Posted by drylightning on June 13, 2009, at 18:08:54
In reply to Re: best/worst generic xanax » drylightning, posted by Phillipa on June 5, 2009, at 21:30:35
> Dan that's great. Yup ask for the name brand. And a favor please? Let me know if there is a difference. Thanks Phillipa>
I finally got the brand name Wednesday evening, and really haven't noticed that much of a difference. Maybe I will over time. It does seem slightly "smoother" than Mylan, meaning I don't feel the ups and downs of the drug in my system as much. But it really doesn't seem any more effective.
Saw the pdoc on Thursday and she's sort of at a loss as to how to control these ongoing panic/GAD (mostly GAD at this point) symptoms. When I was first diagnosed, I feel like the Xanax and Zoloft totally wiped it out and I was better. Hindsight may make it seem like I was better sooner than I actually was, however. So, this "relapse" has been going on for about two and a half months. Maybe it took longer back in 1995 to feel better. I do know that my life is about 100 times more stressful now, with a job and kids. When first diagnosed, I was living with my parents and doing absolutely nothing but recovering.
So my pdoc considered raising my Xanax dose (I'm now on 5mg/day (1mg 5 times per day), which is the dose that worked back in 1995. I had gotten that down to .25 mg 5 times per day until recently. Pdoc seemed to be weighing the idea of increasing the Xanax further, but decided not to. I think she wants to try one more option first, so she gave me a new script: Guanfacine, which is a high blood pressure med. Since I have borderline hypertension, it can't hurt. She said that she thinks it will help with my general anxiety by calming my central nervous system and lessening the physical symptoms of anxiety. So far, it is mostly making me tired, but there have been times when I've felt it's working.
I forgot to mention it during the appointment, but my brother has anxiety issues, too (to a lesser extent than me, fortunately) and said that beta blockers helped him quite a bit. It was prescribed for high blood pressure, but he said it has had a positive effect on his anxiety. Now I'm wishing I'd asked my pdoc to try a beta blocker.
Does anyone have experience with either guanfacine or a beta blocker for anxiety?
I'm thinking I'll give the guanfacine about a week and if it doesn't seem to be helping, I'll call my pdoc and ask about a beta blocker. I know that when a drug helps someone you're related to, there's a good chance it'll help you.
Thanks everyone. I'm still feeling pretty crappy, but do have some much better days mixed in with the bad ones, so I'm hoping those better days begin to take over soon.
Dan
poster:drylightning
thread:899063
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090611/msgs/900813.html