Posted by MixedState66 on March 13, 2013, at 14:37:41
In reply to Re: Anxious Depression (maybe) - Medication Advice? » MixedState66, posted by ChicagoKat on March 13, 2013, at 10:48:52
> Hi, welcome to Babble. It's a great forum where one can get lots of advice and support. I'm sorry, though, that you have a reason to be here.
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> Remeber to take all the advice you will get with a grain of salt: what works great for one person may even be detrimental to another, even between 2 people with the same diagnosis. Our brains are all different in lots of little ways that, taken together, lead to different responses to the same drug. It's all more an art than a science, as is most of medicine.
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> Anyways, looks like you got the 3 course belt-buster going on. Depression/anxiety/OCD. First of all, have you tried Luvox? It's an SSRI that helps depression, but also has affinity for a whole nother receptor, the sigma receptor, and by binding this receptor it helps to treat anxiety AND is FDA approved to treat OCD. You maybe possibly get all 3 of your types of symptoms treated with one drug :) But no worries if that doesn't work. As my beloved pdoc says 'there's always another drug' I think giving Luvox a try if you haven't already is the best first step. If you have tried it and it didn't work well, let us know how it didn't work, or if it partially worked. And don't forget, some of these drugs, like SSRIs, can take weeks and weeks to kick in. And I must add, you'll get those sexual side effects you spoke of with Luvox too. Actually you get them with lots of drugs. But that may explain why you've been tried on Wellbutrin b/c it is one of the few that doesn't have that problem.
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> Now you'll probably get lots of other posts giving you lots of different ideas. There are some *really* smart people here. Feel free to ask lots of questions and make an informed choice for yourself. And try not to worry too much if your choice(s) don't work out at first. You're very early in the game, it shouldn't be too difficult to find drug therapy that works for you. Me, I'm twenty years older than you and I am a fast metabolizer, which basically means drugs 'poop out' on me relatively quickly. But even after decades of different regimes,I have still been able to find relief with Lexapro for anxiety and Ritalin for depression. Main thing is to hang in there and don't give up if one or two or ten regimens don't work. You'll find something. Also find the best pdoc you can. One who is compassionate, one who will listen to youru ideas, and one who is a bit of a maverick and willing to try novel things out, as long as they are safe. The best of luck to you!
> KatThank you ChicagoKat and Thomaeus for the feedback. As I mentioned in my first post, I was very hesitant and afraid with the idea of medication to treat my symptoms. However, through the years of contemplating my condition, I've accepted that meds are necessary and potentially can save my life. I understand as well that everyone reacts differently to a certain med, although it is tempting to interpret posts containing negative side effects and ineffective results as reality if I were to take them myself.
ChicagoKat- I will keep Luvox in mind as a possible alternative. One thing I try to tell my doctors again and again which they don't seem to grasp is that I have had low libido consistently with no improvement since the age of 18, with or without meds, so I'm not too concerned about sexual side effects like delayed orgasm or loss of libido. Do you have suggestions for accurately identifying my depressive/anxious depression with certain tests I should take online for instance? I wish I could provide an accurate description to my psychiatrist, because I only have about ten to fifteen minutes to meet with him each month?
Also, a question for anyone who can provide useful tips: I notice that a common side effect with risperdal is fatigue and improved sleep. However, from my experience I have drowsiness during the day and more energy and difficulty sleeping at night. With these effects, should I take in the morning instead of night? Any sleep aides I should consider (natural over the counter /or prescribed by my doc)?
poster:MixedState66
thread:1040186
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20130308/msgs/1040226.html