Posted by jujube on November 30, 2004, at 18:25:33
In reply to Re: Saw pdoc - didn't go as I had hoped - scared, posted by violetskyye on November 30, 2004, at 14:12:13
Thanks for the encouragement, and for sharing your experience with me. I don't really obsess about the possible side effects. I do, however, like to know what to expect, so if I do experience something adverse, I know what it can be attributed to. I have decided that I will give it a month, and if there is no relief from the anhedonia I am experiencing, I will give up. Anafranil is the fifth AD I have tried in the past year, each of which have left me fatigued and apathetic. I have been on the Anafranil for just over two weeks now, but I am noticing that the dizziness seems to be getting worse and is very unpleasant. The dry mouth I can handle because I drink a lot of water and use an oral rinse two or three times a day. However, I, too, am feeling a bit weird and disconnected on the Anafranil. It's so frustrating.
Anayways, take care and thanks again.
Tamara
> Jujube:
>
> Hang in there. I, too, am so afraid of med side-effects that every time I take a med, in 30 seconds I start feeling weird. Ironically, it was part of my OCD that I felt that every med I try would make me crazy. My doctor had to have a lot of patience.
>
> My experience with Anafranil was not great. It didn't do anything horrible, but I felt weird and disconnected, had ringing in the ears and felt generally strange the whole couple of weeks I tried it. The effects may have gone away if I stuck with it, but I stopped taking it.
>
> The reason I think TCA's are not the "first-line" prescriptions is that they do have more of the dry-mouth, nausea-type side-effects, though many think they are much stronger and more effective than SSRI's. Also, Anafranil is the gold-standard med for OCD [though it did nothing for mine.]
>
> Anyway, try it for a few weeks, and try to fight through the side-effects. My first 4 weeks on Remeron were a hell of confusion and overwhelming sleepiness, but I stuck it out, and it has calmed my anxiety pretty well.
>
> Hang in there, because if the Ananfranil doesn't work, something will, and as my doc told me, even though some meds may feel weird and scary, the side effects won't actually harm you.
poster:jujube
thread:411041
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041128/msgs/422527.html