Posted by viridis on March 6, 2003, at 1:06:43
In reply to Re: Benzos can cause depression????true? » viridis, posted by Jack Smith on March 5, 2003, at 13:45:26
Hi Jack,
Well, my "official" diagnosis is panic disorder, ADD, and major depressive disorder. Without meds, I have periods of feeling pretty normal, but then anxiety always escalates, I start to focus on problems (always real, but not necessarily all that serious), I start to become nervous about everything (as in GAD) and then I have clusters of panic attacks. Typically, this bottoms out into severe depression (typically involving a near-complete inability to sleep or eat), which can be almost incapacitating. It eventually gets better, but then the pattern starts again -- though not in a predictable way, like bipolar disorder often is, but it always comes back. I've been this way for as long as I can remember, back to about 5 or 6 years old, even though I have a stable, supportive family and no early traumas etc.
I tried SSRIs, Wellbutrin etc. for years, and these just made things worse. Then I had a few short-term prescriptions for Xanax from a GP, and it was extremely helpful. But of course, it's supposedly "addictive" blah blah blah, so I wasn't able to stay on it for long.
Finally, I found my current psychiatrist, who prescribed Klonopin and Xanax (I was in the midst of an episode of intense panic attacks). This was tremendously helpful and shut down the whole pattern, so he's kept me on Klonopin, plus Xanax whenever needed, which is rarely.
We experimented with a few other things, and settled on the addition of low-dose Adderall (10 mg/day) for ADD, which I clearly have (fairly mild, but real; several therapists and my pdoc independently diagnosed this). It cleared up most of the "residual" depression and helps with focus.
I also take 1200 mg Neurontin/day. I don't think it does anything, but it has no side effects, and my pdoc suspects that it adds subtle "background" stability (he initially suggested a bit of Depakote, but I refused that and suggested the Neurontin instead, which he was quite comfortable with).
This combo works well, although I am going to try Strattera cautiously pretty soon, mainly because of the inconvenience of Adderall (Schedule II). Klonopin and Adderall seem to have a special synergy, which others have mentioned numerous times on this board.
I'm pretty happy with my current regimen, and am lucky to have a supportive pdoc who listens to what I say, after many bad experiences with other pdocs and especially GPs, who (in my experience, although I'm sure there are some good ones) just want to dole out the latest AD regardless of side effects, or effectiveness at all.
poster:viridis
thread:205972
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030301/msgs/206346.html