Antidepressants for anxiety

[[ro...]]

Hi,

 

I posted this in my blog, and then decided that this is more the proper place for it, and hope that I will get some advice.

 

I have had a couple of miserable couple of weeks  :'( with the new psych Dr. trying to find me an antidepressant that will help with anxiety.  I was seeing him at the request of my internist for help with my anxiety, despite thinking that most (but not all) of my anxiety was rebound from xanax, and could be tolerated possibly after withdrawal.  I have scoured the forum, and found where others used ssri's or other antidepressants while withdrawing, which goes along with what the pdr. said in that xanax was like trying to fix anxiety with a “band-aid”.

 

I first tried Lexapro which immediately caused awful nausea, and less sleep.  The dr. then gave me something similar to Effexor, called Pristiq, which caused sedation and tiredness that wouldn’t go away, and a form of unsteadiness, whether real or imagined.  At first the sleep was nice, until it interfered with work.  I lost my stability on the xanax dosage to a degree, as it unsettled my nerves, as I had felt relatively comfortable with the 1.5mg, and was dry shaving parts off the pills, so I was really down to 1.35 or 1.375, but was instructed by him not to taper past 1.5mg until I had tried other medicines that could help with anxiety.

 

Thus I haven't made any progress on tapering or working at a normal pace, and lost ground on stabilizing.  I missed two days from work due to nausea and overwhelming tiredness. 

 

I like the pdr., but do not to want to lose hope that I can taper from this stuff by trying a range of medicines with which I am unable to  progress.  I am afraid that I may be stuck with trying more medications, losing ground with tapering, and not being as productive at work.  What I would like to do is get back to where I was, and continue cutting, whether I have an extra medication that is a saving grace or not, but I do not want to lose the support of the pdr who also has cognitive behavior classes, and could help me if I have problems.

 

Thus what should I do?      Should I tell him again that I have problems, and continue hoping that there is a magic bullet, or at least that there is an antidepressant  for which I can tolerate the side effects, even though I am not depressed, IMHO?  It is for the anxiety.  Should I stabilize and wait a couple of weeks before calling him?  When everyone is telling me to stop cutting, or hold off, how do I remain motivated while trying other medications?  How do I keep my work schedule, if medications make me ill?  Should I just continue my life as I had done, until my next appointment, and tell him then I couldn't hand Pristiq?  He is being so careful not to give me anything that will cause weight gain, and he listens, a quality nice to experience with a doctor.

 

For any of you who have been on SSRI’s or other antidepressants, please let me know what experiences you have had, and if it helped with anxiety or tapering. 

 

I also need help on how to keep my determination and morale, if I continue to try this other stuff and not progress, or whether I should. 

 

Thanks,

Rose

 

P.S. I have everything for titration, but postponed everything when the side effects of the AD's started.

 

[[Be...]]

You are in a tough, if very familiar, spot, Rose.    I know members have tried several different A/Ds for anxiety, including Lexapro, Effexor, Paxil and Zoloft.  At one time or another (way prior to tapering), I was on all of those and others besides.  They all had negative side effects and only Paxil helped with depression for about a year.  I don't remember feeling any less anxiety but I was on steady doses of ativan at the time.  It is rather common for a pdoc to require a person to get an A/D "on board" before tapering and if memory serves, the most common one I've read about here is Zoloft. 

 

All I can suggest is do a lot of research on the possible side effects and talk with your doctor about your concerns.  Also, most of these take 3-4 weeks before you can tell if they are working for depression and many times I just had the dosage increased several times over a period of months before the doc would let me try something else.  All those psych drugs messed me up for years and I'd hate to see you go that route.  Maybe pick one with the least chance of bad side effects and try it but not commit to keep trying different ones until you find one that works, because there may not be an A/D that will work on your anxiety without causing intolerable side effects. 

 

I'm assuming that you are also exploring non-med means of managing anxiety.  If no one has pointed you to the Anxiety and Panic board, do check it out.  There are a lot of good suggestions and resources there.  I swear by Claire Weekes, controlled breathing and moderate exercise.  That's the combo that helped me get off lorazepam without adding another drug. 

 

[[la...]]

Speaking only from my own experience...

 

My drug withdrawal was complicated by adding other drugs to counteract either side effects of original drugs, or the withdrawal symptoms of coming off them.  My doctors were very quick to answer any claim of anxiety with a drug.

 

What it took me years to realize was that my anxiety did not need medication -- it needed improved health.  That occurred gradually, over time, as I reduced my intake of drugs.

 

I'm not qualified to tell whether anyone else's anxiety requires medical intervention.  I just know that mine was actually prolonged and worsened by it, when what I really needed was to give myself time to heal.

 

If you want to follow Beeper's fine advice and research your pharmaceutical options, I recommend starting at www.worstpills.org.  (Don't worry -- it's not as bad as it sounds.)  This is an excellent place to research side effects so you can make an informed decision.

 

Good luck, and I'll be pulling for you.

[[ro...]]

 

I'm assuming that you are also exploring non-med means of managing anxiety.  If no one has pointed you to the Anxiety and Panic board, do check it out.  There are a lot of good suggestions and resources there.  I swear by Claire Weekes, controlled breathing and moderate exercise.  That's the combo that helped me get off lorazepam without adding another drug. 

 

 

Thanks, Beeper.    He mentioned Zoloft, and I wonder which ones he decided against because of weight issues.  I do breathing exercises, and meditation, the latter of which the pdr. said did help.  I am not going to him because I thought I thought I needed something for anxiety, but because my internist did.  I just hate to discontinue a relationship, because I might need him some day and because of the CBT that his office offers.  I believe he is as open minded as they come; the look he gave when I told him of a detox where they switched me to Klonopin, and then just dropped the prescription spoke volumes.  But I don't forget he is a psychiatrist.  I don't want to be sick from another drug though, or too tired to make it through a normal day.

 

 

[[sp...]]

Hi

Just thought Id tell you that I lasted 18 months without anything with terrible rebound anxiety and depression - both coming and going with a wave.  Eventually went on propranolol (beta blocker) for variablle pulse/bp adreal issues and anti depressant amitriptylene to sleep (10mg dose).  Not sure which helped more but anxiety significantly less now and coping far better with w/d.  I dont advocate using other drugs if you can get away without them, but in my case things got so bad needs must.  Tranx and my doc here (nz) told me that 10-20mg amitrip is what they use to aid people through w/d, but only at this low dose.  They said it does seem to help people manage w/d better overall and easier to come off later than the benzo itself.

Your decision what you do - I was off the benzo once started a/d so if you do start anything id hold benzo for a bit to stable dose achieved.

Best of luck

Spring

[[an...]]

:crazy:hi,i just started lamictal for anxiety and mood problems due to wd from benzo's,ugh! Never again will i touch that stuff! Everything that i tried for mood and anxiety has not agreed with me at all,i feel very shaky and i had to take some cogentin i had in my draw since lst year to stop the shakes,it was that bad,been off klonopin for 15 months now,i last used in Sept,which was when i cheated 11 times last summer due to severe wd,i got off klonopin in march 08,i was on it for 16 years at varius doses,ranging from 1 mgs to 3 mgs back to 2mgs when i came off,does anyone seem to have manic mood swings and do you ever move things around alot with agitated feelings? Thanks              Kristine                    P.S I do have waves of normailty now

[[Be...]]

Hi there: I am in the process of weaning off Clonzapam and I have taken Zoloft for anxiety, panic attacks, and depression for 10 yrs. My dr. increased my dose as you have to do that if needed. Not everyone needs to increase their dose but she and I both agreed i needed it. I also take Vistrail for anxiety. Which is like an antistmene and also used for anxiety. I really like Zoloft and it has helped me tremendously. You will get through this you just need to either get on the right med or get the benzo's totally out of you. You will be ok!!! We both will!!!

[[...]]

When I completed my taper I tried several different natural medications and everything made my symptoms worst. I came to the conclusion that my CNS was to fragile and the only way I was going to get better was to let my system return to it's natural state without the help of any meds natural or otherwise.