonder if you type "Lamictal and winning the lottery" in the search bar, you'd find results. Best of luck.
>
> Hi ;-)
> What is your diagnosis? Did you had anxiety problems before starting the Lamictal? Your brother only have GAD? No panic attacks?
>
> I agree for Google, not always good to search for symptoms from a drug!!! But I do Google Lamictal + heart palpitations and fall on a lot of web forum with real stories about peoples with bipolar or seizure disorders who had to stop the Lamictal because they had tachycardia, heart palpitations, chest pain all the time...
>
> But I have to agree that you can type Lamictal and any other kind of words who are not related a side-effects and who will find some intersting links... lol
>
> Well, I will try it but lower dose than the PDoc want, maybe 6.25 mg every 2 days for the first week and see how I feel... one thing is sure, if I have a more rapid heart rate, pounding heart beat worse than before I start it or more chest pain épisodes, I will not increase the dose and switch to the Paxil option only...
>
> Thanks again ;-)My brother suffers from panic attacks and severe anxiety as well as depression. My diagnosis is MDD and GAD, although anxiety for me wasn't as big an issue as depression. I'm sorry you have to start a new med fearing its side effects due to your heart condition. Hopefully it will be a Godsend for you. Perhaps you could call the dr. who treated you and ask him if he could look into the correlation of heart problems and Lamictal further. Drs. have access to all kinds of peer-reviewed literature. Your starting dose is also tiny in comparison to what is normally recommended but given your situation is a good thing to be cautious. I truly wish you the best of luck.
Posted by gadchik on June 13, 2013, at 16:19:38
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » gadchik, posted by Vincent_QC on June 13, 2013, at 15:21:45
I tapered off of remeron and zoloft a couple of yrs ago because I gained 30lbs and I wanted to feel fit and healthy again. I started out on remeron 7.5mg and clonazepam .5mg. After a month, my pdoc added 12.5mg zoloft and after a couple of weeks went up to 25mg and stayed there. I only need small doses of meds to work. I also did cbt, and reg counseling. I was determined to get well, and I did. After tapering, I lost all the weight. Stayed on clonazepam .5mg. Thats all I take. But I really want to taper off and just use occasionally.
Posted by Vincent_QC on June 13, 2013, at 18:48:25
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » Vincent_QC, posted by ihatedrugs on June 13, 2013, at 15:26:04
>
> My brother suffers from panic attacks and severe anxiety as well as depression. My diagnosis is MDD and GAD, although anxiety for me wasn't as big an issue as depression. I'm sorry you have to start a new med fearing its side effects due to your heart condition. Hopefully it will be a Godsend for you. Perhaps you could call the dr. who treated you and ask him if he could look into the correlation of heart problems and Lamictal further. Drs. have access to all kinds of peer-reviewed literature. Your starting dose is also tiny in comparison to what is normally recommended but given your situation is a good thing to be cautious. I truly wish you the best of luck.Hey thanks for your answer, you're a nice person!!!
I'm glad it's working well for your brother! You stop the lamictal no?
When the PDoc write the script to me in his office I ask him directly the question, I ask about the side effects on the heart and he answer that he never heard of heart related side effects... I know that PDoc have access to a lot of literature about all the meds, here in the Canada they have a big book call CPS, it's listing all the meds and all the side effects and interractions for each med... I have to trust him and try it...
It's not just about the fear of heart related side effects, it's because since 2010 I'm really med sensitive and no Doc know why my brain and body react like that... Like I was saying, I was used to take huge dose of meds, sometimes 4 meds at the same time and didn't had sensitivity to meds... I remember a cocktail of 40 mg of lexapro + 300 mg of Wellbutrin cause the lexapro was making me feel soooo tired and was also on low dose of seroquel for the insomnia and 20 mg of Ritalin to have more energy and was a heavy coffee drinker at the time with around 8 cups a day... Wasn't more anxious, never had heart palpitations or tachycardia, no dizziness or low blood pressure... But all those meds did nothing for my social anxiety... Lexapro alone in high dose was perhaps the worse ssri I was put on and never did anything to help my anxiety... Only the Paxil help me... And the Nardil help also but had orthostaric hypotension even with some florinef so I didn't stay on it more than 4 months... But overall the Paxil 20 mg and even 15 mg was enough for me to stop all the panic attacks and other inappropriate fears and phobia...
The lamictal dose the PDoc RX is 12.5 mg every 2 days the first week and up to 12.5 mg each day and after 25 mg day and 50 mg... It's low dose but he know I'm med sensitive... And just to play more safe, I will start even lower...and see what happen...
Posted by Vincent_QC on June 13, 2013, at 19:06:42
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » Vincent_QC, posted by gadchik on June 13, 2013, at 16:19:38
> I tapered off of remeron and zoloft a couple of yrs ago because I gained 30lbs and I wanted to feel fit and healthy again. I started out on remeron 7.5mg and clonazepam .5mg. After a month, my pdoc added 12.5mg zoloft and after a couple of weeks went up to 25mg and stayed there. I only need small doses of meds to work. I also did cbt, and reg counseling. I was determined to get well, and I did. After tapering, I lost all the weight. Stayed on clonazepam .5mg. Thats all I take. But I really want to taper off and just use occasionally.
Oh ok, I'm glad to see that you are feeling better and off meds...
I never gain weight on the remeron only, but I gain weight from all the ssri or srni... Lexapro is the worse for the weight gain even if apparently it's the one with less weight gain effect... The Zoloft even at 200 mg did nothing for my anxiety, seem like 25 mg or 200 mg was the same, just had panic attacks from it and worse social phobia...
Benzo are ok for short term or prn...sadly some PDoc don't understand that they can worse the anxiety in a long term view!!! I think a part of my anxiety disorder is linked to the clonazepam but well, since 1 year I decrease my dose from 8 mg to 7 mg and I will not move to a lower dose before another med like the Paxil or Lamictal (if it work on me) will put my anxiety under control... For now it's impossible to see me going on a withdrawal of the benzo... Will die for sure...
I find out that from all the benzo meds on the market, only the Valium at a low dose can be use as a long term help for anxiety... The problem with the clonazepam or Xanax are their strong addiction effect...whatever the short or long half life, for me those 2 benzo are the worse... My goal, when an AD or another no addicting med will control more my anxiety, will be to withdrawal slowly the clonazepam and switch to low dose of Valium... It's the more stable benzo, stay a long time in your system, no rebound anxiety, no interdose withdrawal effects (I have them even on the clonazepam and the half life is long compare to the Xanax)...
One thing is sure, for now I only have some power to help me to reduce my anxiety with better foods habit, stop smoking, and start slowly exercise...
Posted by g_g_g_unit on June 13, 2013, at 22:03:46
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » g_g_g_unit, posted by Vincent_QC on June 13, 2013, at 15:24:27
>
> Ok so you are disable from work like me? Homebound and agoraphobia like me? Can you go out of your house alone like to take a walk in the street? Can you stay alone at home? Did you feel ok at home I mean symptoms free or you have anxiety symptoms even at home?yes homebound and agoraphobic and unable to work. i can take a walk around my neighborhood, but going much further than that can be difficult. i find i can go places if i drive, however -- for some reason a car feels safe.
i can be alone at home, yeah; i do still experience anxiety/obsessional symptoms at home but they become a lot worse when i have to leave the house.
Posted by Vincent_QC on June 14, 2013, at 10:43:13
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » Vincent_QC, posted by g_g_g_unit on June 13, 2013, at 22:03:46
>
> yes homebound and agoraphobic and unable to work. i can take a walk around my neighborhood, but going much further than that can be difficult. i find i can go places if i drive, however -- for some reason a car feels safe.Thats weird, I mean agoraphobia and being homebound is about not being able to go out of your house without experiencing panic and a lot of anxiety... I can't drive, I can't even go by car as a passenger on the highway... Can't take a walk in the street cause I panic if I go too far away from home... So my guess is that you are not 100% agoraphobic... And the fact that you can drive away from your house also mean that you are not really homebound? I don't want to minimized what you live, anxiety is the worse thing in life... But at least you can drive and get out of your house to walk without feeling like you will die... And it's a great thing... Loosing all your freedom and not being able to get out of your house, can't drive or be a passenger of a car especially on the highway and not being able to stay alone at home is what I call being homebound and agoraphobic...
> i can be alone at home, yeah; i do still experience anxiety/obsessional symptoms at home but they become a lot worse when i have to leave the house.
>I find out that I can be alone at home but only at daytime... but I will avoid things like taking a shower or having a bowel movement when I'm alone, I don't know why I can't do those things when I'm alone but my guess is that it's linked to the fact that I faint several times in my shower and also when I had a bowel movement... So I fear that it happen again... I think it's anticipatory anxiety no? Also I have IBS with big C, no laxative work, only thing who move my bowel are 12 glycerin suppositories... And even with all those suppositories I need to strain really hard... I'm in pain most of the time and that pain is worse at night cause all the foods who is waiting to get out of me... So at night I can't sleep and have insomnia mainly cause of the pain who prevent me to fall asleep... Also I can't get up in the middle of the night to go pee, my heart start racing and I have bad panic attacks at night... Probably cause I know that most of the time heart attack occur at night or early in he morning cause of the higher cortisol and adrenaline level...
Anxiety suck... Since 3 years it's like I have no life at all... Everything turn around my physical symptoms... I can't stop thinking about the symptoms since I feel them all the time non stop... Have lost all my interests, have no friends (I'm not looking for pity here), the fact that I can't even enjoy music without feeling like I wi die, can't read a book cause it make me feel disconnected and trigger panic and make me feel so mentally tired, the fact that I can't even take my car and drive, or can't enjoy a family dinner cause too many people's around me make me feel very anxious and lethargic and trigger panic... All of this lead to 0 life... I don't wish that to my worse enemy...
I'm like you on that too, when I absolutely need to get out of the house for Doc appointment, I become extremely anxious, me who is already very anxious at home and have many panic attacks at home each day, out the house it's even worse, I'm almost in a non stop panic attack mood until I return home and it take all my low level of energy and need 3-4 days to recover...
Posted by gadchik on June 14, 2013, at 13:05:54
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » g_g_g_unit, posted by Vincent_QC on June 14, 2013, at 10:43:13
V, you have got to fix this. I really would love to hear, in the future, that you conquered it and are thriving. Remember, part of this process is getting ur habits in order, sleeping,eating,exercise. I really wish the best for you. It makes me so sad to hear of what you r going thru.
Posted by Vincent_QC on June 14, 2013, at 17:37:13
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » Vincent_QC, posted by gadchik on June 14, 2013, at 13:05:54
> V, you have got to fix this. I really would love to hear, in the future, that you conquered it and are thriving. Remember, part of this process is getting ur habits in order, sleeping,eating,exercise. I really wish the best for you. It makes me so sad to hear of what you r going thru.
Thanks for your support, I appreciate it so much -:)
Yes I will post some updates for sure... First step stop smoking, stop sugar, better food choices, it can help I'm sure... And have to choose between starting the lamictal or Paxil... If I have to go into side effects I guess It will be more wise to choose the Paxil since its the only med who always work for me... But will think about it all the weekend and see if I try the lamictal Monday or start the Paxil...
Posted by gadchik on June 14, 2013, at 19:36:58
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » gadchik, posted by Vincent_QC on June 14, 2013, at 17:37:13
I know that all the drs wanted me to take paxil. they said thats the one for anxiety. i was afraid of all pills so i wouldnt take it. i was obsessed with my bathroom habits as well. I developed "fecal stasis", which is when ur colon is paralyzed.I actually was so crazy, I thought my intestines were disconnected from my stomach. Sounds really strange to me now. i had to use miralax to get colon to work. My anxiety was so bad, my digestive system was messed up. I have recovered fully, and I know you will too. : )
Posted by Vincent_QC on June 14, 2013, at 20:13:05
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » Vincent_QC, posted by gadchik on June 14, 2013, at 19:36:58
> I know that all the drs wanted me to take paxil. they said thats the one for anxiety. i was afraid of all pills so i wouldnt take it. i was obsessed with my bathroom habits as well. I developed "fecal stasis", which is when ur colon is paralyzed.I actually was so crazy, I thought my intestines were disconnected from my stomach. Sounds really strange to me now. i had to use miralax to get colon to work. My anxiety was so bad, my digestive system was messed up. I have recovered fully, and I know you will too. : )
Humm I had 2 intestinal obstructions. I think it may be linked to my gastric by pass surgery I had back in 2001... My gastro Doc think its from too much adhesion... Anyway I'm now having IBS with c, no laxative work; I can't have a normal bowel movement, I always need the glycerin suppositories to pass stools... I never had that before 2011... In fact before I had 8 to 10 liquid bowel movement a day!!! So anxiety is probably the main problem I think and can't relax the anal muscles to pass stools... Also the more I'm anxious and the more intestine pain I will have... Most of the time I'm so bloated and in pain that the only thing who decrease the pain is to put on my belly an electric eating pad... The main problem is that I burn all my skin, it's all red and brown now and my family Doc said it will never heal since its in a depigmentation state who is worse than only burn skin at every kind of degree...
I also don't need a high dose of med to control my anxiety, 15 mg of Paxil is enough for me... Normal dose is 40 mg... So like my PDoc said, take 1 mg and increase only when side effects decrease... Increase slowly even if it take 6 months or more to reach the therapeutic dose... Lamictal or not he said I will need the Paxil...
I do hope I will have my life back... Can't stay in the house forever and feel like I will die all the time...
Will keep the faith as usual!!!
Thanks for your support -:) Take care of you
Posted by g_g_g_unit on June 15, 2013, at 1:14:19
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » g_g_g_unit, posted by Vincent_QC on June 14, 2013, at 10:43:13
>
> >
> > yes homebound and agoraphobic and unable to work. i can take a walk around my neighborhood, but going much further than that can be difficult. i find i can go places if i drive, however -- for some reason a car feels safe.
>
> Thats weird, I mean agoraphobia and being homebound is about not being able to go out of your house without experiencing panic and a lot of anxiety... I can't drive, I can't even go by car as a passenger on the highway... Can't take a walk in the street cause I panic if I go too far away from home... So my guess is that you are not 100% agoraphobic... And the fact that you can drive away from your house also mean that you are not really homebound? I don't want to minimized what you live, anxiety is the worse thing in life... But at least you can drive and get out of your house to walk without feeling like you will die... And it's a great thing... Loosing all your freedom and not being able to get out of your house, can't drive or be a passenger of a car especially on the highway and not being able to stay alone at home is what I call being homebound and agoraphobic...well what you are living with is awful, but i don't think it's fruitful to compare situations. i have access to a car extremely rarely and only use it to go to doctor's appointments so i am effectively homebound yes. the thing is i've never really suffered from 'panic attacks', but i do become panicked and experience constant hypervigilance and background anxiety and unease whenever i'm away from home. and i guess i should be grateful i can still drive and do some small things, but on the grand scale, it isn't a life, not whatsoever, particularly when i can't even concentrate or function at home either due to OCD and ADD .. so i'm basically disabled on both fronts.
>
> > i can be alone at home, yeah; i do still experience anxiety/obsessional symptoms at home but they become a lot worse when i have to leave the house.
> >
>
> I find out that I can be alone at home but only at daytime... but I will avoid things like taking a shower or having a bowel movement when I'm alone, I don't know why I can't do those things when I'm alone but my guess is that it's linked to the fact that I faint several times in my shower and also when I had a bowel movement... So I fear that it happen again... I think it's anticipatory anxiety no? Also I have IBS with big C, no laxative work, only thing who move my bowel are 12 glycerin suppositories... And even with all those suppositories I need to strain really hard... I'm in pain most of the time and that pain is worse at night cause all the foods who is waiting to get out of me... So at night I can't sleep and have insomnia mainly cause of the pain who prevent me to fall asleep... Also I can't get up in the middle of the night to go pee, my heart start racing and I have bad panic attacks at night... Probably cause I know that most of the time heart attack occur at night or early in he morning cause of the higher cortisol and adrenaline level...
>
> Anxiety suck... Since 3 years it's like I have no life at all... Everything turn around my physical symptoms... I can't stop thinking about the symptoms since I feel them all the time non stop... Have lost all my interests, have no friends (I'm not looking for pity here), the fact that I can't even enjoy music without feeling like I wi die, can't read a book cause it make me feel disconnected and trigger panic and make me feel so mentally tired, the fact that I can't even take my car and drive, or can't enjoy a family dinner cause too many people's around me make me feel very anxious and lethargic and trigger panic... All of this lead to 0 life... I don't wish that to my worse enemy...
>
> I'm like you on that too, when I absolutely need to get out of the house for Doc appointment, I become extremely anxious, me who is already very anxious at home and have many panic attacks at home each day, out the house it's even worse, I'm almost in a non stop panic attack mood until I return home and it take all my low level of energy and need 3-4 days to recover...
>
>i'm really sorry to hear what you're going through. you're right anxiety is awful. strangely, i live in such a noisy, crowded, overstimulating environment that i do actually crave being alone because at least it allows me to concentrate a little. but it's such a pointless, humiliating, frustrating existence .. i'm surprised i haven't cracked yet, but i've tried most pharmacological solutions and honestly can't envision living much longer in this state
Posted by Vincent_QC on June 15, 2013, at 11:04:56
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » Vincent_QC, posted by g_g_g_unit on June 15, 2013, at 1:14:19
>
> well what you are living with is awful, but i don't think it's fruitful to compare situations. i have access to a car extremely rarely and only use it to go to doctor's appointments so i am effectively homebound yes. the thing is i've never really suffered from 'panic attacks', but i do become panicked and experience constant hypervigilance and background anxiety and unease whenever i'm away from home. and i guess i should be grateful i can still drive and do some small things, but on the grand scale, it isn't a life, not whatsoever, particularly when i can't even concentrate or function at home either due to OCD and ADD .. so i'm basically disabled on both fronts.
> >
I didn't wanted to compare you're situation with mine or minimize it!!! I have a hard time to express myself in English (I speak French), and anxiety worse my cognitive function so most of the time what I want to say in English is not what I can write... I was so good in English before, I had English speaking only roommates for 2 years and 1 boyfriend who spoke only in English also. Since my anxiety is severe it's like I have no memory, can forget a discussion I had 5 minutes ago, can't remember what I read ( if I read the news paper,especially in the morning when my heart symptoms are worse, I will not remember what I read at all and sometimes don't even remember that I open the news paper and read it!!!).So OCD and add is your main diagnosis ? Yes like me, just can go to the Doc appointment by car anymore , sometimes i can stop to the pharmacy for my meds or to the walmart but its very hard... i dont drive but my mom drive me and always on the small roads no highway since I had a major panic attack as a passenger in the car of my mom on the highway back in November 2010 and I faint in the car and after I faint I was sick in the car. Horrible experience so since then I can't go on the highway../ I did try to work on that phobia in therapy and do some exposure but as soon as my mom enter on the highway I feel trap and start having a panic attack so she need to take the next exit to get out of the highway... Never try to go their again since 2 years... Well Last time I go on the highway was with the ambulance, when I had my intestinal obstruction and remember that even with medical staff and monitoring my heart rate in the ambulance I did had a panic attack and my heart rate goes up to 180...
I still have some mild OCD myself but nothing to bother me, when I was able to get out of the house before 2010, I had obsession about locking the door, 1 time on 2 , after I leave the house and drive 15 min, I needed to return home and just check if I the door was lock... Also had to enter in the house to see if the oven was close... Or going to the bank for money, I had to count many times my money, sometimes 20 times or more just to be sure that I had all my money... Put it in my wallet and had to count it again several times later just to be sure... Also the heart obsession, taking my pulse rate all the time just to he sure it's not to high or to slow, taking my blood pressure more than 20 times a day... Was able to so taking my old pressure at home for some months a while ago but now it's back... Always worried about it and the pulse rate... One PDoc I had in the past made a diagnosis of ADD without hyperactivity... We tried some meds me Ritalin, concerta, adderall, and find out it was giving panic attack on me so the PDoc remove is add diagnosis saying that I had poor attention because of the anxiety...
>
> i'm really sorry to hear what you're going through. you're right anxiety is awful. strangely, i live in such a noisy, crowded, overstimulating environment that i do actually crave being alone because at least it allows me to concentrate a little. but it's such a pointless, humiliating, frustrating existence .. i'm surprised i haven't cracked yet, but i've tried most pharmacological solutions and honestly can't envision living much longer in this stateI can understand you on that, Iived in a bigger city downtown and I was always full of people's and noise everywhere... With the social phobia at the end I wasn't able to leave my appartement... I was so tired to see all those people's and not being able to walk alone on the street without freaking out and thinking that everyone was laughing at me or looking at me, and all the noise, it's drive me nuts... So back in 2007 I choose to stop the university and return living with my parents... We live outside Quebec City, no noise, not a lot of people's outside... At the beginning I felt better but since 2010 even if I still live with my parents in a calm environment, every small noise like a phone ring , loud music, family dinner, it's making me feel so bad and anxious... I can't live like that anymore... But the bad news is that I'm not suicidal at all, I'm afraid to die, it's my biggest fear so I can't commit suicide... and don't want to... I always hope that one day I will wake up and feel good... But I know it will not happen and that I will probably need meds all my life to have that severe anxiety under control...
I'm tired to not have a life, I want to work again, I want to return to the university and finish my bac in urban planing, I want to participate in that society and stop feeling guilty cause I'm disable from work and not useful... I want to have friends again, good ones this time, I want a social life, ok I have a family but I want friends outside my family and so I want to have a boyfriend... Feel that someone love me and appreciate me for who I'm really are and also have so much love to give... But I know that I need to feel good with myself first before being able to have new friends and someone to share my life...
Well sorry again if I compare your situation with mine, I really didn't wanted to do that... I'm not like that...
Give me some news about how you feel and also you can babblemail me if you want... Sometimes speak with someone who can understand you can make you feel better and less alone...
Take care -:)
Posted by g_g_g_unit on June 16, 2013, at 10:13:25
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » g_g_g_unit, posted by Vincent_QC on June 15, 2013, at 11:04:56
it's okay Vincent, I get that your intentions weren't bad .. I guess I just meant that it's pedantic to argue whether or not someone fits diagnostic criteria to a T .. obvious these things exist on a spectrum and while I might not be the exact definition of a full-blown agoraphobic, it's still enough to render life miserable
yes, my main diagnoses are OCD and ADD, though OCD and anxiety rule most of my life.
I can relate to the noise thing, though my house seems to be particularly noisy anyway, which doesn't really help things.
I appreciate the gesture .. I'll let you know if anything changes. I hope your Lamictal trial goes well. Have you looked into Candesartan at all? I'm interested in it as an off-label treatment for anxiety
take care
Posted by Vincent_QC on June 16, 2013, at 12:52:31
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » Vincent_QC, posted by g_g_g_unit on June 16, 2013, at 10:13:25
> it's okay Vincent, I get that your intentions weren't bad .. I guess I just meant that it's pedantic to argue whether or not someone fits diagnostic criteria to a T .. obvious these things exist on a spectrum and while I might not be the exact definition of a full-blown agoraphobic, it's still enough to render life miserable
>
> yes, my main diagnoses are OCD and ADD, though OCD and anxiety rule most of my life.
>
> I can relate to the noise thing, though my house seems to be particularly noisy anyway, which doesn't really help things.
>
> I appreciate the gesture .. I'll let you know if anything changes. I hope your Lamictal trial goes well. Have you looked into Candesartan at all? I'm interested in it as an off-label treatment for anxiety
>
> take careHi, hummm candesertan is an Angiotensin II who is use for high blood pressure...my dad take it...
Never heard of it use for anxiety, beta blocker are used for anxiety cause they decrease the adrenaline effect on the heart who reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety...
The main problem is that those blood pressure meds tend to lower the blood pressure too much... Well that's what happn with me, I take 30 mg of propranolol each day for the tachycardia, my blood pressure run very low and I'm dizzy most of the time.
The body get used to the beta blocker, now it's doing nothing for the tachycardia and increase the dose lead to low blood pressure. I still use the propranolol cause I fear to have rebound hypertension if I stop it but some studies show that long term severe anxiety and major depression are linked to lower blood pressure and not high blood pressure like most of the people's think...
The clonidine is another option, it's blocking the noradrenaline in th brain and also turn off the adrenaline release of adrenaline from the adrenal glands... I tried it some years ago, did not help me with the panic attacks... But was good to decrease the anxiety and make you sleepy and sleep better... I try it again this year but was also on the propranolol at the same time and my blood pressure drop to a dangerous low level...
Feeling more dizzy with no energy don't decrease my anxiety, it make me worry about the dizziness and low blood pressure who lead to more anxiety overall...
I think the beta blocker are good if you use them not everyday as prn med... Before exposure... But long term use of them decrease the lowering heart rate effect I'm sure of that...
I also tend to use the propranolol like the benzo, I'm addicted in the way that if I don't take it I will fear to have a heart attack so I can't stop it and take it even if its not effective anymore...
Anyway I will ask my Doc about the candersenta... If it can help maybe switching from the propranolol to it will help me?
For the lamictal I'm not sure if I will try it or not. Side effects seem to be worse than the Paxil... Will ask my pharmacist tomorrow...
Thanks again!!!
Posted by Phillipa on June 16, 2013, at 20:42:17
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » g_g_g_unit, posted by Vincent_QC on June 16, 2013, at 12:52:31
Seriously lamictal is so low that you won't have side effects. At least I didn't and I started higher Phillipa
Posted by Vincent_QC on June 17, 2013, at 11:18:29
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » Vincent_QC, posted by Phillipa on June 16, 2013, at 20:42:17
> Seriously lamictal is so low that you won't have side effects. At least I didn't and I started higher Phillipa
Well Phillipa, it's because even if the dose is very low, the PI sheets of the Lamictal is about 25 pages long... the listed side-effects are bar far WORSE and more dangerous than the ones from any SSRI on the market.
Since a little while I have more heart related symptoms, in the morning it's awful how bad I feel, the chronic chest pain, tacahycardia, hands and feet turning blue, numbness of the left side of the body... Did you know that the Lamictal cause some ECG change? It can lead to fatal arrhythmia, artarial fibrilation... since i'm prone to arrhythmia I don't want to put my life in a dangerous way...
I did talk with my Pharmacist and he said to me that the Lamictal have more side-effects than SSRI, he don't understand why my PDoc RX it for anxiety since almost all the peoples who take it have anxiety and hyperactivity kind of symptoms from it...
I think the best I can do for now is to wait until I see my Family Doc and talk with him about it... I see him in 3 weeks... And Start the Paxil at low dose 1 mg...and increase when I feel ready to do it...
I have a lot of anxiety in my life right now, a lot of family problems and also a lot of problems from my ex friends... I can't deal with side-effects from a med that I don't even know if I will react in a good way or a bad way from it...
Also tomorrow I have my 24 h blood pressure monitoring and have to stop at the blood tests departement and have a complete blood tests done... The very low energy level I have right now and all the other symptoms are not normal... i'm sure the calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium are not good at all since i'm having a lot of muscles pain and also weakness... albumin probably drop also since I lost weight recently again... i'm trying to eat a little bit more but with the constipation and bowel pain it's almost impossible, I take 3 centrum everyday now but it's not seem to help with the energy... will see my results, will ask them to send them by fax at home...
Posted by Venielle on July 3, 2013, at 8:18:31
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » ihatedrugs, posted by Vincent_QC on June 13, 2013, at 10:10:14
Hi Vincent.
I encourage you to give the Lamictal a long enough trial to really see if it could help. It may be that just the act of starting a new med, even if it were just a sugar pill, could increase your as yet uncontrolled anxiety. Because you are so worried, obviously with good reason but nevertheless very worried that it will cause side effects. Given a long enough trial at the proper dose could really reduce your anxiety.
Just a thought and I hope it helps.
Posted by Vincent_QC on July 3, 2013, at 11:28:22
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety..., posted by Venielle on July 3, 2013, at 8:18:31
> Hi Vincent.
>
> I encourage you to give the Lamictal a long enough trial to really see if it could help. It may be that just the act of starting a new med, even if it were just a sugar pill, could increase your as yet uncontrolled anxiety. Because you are so worried, obviously with good reason but nevertheless very worried that it will cause side effects. Given a long enough trial at the proper dose could really reduce your anxiety.
>
> Just a thought and I hope it helps.Hi -:) Thanks for your encouragement!!!
Well I did try it, but had to stop cause I had rash from it...
Some people's think that anxiety increase the side effects or like they are in your imagination and not real side effects BUT I'm really med sensitive, I wasn't like that in the past so it's really not the fear of meds who give side effects and its not anxiety, my brain is now very sensitive to meds and my heart also... It's hard to understand for some people's but fears of meds and false side effects from fears are different then side effects from a brain and body who can't cope with side effects...
I see my Doc this afternoon, will tell him about the rash, did ask my pharmacist who look at the rash and said to stop taking it...
I think that first I need to change my beta blocker to reduce my heart related anxiety symptoms, the propranolol did nothing to help me anymore. Have to find out the good one for me with my Doc, I tried almost all of them with the exception of the carvedilol who is Coreg generic name and the bystolic... Apparently the vasodilatation effect of the bystolic give more anxiety and the Coreg alpha 1 antagonist can help with anxiety but don't really decrease the heart rate at rest like the older beta blocker... And tachycardia and exercise intolerance are main problems...
Have to try again the bisoprolol, more selective than the atenolol, less metabolism problems like diabete and cholesterol... Did try it in the past but don't really remember who it was... Better or not than the propranolol...
The clonidine is another good option but I take small dose of remeron to sleep, 3 to 7.5 mg at night, and I think the clonidine and mirtazapine have an interaction because of the alpha 2 agonist effect, not sure... Also I need to stop smoking and I know the clonidine can help with that too... Again, I don't think I can take the clonidine with a beta blocker... It's will be up wi my Doc decision and choice...
Adding extra benzo dose will not help, already stuck with 7 mg of clonazepam a day and tend to use very low dose of Xanax prn when I need to get out of the house without the approval of my Doc and its not a good idea but have no choice... I ask him to RX a low dose of Xanax prn again likin 2011 with my Klonopin usual dose and last time he said no... Was more open with the idea to add small Valium dose at bedtime because of the long half life but had tons of Valium at home and did try it and its not helping... I think my GABA receptors are not working properly anymore...
The PDoc point out the Luvox and the epival (depakote), since I had great results for the panic disorder and anxiety with the Paxil who is a ssri, I should ask to try the Luvox... The depakote, who can be good for the GABA effect, will only add more dizziness and bring on anxiety... So maybe vey low Luvox dose like 5 mg to start and increase very slowly will work? Anyway I did try to return on the Paxil several times in the last 3 years and 1 mg was enough to give extra anxiety and more heart related symptoms who are not from the fear of meds since I took meds before at high dose with no problem at all. So returning again on the Paxil can also be an option like 1 mg day and increase very slowly... Like the PDoc said, it can take 6 months or more to reach a therapeutic level but its the only way to desensitize my brains...
Have many things to talk with my Doc, some not usual symptoms of anxiety like no sweating so can't stay outside under the sun or even just outside when it's hot cause my body temp increase to the point that I feel faint and sick... Have legs pain cause of varicose veins, have pain in the left arteries on my neck, and things like that...
Well thanks for your words of encouragement!!! I appreciate it really...
Take care , Vincent
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.