Posted by utopizen on January 6, 2004, at 11:27:50
I'm a college student with social anxiety, ADD-inattentive, insomnia, atypical narcolepsy. I've found a great hospital doc who finally prescribed me Klonopin and all, but whenever I ran into a side-effect or problem I had to wait a month until the next appt. because he would never return my calls.
So I fianlly gave up, and despite having a PPO for insurance with unlimited everything, I am paying out-of-pocket for a Boston psychopharmacologist at his private practice. Docs in the know have told me this is the only route to getting properly treated, since the docs that know what they're doing and take time with you are scarce.
So this guy, he's the director of a huge hospital's psychopharmacology unit, and he's letting me see him in his private practice. $225 initial, then $125 following appts.
I'm poor, but I also realize this is the only way to leave a more normal life, and my grades have been affected by not getting messages returned, etc.
Anyway, I started Xyrem earlier for my narcolepsy, but I need to try it with Ambien in order to actually sleep on it. Klonopin at 3mg works for sleep, but I'm too groggy the next day, and lower doses don't put me to sleep. Ambien alone doesn't work after awhile, especially with my Desoxyn for ADD+narcolepsy during the day. But hopefully the combo of Xyrem+Ambien will be stellar.
I'd like to continue on 1mg of Klonopin 3x/day, or switch to Xanax or Valium (as my previous p-doc suggested) because Klonopin has seemed to lose its vigor after the first 3 months of everyday use. I think if I simply rotate the benzos every three months, I shouldn't have problems.
Um, insomnia plus Xyrem should do the trick. Klonopin for social anxiety. Desoxyn for staying awake and ADD. Let me see-- Straterra? should I augment it with Desoxyn? I'm not convinced it's worth it, but anyone have any insights about this? Anyone augment it?? I doubt it'd work without augmenting it.
Oh, and I'm a junior, and my GPA is at 1.9. I'm 20th to the bottom of my class. I'm really smart, but I procrastinate like crazy, or go to the library and realize I'm painfully tired. So maybe Xyrem will help with the sleepiness, and Straterra with procrastination??
Agg... I'm about 2 1/2 years into this psychopharmacology stuff, and my patience is waining. I've tried Wellbutrin, Seroquel, Abilify (cute, minus akathsia), Celexa, Atarax, Visatril, Beta blockers (which work when combined with a benzo), Neurontin (which made me feel retarded, despite being effective on social anxiety), Ritalin (felt bored), Adderall (I don't like how it lasted so long) Dexedrine (wouldn't keep me up for my narcolepsy), Effexor at 300mg for 3 months.
So I haven't been on an SSRI for a year or so. I'm wondering if I need one just to fix up some lose ends. Straterra was developed as an antidepressant, so I figure if I try that it should help me with something.
poster:utopizen
thread:297117
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040105/msgs/297117.html