Posted by yxibow on September 11, 2008, at 1:10:58
In reply to Re: Abilify for OCD? )) yxibow, posted by Kimbersaur on September 10, 2008, at 21:40:27
> Hey, thank you for sharing about your life! My OCD isn't as bad as yours was at my age, but it definitely interferes with my daily life. The sexual side effects thing is hard... it is so frustrating to go through those side effects over and over again, and I hate the idea of taking a second drug just to counter the side effects of the first, but you have a very good point. If this whole Abilify thing doesn't work out I may just have to suck it up and take Cymbalta or Effexor again and try to find a way around the side effects. I wish there was a magic patience pill! :)Don't we all -- benzodiazepines may calm oneself but they're not "magic", one just has to develop hope for the better days.
>
> I'm wondering which SSRI's have short half lives? Last time I took Prozac it made me paranoid and Paxil made me manic...Hmm.... Luvox is another, half to one day. Zoloft is about a day. Celexa and Lexapro are about two days, give or take. These though are not plasma level indicators, just half lives.
> Also, what exactly is propranolol?
Its a beta blocker, non-cardioselective (that's important, because it doesn't just affect the heart), used off label a lot for stage fright, and for the symptoms of anxiety, the primitive fight or flight system that we all have (and needed to run away from saber tooth tigers in the past) that can cause flushing and other anxiety symptoms, and also affects the peripherals, steadying hand shaking, etc.
It does not go after the actual anxiety itself like benzodiazepines but it can be taken for a much longer term without much habituation.
It comes with its own caveats of course -- namely that if you have a low pulse (say 40), one should be careful with beta blockers --- a cuff monitor from a drug store is always useful. And once a plasma level has developed, it cant be dropped without affecting the heart, so it should be lowered incrementally.
For some people they say it can be a depressant -- I'm not sure of that, I know it is a CNS depressant just like a lot of agents, so thats possible.
Its main other unwanted effects could be lightheadedness (which probably will go away with acclimation as long as one doesn't have a low pulse), and headache (which may go away -- probably due to vascular functions affected by pulse and the like).
> Thank you so much for your time and advice, it means a lot coming from someone who knows what I'm going through. I think you are right about not being able to just take a pill and go on with life, and I am working on other avenues as well (starting with regular sleep and exercise!).
Yes, mea culpa, I need more exercise, its just a complicated problem with my disorder finding how to cut calories which is the most I can do, and finding something, walking, anything that doesn't .... its too hard to describe what I visually see, sort of discontinuity and a lack of the normal gate present that discounts noise and visual motion and surroundings, etc within milliseconds... which makes the gym not a good thing at the moment.
I probably have some sort of sleep disorder, but keeping regular sleep is the only way out -- unfortunately I sometimes have to take naps or I cant continue functioning, and that affects sleep.> Take care,
>
> Kim
>
Thanks-- tidings
Jay
poster:yxibow
thread:850565
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080903/msgs/851439.html