Posted by yxibow on February 11, 2007, at 3:27:10
In reply to Re: How does low Lyrica work for Anxiety? » yxibow, posted by Phillipa on February 10, 2007, at 22:14:14
> Jay is that good or bad for someone my age would it replace benzos? Love Jan
Neurontin is not terribly burdensome on the system, it primarily is excreted through the kidneys and any dose over about 900mg at a time simply is eliminated regardless. It is somewhat sedating -- it is better when first started though than when on a steady state, at least for myself, at any rate. When I first started it, it was heavily sedating, and there were signs of speech slurring, although I was compos mentis. I would say at this point it is an adjunctive to the benzodiazepine I take but not a primary agent.
But as they say, your miles may vary. You could also try Lyrica if you wanted to; remembering that about 10% of people who try it like myself do get blurry vision. But from the responses on the board here, a number of people have gotten some relief from Lyrica so you could try that as well.
But benzodiazepines I thought had worked for you for years; there was some talk of either a washout or adding a smidgen more to your dose, I don't think either would be horrendous, but a washout does require some determination and that may not be something you are ready to do at the moment or may not be necessary.
In my opinion it is hard to replace a benzodiazepine that really works for you, and at the dose range you are taking, it isn't really a concern I would say to add on a bit if you had to. This of course would be something you would discuss with your doctor.
It remains a chief class of psychotropics for fairly immediate anxiolytic relief which has not been trumped yet by other new agents, at any rate, in a significant manner.
There is BuSpar (buspirone) -- although the response rate varies depending on what kind of anxiety disorder you have. Gepirone, a related agent, if the NDA is approved by the FDA this quarter, will probably replace it by the end of this year as it has a stronger action at 5HT1a.
-- Jay
poster:yxibow
thread:731592
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070207/msgs/731749.html