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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by AdamCanada on January 9, 2008, at 0:54:24
My basic question is at the very bottom...
Hello I am on Paxil 9.5mg. I also take ritalin several times a day to actually feel alive to some small degree. Also Clonazepam. Gabapentin I took for some months but stopped few days ago as i would get sweltering burning pains all of a sudden from it and seemed to worsen me and no longer help me on social side.
I have been doing okay in the past 4-5 months expecially the past 2 months where lowering my paxil dose from 10mg to 9.5 somehow gave me a huge surge in libido and motivation to meet women.
Anyway around new years I been spiralling downwards. Maybe it's because i steadily went down to 9mg of paxil, or maybe because i been taking a bad brand of Protien powder (stopped, i take other brand), or Creatine (10 days only then stopped around Jan 4th or so), ... so i dont know what caused me to get worsening of depression and anxiety and social anxiety.
Dep, anxiety, social anxiety, all been big problems for me but for the past 4 months things were anywhere from okay to pretty decent and I made friends and had a social life after 5 years of doing Almost NOTHING.
NOW I want to get that feeling back and i dont know what it is. Seasonal worsening of symptoms? Protein powder amino acids? Creatine? Paxil instability? Gabapentin building up in my system and doing something bad? I wish I knew.Or maybe bad brand of inexpensive protein powder? I'm not some rich guy and barely scrape by with my costs so I used to take... Interactive Nutrition Mammoth 2500. I would take up to 3 scoops a day with water to make shakes. It didn't seem to help much except for the gym but I wouldnt gain any weight as intended. maybe tiny bit. This other brand I been taking recently which i finished but plan to buy again tomorrow has helped me put on 5 pounds.... interesting.
Maybe the Mammoth brand is trash? It has aspartic acid whatever that is and... over a dozen others.
Could this be the cause? Please anyone with any advice or insight let me know. I been feeling so HELPless lately despite doing a tiny bit better recently and I feel like all my friends and the people whom I have met I cannot even talk to anymore due to my HIGH anxiety and anti-social and low mood.
Please any advice on any of the issues or possibilities that I brought up. Thank you for reading.
Posted by Phoenix1 on January 9, 2008, at 8:37:53
In reply to What has worsened my depression/anxiety/Social?, posted by AdamCanada on January 9, 2008, at 0:54:24
> My basic question is at the very bottom...
>
> Hello I am on Paxil 9.5mg. I also take ritalin several times a day to actually feel alive to some small degree. Also Clonazepam. Gabapentin I took for some months but stopped few days ago as i would get sweltering burning pains all of a sudden from it and seemed to worsen me and no longer help me on social side.
>
> I have been doing okay in the past 4-5 months expecially the past 2 months where lowering my paxil dose from 10mg to 9.5 somehow gave me a huge surge in libido and motivation to meet women.
>
> Anyway around new years I been spiralling downwards. Maybe it's because i steadily went down to 9mg of paxil, or maybe because i been taking a bad brand of Protien powder (stopped, i take other brand), or Creatine (10 days only then stopped around Jan 4th or so), ... so i dont know what caused me to get worsening of depression and anxiety and social anxiety.
>
> Dep, anxiety, social anxiety, all been big problems for me but for the past 4 months things were anywhere from okay to pretty decent and I made friends and had a social life after 5 years of doing Almost NOTHING.
>
>
> NOW I want to get that feeling back and i dont know what it is. Seasonal worsening of symptoms? Protein powder amino acids? Creatine? Paxil instability? Gabapentin building up in my system and doing something bad? I wish I knew.
>
> Or maybe bad brand of inexpensive protein powder? I'm not some rich guy and barely scrape by with my costs so I used to take... Interactive Nutrition Mammoth 2500. I would take up to 3 scoops a day with water to make shakes. It didn't seem to help much except for the gym but I wouldnt gain any weight as intended. maybe tiny bit. This other brand I been taking recently which i finished but plan to buy again tomorrow has helped me put on 5 pounds.... interesting.
>
> Maybe the Mammoth brand is trash? It has aspartic acid whatever that is and... over a dozen others.
>
> Could this be the cause? Please anyone with any advice or insight let me know. I been feeling so HELPless lately despite doing a tiny bit better recently and I feel like all my friends and the people whom I have met I cannot even talk to anymore due to my HIGH anxiety and anti-social and low mood.
>
> Please any advice on any of the issues or possibilities that I brought up. Thank you for reading.
>
>I would tend to look at the dose of SSRI you are on for one thing. It has decreased and at 9.5mg or even 10mg, it would be sub-therapeutic for many people. I think the minimum effective dose of Paxil in most SAD trials is 20mg, even for maintenance. I understand you would have side effects at this dosage, but maybe it's time to reappraise the drug/dosage. How much clonazepam do you take? I'm not so sure the protein powder would play much of a role here, but I may be wrong.
Phoenix1
Posted by Phillipa on January 9, 2008, at 12:02:14
In reply to Re: What has worsened my depression/anxiety/Social » AdamCanada, posted by Phoenix1 on January 9, 2008, at 8:37:53
My first ad was paxil and the pdoc gave me l0mg and first lopressor 25mg for three weeks he said to prepare my body as anxiety has always been so hight and l0 was the maximum with xanax I could ever take. And withdrawing off it I took tiny bites as brain zaps. Don't know about the protein powder but I read either whey or soy isn't that good for anxiety. Never did get an energy boost though. Maybe on alternative someone will know good luck. Phillipa
Posted by Molitor on January 9, 2008, at 12:05:40
In reply to What has worsened my depression/anxiety/Social?, posted by AdamCanada on January 9, 2008, at 0:54:24
Stopping gabapentin suddenly might worsen depression.
I know there's a lot of people who like taurine, but it just makes me feel horrible. Not only does it not give me any energy, but it gives me a horrible, profound, flu-like lethargy, which is worse a day or two later. If your protein powder has taurine in it, or you're drinking any of those "energy" drinks with taurine added, you might want to stop for a couple weeks and see if you feel better.
Remember, some of these things can stay in your system for days, so it may take that long to feel better after you stop (if that's what's causing the problem).
I'm certainly not against supplements, but I'd say it'd be a good idea to stay away from 'raw' amino acids, unless you can identify that they're actually doing you some good.
Posted by Polarbear206 on January 9, 2008, at 12:23:23
In reply to What has worsened my depression/anxiety/Social?, posted by AdamCanada on January 9, 2008, at 0:54:24
> My basic question is at the very bottom...
>
> Hello I am on Paxil 9.5mg. I also take ritalin several times a day to actually feel alive to some small degree. Also Clonazepam. Gabapentin I took for some months but stopped few days ago as i would get sweltering burning pains all of a sudden from it and seemed to worsen me and no longer help me on social side.
>
> I have been doing okay in the past 4-5 months expecially the past 2 months where lowering my paxil dose from 10mg to 9.5 somehow gave me a huge surge in libido and motivation to meet women.
>
> Anyway around new years I been spiralling downwards. Maybe it's because i steadily went down to 9mg of paxil, or maybe because i been taking a bad brand of Protien powder (stopped, i take other brand), or Creatine (10 days only then stopped around Jan 4th or so), ... so i dont know what caused me to get worsening of depression and anxiety and social anxiety.
>
> Dep, anxiety, social anxiety, all been big problems for me but for the past 4 months things were anywhere from okay to pretty decent and I made friends and had a social life after 5 years of doing Almost NOTHING.
>
>
> NOW I want to get that feeling back and i dont know what it is. Seasonal worsening of symptoms? Protein powder amino acids? Creatine? Paxil instability? Gabapentin building up in my system and doing something bad? I wish I knew.
>
> Or maybe bad brand of inexpensive protein powder? I'm not some rich guy and barely scrape by with my costs so I used to take... Interactive Nutrition Mammoth 2500. I would take up to 3 scoops a day with water to make shakes. It didn't seem to help much except for the gym but I wouldnt gain any weight as intended. maybe tiny bit. This other brand I been taking recently which i finished but plan to buy again tomorrow has helped me put on 5 pounds.... interesting.
>
> Maybe the Mammoth brand is trash? It has aspartic acid whatever that is and... over a dozen others.
>
> Could this be the cause? Please anyone with any advice or insight let me know. I been feeling so HELPless lately despite doing a tiny bit better recently and I feel like all my friends and the people whom I have met I cannot even talk to anymore due to my HIGH anxiety and anti-social and low mood.
>
> Please any advice on any of the issues or possibilities that I brought up. Thank you for reading.
>
>
Not a good idea to abruptly stop the neurontin. This should never be done, esp. if you have been on it for some time. Your dip was probably the fact the the neurontin was augmenting the small dose of paxil you were on.You may also have underlying SAD which will even make your situation worse. Ritalin can also exacerbate mood disorders and combining it with antidepressants can be tricky. My suggestion would be to restrart the neurontin and go from there. If you get better, that was the problem. You might also want to look into switching from ritalin to wellbutrin. Wellbutrin is one of the drugs used for SAD and can be stimulating.
PB
Posted by bleauberry on January 9, 2008, at 18:30:02
In reply to What has worsened my depression/anxiety/Social?, posted by AdamCanada on January 9, 2008, at 0:54:24
I don't know. My own experience is that amino acids are tricky. They can initially fix something, but then build up too much. I have experienced that with 5htp, tyrosine, dlpa, whey protien powder, rice protein powder, and soy protein powder. With me it is a fine balance that is totally not manageable.
In natural books that talk about treatments with amino acids they make the point that too much is just as bad as not enough, no matter what they amino acid is. With bulk amino acids, your natural unique biochemistry may be discarding some of the excesses but unable to discard some others, leading to imbalances. Pure theory on my part.
Methionine is a prominent amino acid in bulk powders. It is a sulfur molecule that stirs up stored toxins such as lead, mercury and arsenic. It is a toxic world we live in. I wonder if you have, or ever had, amalgam teeth fillings. Anyway, with extra methionine beyond a normal diet stored toxins in fat will be stirred up and recirculated throught your body and brain faster than they can be excreted. Psychiatric worseing is the primary symptom. Likely? I don't know. Just a thought.
In any case, I have found amino acids tricky. They can be wonderful and aweful all within a very short time frame. Don't know why.
In any case, I really don't know. Just thinking out loud. Amino acids are tricky. They say you just store or excrete whatever excess you take in. I don't buy that.
Posted by Dr. Bob on January 16, 2008, at 1:36:31
In reply to Re: What has worsened my depression/anxiety/Social?, posted by bleauberry on January 9, 2008, at 18:30:02
> I don't know. My own experience is that amino acids are tricky.
Sorry to interrupt, but I'd like to redirect follow-ups regarding amino acids to Psycho-Babble Alternative. Here's a link:
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20080110/msgs/806854.html
Thanks,
Bob
This is the end of the thread.
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