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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by DINGBAT on February 8, 2002, at 5:24:50
Hi
Fishing for comments/opinions on the efficacy of Serzone (nefazodone) 200mg twice a day as an antidepressant. Does it help with mild anxiety and sleep disturbance? Any horrid side-effects?
Thanx!
Posted by TSA West on February 8, 2002, at 6:42:36
In reply to Any comments on effectiveness of nefazodone?, posted by DINGBAT on February 8, 2002, at 5:24:50
Dear good sir,
There are many good reports about its efficacy as an antidepressant in the Psychopharmacology Tips, and I recently learned that it leaves ones' memory largely untouched:
Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Denmark Hill, London, UK
"...Thus, nefazodone, particularly at lower dose levels, causes less disruption of human performance than imipramine. This effect probably reflects the lack of anticholinergic activity of nefazodone...."
Passing on the information that you need to know,
TSA West: Since 1865 --------------- ;)
Posted by JohnX2 on February 8, 2002, at 14:45:11
In reply to Any comments on effectiveness of nefazodone?, posted by DINGBAT on February 8, 2002, at 5:24:50
Serzone generally kicks *** for mild anxiety and
sleep disturbance. People who don't care for the
medicine generally complain about being too drowsy and
dizzy.As an anti-depressant it has been successfully used standalone.
Generally it is chosen 2nd over the more standard SSRIs, SNRI,
but this does not mean that it will not be as effective for YOUR BODY.
It has an advantage of causing less sexual side effects and
helps more with sleep disturbances.
Should you want more punch, you can try boosting
it with an SSRI like Zoloft, Celexa, etc.
If you are really drowsy you can add a pinch of the
anti-depressant Wellbutrin to counteract it. May boost
the anti-depressant effect too.
Also Provigil has been used by people on this
news group to help with any daytime drowsiness and
cognitive side effects. Just a few thoughts...Again, I listed a lot of options if you want to
"tweak" the Serzone. But I'm going to be optimistic for you
and assume things will work as is!Let us know how it goes!
Personally I really liked Serzone for its help
with my anxiety and sleep. It was some of the best
sleep I can remember. I didn't care much for daytime drowsiness
and if I could do it over again I would have the
pdoc add a medicine to address it.Regards,
John
> Hi
>
> Fishing for comments/opinions on the efficacy of Serzone (nefazodone) 200mg twice a day as an antidepressant. Does it help with mild anxiety and sleep disturbance? Any horrid side-effects?
>
> Thanx!
Posted by TSA West on February 8, 2002, at 16:27:36
In reply to Re: Any comments on effectiveness of nefazodone? » DINGBAT, posted by JohnX2 on February 8, 2002, at 14:45:11
Very nice post, John. Excellently done. :)
Posted by JohnX2 on February 8, 2002, at 20:58:43
In reply to JohnX2 » JohnX2, posted by TSA West on February 8, 2002, at 16:27:36
why thank you for you comments! you have been
very informative yourself these days!Best Regards,
John> Very nice post, John. Excellently done. :)
Posted by DINGBAT on February 9, 2002, at 7:52:36
In reply to Re: Any comments on effectiveness of nefazodone? » DINGBAT, posted by JohnX2 on February 8, 2002, at 14:45:11
>Thanx very much for a really informative post! Wish all responses could be of this sort of quality. I will, I think, add an SSRI like Celexa (citalopram) and see how things go.
At present, I am on Efexor 150mg XR daily. What are your thoughts on just 'adding' the Serzone at 100mg or 200mg twice daily to the Efexor? I find that, although Efexor is a good antidepressant, it has this aweful emotional 'blunting' effect (it's like you can't *feel* about anything) never mind the mild anxiety cause by its NE effects and the sexual side-effects too!
In truth, I was looking to 'dump' the Efexor altogether (I know I have to titrate down slowly - did it twice before). About 3 years ago a switched from Efexor to Serzone with great ease (no 'Efexor Discontinuation Hoorors') and felt really good on the Serzone (no daytime drowsiness and good antidepressant effect too.
Unfortunately, like many other 'babblers' I've got a weird kind of depression (won't bother with the psycho-jargon) - sometimes I'm depressed and anergic (and that's when the NE effects of Efexor are welcomed), other times I am depressed and anxious (NE effects of Efexor not welcome).
I'm thinking that I'd rather go back to good old Serzone and try your idea of taking an SSRI with it. Do you think Celexa is my best choice at present?
When I get the profound anergia, my pdoc is more than happy to give me a short course of a stimulant like Ritalin. I also find that propoxyphene works well during the anergic/anhedonic phases.
Pardon the rambling, but does anyone think I might be Bipolar 2 - and therefore need a mood stabiliser on board too?
Anyhow, thanx again for taking the trouble to write a really informative response to my query!
Cheers 4 now ...
> Serzone generally kicks *** for mild anxiety and
> sleep disturbance. People who don't care for the
> medicine generally complain about being too drowsy and
> dizzy.
>
> As an anti-depressant it has been successfully used standalone.
> Generally it is chosen 2nd over the more standard SSRIs, SNRI,
> but this does not mean that it will not be as effective for YOUR BODY.
> It has an advantage of causing less sexual side effects and
> helps more with sleep disturbances.
>
>
> Should you want more punch, you can try boosting
> it with an SSRI like Zoloft, Celexa, etc.
> If you are really drowsy you can add a pinch of the
> anti-depressant Wellbutrin to counteract it. May boost
> the anti-depressant effect too.
> Also Provigil has been used by people on this
> news group to help with any daytime drowsiness and
> cognitive side effects. Just a few thoughts...
>
> Again, I listed a lot of options if you want to
> "tweak" the Serzone. But I'm going to be optimistic for you
> and assume things will work as is!
>
> Let us know how it goes!
>
> Personally I really liked Serzone for its help
> with my anxiety and sleep. It was some of the best
> sleep I can remember. I didn't care much for daytime drowsiness
> and if I could do it over again I would have the
> pdoc add a medicine to address it.
>
> Regards,
> John
>
>
> > Hi
> >
> > Fishing for comments/opinions on the efficacy of Serzone (nefazodone) 200mg twice a day as an antidepressant. Does it help with mild anxiety and sleep disturbance? Any horrid side-effects?
> >
> > Thanx!
Posted by Eloy on February 9, 2002, at 14:08:34
In reply to Any comments on effectiveness of nefazodone?, posted by DINGBAT on February 8, 2002, at 5:24:50
> Hi
>
> Fishing for comments/opinions on the efficacy of Serzone (nefazodone) 200mg twice a day as an antidepressant. Does it help with mild anxiety and sleep disturbance? Any horrid side-effects?
>
> Thanx!
i'm in my early 40's and suffer with social anxiety and intermittent periods of depression, and i also have a chronic liver disease. i've been on Serazone for a few years with very good results and minimal weight gain. But now learning of the liver damage that Serzone can cause, the Dr. is weaning me off of it and prescribed Remeron, but after reading up on Remeron lastnight- No Way! Because of my age (and my liver impairment), i already have a natural slow metabolism (ie: heart rate, cellular growth, and rate to burn off food), therefore i should not take a medicine that would cause constipation and weight gain of 15 to 20 pounds. i think not, because then i'd be overweight which would ironically increase my depression rather then help my condition, and not to mention causing a host of additional problems which stem from becoming overweight, like blood pressure issues and diabetes and the increase chance of heart attacks, etc. (i also believe, though long term follow-up research is lacking, that the sexual dysfunction side effect commonly attributed to many anti-depressants will increase the risk of testicular cancer for long-term using males, which are maintained on these particular anti-depressants associated with this side effect). No i'm not going to take this new Remeron, it's my body and my health and i don't want to carelessly damage it. i'm going to see if the Dr. will prescribe Wellbutrin (known not to cause an increase in weight) together with a Anti-anxiety medicine (one that doesn't cause harmful side effects) and cause any irreversible health damage in the long run. i use to take Ativan years ago, i wonder if this medicine would be safe for me.Does anyone know of any Anti-anxiety medicine that does not cause weight gain or sexual dysfunction or is too hard for the liver to metabolize?
Posted by allisonm on February 10, 2002, at 18:14:49
In reply to Any comments on effectiveness of nefazodone?, posted by DINGBAT on February 8, 2002, at 5:24:50
Works for me. I'm on 150mg in morning and night. Helps with sleep. I like it. I take it with Wellbutrin SR.
Allison
Posted by Noa on February 12, 2002, at 16:41:57
In reply to Re: Any comments on effectiveness of nefazodone?, posted by allisonm on February 10, 2002, at 18:14:49
I have found the combo of effexor and nefazodone effective. I take the serzone at night and it helps me sleep and counteracts the effexor's tendency to cause me sleep problems.
Are you working with a good pdoc on all of this?
Posted by DINGBAT on February 13, 2002, at 22:23:15
In reply to Re: Any comments on effectiveness of nefazodone?, posted by Noa on February 12, 2002, at 16:41:57
Yes, I have an excellent pdoc (hard to come by these days). Would you mind telling me what doses of Efexor and Sezone you are using? Also, do you have any troublesome side-effects? For cost reasons, I was thinking of augmenting the Serzone with "something else" - do you have any comments?
> I have found the combo of effexor and nefazodone effective. I take the serzone at night and it helps me sleep and counteracts the effexor's tendency to cause me sleep problems.
>
>
> Are you working with a good pdoc on all of this?
This is the end of the thread.
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