Posted by jane d on December 12, 2003, at 0:21:34
In reply to Does anyone have Avoidant Personality Disorder?, posted by billym on December 11, 2003, at 13:36:26
BillyM,
It sounds to me like you are saying this will be the first time you have tried medication. If I misread you than some of this won't apply at all.
It's a very hard decision to make to try a psychotropic medication for the first time. I still remember my fear at crossing that line and that was years ago. I thought that it might change the few things I did like about myself, those that made me "myself", instead of those I didn't. That didn't happen and although the meds have not done as much as I hoped, I have no doubt that I am better off now than I was.
Remember when you read posts that people who aren't satisfied with their meds are more likely to be here. (The ones who are satisfied are probably off posting at online dating services or somsething). So you tend to get a skewed picture on side effects. And remember that everybody will have their own nightmare side effect that they just can't live with. For some it's gaining weight, for you it would probably be losing weight (and that can happen to), my own is probably worrying about getting "stupid". I think it's hard for all of us to really sympathize with someone else's pet fear.
I'm not really clear on the difference between avoidant personality and social phobia. At the very least it sounds like they overlap quite a bit. I'm diagnosed with depression only but I can see a bit of myself in both descriptions. And that part of my problems has responded well to Prozac. It might be worth your while to keep track of the drugs that are thought to help with social phobia also.
One way to deal with cost is to stick with the generics unless you have no choice. Unless your doctor is giving you promotional samples I don't see starting with Lexapro. Prozac is available as a generic and I think Luvox and Paxil are also. Celexa will be soon (which is why its' makers are pushing Lexapro so hard now). And the older drugs are cheaper still. There are other ways you might be able to get help with the costs. You can go thru a clinic as another poster suggested or try to qualify for one of the drug companies hardship programs. There are a lot of posts on these programs if you look in the archives.
I don't think that what doctor you see matters until you've tried and failed with the more common drugs. Cheap or expensive they will probably start you out with the same drugs because those drugs work more often. Unfortunately none of them can examine you, say aha!, you've got this really weird disorder but we know that it responds 100% to this exotic drug. Or even 80% or 60%. It just doesn't work that way. The best they can usually do is say that x drug often works with people for whom y and z have failed. It is trial and error and that's scary when you're the guinea pig. But from your description it sounds like you, like so many of us, have little or nothing to lose by trying.
Anyway, that's the end of my ramblings on this subject. I hope this works out for you.
Jane
poster:jane d
thread:288792
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031208/msgs/289007.html