Posted by viridis on October 10, 2002, at 1:33:45
In reply to Re: AD's vs. Bzds for Anxiety disorders » Alan, posted by johnj on October 9, 2002, at 22:36:23
For me, Klonopin (a bzd) greatly reduced depression. I'm sure the causes of depression vary among individuals, but in my case the pattern was typically a period of severe anxiety, followed by a crash into intense depression (often very agitated depression). By stopping the anxiety, it seems that Klonopin (and occasional Xanax) prevent the episodes that precipitate serious depression for me. I did continue to experience some mild depression after starting K, but nothing like before. A low dose of Adderall cleared this up, and has also helped my attention and focus.
By the way, I had a terrible time with the SSRIs I tried, and also Wellbutrin, even at tiny doses -- wild mood swings, agitation, multiple other side effects etc. But I know people who do extremely well on SSRIs and other ADs for depression and anxiety. It just goes to show how differently individuals respond to various meds. The variation in response strongly supports the idea that there are many biological causes of depression and anxiety -- it doesn't all revolve around serotonin, as many doctors still seem to think.
poster:viridis
thread:109458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021006/msgs/123027.html