Posted by Rick on September 22, 2002, at 11:26:05
In reply to Social Anxiety, stimulants, hormones, benzos..., posted by chad_3 on September 22, 2002, at 2:16:05
Chad -
> Misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, lack of diagnosis - seems to be the norm in drug induced movement disorders.
I've done some studying on tremor and its various causes, but in general I'm not very knowledgeable about movement disorders. Back when my pdoc was trying selegiline monotherapy for my social phobia (after a probably-too-short Nardil trial rife wih side effects and what I thought was poop-out), he had me add lithium as a potentiator. That was my weirdest experience ever on psychotropics. The very first night, I laid in bed and my arms and legs would just whip out randomly in exaggerated spastic motions every few minutes. I must have looked like I was doing some kind of supine 70's dance all night long. It really freaked me out, and that was the end of the lithium experiment. Within two days everything was back to normal. My pdoc never ventured a guess as to what that could have been, and told me, "strange, I've never heard of that reaction in 25 years of practice." I wonder what it was?
> I had a "blood phobia" - difficulty urinating when others watching - all disappear totally with Klonopin. Worrying overly ... et al..
Nardil was the only drug that gave me urinary hesitancy, although that was in private and obviously not related to social phobia. That felt very strange and was frustrating and a little scary...to have a bladder begging for emptying and have to stand there five minutes before I could even *begin* the release. Seemed to be much worse at night. While on Nardil, the only problem I recall in public restrooms was falling down from the severe hypotension it caused (that was my first psychotropic, and I think I escalated the dose too-quickly).
>>So, I'm definitely not going to be one of the first to jump on the Pregnenolone-for-SP bandwagon!
> You don't like caffeine much either do you?
Other than water, my favorite beverages are all caffeinated. It's not so much because of the caffeine (although I enjoy the lift I get from Java), but rather because I think caffeinated coffee and Coke taste SOOO much better than their decaffeinated counterparts. Nonetheless, it does work against my treatment somewhat (as well as possibly raising my heart rate). Even the small amount of jitteriness can make me more prone to some breakthrough vocal tremor in some situations. So during the work week I drink lots of decaf stuff. But I definitely "make up" for it on the weekends, when I make no effort to restrict caffeine intake.
> An aside, my brother probably has G.A.D. with seconadary SP - he does really good with Effexor - I can't handle Effexor but it does seem so far for males to be good for primary GAD +/- dysthymia/depression.
I have a friend who switched to Effexor for depression after years on Prozac. Not only is he delighted with how much better it's working for his depression, but I notice he no longer seems nervous around others and is much more outgoing.
He claims to have zero sexual dysfunction from it.> I tried DHEA in past. It knocked out my finasteride effect. I later quit finasteride and got similar effect. More in last year have concerns on finasteride, and reduced from 1.25 to 0.8. I read last week it reduces pregnenolone signifificantly. I know in my case quitting from 1.25 to 0 finasteride was boost to my mood and yes sex drive noticed effect. The provigil tended to counteract the finasteride much like DHEA - but I definitely preferred provigil. DHEA actually made me get a bit too aggressive sometimes with people - and a bit axiogenic but disinhibiting. And the hair loss returning.
I actually started finasteride/Propecia a month after starting Klonopin, when I was concerned that the Klonopin might be causing some hair loss.
I haven't personally noticed any side effects from the Propecia, but it seems to have done the trick for the hair thinning (regardless of whether it was really due to the Klonopin or not).> I don't know at 0.8 if finasteride causes me side effects - I may discontinue a week and find out for sure.
>
>
> On side bar - I am resuming work part time - taking classes part time one semester only - and am considering part time teaching.I don't know how much of this is remaining SP vs. other kinds of insecurities vs. personal preference, but the thought of teaching (in the traditional academic sense) continues to scare me.
I kind of envy those who enjoy it.Rick
poster:Rick
thread:120479
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020922/msgs/120731.html