Posted by katekite on July 30, 2002, at 19:34:38
In reply to thanks, posted by bubblegumchewer on July 30, 2002, at 17:17:40
I wondered if you'd say that, which is why I asked.
You seem to have paradoxical responses to medications. ie klonopin worsens your problem while caffeine improves it. ie you are nothing like most people with panic disorder.
Sometime when you are not pregnant, you might consider trying stimulants, like Ritalin. These have the benefits of caffeine but less side effects per amount of stimulation. In addition they are safe drugs in the doses taken for these problems, and have few side effects compared to some of the new unstudied antidepressants. In contrast to the media telling us that Ritalin and Adderall and Dexedrine make all people speedy addict-lookalikes and are killing children, some 5-10% of the population actually feels calmed by taking them, without significant bad effects.
I have attention deficit disorder. While I would guess you probably don't have a full-blown case of that, you might share a feature of it that I experience only in rebound/withdrawal from stimulants when I am particularly sensitive: anxiety and things that are similar to panic attacks. When I feel the most panicked and think a stimulant would least help me, it tends to help the most. Valium or Ativan also helps in the moment, mostly because I they make me less worried about not being able to handle things.
This peculiar ADD panic is as if everything around me is going way too fast to comprehend, I sometimes wake at night to it: hear a sound and suddenly every sound is frightening and the world feels like a sci-fi movie in deep space where I'm the space ship hurtling along among foreign frightening sounds/sights etc with everything seeming threatening, even a kind word from my hubby. I can't think at all and feel unable to handle even a few words back to him. Totally overwhelmed. For me its best if I can just get somewhere quiet and dark very quickly and let time do its thing. People with ADD sometimes call this 'flooding' or being 'overstimulated' or 'being overwhelmed by input', and for some its very frightening. A few lucky types actually like it.
At the very least, when you have your baby and can safely experiment, it might be worth questioning your diagnosis, getting a new opinion on it. Caffeine is supposed to make panic attacks worse and klonopin is supposed to improve them: maybe if you have such odd reactions what someone told you were panic attacks, really are not.
Now, ADD itself probably isn't a problem for you. But if you are curious about it you can check out a lengthy quiz at www.mindfixers.com which I found helpful when I was getting diagnosed just a few months ago.
Interestingly enough, nortriptyline is occasionally used in treating ADD in people who can not take stimulants. Other antidepressants used are those with activating properties: Wellbutrin, Prozac, other tricyclics like desipramin. Antidepressants work less often in ADD than stimulants and generally work less well. For ADD, that is.
Take care. And congratulations on getting pregnant. I'm not a doctor so take my observation with a grain of salt.
Oh yeah, I think lately they've decided mild caffeine consumption is ok in pregnancy.
kate
poster:katekite
thread:114028
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020725/msgs/114485.html