Posted by Rick on May 3, 2000, at 18:30:32
In reply to Re: Effexor XR Social Anxiety, posted by Annie on May 1, 2000, at 23:25:14
> > Hey DC, thanks for the reply, I've had a hell of a time trying to post my messages and have repeated myself at least 3 times! Hopefully this gets to you. Will keep you posted re Effexor XR, my biggest issue with the social anxiety is that I blush like a lunatic, and it's driving me nuts. What have your symptoms been like? I wonder why my Dr. hasn't suggested the meds you are taking.
Annie, these days the first medications usually tried for social anxiety are the SSRI antidepressants (especially Paxil, but also Zoloft, Prozac, Celexa, and Luvox). Some people do very well on them, although many suffer side effects (including initially WORSE anxiety) Many, if not all, of these side effects tend to resolve or become less bothersome within the first few weeks. Also, for some people, they can take eight weeks or more to begin working (if at all). The response to a given med vary greatly by person.
The antidepressant Effexor doesn't seem to be as commonly prescribed for Social Phobia. However,
Medline has a few smaller-scale studies on Effexor that showed a great deal of success in treating social phobia, especially among people who didn't respond to SSRI's. Also, I believe the manufacturer is undertaking larger-scale tests of effectiveness based on this evidence. Effexor acts partially through the same mechanism as the SSRI's (essentially making serotonin more "available" to the brain), but it also has some different properties.The reason the MAOI antidepressant Nardil is avoided by most pdocs, despite its great success in treating Social Phobia, is that it carries the risk of dangerous or even fatal hypertensive crises if certain common foods or medications (including common decongestants) are ingested concurrently.
While I've dabbled with some other meds, Klonopin is absolutely the mainstay of my treatment. It does so much for me. In placebo-controlled studies, it showed a higher response rate (over 75%) than any other medication has to-date. The trick
poster:Rick
thread:31669
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000429/msgs/32101.html