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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 12 of 12. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by kk on July 9, 2004, at 0:02:04
My doctor gave me a list of three anti depressants she would want me to take, she told me to look up some information. I am overwhelmed by everything I am reading. I want to know what you think of celexa, effexor, or paxil or all of them, and tell me which you would precribe. ~Thanks
Posted by shadows721 on July 9, 2004, at 1:05:27
In reply to can't choose between celexa, effexor, or paxil, posted by kk on July 9, 2004, at 0:02:04
I would chose celexa.
Posted by SLS on July 9, 2004, at 1:17:20
In reply to can't choose between celexa, effexor, or paxil, posted by kk on July 9, 2004, at 0:02:04
> My doctor gave me a list of three anti depressants she would want me to take, she told me to look up some information. I am overwhelmed by everything I am reading. I want to know what you think of celexa, effexor, or paxil or all of them, and tell me which you would precribe. ~Thanks
Can you describe some of the specific features and symptoms of your illness?
- Scott
Posted by partlycloudy on July 9, 2004, at 7:50:39
In reply to can't choose between celexa, effexor, or paxil, posted by kk on July 9, 2004, at 0:02:04
It's your lucky day as I've taken them all. What diagnosis did your doctor give you? It's interesting that he/she would ask you to research them rather than making a recommendation.
ps for me, effexor has been the most effective. I am bipolar2, have generaliized anxiety and panic attacks. Also take wellbutrin, xanax and ambien.
Posted by King Vultan on July 9, 2004, at 8:06:26
In reply to can't choose between celexa, effexor, or paxil, posted by kk on July 9, 2004, at 0:02:04
> My doctor gave me a list of three anti depressants she would want me to take, she told me to look up some information. I am overwhelmed by everything I am reading. I want to know what you think of celexa, effexor, or paxil or all of them, and tell me which you would precribe. ~Thanks
They are all potentially effective, but as Scott indicated, it would be good to know more about your situation. Of the three you mention, I have only taken Effexor, which is widely used and very effective but is often a 2nd line treatment after an SSRI is tried first. One of the biggest problems with Effexor are the withdrawal symptoms that you could spend hours and hours reading about on this board. For that reason alone, I would suggest you might consider one of the other drugs first, unless you have already had a failed trial on an SSRI in the past.Both Celexa and Paxil are SSRIs and are good drugs. Celexa is probably somewhat more neutral, with fewer side effects overall than Paxil. Paxil is approved for social anxiety disorder, but other SSRIs are potentially effective treatments for this also. I personally feel Paxil is probably somewhat more effective than Celexa, but as I indicated, my opinion is that Paxil has more side effects. Paxil is regarded as somewhat sedating, but some people suffer insomnia on it anyway. All of these drugs have the potential to cause insomnia or perhaps make a person sleepy during the day, but it really depends on the person. Any drug that works on serotonin as all of these do will give me insomnia personally, but other people experience no problems. There is really no way to know until you take one of them.
Todd
Posted by watergirl on July 9, 2004, at 18:13:28
In reply to can't choose between celexa, effexor, or paxil, posted by kk on July 9, 2004, at 0:02:04
Paxil always worked great for me. Effexor was awful. Im on Lexapro now and am not sure if it is effective or if its the combo of drugs Im on now.
EVERYONE is DIFFERENT. What works for one person may not work for another. Let us know what your DX is and what youre experiencing.
Best Wishes,
Cindy
Posted by kk on July 9, 2004, at 23:41:47
In reply to Re: can't choose between celexa, effexor, or paxil, posted by SLS on July 9, 2004, at 1:17:20
> > My doctor gave me a list of three anti depressants she would want me to take, she told me to look up some information. I am overwhelmed by everything I am reading. I want to know what you think of celexa, effexor, or paxil or all of them, and tell me which you would precribe. ~Thanks
>
>
> Can you describe some of the specific features and symptoms of your illness?
> - Scott
I'll try to describe them to the best of my abilties:-loss of sleep
-increased desire to cry somtimes for little or no reason
-laziness
-get very overwhelemed
-have so much thoughts rushing through my head that i feel like im having or am having nervous breakdowns
- think im being watched
Posted by guttersnipe on July 11, 2004, at 2:16:34
In reply to Re: can't choose between celexa, effexor, or paxil, posted by kk on July 9, 2004, at 23:41:47
> -loss of sleep
> -increased desire to cry somtimes for little or no reason
> -laziness
> -get very overwhelemed
> -have so much thoughts rushing through my head that i feel like im having or am having nervous breakdowns
> - think im being watchedHi kk,
Some of those symptoms sound like you might have manic-depression (also known as bipolar disorder), rather than unipolar depression -- especially the insomnia, the racing thoughts, and the belief that you're being watched (paranoia).
I am not diagnosing you, of course -- I'm just offering an observation and a warning. The warning is this: when bipolars/manic-depressives take anti-depressant medications without also taking anti-mania/mood-stabilizer medications, the anti-depressants can cause manic episodes or can cause "mixed states" (which are absolutely hellish experiences in which symptoms of both mania and depression are present). That's what happened to me, and I'm lucky that I lived to tell the story.
You might google something called the "mood disorders questionnaire" and fill out the questionnaire and give it to your doctor so that the two of you can work together to see whether you might be manic-depressive. No matter what your doctor says, it would be a good idea for you to spend 45 minutes or an hour on the internet learning about what the symptoms of mania and the symptoms of mixed states are, so that you'll (maybe) be able to recognize those symptoms in yourself if the anti-depressants cause you to have a manic episode or mixed states. Another thing to keep in mind is that many manic-depressives don't go psychotic with mania -- instead, they have "hypomania" which, to oversimplify a bit, is very much like mania but without any psychotic delusions or hallucinations.
Good luck, and hang in there, OK?
Posted by Sad Panda on July 11, 2004, at 4:44:50
In reply to Re: can't choose between celexa, effexor, or paxil, posted by kk on July 9, 2004, at 23:41:47
> I'll try to describe them to the best of my abilties:
>
> -loss of sleep
> -increased desire to cry somtimes for little or no reason
> -laziness
> -get very overwhelemed
> -have so much thoughts rushing through my head that i feel like im having or am having nervous breakdowns
> - think im being watched
>
>Hi KK,
Most of these are depression except the last two.
How bad do you think everyone is looking at you?
How often do you have thoughts rushing through your head?
Do you feel like all of these symptoms at once, or do you go through cycles?If your doctor only wants to give you one of the three then I would choose Effexor if you are suicidal, or go with Celexa if you are not suicidal.
Cheers,
Panda.
Posted by ravenstorm on July 12, 2004, at 23:10:05
In reply to Re: can't choose between celexa, effexor, or paxil » kk, posted by Sad Panda on July 11, 2004, at 4:44:50
Paxil worked well for me until it was time to go off of it. It took over two years to taper and I ended up worse after going off the drug (due to the severe withdrawal) than I ever was before taking it.
A friend of mine, however, went on and off paxil with no problem whatsoever.
My advice would be NOT TO CHOOSE PAXIL, but I am clearly biased.
If you do decide to go on paxil, if you get really sick during the start up side effects, I'd suggest quitting at that point. It seems to me (and this is totally anecdotal) that those of us who went through really bad start up side effects went through the worst withdrawals ever. So, if you are lucky enough to be one of those individuals who can start on these drugs with little or no problems, you probably won't have to worry about withdrawal and paxil would be an OK choice.
Of the three drugs you listed, celexa has less of a discontinutation syndrome than the other two drugs and is considered a cleaner drug.
Posted by jasmineneroli on July 12, 2004, at 23:36:21
In reply to Re: can't choose between celexa, effexor, or paxil, posted by ravenstorm on July 12, 2004, at 23:10:05
Hello:
I have all of your symptoms (except the last..but I'll get to that in a minute) and I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder. The racing thoughts and overwhelmed feelings are definitely signs of anxiety (whether GAD or related to Bipolar). Af ter a while of being in this hyper-vigilant state, you feel exhausted and overwhelmed, tired, down, forgetful and confused easily. The feeling of being watched maybe due to that fact that your high-anxiety is making you hyper-vigilant (always aware of your surroundings and people and "scanning" for potential problems). Anyway, as others have mentioned, research, research, research and keep a diary of your feelings and behaviour/reactions to take back to your Doc, so you may obtain the correct diagnosis.
In regards to your drug question, I have been on Celexa and found it very helpful for about a year, when I suddenly became more depressed and anxious. It was fairly easy to discontinue. Everything I've read about Effexor(and everyone I know who was on it) makes me nervous. My husband has Dysthymia ( a chronic form of depression)and has been on Paxil for years. It has definitely helped his disorder.He has sexual side effects, but has lowered his dose to the minimal effective level and the S.E.'s have reduced. Trying to discontinue (to try a different drug)was problematic however, and he went back on it again. I would choose Celexa.
I have tried 6 different medications, the only one relieving my anxiety, on a continual basis, being the benzodiazepine, Klonopin. I still get the racing thoughts though.
I'm waiting for Pregabalin to come out in Canada.I have high hopes for it !!!!
Good luck to you and congratulations for taking control of managing your illness!
Jas.
Posted by karen_kay on July 14, 2004, at 22:20:55
In reply to can't choose between celexa, effexor, or paxil, posted by kk on July 9, 2004, at 0:02:04
we should talk on social!!!!!! :)
nice to meet you! i'm kk too! are you really a kk though? interesting...
This is the end of the thread.
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