Posted by Alan on April 23, 2001, at 14:16:30
In reply to Re: social anxiety/NEURONTIN. » Alan, posted by JahL on April 23, 2001, at 12:15:44
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> > > > Ativan/Neurontin - great combo.
>
> > > Can you tell me what dose of Neurontin you take?
>
> > It waxes and wanes (over several weeks, not days) between 300MG and 600MG. Why you ask?
>
> Similar reason to below. I'm about to add Neurontin to my ineffective Lamictal, primarily to combat social phobia/generalised anxiety. I'm interested in what doses are working for s.p.; most of the available info concerns itself with dosing for epilepsy.
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> *Theoretically* the Neurontin cld also help with my depression/ADD/depersonalisation.
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> > The ativan fluctuates anywhere from 3 to 6 MG depending on the performance situation on a weekly basis. To enhance mood stability I came up with the idea of balancing it with neurontin
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> > My psychopharmocologist thought it was a great idea especially since it worked! I had been through 10 years of refining, experimenting, etc and after trying everything but MAOI's I decided that this combo provided me with the most liveable in side effects compared to anything else....and I mean everything else....
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> Nice to see some of us come out the other side!
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> > The only drawback with the ativan is some short term memory loss - but it's not too bad. REM sleep brainwave disruption for me at 5-6 MG ativan so increasing neurontin especially at night helps me sleep better.
>
> > Any suggestions, comments?
>
> I'm a little new to the AED side of things. AlI I can tell you is that the rec'd Neurontin dose for depression/anxiety seems to be 900-2000mg (& in some cases up to 4800mg!). I wonder if slightly increasing the Neurontin wld allow a further Ativan reduction. I take Klonopin for Lamictal-induced, & endogenous, insomnia, & can relate to the (ST) memory problems you rpt.
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> A couple of studys have shown Neurontin not to impair cognitive ability (unlike say, Topiramate).
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> Thanks,
> J.*******************************************
yes, I did try more neurontin but above 600MG it did effect coordination needed for performance (clumsiness, bumping/dropping things, etc.).
So it may have an anxiolytic effect at that small a dose but of course the ativan is taking care of most of that anyway.
I like to think of the neurontin being used as a buffer against the irritability I can feel with fluctuating doses needed for ativan.
I just wish more docs knew about the combo for this reason so the small (but strident) anti-benzo crowd would have even a little more reason to finally pipe down.
Jesus, they had me (and an inexperienced or misinformed pdoc) scared to even try the stuff at all for years until I went to a psychopharmacologist that knew what they were doing.
Now it is nice to finally have my life back !
Alan
poster:Alan
thread:60399
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010417/msgs/60868.html