Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 335825

Shown: posts 1 to 12 of 12. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Posted by Karalyn on April 13, 2004, at 3:29:34

ok i think i have it and i want to know these things.

1. who else has it
2. what meds are you on that work for you
3. what are your symptoms
4. how do i know if i have it too
5. have you tried lexapro and Wellbutrin together before? (thats what im on now and i feel anxious on Wellbutrin...but i dont know if its in my head)
6. How do you cope with it?
7. how do you help the people around you to understand and cope with it.
8. has anyone had major anxiety withh a significant other? (i postponed my wedding cause i was so scared to get married but i dont know what is real about my anxiety about my fiance or not)

I pretty much fit all the criteria in the DSM.

 

Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) » Karalyn

Posted by rainyday on April 13, 2004, at 6:51:23

In reply to Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), posted by Karalyn on April 13, 2004, at 3:29:34

I have GAD, panic attacks, and am BP2. Currently (what a laugh, eh?) I am on 75mg effexor xr, 300mg Wellbutrin, Ambien for sleep as needed, and .5mg Xanax for anxiety if needed.

My anxiety symptoms are: inability to catch my breath, feeling I can't swallow, very uncomfortable in crowds or standing in line, feeling like my heart is trying to escape my chest.

The Wellbutrin does jump me up some. I have a lotof trouble getting to sleep at night because my mind will not stop racing. I can't concentrate on breathing, on relaxing, on slowing down my mind. It's a hamster on its own little wheel. The Ambien at least helps me get a night's rest.

I don't like taking the Xanax unless absolutely necessary, because I am offended by being dependant on it to calm me down. However, I usually end up giving in by the afternoon.

I am also seeing a therapist for Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. I am learning to practice meditation although I have a hard time without her coaching me.

My husband doesn't really understand all of what I experience, but he is very sympathetic and mostly he feels frustrated at not being able to help me. At some time he will probably come with me to the p-doc to get the straight message from her. In the meantime, I print articles for him to read, books, and I talk to him about how I am feeling. It makes me feel very selfish to concentrate so much on "me" instead of "us", but I am counting on being better someday.

It is much, much better than it was even a month ago. Don't despair.

 

Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Posted by Karalyn on April 14, 2004, at 1:05:23

In reply to Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) » Karalyn, posted by rainyday on April 13, 2004, at 6:51:23

thank you so much for responding. yeah i try to explain it to my boyfriend and he read a little about it before. i have trouble making decisions and i worry about which decision will i regret the least cause i always have regrets or "i shoulds" after i do something. how did you get diagnosed? do you go to a pdoc or general practicioner? did they just come out and say they thought you had GAD?

 

Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) » Karalyn

Posted by rainyday on April 14, 2004, at 6:53:33

In reply to Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), posted by Karalyn on April 14, 2004, at 1:05:23

I had been getting treated for depression off and on by a GP for over 5 years. I kept tapering off when I would feel better, then crash, every time worse than before. The GAD manifested itself 10 years ago on an intermittent basis. When I saw a GP at that time, he told me I was stressed out by my job and advised that I change fields. I did, but eventually the panic attacks and anxiety followed me to every job I have had since then. I last tapered off celexa last September under the care of my GP. Within a week of no medication, I hit bottom and depression and GAD struck harder than ever before. I felt like such a loser - hardly any life stresses on me, and I couldn't even get through a work day without bawling and gasping.

My husband looked up a p-doc for me on the internet (I was too frazzled to even look in a phone book), and at my first appointment she dx'd me as bipolar2 and having GAD and panic attacks. That was last October. I have since been on the familiar roller coaster of medications until arriving at my present mix (effexor, wellbutrin, xanax, and ambien). For now, this is working for me. I am seeing a therapist too.

I am probably repeating myself here - sorry. My memory is shot lately and sometimes I do the broken record thing.

Let me know how you are getting on.

 

Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Posted by chemist on April 15, 2004, at 0:25:58

In reply to Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) » Karalyn, posted by rainyday on April 14, 2004, at 6:53:33

hello there, from chemist....i am an old-hand with GAD, BPI, you name it...if i was not in the field of pharmaceutical chemistry (``i'm not just the president, i'm also a client...'') i would be at a loss to offer my experience. for me, benzos and the benzo derivative xanax saved me. paxil, remeron, parnate, luvox, tegretol, gabapentin, an so on did nothing except make me an intolerable person to be around. i have found that therapy with a social worker - in addition to a once-per-month meds check with my shrink - works fine for now. valium, dalmane, halcion, restoril, librium, ativan - you name it - all performed as expected. xanax remains my - and my shrink's - choice, prn up to 2 mg qd. also, dexedrine 30 mg qd. topamax was useless, trileptal was good. stay away from the activating SSRIs/MAOIs and go for the long cool ride on the benzo express. and *do* subject yourself to the things that trigger panic (for me, air travel and agoraphobia in general). i can report that xanax and dexedrine work fine for me after dumpinf topamax as monotherapy....all the best, chemist

> I had been getting treated for depression off and on by a GP for over 5 years. I kept tapering off when I would feel better, then crash, every time worse than before. The GAD manifested itself 10 years ago on an intermittent basis. When I saw a GP at that time, he told me I was stressed out by my job and advised that I change fields. I did, but eventually the panic attacks and anxiety followed me to every job I have had since then. I last tapered off celexa last September under the care of my GP. Within a week of no medication, I hit bottom and depression and GAD struck harder than ever before. I felt like such a loser - hardly any life stresses on me, and I couldn't even get through a work day without bawling and gasping.
>
> My husband looked up a p-doc for me on the internet (I was too frazzled to even look in a phone book), and at my first appointment she dx'd me as bipolar2 and having GAD and panic attacks. That was last October. I have since been on the familiar roller coaster of medications until arriving at my present mix (effexor, wellbutrin, xanax, and ambien). For now, this is working for me. I am seeing a therapist too.
>
> I am probably repeating myself here - sorry. My memory is shot lately and sometimes I do the broken record thing.
>
> Let me know how you are getting on.

 

Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) » chemist

Posted by Aldus Huxley on April 21, 2004, at 19:04:09

In reply to Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), posted by chemist on April 15, 2004, at 0:25:58

Glad to see that someone else has had GAD treated with Adderall/Dexedrine. I do not think this is typically an intuitive choice for most pdocs, but it worked out great for me.

However, I wish to add that my anxiety disorder was not at the level of severe panic attacks, just intense daily anxiety and insomnia.

 

Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) » Aldus Huxley

Posted by chemist on April 21, 2004, at 22:41:30

In reply to Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) » chemist, posted by Aldus Huxley on April 21, 2004, at 19:04:09

> Glad to see that someone else has had GAD treated with Adderall/Dexedrine. I do not think this is typically an intuitive choice for most pdocs, but it worked out great for me.
>
> However, I wish to add that my anxiety disorder was not at the level of severe panic attacks, just intense daily anxiety and insomnia.

why not soma!!!! my pdoc is a d.o., and as such is more open to alternative treatments, be it standard pharmas or others....i was diagnosed bpI by the best expert in the field - if you want the name, we can do this person-to-person - and upon revisiting my d.o./pdoc, he said ``so, you saw the foremost person in the field of bipolar and you were diagnosed bipolar. what a surprise.'' dexedrine has made me stable, able to concentrate, and does *not* affect sleep. i'm a little bit depressed - circumstances - but i agree with you in toto that adderall or dexedrine can be the answer....thanks for your post, and all the best, chemist

 

Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Posted by Aldus Huxley on April 22, 2004, at 18:20:14

In reply to Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) » Aldus Huxley, posted by chemist on April 21, 2004, at 22:41:30

>....i was diagnosed bpI by the best expert in the field - if you want the name, we can do this person-to-person - and upon revisiting my d.o./pdoc, he said ``so, you saw the foremost person in >the field of bipolar and you were diagnosed bipolar. what a surprise.'' dexedrine has made me stable, able to concentrate, and does *not* affect sleep. i'm a little bit depressed - circumstances - but i agree with you in toto that adderall or dexedrine can be the answer....thanks for your post, and all the best, chemist

So are you suggesting that I may possibly be bp and not GAD/ADD? That is very interesting. Maybe that is why my Effexor stopped working (as described in another post). I am going to do a little research. What class is Soma in (sounds like the benzodiaz family)? I have heard the name a lot, but have never been prescribed it. So are you given DextroAmph and Soma?

 

Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Posted by Aldus Huxley on April 22, 2004, at 18:25:08

In reply to Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), posted by Aldus Huxley on April 22, 2004, at 18:20:14

I guess I should be a little embarrassed about not being familiar with Soma -- given my screen-name on this board!

 

Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Posted by Aldus Huxley on April 22, 2004, at 18:29:09

In reply to Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), posted by Aldus Huxley on April 22, 2004, at 18:25:08

>why not soma!!!!

Wait---now I get it! I am an idiot.

 

Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) » Aldus Huxley

Posted by chemist on April 22, 2004, at 20:30:41

In reply to Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), posted by Aldus Huxley on April 22, 2004, at 18:20:14

> >....i was diagnosed bpI by the best expert in the field - if you want the name, we can do this person-to-person - and upon revisiting my d.o./pdoc, he said ``so, you saw the foremost person in >the field of bipolar and you were diagnosed bipolar. what a surprise.'' dexedrine has made me stable, able to concentrate, and does *not* affect sleep. i'm a little bit depressed - circumstances - but i agree with you in toto that adderall or dexedrine can be the answer....thanks for your post, and all the best, chemist
>
> So are you suggesting that I may possibly be bp and not GAD/ADD? That is very interesting. Maybe that is why my Effexor stopped working (as described in another post). I am going to do a little research. What class is Soma in (sounds like the benzodiaz family)? I have heard the name a lot, but have never been prescribed it. So are you given DextroAmph and Soma?

hi there...what i am saying is, if you see a person who is predisposed to diagnosing patients with a certain bias, then you will likely be diagnosed as such. one ex-shrink loved OCD, so i was OCD. another, BP, so i'm bipolar. the real answer is, what cocktail of meds can you and your (willing) doc come up with? could be that GAD is right on, and that you aren't a good fit for effexor. or maybe it's not GAD but BPI/II or ADD.
soma is a skeletal muscle relaxant (carisoprodol), it'll turn you to jelly! i am on dexedrine and xanax......all the best, chemist

 

Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) » Aldus Huxley

Posted by chemist on April 22, 2004, at 20:33:38

In reply to Re: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), posted by Aldus Huxley on April 22, 2004, at 18:25:08

> I guess I should be a little embarrassed about not being familiar with Soma -- given my screen-name on this board!

if you want embarrassed, see my reply to jlbl121, thread called Question for chemist on benzos (experts) + MORE.....foot-in-mouth syndrome...keep the doors of perception wide open, and all the best, chemist


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