Posted by Rick on June 12, 2000, at 11:54:15
In reply to Re:SOC PHOBIA COCKTAIL--WOW!!: Survey..., posted by Lucy Amour on June 12, 2000, at 3:53:04
Lucy --
Unfortunately, my areas of casual self-study, as well as my self-experience with meds has all been primarily in the area of anxiety. (Although, as you know, many AD's and other meds are useful across different classes of mental disorders.) And while I might call myself "highly informed", I would by no means call myself an "expert", even with respect to anxiety treatment. I personally know almost nothing about Borderline Personality Disorder, although I'm sure there are many Psycho-Babble posters who do.
Klonopin is called Paxam in Australia. I would imagine that generic clonazepam is available to you as well, but this is one drug for which many people swear that the branded version is better -- or at least stronger. I can tell you that, even though I have the generalized form of social phobia, my most dramatic and prompt response to Klonopin was in alleviating what had developed into near-panic when giving presentations. And, as I alluded to before, this relief comes without any sedation, mind-dulling, or "buzz". (Those things may have occurred a bit initially, but quickly went away with daily dosing.)
If your Social Phobia is very strongly tilted towards performance situations, have you tried beta blockers such as propranolol (one of the most common for this purpose) or the serotonin-friendly pindolol? Beta Blockers can be taken on an as-needed basis, and work by directly reducing physical performance-situation symptoms such as a racing heart. For me they weren't anywhere near as effective as daily Klonopin, although they do provide a very calming effect to some people.
I had been taking pindolol every day with the Klonopin, and found it added a very nice dimension. However, I had to stop taking it, because once I successfully shed 60 pounds the beta blocker made my blood pressure too low. Also, they can cause some fatigue, especially when taken on an as-needed basis.Of course, you must talk to your doctor, and make sure any combo you take isn't likely to cause unsafe interactions. That said, I'm shocked at how many doctors (at least in this country) both fail to identify potentially dangerous interactions AND claim that some drugs shouldn't be combined when the combination can be perfectly safe and beneficial. I've successfully challenged doctors on such matters several times, armed with info from the net (official monographs,
articles or Medline abstracts from respected medical journals, drug-interaction dictionaries, and posts from patients).Good luck to you, and let us know how things work out. If you don't get any further responses form this thread, why not try starting a new thread? There may be some people who never make it to this thread, but who are successfully
dealing with a combo of challenges which are very similar to your own. In fact, I wish Dr. Bob allowed the subject headings to be longer (read: more detailed) to catch the eye of more readers who have the most relevant advice or experiences to share!!Say "Hi" to my Aussie uncle for me! Hint: He used to host a popular TV news-magazine there, although if you're young you might not remember it. Oh, and he has an American accent.
Rick
------
> Hi Rick
> I hope you don't mind me posting a request for your knowledgeable feedback about my meds cocktail. I'm diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, i suffer from intermittent extreme rage, complete lack of motivation, depression, social phobia especially with public speaking which has held me back from achieving so much. I have had to quit Uni because of my phobia. I have been on Paxil 20mg and Imovane(zopiclone hydrochloride) to help me sleep 15mg. My psychiatrist has recently put me on depakote to regulate my moods and anger outbursts but I,m worried it worsens my depression which I think it is but it's hard to tell, it's only been 1 month. I'm on 400mg in the morning and 600mg at night. I feel I need to tackle the phobia and depression more than anything else in order to get ahead in life and I'm interested in the meds you mentioned. I am in Australia, do you know if they are available here? Could you please tell me what you think as I value your opinion after reading your other posts! By the way, I totally agree with your views on Paxil withdrawals- absolutely terrifying! and they told me it was non- addictive, yeah right.
> Look forward to your reply
> Take care
> >
poster:Rick
thread:36883
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000610/msgs/37045.html