Experiences with any anti-anxiety meds

  • Thread starter Thread starter hamstachick
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Oh, sorry for the double post, but, SDRIs also do have some of the same properties as ADHD medications. ONly one SDRI is approved in north america (wellbutrin) on its own, but there are more in other countries, and they are used as off label ADHD treatment (both affect dopamine).

My pharmacist told me that SNRIs (effexor for example) will provide energy to counteract the fatigue an SSRI itself will cause, but it won't do anything for appetite like an SDRI will. (oh and an SDRI is often paired with an SSRI to counteract the sexual side effects they can cause -- however I found it increased my sex drive rather than keep it the same (or reducing it))

Hope this helps you make your decision :)
 
Despite of what I've said about effexor in my earlier post this would be a medication that I would reccommend for treating panic attacks and severe anxiety. It didn't work for me but I know plenty of people where it has worked for them very well. If you do get any side effects though from it I'd say try to live with it as best you can. Remeraber when you find the right med its not like you would be on it for the rest of your life.Wish you luck.
 
I took Zoloft years ago and then changed to the newer SSRI - Celexa. So can't really help you about getting off of it
BUT, as much as I hate taking meRAB, I've reconciled myself to the fact that my brain isn't like everybody else's & I'll probably always need something. I've tried to quit figuring out "why" because it doesn't really matter - if I find out "why" then what am I doing to do about it? Probably the same thing to alleviate it. For example, if I figure out that my anxiety is caused by unresolved stuff around my mother, I still need to do something about the anxiety. And that will probably involve some kind of med.

Also - using the above scenario - if I can control the anxiety, I can look at the issues better and take steps to resolve them. If I'm spinning in anxiety, that's all I can do.

Hope that makes sense & helps.
 
Pristiq & Effexor are SNRI's and Zoloft is an SSRI. Maybe that helps...?As I recall, Pristiq is similar to Effexor and was actually put on the market because the patent on Effexor ran out (so it can now be sold generically.) Zoloft is different & falls more into the Prozac, Celexa, etc. category.
 
only thing effexor helped me with was my OCD. I have severe anxiety too. I was on 150 mg. Did NOTHING for my anxiety symptoms though. Thats not to say it wont help you though! For me though so far NO anti-depressants did anything for my anxiety.

The weird thing though is i still always got that feeling i was about to have a panic attack while on it. Even though i didn''t have one, i could have if things got bad enough. It does nothing to stop those thoughts in your brain, so it was pretty much useless in my opinion.
 
Checking on thread and still wondering about Buspar. I am currently taking Xanax as needed and throwing in Benedryl here and there too. It helps the Xanax go further or adRAB a bit or something.

But I will be seeing the dr. next month and he is going to push the Zoloft, I just know it. So I am still looking into the Buspar. He seems to think it won't be enough for me. Anyone?
 
I have looked into Effexor, but from what I have read about it being a nightmare to get off of, it has scared me away from it. I THINK I saw somewhere that it was for panic too, but like I said, the withdrawl stuff scared the peewadden out of me. I do know two people that are taking it and seem to be fine, but I think they were taking it for depression and not panic disorder. Anyone else take Effexor for Panic disorder and find it help?

Thanks!
 
Well, I've heard paxil is the mother of all ARAB to withdrawal from and I managed to do it relatively unscathed, so you might be ok with Effexor. My panic attacks increased a little, but I started taking ativan when I needed it and it helped with the paxil withdrawal. Sometimes things aren't as bad as they're made out to be :)
 
Cyrabalta is the newer version of Effexor and can be difficult to get off of. I think the key is to do it with doctor's supervision. I suspect that many people just quit and end up in trouble. You must taper off slowly.
 
I took buspar several years ago for anxiety and it did not help at all. As I recall, it would also make me dizzy at odd times. My doc didn't think it would help either - and he was right.
 
I've suffered with anxiety and panic disorder since I was a small child... diagnosed with insomnia and just being 'different' lol ...doctors

Finally in my late 20s a dr asked me if anxiety runs in my family and I was like huh? No one had EVER mentioned anxiety to me and I had no clue what it was! I thought my panic was due to sleeplessness as per my family dr. She tried me on all types of ARAB including older ones and also wellbutrin and buspar but nothing helped and the side effects were horrible :(

Finally she took me off the ARAB sent me to a pdoc and he tried me on xanax.. 0.25 as needed.. I was taking 3 or 4 a day and a sleep aid. I'm now 39 and a few yrs back had to return to xanax after being off it for awhile and doing well. I've been taking 3mg a day for over 2 yrs now with no sleep aid needed. I havent had any panic attacks and for that I am very thankful. I was told by my pdoc I will more than likely need to remain on xanax possibly forever and I'm ok with that as long as it keeps working. After 2 yrs of being on the same dose it seems to be fine still. My grandma has severe panic and is 76 yrs old and still takes 3mg of xanax a day and has since 1985 so the reports I read about xanax not being for longterm use due to its decrease in effectiveness is just not true.

So bottom line, for me, xanax is the only med that has really helped me feel normal and lead a normal life :)
 
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