Posted by viridis on August 23, 2002, at 23:23:03
In reply to Thanks All for Replies-Need all help I can get! (nm), posted by hildi on August 22, 2002, at 11:15:23
Just my 2 cents: After many years of trying to deal with anxiety, panic attacks, and serious depression through various kinds of therapy, SSRIs, Wellbutrin, other drugs, herbs and various dietary supplements, lifestyle changes etc. (with limited and short-lived success at best and awful side effects at worst) I found a very skilled and intuitive psychiatrist. He immediately prescribed Klonopin daily, with Xanax PRN, and the relief was dramatic. Clearly (for me) the anxiety was primary, the depression secondary or at least aggravated by the anxiety.
We later added a small dose of Adderall to deal with possible mild ADD, and this pretty much cleared up the remaining low-level depression as well. I'm also taking Neurontin to help maintain stability, but really, I think Klonopin (clonazepam) is the key, with Adderall acting synergistically on the depression/ADD side of things.
So far, I've had no need or desire to increase beyond 1 mg Klonopin/day, and take the Xanax only occasionally for breakthrough anxiety. The initial bzd side effects (clumsiness, sleepiness, short-term memory loss) were mild and subsided in about a week. The increase in quality of life and overall performance offsets any concerns I have about long-term bzd therapy, and my pdoc seems quite comfortable with keeping me on this class of drugs indefinitely.
poster:viridis
thread:117297
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020821/msgs/117600.html