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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by maddy4 on September 21, 2005, at 19:44:14
soooo, i am not taking the lexapro today/tonight - cant cope - too drugged feeling.
will see what tom. brings and let some of this get out of my system. then maybe get the nerve to try 2.5 mg instead of 5. or else do nothing. maybe just xan.
ssri's scare the crap out of me - they did before i took the plunge and my reaction to it confirmed all of my fears.
my eyes are still majorly dilated - so i feel like i am on large amounts of dextramorphin - finally found one page 'lexapro pharmacology' site that listed dilation as a RARE SE.
anyway - msut do smthg to get anxiety / panic under wraps - dont know what - dont want to be a brain fried zombie - dont want to feel so weak for taking a drug- hating this! but not depressed at all - just kinda over it - over the panic - over ADDRESSING the panic.
i want to WANT pizza, relax and be like i was a week ago today. what changed?
also - lex has me in the back yard smoking at night - i had been smoke free for so long - i CRAVE them on lex. what is that?
Posted by Racer on September 22, 2005, at 10:53:37
In reply to Update, posted by maddy4 on September 21, 2005, at 19:44:14
Lexapro was horrible for me, too -- I felt so drugged, and just couldn't even talk on it. Other SSRIs have no affected me that way, though, so you might talk to your doctor about trying another.
Good luck.
Posted by maddy4 on September 22, 2005, at 11:42:38
In reply to Re: Update, posted by Racer on September 22, 2005, at 10:53:37
> Lexapro was horrible for me, too -- I felt so drugged, and just couldn't even talk on it. Other SSRIs have no affected me that way, though, so you might talk to your doctor about trying another.
>
> Good luck.Oh - thanks for responding - gald to know im not he only. what SSRI did work for you - they just called me in wellbutrin - but i keep reading it is not right for panic. dont know. will try. at least wellbutrin keeps the weight off supposedly.
Posted by Racer on September 22, 2005, at 16:51:38
In reply to Re: Update, posted by maddy4 on September 22, 2005, at 11:42:38
Which SSRIs work for me? Well, Paxil was OK, although I didn't love the side effects. That was the only SSRI I've been on as monotherapy. Mostly I've been on cocktails that included Prozac, which is OK -- although I was much too agitated on it when it was tried as monotherapy.
In other words, none of the SSRIs have worked on their own for me, although Prozac has been a good adjunct for other meds for me. What have worked better were combinations. Effexor and Prozac was good enough for a while, and I was stabilizing on Wellbutrin and Prozac a while back.
Wellbutrin is my favorite of the drugs I've tried so far, by the way.
As for anxiety and anti-depressants, my guess is that a medication that addressed your depression and didn't cause overwhelming sedation would probably reduce your anxiety, too, just by virtue of making you feel better overall. Does that make sense? If it wasn't enough, there are meds like the beta blockers or calcium channel blockers that might help with that, too. (Although I believe that Wellbutrin will counter at least propranolol in the beta blocker catagory...)
Hope that helps a bit. If it scares you, instead, please remember that I'm treatment resistant -- so far, NOTHING has entirely remitted my depression. We're still looking.
Good luck.
Posted by maddy4 on September 22, 2005, at 21:37:09
In reply to Tough answer... » maddy4, posted by Racer on September 22, 2005, at 16:51:38
> Which SSRIs work for me? Well, Paxil was OK, although I didn't love the side effects. That was the only SSRI I've been on as monotherapy. Mostly I've been on cocktails that included Prozac, which is OK -- although I was much too agitated on it when it was tried as monotherapy.
>
> In other words, none of the SSRIs have worked on their own for me, although Prozac has been a good adjunct for other meds for me. What have worked better were combinations. Effexor and Prozac was good enough for a while, and I was stabilizing on Wellbutrin and Prozac a while back.
>
> Wellbutrin is my favorite of the drugs I've tried so far, by the way.
>
> As for anxiety and anti-depressants, my guess is that a medication that addressed your depression and didn't cause overwhelming sedation would probably reduce your anxiety, too, just by virtue of making you feel better overall. Does that make sense? If it wasn't enough, there are meds like the beta blockers or calcium channel blockers that might help with that, too. (Although I believe that Wellbutrin will counter at least propranolol in the beta blocker catagory...)
>
> Hope that helps a bit. If it scares you, instead, please remember that I'm treatment resistant -- so far, NOTHING has entirely remitted my depression. We're still looking.
>
> Good luck.
Racer- i have NO depression - only anxiety + panic, panic attacks....and fear of weight gain..so am scared to take anything - think WB sounds good b/c no weight gain but afraid of it for panic. thoughts???? TIA
Posted by Racer on September 23, 2005, at 12:54:57
In reply to Re: Tough answer... RACER, posted by maddy4 on September 22, 2005, at 21:37:09
> > >
> Racer- i have NO depression - only anxiety + panic, panic attacks....and fear of weight gain..so am scared to take anything - think WB sounds good b/c no weight gain but afraid of it for panic. thoughts???? TIAAha, if you have no depressive symptoms, only anxiety, that's a whole 'nother ball of wax... I guess I'd say that something that addressed those symptoms directly. I had great luck on a very low dose of propranalol, which targets the physical symptoms rather than the emotional symptoms. It might be worth a try, since if it's going to work, it should be apparent right away.
I haven't tried Buspar, but it's another one that's worth a try. It will take longer to show its colors, though.
SLS is the most likely to have an answer to this one, so you might ask him.
Posted by maddy4 on September 23, 2005, at 17:52:19
In reply to Hmmm.... » maddy4, posted by Racer on September 23, 2005, at 12:54:57
> > > >
> > Racer- i have NO depression - only anxiety + panic, panic attacks....and fear of weight gain..so am scared to take anything - think WB sounds good b/c no weight gain but afraid of it for panic. thoughts???? TIA
>
> Aha, if you have no depressive symptoms, only anxiety, that's a whole 'nother ball of wax... I guess I'd say that something that addressed those symptoms directly. I had great luck on a very low dose of propranalol, which targets the physical symptoms rather than the emotional symptoms. It might be worth a try, since if it's going to work, it should be apparent right away.
>
> I haven't tried Buspar, but it's another one that's worth a try. It will take longer to show its colors, though.
>
> SLS is the most likely to have an answer to this one, so you might ask him.
racer - i googled propranalol and it sounded great until i got to the part abt not taking w/ alcohol - gotta have my wine at 5pm :) what do you think abt WB for panic only?
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