Medication Help/Suggestion/Advice Wanted!! !

Post Reply New Topic

Hello,

I am a 26 year old diagnosed with mild AS.
I have been on medication for 10 years to treat related symptoms including:

GAD (General Anxiety)
OCD
and to a lesser extent ADHD


I believe as do all my MD docs that I do need to be on medication to stabilize my mood and control anxiety/impulsivity too.
The problem is...I get nasty side effects.

SSRIs like Prozac and Zoloft have caused mania. Celexia didn't do much...Luvox helped BUT it made my restless and ruined my sleep (even with Ambien/Trazedone...etc.....).
Zyprexa caused me to gain an awful lot of weight and I was zombie all day.
Strattera caused me to feel like I had the flu.
I thought Effexor and Cymbalta similarly had a stimulating effect.
I can handle MAYBE 25 mg of Serequel before it does likewise.
Resperdal made me feel like I had ants in my pants.
Benzos like Clonazapam and Lorazampam my Dr. is hesitant since they are addictive.

My current regiment was revised this week to be
AM: 1500 MG of Depakote+300 MG Trileptal
PM: 600 MG Trileptal

I need something to slow me down/be less anxious and compulsive/restless.
The fact is though most meds either rev me up and stimulate me (or they zombie and fatten me).

Are there any suggestions?

Depakote and trileptal are for seizures. Unless you are epileptic I can't imagine that doing you any good for anxiety and depression.

Ask your doctor about lithium and a tricyclic like anafranil or luvox.

been there, done that. ssri's, serious meds that will drive you insane if your body chemistry is not compatible. there comes a time when being addicted to a medication is acceptable. xanax is an acceptable alternative to living a miserable existence. few side effects. can you run? long distance running works wonders. f...ing physicans. is the doc worried about you being addicted or is he worried about being targeted by the d.e.a.? worth finding out. good luck to you. one serious thing---do not buy off the street! not worth being arrested-you have no idea what you're getting. getting opinions from more than one physician is always a good idea.

Last edited by danandlouie on 07 Aug 2010, 11:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

seizure medication is supposed to help tho. I'm on lamotrigine, ant-convulsants, and its like antidepressants but not as bad. I had difficulty with antidepressants too with the hypomania and crap

Seizure medication may also have mood stabilising properties, they're not just for seizures.

Although I'm slightly surprised to see it being used in this case, because my experience with sodium valporate/depakote is that it's good for mania but not so good for depression. Still, if it works then there's not much need in changing it...

I'd say give a benzo a shot. Addictiveness can be an issue but as long as you take it within the prescribed bounds, you should be okay.

I don't know much about ADHD meds but there's Concerta and Vyvanse you could try.

You might consider atenolol/tenormin--it is primarily prescribed as a beta blocker to reduce high blood pressure, slowing the heart down. But, it is sometimes prescribed as an anti-anxiety drug. Out of patent and widely prescribed, it is one of the cheapest drugs available.

How long did you try Strettara for? I've just started and while those "flu" like symptoms are a great descriptor of how I feel for about 2 hours after I take it, my understanding is that feeling will dissipate.

I wonder that they've never tried you on a stimulant for ADHD. It's helped me be more in control of myself, and actually decreased my anxiety. But they mightn't have thought of that... or be worried about increasing anxiety. If coffee calms you down and makes you feel more in control, then that might be a sign it's worth a try.

Anyway, whatever you do try, you'll want to tell your doctor you tend to be hypersensitive, and you want to try starting at a very low dose. Many times, doctors will by default give you the regular adult-size dose, and not realize that they are overmedicating someone who responds very strongly to the substance.

Are you in therapy? Anxiety sometimes yields to CBT-type strategies, where you can edit your thoughts to be realistic rather than depressive/anxious.

Good luck with the medication trial-and-error. Make sure they try just one thing at a time, at the lowest dose possible, so you'll know how you react to everything and whether it works for you.

I take the zoloft/geodon combination zoloft by itself makes me manic but with geodon it controls the mainia and stablizes my moods quite well.

I take Lyrica http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregabalin which is an anticonvulsant / seizure medication that has been found to be effective for generalized anxiety disorder. I don't actually feel any less anxious for taking it, but I do feel very much more able to interact socially. I started taking it the day that I was diagnosed, and I do not know how much was Lyrica and how much was the diagnosis, but together they were life-changing.

I take diazepam for acute anxiety - I am prescribed 2mg twice a day (a very small dose) and expected to use them as needed, so I can save them on days I don't feel the need and take extra when I do, but not more than the 60 tablets a month. I find it so much easier to go shopping, meet my kids teachers, go to social events etc. But the most important effect is that every aspect of my life improves by not being drained by social stress - my focus, concentration, productivity and attachment to relationships are all far better with diazepam to handle the predictable stresses.