Posted by Rick on June 10, 2000, at 2:54:47
In reply to Re: Celexa, Serzone? (Re: Social Phobia Cocktail...), posted by Rick on June 10, 2000, at 2:41:01
(Don't know why my post aborted midway...maybe I didn't read the "fine print", and missed some restriction on post length. Anyways, here's the rest -- I hope!)While technically an antidepressant, Serzone is known as having strong anti-anxiety qualities, and a few open studies have shown promising results for Social Phobia. As you may know, while Serzone increases serotonin (and to a lesser extent norepinephrine) it does so primarily through a different mechanism than the SSRI's. Many people seem to suffer side effects with Serzone, although I have not. Maybe that is because I am on a low-side dose. Also, sedation is one of the most common complaints when you get to theraputic dosages, so maybe the Provigil is counteracting such an effect for me. Further, unlike the SSRI's, it is very uncommon for Serzone to cause sexual difficulty, except perhaps at very high doses. Indeed, recent studies have shown that Serzone *enhances* sexual performance and desire for many people, especially women.
Moving on to the stimulant side of the equation: To help counter Celexa-induced fatigue and lack of motivation, my pdoc had me try adding a small dose of Wellbutrin. This helped with the fatigue, but brought back much of my Social Anxiety. Similary, when I felt a little slow on Klonopin in the early days of my treatment (I later discovered that this was because I was taking substantially more Klonopin than my body "wanted"), we added a small dose of Selegiline. Again, this was great for wakefulness and cognition (and added to my already-O.K. sex drive), but it produced nervousness which worked against the Social Phobia benefits of the Klonopin.
Now, Provigil is a different story! It actually provides more mental stimulation and wakefulness than the other "activating" meds, but with no increase in anxiety or peripheral shakiness. I feel pleasantly "up" but not wired. Provigil just makes me feel good and MORE socially comfortable. I feel confident, awake and motivated without the counte
poster:Rick
thread:36517
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000603/msgs/36799.html