Posted by grapebubblegum on June 5, 2001, at 22:39:05
In reply to Re: TO SALARMY AND ELIZABETH THANK YOU » gilbert, posted by Rick on June 5, 2001, at 20:49:15
I don't mean to beat a dead horse by mentioning klonopin AGAIN, but I also hope you meant .5 mg and not 5 mg. I cannot fathom how anyone could take 5 mg 3 times per day but I understand that some people might have to for seizure control.
Gil, you and I are on sort of twin paths, with a lot of similarities. I also have a low resting heartrate and low blood pressure.
I have successfully, over the last few weeks, tapered down from the 20 mg. of Paxil per day that I was taking down to none, and instead I am taking .125 mg of klonopin three times a day. (The doc prescribed .5 mg 3x per day but told me to take half that if it works.) Sounds like a tiny dose, but it REALLY helps me. At first even that tiny dose knocked me on my a** so that I would start falling asleep if I even sat down at the computer and I was not altogether safe as a driver. But in only a week or so I got completely accustomed to the sedative effects so that I don't even feel them, yet the anxiety is at bay. And I am sorry to knock the SSRIs which help so many people and have helped me in the past, but I have NEVER FELT BETTER. I wonder if people like me and you don't "need" SSRI's, or rather if they have too broad an effect for too narrow a desired effect.
Just like you (are you sure we are not twins separated at birth or something?) I have noticed a return to a little bit of obsessivness, but I think it's well within the range of work-with-able. Actually, I have felt just a tad manic but then again, what I could be interpreting as manic is just a return to my normal personality which is not dulled anymore by the SSRIs. That means I can actually cry if the situation warrants it but I'm by no means any kind of emotional wreck. I can get pretty fired up over ideas and projects or get a little overzealous about explaining these things to people (that's what I meant by quasi-manic, but then who's to say that might be normal for me, and I am a creative person so that might be part of my personality) but I do sleep well every night and I don't feel that my moods are out of control in any way.
I have lost four pounds in the few weeks since I gave up Paxil. I have somehow found the resolve to work on my weight. I really truly believe that the Paxil was ****ing with my blood sugar. All I can say is that I feel clear-headed for the first time in a long time, I sleep well without that half-asleep feeling I had on all SSRIs, and the sex life has been the best. I have to admit that was my main motivating factor to getting off the SSRIs.
My long-winded point is that you might try a micro-dose of klonopin like I am taking. Maybe it would provide adequate symptom relief for you and, especially after getting accustomed to the drug, might not cause sexual problems at all.
Just my 25 cents worth. Good luck!
poster:grapebubblegum
thread:65478
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010605/msgs/65512.html