Posted by Miragee on June 7, 2001, at 17:20:19
In reply to Hey, remember me, your new internet best friend?, posted by grapebubblegum on June 5, 2001, at 22:39:05
Although I am not overweight and have a pretty healthy diet, my cholesterol is very high. My doctor put me on an interesting protocol to lower the cholesterol that includes Actos, a drug usually prescribed for diabetics. The *very* first dose cleared my head and lowered my anxiety. It was a wonderful, unexpected side effect.
I always knew that part of what was wrong with my brain was "blood sugar related" but compared to all my other symptoms, that was not one I ever discussed with my physicians. Besides, I did not know there was a medicine out there that could help.
If you have blood sugar problems again, see if Actos is a possibility. My doctor had an explanation of why it had this effect on me, but I cannot remember the very interesting specifics she delineated. (I'll have to take notes next time I see her. < g > )
> 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:Miragee
thread:65478
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010605/msgs/65677.html