Posted by ideopath on July 24, 2018, at 18:45:39
I have had horrific anxiety and depression my whole life. Truly unbearable. I am 65 years old. I started with SSRIs maybe 25 years ago which made things definitely better, but not great.
I then added other drugs and supplements and was doing very well. But I didn't like the sexual side effects from SSRIs (most recent was Lexapro). My insurance covered TMS so I tried that on my pdoc's advise and it worked! I was actually surprised that it worked. It got rid of the depression but I still need drugs and supplements for anxiety. So far the TMS series of 30 treatments has worked for about 4 months since my last session with no booster treatments needed. And my insurance covered it.
As a result, I now take no more SSRIs, the sexual dysfunction went away almost immediately after discontinuation, I reduced Remeron from 30 mg to 15 mg, and I reduced Abilify from 5 mg to 2 mg. No other changes. All in all I feel a lot better in addition to losing the side effects.
Of course what works for me might not work for others. But here are my meds and supplements.
ELIMINATED [Lexapro (escitalopram): 20 mg 1x per day]
Xanax (alprazolam): 0.5 mg 5x per day (every 3 hours) immediate release
Buspar (buspirone): 30 mg 2x per day (I actually take 2 15 mg pills at a time, twice a day instead of a 30 mg pill due to a pricing glitch)
Remeron (mirtazapine): NOW 15 mg [30 mg] 1x before bed
Provigil (modafinil): 200 mg 2x (morning and at 3 pm)
Abilify - now 5 mg
That's it for Rx drugs. Here are the supplements:
Gotu Kola: Nature's Way 475 mg. I take 2 pills at a time, 3x per day- 9am, 3pm, 9pm
Aloe Vera: Solaray Super Aloe Vera- 2 pills at a time 4x per day- 9am, 3pm, 6pm, 9pm
Acetyl L-Carnatine: Doctor's Best 500 mg- I take 2 pills at a time 3x per day at 9am, 12pm, 3pm
Free and Easy Wanderer Plus- Plum Flower brand- 10 pills at a time 3x per day at 9am, 3pm, 9pm
For acetyl l-carnatine I would recommend Doctor's Best. It is only brand with Biostint sigma tau carnatine. That is the one used in a clinical trial.
For Free and Easy Wanderer Plus by Plum Flower- make sure it has the word "Plus". There is another version without the "plus". The "plus" adds 1 or 2 additional herbs. The "plus" version is the one that worked in a clinical trial to augment Zoloft.
For Aloe Vera, I tried a few brands. I felt that Solaray seemed to work the best. I was surprised to read the Amazon ratings to see that very few people use Aloe Vera for mental health. It is used for other purposes. But I read about it for mental health and it definitely helps me.
All of the above really help. I don't feel that I am taking any Rx drugs or supplements that I don't need. I get all supplements from Amazon.
The TMS was pretty easy to do. Non-invasive. No pain or discomfort. Each session takes only 18 minutes. So I was in and out of the office in about 25 minutes.
It was about 30 sessions. But if and when I need a booster, I believe it would be only about 3 sessions.
Thanks.
poster:ideopath
thread:1099891
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20180212/msgs/1099891.html