Posted by zeugma on October 31, 2003, at 20:12:32
Strattera has a strange effect on my anxiety. Normally, when anxious, I would be unable to locate the source of my anxiety- that's why it took me so long to figure out that I had severe social anxiety. I would become 'uncomfortable' and I would start to sweat, tremble, and redden, and my stomach would knot up (that can be almost unbearable). I started on Strattera in May, and soon after that I told my therapist I had SA- in fact a particularly virulent form of it- Avoidant Personality Disorder. She quickly agreed and gave me a reference for a CBT institute. (I've been doing CBT since then, with decidedly modest results.)
I wish I could say Strattera was anxiolytic for me. It isn't. On the other hand, it has CHANGED the character of the anxiety- I am starting a new job and was going through terrible anxieties, anxious that I was the only male in the room, anxious that my new colleagues would talk about me when I left, anxious that I'd be looked at as an unknown quantity who seemed to be miserable sitting there watching everything- I know enough about myself to know that the signs of my anxiety (described above) are readily apparent to anyone. I was having all these thoughts, and conscious also of the 'cognitive stiffness' severe anxiety always induces in me. And I've been sick all day and last night, too, with gastrointestinal upset. The point is that I doubt I would have been as aware of all this without the Strattera. So I can't say I really like how it makes me feel, at least without an anxiolytic on board (I mean one that works, not the feeble Buspar). But its clarity is certainly powerful.
Has anyone else had an effect like this?
poster:zeugma
thread:275389
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031030/msgs/275389.html