Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 4891

Shown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

effexor and GAD

Posted by Mendel on April 15, 1999, at 0:21:21

It looks like effexor has been officially approved for generalized anxiety disorder. Is this a marketing ploy or does this drug have a unique niche in treating anxiety? Please educate me.

 

Re: effexor and GAD

Posted by Elizabeth on April 15, 1999, at 6:57:19

In reply to effexor and GAD, posted by Mendel on April 15, 1999, at 0:21:21

It's probably not "unique" in this regard, but it certainly works (most antidepressants probably do). In other words, it's not "just" a marketing ploy.

 

Re: effexor and GAD

Posted by Bruce on April 23, 1999, at 16:01:59

In reply to effexor and GAD, posted by Mendel on April 15, 1999, at 0:21:21

> It looks like effexor has been officially approved for generalized anxiety disorder. Is this a marketing ploy or does this drug have a unique niche in treating anxiety? Please educate me.

Effexor seemed to make me more anxious, at least more jittery or nervous. Since anxiety is one of my primary problems I got off the Effexor after a month and started taking Buspar for the anxiety, hoping it would also help with the depression.
It's been a month now, and I'm not sure the Buspar is doing me much good. But I know for sure that the Effexor and several other SSRI's made me feel more anxious. MAybe I wasn't distinguishing correctly between real anxiety and the feeling of uncomfortable nervousness, jitters, but it sure felt as uncomfortable as anxiety.
I couldn't see any reason to take something that would make me feel that way. So while Effexor may be recognized for treating anxiety with depression, you have to see how it makes you feel. If it makes you feel physically uncomfortable or shakey, that in itself can cause anxiety.
Good luck. The quest to find the right med or combination of meds to give you some feeling of peace and relief from depression and anxiety at times seems to make those conditions worse. It can be really stressful trying one drug after another for a month or two at a time to find the right one, because each one that doesn't work also causes unpleasant side-effects both physical and emotional.
Sometimes it seems like the best thing to do is get off of everything for a while if you can and see where you really are and what "YOU" really feels like. How much jerking around by one drug after another can those poor neuro-transmitters take before they burn out completely?

 

Re: effexor and GAD

Posted by Elizabeth on April 23, 1999, at 21:41:17

In reply to Re: effexor and GAD, posted by Bruce on April 23, 1999, at 16:01:59

Hi Bruce. You bring up an interesting point. A lot of people with panic disorder find that when they first start taking antidepressants, they feel very activated and jittery (for some reason, a lot of people will independently say they feel like "I'm jumping out of my skin"). It's therefore suggested that people taking antidepressants, especially SSRIs (probably Effexor (which is not strictly an SSRI) as well), for panic disorder, should start out on very low doses and increasing them gradually. I expect the same will prove true of GAD. Note that this may necessitate starting on the immediate-release Effexor and then switching to the XR when you've gotten up to an effective dose. Some people start out at 9 or 10mg or so (1/4 of a 37.5mg Effexor tablet) per dose (twice a day is appropriate).
I don't know how they manage to divide the tablets so precisely, as Effexor is shaped kind of funny.)

How much BuSpar are you taking? Depression (and probably mixed depression-anxiety) tends to require higher doses than straight GAD. I tried BuSpar with no success but would consider taking it again and going to a higher dose, since it didn't seem to have any side effects to speak of.

 

Re: effexor and GAD

Posted by Bruce on April 25, 1999, at 16:20:29

In reply to Re: effexor and GAD, posted by Elizabeth on April 23, 1999, at 21:41:17

> Hi Bruce. You bring up an interesting point. A lot of people with panic disorder find that when they first start taking antidepressants, they feel very activated and jittery (for some reason, a lot of people will independently say they feel like "I'm jumping out of my skin"). It's therefore suggested that people taking antidepressants, especially SSRIs (probably Effexor (which is not strictly an SSRI) as well), for panic disorder, should start out on very low doses and increasing them gradually. I expect the same will prove true of GAD. Note that this may necessitate starting on the immediate-release Effexor and then switching to the XR when you've gotten up to an effective dose. Some people start out at 9 or 10mg or so (1/4 of a 37.5mg Effexor tablet) per dose (twice a day is appropriate).
> I don't know how they manage to divide the tablets so precisely, as Effexor is shaped kind of funny.)
>
> How much BuSpar are you taking? Depression (and probably mixed depression-anxiety) tends to require higher doses than straight GAD. I tried BuSpar with no success but would consider taking it again and going to a higher dose, since it didn't seem to have any side effects to speak of.

Thanks for Responding Elizabeth. I'm taking 12.5mg of Buspar in the morning and 7.5mg in the evening. Less in the evening because I take trazodone 150mg for sleeping. I've been on it for 8 years and it works, though it hasn't done musch for depression or anxiety. My doctor gave the samples of Buspar (15mg scored tablets)and I've moved up from 7.5 in the morning to 10 then to 12.5. Haven't tried the pull 15mg tablet in the morning yet. ONe of the reasons I don't want to go to too high a dose is that I won't be able to afford it. My insurance doesn't cover mental health or mental health medication. It stinks, but most companies are going that way these days. But anyway, I'm feeling alternately jittery an hour after the morning dose and later very tired. I'm interested to know if you felt this on Buspar. How much did you take and for how long? And how can you distinguish between anxiety and the jitters you say are often common to SSRIs. Actually it says in th Buspar literature that you can get agitated from Buspar as well. So how do you know how long to continue. Do the jitters go away?
As for the Effexor I started that at 37.5 XR capsule once a day in the AM and never got beyond that. Got real jumpy, then real tired, also coughing a lot and a lot of sinusitis which is also a possible side-effect. My doctor suggested stopping after a month because he said the side-effects should have gone away by then, and since they hadn't we'd never be able to get me up to a therapeutic dose of 75mg. So I'm just on Buspar, and I don't want to give up too soon. Its been a month and I wonder what your experience with Buspar was.

 

BuSpar - Bruce

Posted by Elizabeth on April 27, 1999, at 1:25:39

In reply to Re: effexor and GAD, posted by Bruce on April 25, 1999, at 16:20:29

Bruce,

I started on 15mg/day of BuSpar, in 3 divided doses, and I *think* I only went up to 30mg. That still probably isn't enough for depression, though, and I've thought about trying it again. (I don't think I have a primary anxiety disorder.)

I didn't notice any side effects except maybe a little dizziness.

That's awful about your insurance! It really upsets me to hear things like that. I wonder if they'd cover it if it was prescribed by your GP?

I think that most insurance companies will cover the psych medications, especially since a lot of them have multiple uses some of which are not psychiatric, but coverage of therapy sessions is more variable.

How to distinguish between anxiety and side effects: if it was there before you started the drug, it's probably your regular anxiety. If it showed up when you started taking the med (or increased the dose), it might be a side effect.

You might find it less of a roller-coaster if you divided the dose in three instead of two.


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