Posted by g_g_g_unit on January 18, 2012, at 20:12:13
Hey, so my psychiatrist's finally back from vacation. Things have been kind of up-and-down. I withdrew completely from Valium in order to assess the effect that 20mg of Lexapro is having.
It's strange - I find that 6-7 hours of sleep will leave me relatively wired-yet-tired; I'm more alert but somewhat cracked out. It's not really possible to sustain this for more than 2-3 days, however, because I'll become too physically drained.
On the other hand, sleeping 8+ hours will leave me more calm and physically rested but incredibly spacey, foggy and anhedonic; since I have ADD, my reading comprehension etc. is already rather fragile and it just becomes impossible to think, read, concentrate on the SSRI alone. Coffee helps, but increases my anxiety during withdrawal.
I'd be willing to increase the Lexapro, but only if it's likely that a stimulant would offset the cognitive side-effects because I find this limbo-like state just as depressing as depression itself. Last time I tried adding Dexedrine to 15mg of Lexapro, it still increased my anxiety too much. I felt fine on the combination of Lexapro, Valium and Dexedrine but don't feel Valium did my cognition any favors either.
I've also consulted with Dr Ken Gilman, who runs the psychotropical site, out of interest. His recommendation is 50-60mg of Parnate, which he believes might potentially treat the depression, anhedonia, OCD and could help ADD as well.
For the record, I have also yet to try Effexor, Pristiq or Cymbalta.
poster:g_g_g_unit
thread:1007711
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120108/msgs/1007711.html