Posted by temoigneur on December 11, 2002, at 16:15:18
In reply to Re: Some GABAergic drugs you may want to try... » utopizen, posted by Aadika on December 11, 2002, at 13:30:36
> Hi-- I'm new to this message board (though I've been using it as a reference for several months now and have found it enormously helpful), and this subject sort of really hits home with me as I'm also 19 (20 in January, though) and suffer chronic anxiety (avoidant personality disorder) that has failed treatment with over 40 medications. Every med you listed (Neurontin, Gabitril, Paxil, etc.), I've tried. I just thought I'd throw in my own two cents here...
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> Currently I take only propranolol 10mg b.i.d. (for anger management actually... doesn't help me with anxiety a bit), Provigil 200mg qAM, and clonazepam 2mg t.i.d. I'm happy to see that it's generally agreed upon here that clonazepam is the incredibly safe, effective drug that it is. And I've been able to maintain this dose for over fourteen months now, with no development of tolerance whatsoever. I have even found it not difficult to just stop and start taking it at will {though due to the return of my previous social anxiety symptoms, this is not something I plan on doing again :-) }.
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> Though this medication has given me my life back and finally permitted me to step outside the boundaries of my own home (and make FRIENDS, no less), I'm still open to new possibilities. Someone mentioned Depakote in the thread, as it inhibits the actions of GABA-aminotransferase. I've tried Depakote in the past and it basically felt like I was swallowing $200/month sugar pills-- not to mention that the things are the size of elephant tranquilizers, lol. But I see no reason not to give it a try. Along those same lines, I'd consider Sabril (vigabatrin), whose main mechanism of action is inhibition of GABA-T (unlike Depakote, which requires rather large doses to achieve that effect... somewhat analogous to the Effexor / dopamine thing).
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> Someone also mentioned Nardil, which is also a very good option (though it didn't work for me at 90mg / day). I understand you're taking stimulants, but if you work with a doctor who has experience with MAOIs it can be safe to use low-dose stimulants along with them. I mean, while I was on Nardil I had Focalin added to counteract sexual dysfunction-- no problem there. You just have to titrate the dose of the MAOI up very gradually.
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> Finally, here are the two meds I'm going to try next-- First, Riluzole, a drug approved by the FDA to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. I understand that its mechanism of action is primarily as a GABA-reuptake inhibitor (GABA-A and possibly B, unlike Gabitril which is a GABA-B reuptake inhibitor). It possesses anticonvulsant and hypnotic properties, blocks sodium channels, and inhibits the release of glutamate (an excitatory transmitter) in the CNS. That's the one I'm really counting on to work... otherwise, my absolute FINAL option is Lamictal, which also inhibits glutamate release.
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> Anyways, I'm sure I rambled during the greater part of this post... I can't really tell-- in the process of moving; SO exhausted. So best of luck to you, and since we seem to have a similar problem when it comes to medications, I'd really like to hear how your upcoming med trials turn out. Ciao. :)hI i'VE HAD THE same problem with depakote, in it acting like a sugar pill, I have also been following riluzole, and am going to bring it up with my pdoc tomorrow, I hope it has some of the purported properties for anxiety, unfortunqately I did a pubmed search, and one of the articles, said that it had anesthetic properties, - obviously sediation is not good. However, perhaps we can pool our experience and expediate the "recover" process, I will certainly keep you posted of what drugs i've tried, what does and doesn't work, and I hope this will consolidate our knowledge, and lead to a quicker recovery. thank you very much for your suggestions, I will be contacting you in the future.
Ben
poster:temoigneur
thread:130363
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021210/msgs/131373.html